Arkansas Business

Tomas Bohm, owner of The Pantry restaurant in Little Rock, is bringing a sister restaurant, The Pantry Crest, to Hillcrest.

The new restaurant will be at 722 N. Palm St., site of a number of previous restaurants, including The House restaurant, which closed in August, the Laughing Moon Café and Sufficient Grounds.

The Pantry Crest concept is identical to that of its older sister, The Pantry, at 11401 N. Rodney Parham Road, Bohm told Arkansas Business. The Pantry Crest will offer "rustic European food," he said, though "I don't think the menu will be as broad as it is over at the Rodney Parham location."

Bohm, the executive chef for both restaurants, will continue to focus on homemade food using local ingredients.

He's planning to spend about $200,000 renovating the building, which Bohm's company Sharpknives LLC bought from Palm Partners LLC for $455,000 in December. Bohm is hoping to open the restaurant sometime in April or May, "but you know how it goes. We won't open till we're 100 percent [ready]. I want to make sure that we live up to The Pantry reputation that we already have. I wouldn't do otherwise."

Hours at The Pantry Crest, which will also feature a bar, will be 4 p.m. until midnight (kitchen closing time) Monday through Saturday. Although The Pantry I serves lunch, Bohm has no plans to do so at the Hillcrest location, at least not at first, he said. The Pantry Crest will employ about 20 to 25 people.

Bohm said he had always loved the location and the Hillcrest neighborhood, noting that when he first met his wife she was working as a barista at Sufficient Grounds.

"I'm just kind of building on the success that we had at the other location," Bohm said of his latest venture.