By now you’ve heard that Daniel Bryant has bought District Fare, the Hillcrest deli that once housed Hillcrest Artisan Meats, from Little Rock restaurateur Tomas Bohm.
And you’ve also surely heard that Brandon Brown, who once owned HAM, a beloved butcher shop that also sold sandwiches, is now back as general manager at District Fare and serving up some of his favorite creations from the HAM days. (Brown closed HAM in December 2016, citing long work hours, and yes, it’s all kind of a merry-go-round.)
What you may not have heard is that District Fare will play a role in Bryant’s new restaurant across the street, the one that will occupy the former Helmich Auto Service site at 2712 Kavanaugh Blvd., though details are scarce.
“We have larger plans for DF relating to the new place across the street and those will start taking shape in the coming weeks,” Bryant said in an email to Whispers.
Bryant’s words jibe with what Brown told us last week, that he may be helping with the menu at the restaurant across the street. “That’s a huge project,” Brown said.
Bryant, who also owns Big Whiskey’s in downtown Little Rock and the Hillcrest Fountain, the beer and wine bar at 2809 Kavanaugh, told us the idea to buy District Fare “has been in the works for awhile now, so Brandon’s had time to think about what he wants to serve, as well as the balance between the restaurant and butcher shop. This has allowed us to step in pretty seamlessly and make changes on the fly vs. having to shut the store down and reopen.”
Bryant adds: “Right now our immediate focus is on growing the butcher side of things and doing more catering and prepared meal/take-home business in addition to making a few sandwiches, of course. So this will definitely be a living, changing endeavor, which is the way we want it.”
No word on the purchase price for District Fare.
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