Denis Seyer, a famed Little Rock restaurateur, has come out of semi-retirement to take a job as "chief consultant" for RH Cuisine, which owns the 1620 Savoy in west Little Rock and the new Cache Restaurant in the River Market District.
Seyer — who was affiliated with a series of high-end Little Rock restaurants starting in the mid-1970s and extending to 2009, including Restaurant Jacques and Suzanne and Alouette's — "will assist in strategy and menu development," a news release said.
"We're extremely excited to have an icon like Denis Seyer to be associated with our company," said Rush Harding, CEO of RH Cuisine who is also CEO of the Little Rock investment firm Crews & Associates. "We look forward to a revamped menu and vibe at our location in west Little Rock and are equally excited about his potential contributions to Cache downtown. Denis is extraordinarily talented, having influenced and trained many of the best chefs in Arkansas."
Seyer worked as a chef at Jacques & Suzanne, which operated from 1975 to 1986 in what is now the Regions Bank building in downtown Little Rock. The restaurant was one of the first to offer fine French dining in the city. Its closure was front-page news in the Arkansas Gazette.
Seyer, a native of France, went on to operate Le Casse Croute and later opened the original 1620. "One of his most prestigious restaurants was Alouette's in west Little Rock, which was one of the South's top restaurants for many years," the release noted. Alouette's closed in 2003.
He most recently had owned Gypsy's Grill & Bar, which closed in 2009. Seyer said at the time that he planned to enter semi-retirement in the Cayman Islands, where he was part owner of Gus Harvey's Island Grill.
Other Little Rock-area restaurants with which Seyer was affiliated were Graffiti's, the Purple Cow and Pickles.
