Four years after opening their popular At The Corner diner in downtown Little Rock, the King women — two sisters, their sister-in-law and their mother — are busy devising their next project: Henrietta’s, planned for the former Andina’s location at 433 E. Third St.
“We want to bring something completely different to Little Rock,” Kamiya Merrick said. Merrick is the sister-in-law of sisters Helen Grace King and Leila King. Along with the King sisters’ mother, Helen, the four women co-own At The Corner and are partners in Henrietta’s.
(A little background: At The Corner styles itself as @ The Corner. At some point in the last 20 years, creative typography became all the rage. Also, the offices of Arkansas Business are across the street from At The Corner, and I eat there several times a month. I usually get the fried chicken salad. I can also attest to these women’s work ethic.)
At The Corner was the women’s first restaurant and first business. They became restaurateurs for a couple of reasons. First, they saw an opportunity in the space that became At The Corner. At 201 E. Markham St., it’s a highly trafficked, highly visible spot at the corner of East Markham and Scott, kitty-corner from the Statehouse Convention Center.
The other reason is more philosophical. “A restaurant — and the meaning behind a restaurant — is just a beautiful thing,” Helen Grace said. “It brings people together. It’s what brought different cultures together back in the day. And it still brings different cultures together and families together.”
They also had a goal of providing perfect service and food, said Merrick, the executive chef. “There was definitely an opportunity at this location to bring farm-to-table [dining] downtown,” she said.
The women call At The Corner a “modern diner.” “We’ve taken the old-school concept of a diner — make yourself at home, warm, cozy, comfort — and mashed it with modern expectations of cuisine: farm to table, beautiful plates, menus that are seasonally driven,” Helen Grace said.
As for Henrietta’s and the “something completely different,” a lot remains to be done, Leila said. They’ve signed a lease for the 2,266-SF space on East Third and are working on a complete buildout of the location, incorporating lessons learned in operating At The Corner.
Among the lessons they’ve learned is the importance of efficiency, particularly efficiency in the form of a well-designed kitchen and a walk-in cooler. At The Corner’s kitchen is the size of a “postage stamp,” Helen Grace said, and their refrigerator space isn’t much larger.
They’ve been working with AIMCO Foodservice Equipment & Supplies and Kate East at AMR Architects, both of Little Rock.
They’re still developing the Henrietta’s concept, Leila said, “but it’s going to be very plant-focused. But we’re still writing, rewriting, working on recipes, working on menus, testing this, testing that.”
They will be serving fresh juices, espresso and coffee. “Just super healthy,” they said.
Merrick described Henrietta’s as the “yin to At The Corner’s yang. You can come to At The Corner and have more of a heavy, Southern meal and then you can go to Henrietta’s and have some smaller plates, something lighter, fresh.”
They’re aiming at a spring 2020 opening for Henrietta’s.
“What At has taught us is to always be up for the challenge, always be trying to do better than you did last weekend, always try to be more creative than you were two weeks ago, learn to fail and fail fast,” Leila said.
The four women are the only investors in the two restaurants.
Merrick, originally from Canada, came to Arkansas to attend college and play soccer at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. The King sisters, from Pine Bluff, have deep Arkansas roots. Their father is Dutch King, a former Pine Bluff mayor and former Jefferson County judge.
The memory of the King sisters’ late grandmother, who lived with them, serves as an inspiration, and the new restaurant is named for that grandmother’s aunt, Henrietta.
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Leila said their customers — they have many regulars — are excited about the new restaurant. “They’re excited to see what it’s going to be, and I feel like they’re trusting us to do something new.”