
MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2019
6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
CAPITAL HOTEL
MEZZANINE
2019 Sponsors and Participants:

PRESENTED BY
CHEF DE CUISINE SPONSORS
Jo and Presley Melton


SOUS CHEF SPONSORS

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MAITRE D' SPONSORS


Janet and
Glenn Davis


Joe Griffith


IN-KIND SPONSORS



From 6 to 9 p.m. Monday, October 21, guests will indulge in creative, delicious treats by celebrated chefs, sip unique cocktails from local drink gurus, and mingle with artists, musicians, fashion designers, poets and more on the Capital Hotel's mezzanine while listening to the sounds of Jazz R Us, featuring Dr. Danny Fletcher.
Rusty Mathis - 2018 BLUE PLATE SPECIAL CHAIR
Rusty Mathis started his saga in the hospitality industry in 1978 as a bellman at the Holiday Inn on Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs. A hard worker and natural leader, he worked his way up to Assistant General Manager by the age of 21 before branching out into the local restaurant scene. He landed at Ben E. Keith Foods in Mountain Home in 1994 as a sales representative, worked his way to District Sales Manager in Arkadelphia, Assistant General Manager then General Manager of the New Mexico division, and finally came home to Arkansas to become General Manager of Ben E. Keith’s Mid-South Division in 2007. He and his wife Stacy call North Little Rock home and love to give back to their community. After serving on the Thea Foundation board for several years, during which he helped found the Blue Plate Special—then called the Governor’s Culinary Challenge—as a way to elevate the local culinary arts scene while supporting the arts in Arkansas, Rusty remains supportive of the foundation and many other worthy causes in our state and is a local legend in the Arkansas culinary scene.
Gilbert Alaquinez, Forty-Two
Marc Guizol, Capital Hotel
Payne Harding, Cache
Kim Henderson, Heritage Catering
Amanda Ivy, Sauced Bar and Oven
Kelli Marks, Cathead’s Diner
Matcha Norwood, Cinnalightful
Capi Peck, Trio’s
Heidar Assegaf & Jerick Reyes, Kemuri
Petit & Keet


Sarah Repp, The Fold
Luiggi Uzcategui, Big Orange

Amy Garland Angel, Musician
Rodney Block, Musician
Gerry Bruno, Filmmaker
James Hayes, Glass Artist
Janis Kearney, Author
Kevin Kresse, Visual Artist
Stacey & LeRon McAdoo, Spoken Word Poets
Matt McLeod, Visual Artist
Genine Latrice Perez, Musician
Bryant Phelan, Fashion Designer
Barry Thomas, Visual Artist
Linda Rowe Thomas, Fashion Designer

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