Heaping Spoonful

Lisa Provencio-Jones and her husband Bert Jones, came to the Heaping Spoonful satellite studio in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, to tell the historic story of the beginnings of Gaskins Cabin in 1864, how it morphed into a restaurant in the 1980s and what they've done to elevate it as one of the top steakhouses in Arkansas.

Kelly Lovell and Walt Todd of Count Porkula dropped by the studio to tell the story of how they morphed from business careers to cooking barbecue for friends to launching a food truck and soon will open their third bricks-and-mortar location in Central Arkansas.

Tommy Shaffer grew up in the Eureka Springs area, and after being thrust into an unexpected role as a cook at his first restaurant he has thrived ever since, first working his way up to executive chef at the Crescent Hotel and now serving as executive chef at Rogue's Manor, one of the resort town's top dining destinations.

Tamsye Nosal and Melody Williford, sisters who own the three American Pie locations in Central Arkansas, stopped by the studio to tell how they parlayed their years of experience in the pizza business into quickly growing their business after they established it in 2004.

Brian Van Sickle was the first guest featured during our Heaping Spoonful road trip to Eureka Springs, Arkansas. We set up our studio at the historic Crescent Hotel, where Brian serves as assistant general manager in charge of all food and beverage operations. And man do they have plenty of those!

Matt Fuller of 501 Prime in Hot Springs, Arkansas, graced the Heaping Spoonful studio with his presence as he explained what led him to leave south Florida for Hot Springs and how his first successful venture -- Central Park Fusion Cuisine -- led him to move across town and open a high-end spot focused on prime steaks, fresh seafood, and an amazing wine list.

Susie Powell of Hoots BBQ in McGehee, Arkansas, stopped by the studio to tell how a retired farmer and his retired dentist office worker wife decided to ditch the easy life after three years and open a huge restaurant with a huge menu that is drawing fans from a huge distance.

Karen Carrier, owner of a handful of popular and eclectic Memphis establishments, called the Heaping Spoonful hotline to tell her story, which includes an amazing start to her food service career in New York that only picked up steam when she came home to Memphis. 

Chuck Taylor, who along with his wife Pam owns and operates Taylor's Steakhouse in Dumas, called the Heaping Spoonful hotline to tell the story of how they succeeded wildly despite a super risky business proposition: serving top-quality, well-aged steaks in a metal building outside a tiny town in southeastern Arkansas.

Tomas Bohm sat down in the Heaping Spoonful studios to tell his unlikely story of how a young man from the Czech Republic went from home to Asia to Arkansas, and the winding path that led him to open The Pantry and then The Pantry-Crest, two of Little Rock's most popular restaurants.