Lynch at Large

Somehow this one got past me in this morning's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. How Griffin Smith failed to put this story on the front page above the fold is beyond me, but a stern memo will be forthcoming. Now on to the HUGE news as reported by Eric Harrison.

The Italian Couple is back. Michael and Yuli Waters are reopening their once-popular eatery of that name today in their original location, 2618 W. 12th St., Little Rock.

The Waters couple - she was the Florence-trained cook who was learning English on the job, he was the half-Italian, half-American front-of-house man - opened the restaurant in 1996. They came here from Italy via California; the story at the time was that they had read somewhere that Arkansas is the Land of Opportunity and took it literally.

Despite its location in a down-at-heel cinderblock building in a neighborhood of questionable safety a couple of blocks east of Woodrow Street, the restaurant stayed popular for a couple of years, but a traumatic robbery turned out to be the last straw, and the Waterses departed for parts unknown. Michael's son briefly tried to operate a catering business using their recipes.

Michael Waters says they've completely remodeled the building but not the menu, which will offer Yuli's Northern Italian cuisine (which uses lots of olive oil and butter, shying away from the heavy tomato sauces of the south). He promises some old favorites and some new dishes, but not the pizza, at least not yet. He has also applied for a liquor license, something the previous establishment lacked.

Hours will be 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and 5-10 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. The telephone number is (501) 372-4448.

One of the charming aspects of the Italian Couple was that, with no permit to sell booze, it was fun and cheap to bring your own. Don't go to the ABC Board on my account!

Welcome back Italian Couple!