Chuo Izakaya- Darwin Beyer, Colin Stewart, Shaun Traxler

In this week’s edition of the Flavors of Northwest Arkansas podcast, we’re in Rogers at the new Chuo Izakaya, talking to some seasoned vets- Owner Darwin Beyer, Head Chef Colin Stewart and Beverage Director Shaun Traxler. But first?!?! FOOD NEWS!! The James Beard Awards were held on Monday night. Onyx was a finalist for Best Bar in the US, and Jason Paul of Heirloom was a finalist for Best Chef of the South. You’ll hear & see what happened. Handel’s opens in Fayetteville on Thursday, and they’re doing something special for it. We’ll hear from one of the owners! Chicken chain Huey Magoo’s is coming to NWA. We’ll tell you where. Homegrown is officially coming to Fayetteville. We’ll tell you where it’ll be. We’ll tell you about a food drive in Bentonville at Sun Painted Farm. Happy first birthday to Archie’s Sandwichery. That was QUICK! A Dickson Street mainstay is closing. A Tex-Mex chain closed nationwide over the weekend, and their Rogers location In this week’s Flavors Flashback, House 1830’s Binh Hoang talksabout placing a premium on front of house hospitality. Chuo Izakaya has been a long time coming for Co-Owner Darwin Beyer. In his pursuit of building a Japanese Tavern experience in Northwest Arkansas, he was able to surround himself with some exceptionally experienced folks, including Head Chef Colin Stewart and Beverage Director Shaun Traxler. We’ll hear from all three about how they got to Chuo Izakaya, we’ll hear about the menu, including what’s new, and we’ll also hear about the sickly creative drinks coming from Shaun. Lastly, they’re starting something new there, and you’ll hear about it here, first. And that’s on this week's edition of the Flavors of Northwest Arkansas podcast.