Last week, we told you about the return of the Gran Fondo this Saturday, May 30. It’s a bike tour (gran fondo means “big ride” in Italian) that offers approximately 70 miles of premium Arkansas scenery. Read more about the ride here.
But after the high-fives, what us cyclist supporters are most excited about is the scenery of the after-party. The Gran Fondo Food Festival will feature live music from folk singer Bonnie Montgomery, delicious food prepared by six of Little Rock’s most notable chefs and beer courtesy of Lost Forty Brewing. All of this fun will take place downtown on Main Street (between 2nd and Markham in front of Spokes) which will be blocked off for this event.
This year’s lineup of top-notch chefs includes Arturo Solis from Capital Bar & Grill, Donnie Ferneau from Good Food, Tomas Bohm from Pantry and Pantry Crest, Fabrizio Castangia from Vesuvio Bistro, Matt Bell from South on Main and Scott McGehee from ZaZa. Read more about each chef here.
In addition to these freshly prepared dishes, there will be treats on hand from Loblolly and Leiva’s Coffee.
Something new to the festival this year – a dunk tank to help raise money for Ron King’s Recycle Bikes for Kids program. Word on the street is Mayor Mark Stodola is already committed to take a dip. (Now he has to be because we just called him out.) We featured Ron King in Soirée here.
Riders are expected to arrive between 10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. Montgomery plans to take the stage beginning at 11 a.m. and food will be served starting at 11:30 a.m.