As a five-time semi-finalist for the James Beard Foundation’s “Best Chef: South” award, Chef Matthew McClure is helping put Bentonville on the foodie map. Born in Little Rock, the Arkansas native McClure is the creative force behind The Hive, the restaurant at 21c Bentonville. We sat down with the star chef and talked bees, buzz, and his favorite dish on the menu.
Q: First off, what is “Arkansan food”?
A: Good question. It’s a conversation we’ve been having in this culinary community for the ten years that I’ve been a part of it. We don’t have a gumbo or a specific dish. What we have are great raw ingredients. Arkansas is a strong agricultural state, and a poor state for the most part—so past generations got by being creative and planning ahead, sort of celebrating the season.
I have memories of my grandmother’s cupboard: canned pickles and jams and jelly—all preservation techniques, so that there was food to eat over the winter months.
That people had to build their pantries that way absolutely influences the way I cook here. What I want with The Hive is to have as unique an Arkansas culinary experience as possible and doing that starts with the ingredients, serving them fresh when they’re in season, and then maybe incorporating them in a different way out of season.
Q: The restaurant is called The Hive, and there’s honey-dripped fries on the menu….
A: The honeybee is the state insect of Arkansas, so you’ll find honey in our ingredient list. We work closely with the farmers. I get our honey from a local producer that rents his hives to the vegetable farms to pollinate the squash, so it’s a great cycle of nectar and pollinators and produce. The Hive, as well, is a busy place, full of activity, which fits Bentonville very well.
Q: Yes, Bentonville is buzzing. Are the new restaurants keeping you on your toes?
A:For sure. Year over year, we continue to grow. And ultimately the guest wins when there’s competition like this. It’s a reward that this community is growing in a positive way. And I’m just flattered that we can bring attention to food and cooking in Arkansas!
Q: What’s your favorite dish you’ve made at The Hive?
A:In Northwest Arkansas we have a great history of chicken. I’ve made a special effort at The Hive to utilize chicken in different ways to showcase it as a local offering. One of the ways that I do that is the chicken liver mousse, which I’m incredibly proud of. I don’t roast whole chickens because the execution of that in a large-scale restaurant is very difficult at the quality level that I want. But what we do is butcher the bird and do kind of deconstructed roasted whole chicken.
READ MORE: 21c Hotel in Bentonville