Publisher’s Letter: Feeling the Love
I’ve never been too keen on Valentine’s Day. Don’t get me wrong, it’s always nice to be pampered and spoiled, wined and dined. But I’ve always held a greater affinity for the more familial of the major holidays — Thanksgiving and Christmas. This year feels different, though. Maybe it’s something in the air; maybe it’s the spell of cupid’s chokehold. Either way, we’ve got quite an amorous issue of AY About You cooked up for you.
Let’s start with the next edition of the AY’s Arkansas Bucket List: Romantic Dinner. If you’ll be dining out for the holiday this year, you better get on making those reservations. Fortunately, we’ve got quite a list of great places for a romantic evening — from all across the state.
For those of you who’ll keep the festivities at home again this year, our recipe contributors whipped up a couple of great dishes for you to impress the Valentine in your life.
And our latest Face Behind the Place feature is the man behind one of Conway’s favorite places to spend the night out — Mike Coats of Mike’s Place. His humility is reverent, but I think it’s safe to say at this point that he’s established himself as a culinary legend in Central Arkansas, eyepatch and all.
You didn’t think we were done with Valentine’s Day already, did you? The main attraction is one you’ve likely already seen — the cover story on Paris, Arkansas, by Joe David Rice. The capital of France is known fondly as the “City of Love,” and the little Paris in our backyard is just as worthy of the moniker.
February is also home to another holiday, one that transcends more than just a day (or just one month, frankly) — Black History Month. To reflect on where we’ve been, how far we’ve come and what goals we should still strive toward, we talked with a few of the influential individuals making a difference in Arkansas: the folks behind Black-Owned NWA, and one of the ladies at the helm of the podcast Blackbelt Voices, each of whom have made national news for their efforts.
Oh, and here’s another appetizer, free of charge: the popular Broadway show Hamilton makes its debut in Arkansas this month. We made our way into the “room where it happens” and talked to one of the cast members of the upcoming performances at Robinson Center.
“There is only one happiness in this world — to love and be loved.”
Enjoy!
Heather Baker,
President & Publisher
Instagram / heatherbaker_ar
