What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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featured dining guide story Advertorial Feature BY RANDY RICE | NwA DEmoCRAt-GAzEttE Chef William McCormick, creative cuisine with a sense of history JUNE 23-29, 2019 What's Up! 43 C hef William McCormick of Eleven restaurant at Crystal Bridges is a seventh generation Arkansan. His ancestors emigrated from Ireland in 1851 and were homesteaders not far from Fayetteville. His family still owns some of the original homestead property. One of his great grandfathers was on the board that wrote the Alma Mater for the University of Arkansas. McCormick has a rich family history in Northwest Arkansas. But for him, that history is not just a collection of anecdotes, but essential building blocks to the foundation of his career as a chef. "My history of growing up in the Ozarks is something I try to embrace here at Crystal Bridges – the sights, the smells, the tastes – it's a kind of return to the classics but with a more creative approach," McCormick said. A delicious example of this is one of Chef William's culinary creations for the summertime menu. "I remember my grandfather used to talk about how they would put a melon into the cool spring waters in the morning to chill throughout the day," he said. "At night it would be nice and cold… a sweet, tasty treat at the end of a hot summer day. That inspired me to create my chilled melon soup with pickled crab, buttermilk and Serrano chili pepper." The new menu at Eleven has the feel of Ozarks in the summertime. "We wanted to highlight things you might find at your local farmers market like tomatoes and peaches," McCormick said. "I love the idea of taking a wonderful ingredient and highlighting it with other flavors." Another example from the summer menu that illustrates this concept perfectly is Eleven's Tennessee country ham and peaches dish. It is a beautiful shaved country ham from Tennessee complimented with a sweet peach, stuffed mozzarella cheese, olive oil and fresh mint. A salty/sweet/sour dish with a regional flare that is a mouth-watering masterpiece.