Prospect Terrace Homes, Food of Premier LR RestaurantsTo Be Featured April 25 & 27 on Annual Cooks Tour

By todd

| LITTLE ROCK — Four homes in the Prospect Terrace neighborhood of Little Rock will be open on the annual Arkansas Cancer Research Center (ACRC) Auxiliary Cooks Tour April 27.

Ashley Carper and Kelly Harbert are co-chairing the fund-raiser by the auxiliary.  This event benefits the ACRC at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).

The annual Cooks Tour raises funds for research, patient care and education at ACRC and to raises public awareness of cancer prevention and of ACRC.

The proceeds from Cooks Tour 2003 will go to the UAMS Family Home and ACRC Auxiliary Cancer Support Center at 4300 W. Markham St. across from the UAMS campus. The auxiliary has pledged $200,000 over four years, to come primarily from the profits of the Cooks Tour 2000-2003, for this project.

The ACRC Auxiliary and the UAMS Medical Center Auxiliary have joined with the organization Parents and Friends of Children and Adults, Inc. to build the home, which provides housing for cancer patients and the parents of premature infants receiving neonatal care. The ACRC Auxiliary Cancer Support Center, located within the UAMS Family Home, provides a “home away from home” offering emotional support and activities for cancer patients and their families and friends.  

The Cooks Tour 2003 events will include:

 Friday, April 25
6:30 p.m. until 9:00 p.m.
Patrons’ Cocktail Buffet

A cocktail buffet in honor of Dr. Ralph Sanderson will be held at the home of Heather and Warren Overton, 2422 Country Club Lane. The evening will include a silent auction. Reservations, which include tickets to the Tour of Homes, are $85 per person. Call 501-686-8286 for tickets.

Sunday, April 27
1:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m.
Tour of Homes

The Tour of Homes will feature four wonderful homes in the Prospect Terrace neighborhood of Little Rock.  Jackie and Gerald Johnson (5101 Edgewood Road), Anne Hickman (5105 Edgewood Road), Belinda and Robert Shults (5108 Edgewood Road) and Claudia and Heartsill Ragon (5229 Edgewood Road) will open their homes to tour participants.  In each home, the executive chef from one of the Little Rock’s best-known restaurants will prepare dishes for visitors to taste.  Tickets are $20 per person and can be purchased at tour homes on the day of the event or in advance by calling 501-686-8286.  The chefs and the homes in which they will be cooking will include: 

  • Mark Abernathy, executive chef and owner of Loca Luna and Bene Vita, who will serve shrimp bruschetta at the home of Jackie and Gerald Johnson, 5101 Edgewood Road
  • Peter Brave, executive chef and owner of Brave New Restaurant, who will serve desserts filled with mousse or chocolate ganache, garnished with fresh berries at the home of Anne Hickman, 5105 Edgewood Road
  • Michael Selig, executive chef and co-owner of Vermillion Bistro and Vermillion Water Grille, who will serve lump crab-crusted roasted chipotle shrimp with candied pistachio and brie polenta and sun-dried cherry butter at the home of Belinda and Robert Shults, 5108 Edgewood Road
  • Evette Brady, executive chef and owner of 1620 Restaurant, who will serve antipasto platter with meats, smoked fish and vegetables accompanied by breads, crackers and olive oils for dipping at the home of Claudia and Heartsill Ragon, 5229 Edgewood Road

Ralph Sanderson, Ph.D., the special honoree for Cooks Tour 2003 who will be recognized at the Friday evening cocktail buffet, is director of basic research at the ACRC and a professor of pathology, anatomy and neurobiology in the UAMS College of Medicine. He received his Ph.D. in cell biology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1986, followed by postdoctoral training at Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Sanderson is internationally known for his work on the role of heparan sulfate proteoglycans in regulating the growth and metastasis of tumor cells. 

Since joining the UAMS faculty in 1989, Dr. Sanderson’s research has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Arthritis Foundation. In addition, his reputation as an outstanding teacher, mentor and administrator has established him as a vital leader on the UAMS campus. In 2002, Dr. Sanderson received the Drs. Mae and Anderson Nettleship Endowed Chair in Oncologic Pathology in recognition of his accomplishments and his unwavering commitment to academic excellence.