Fried chicken: How to fry chicken right
If you’re a late-lunch eater, you may be missing out on some of the best fried chicken in Little Rock. Every Wednesday at the Capital Bar and Grill, chef Zach Pullam and his crew fry around 60 pounds of yardbird for the restaurant’s daily lunch special. The fryer starts around 1o a.m.
The Pet Company at Hamilton Place will be able to keep its state operating license after agreeing Wednesday to comply with conditions laid out by the Tennessee Department of Agriculture.
Company officials said they would abide by the list drafted by the department on July 19.
The store has been embroiled in a City Court case after the McKamey Animal Care and Adoption Center and city workers raided it in June and slapped it with 90 animal cruelty violations, including nonworking air conditioning, filthy cages and inadequate watering of dogs that led to dehydration.
The Department of Agriculture’s stipulations include adequately training employees, maintaining sufficient ventilation, replacing rusty grates and cracked kennel surfaces and providing the animals with water through easily accessible containers.
The department told the company it will be regularly inspecting its premises to ensure it’s following code.
“It is the Pet Company’s sincere desire to work cooperatively with the department from a ‘best practices’ standpoint,” Pet Company attorney Andrew Pippinger told the Department of Agriculture in a letter.
McKamey Executive Director Karen Walsh said the state’s decision does not affect the charges against the company in Chattanooga.
“Those charges will be dealt with by the courts here, and we are anxious to move forward so these puppies will not have to wait to belong to loving families,” Walsh said.
Thirty-two dogs were seized in the raid and 10 of them have been sent to other Pet Company stores. But 22 of the animals tested positive for the intestinal parasite giardia, which is transmissible to humans, and were left at McKamey for treatment.
The city’s case with the company is stalled because city Judge Sherry Paty recused herself from the case on Monday. Paty stepped down and declared a mistrial, saying that a July 1 e-mail from Mayor Ron Littlefield about the case could taint perceptions of her ruling and cause grounds for appeal.
Littlefield’s e-mail urged Paty to not “leave McKamey holding the bag” for expenses related to the case, which McKamey officials say total about $40,000.
District Attorney Bill Cox said Wednesday his office had received a copy of the e-mail from Judge Paty, but would not comment further about the matter.
Judge Paty could not be reached for comment Wednesday evening.
Before declaring a mistrial, Paty ruled that the Pet Company could get its animals back and resume selling them if the Department of Agriculture allowed the store to keep its operating license.
That verdict is now considered void, and a new judge will be brought in to hear the city case.