BY KRISTINA ROSEN
Tucked behind Arcadium Bar is Favor, a new food venue opened by Wyatt Sarbacker in July. Sarbacker has opened and collaborated with several prominent local projects like The Village Idiot, Marksbury Farm, and Gents Original. With experience in every area of food production and operations, it was time he opened a spot of his own.
The inspiration for Favor came from the idea to help each other, share ideas, and to use products from partners carefully and thoughtfully. Sarbacker adds, “We’re here to accommodate the farmers and producers, they are the ones doing the real work.”
All ingredients, whether it’s meat and eggs or produce and herbs, are sourced locally from Blue Moon Farm, Henkle’s Herbs and Heirlooms, Porter Road, Stonehedge Farm Produce, and Sunwatch Homestead.
Favor fills the missing void Arcadium needed in terms of having a permanent food operation on site. Favor’s menu of bar-friendly snacks and bite-size portions represents that need.
The menu changes depending on what’s in-season, but one can expect variations of baked empanadas, a dry-aged KY beef burger, and fries, along with a seasonal vegetable and salad option.
More unique to the menu is fry bread with cured ham, pickled veggies, pub cheese, spicy honey; tempesta salumi mortadella; Belgian ale-braised KY beef atop shoestring fries known as stoofvlees; and ricotta fritters.
Sunday’s brunch menu includes crispy taters, sopes with rotating toppings, eggs benny, a toasted vegetable and fried eggs hash, and a handful of items from the dinner menu.
Favor has a cozy diner vibe with an open kitchen and a little bit of polish. It’s fast casual dining with emphasis on carry out for now due to the restrictions on in-person dining. Guests can place their order online for pick up, and enjoy their meal on the patio. At full capacity, Favor can accommodate about 24 people inside. Once sit-in dining resumes, it will be a reservation-only format with a menu exclusive to that experience.
While Sarbacker’s concept of Favor launched three years ago, construction began more recently and a global pandemic certainly didn’t help make the process any easier.
“It’s a whole different world for restaurants, and we are fortunate as a new operation to be somewhat malleable,” says Sarbacker. “The industry is in shambles. I’m just trying to make snacks and feed people.”
Favor is open Thursday through Saturday at 5 pm until 10 pm, Sunday Brunch from noon until 4 pm.
Favor is located at 574 N. Limestone.
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