Natural State’s Fry And Mighty Bites

HAVING MASTERED handcrafted pizzas at King Dough, restaurant owners Adam and Alicia Sweet summoned their Arkansas roots with their Holy Cross follow-up, Natural State Provisions. “Arkansas’s nickname is The Natural State. So that’s where this all comes from,” says Adam, who created the menu of Southern comfort dishes. That includes extra-crispy sweet tea–brined fried chicken, a smashburger piled with pimento cheese and snappy bread and butter pickles, and fried catfish that gets a nice buttermilk soak to maintain its juicy flakiness. “We make it with rice flour, so it’s gluten-free,” says Adam, who admits that the main reason he put a daily fish-fry on the menu is “so that I always have catfish available to eat.” 414 Dorman St., 317-492-9887, naturalstateprovisions.com