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On this week’s edition of the Flavors of Northwest Arkansas podcast, we have a story of perseverance as we interview Junto Executive Chef, Donovan Johnson. That’s a man who’s been through a lot, but before we get to him?!?!

FOOD NEWS!!

• Botanical Live in Fayetteville has now turned into two different spots that have two different themes. We’ll hear from one of the others, @fnoway
• The Barber opens Friday!
• The Fox Trail Distillery is transitioning their tasting room. We’ll tell you what they’ll be doing
• You can now take Stoic Brews home!
• Greenhouse Aleworks has their new home in downtown Rogers.
• Speaking of downtown Rogers, happy anniversary to Tusk & Trotter’s second location!
• The doors are open at Blue Ember Smokehouse in Rogers! We’ll hear from GM Chance Sneathern.
• Keep your eyes out- WE HAVE BITE NWA tickets! We’ll be telling you how to win them this week!
• The Collective in Fayetteville soft opens with entrée’s tonight.
• Los Compas Margaritatown is selling their food truck.
• KDK’s Chicken and Waffles are moving into a brick and mortar.
• Folklore Ice Cream grand opened in the Fayetteville Square.

Junto Sushi opened in the Motto Hotel in Bentonville a year ago, almost to the day. Chef Donovan Johnson has been there from the start, and it was a hard road for him to get there. VERY hard. It was a road paved with addiction, rehab, relapses, and cooking around northwest Arkansas... One of his earliest jobs in his teens in Mountain Home might have been his most important. It helped shape his professional cooking preference and through it all, he never lost sight of it or let it go. That’s one of the many things that helped get him to where he is today.

He talks about it in detail, and the scare that sparked his turnaround. How did a guy from Mountain Home who had always cooked in Fayetteville gain the favor of a James Beard Award winning chef that has worked in a Michelin-star restaurant? We hear from Junto Executive Chef Donovan Johnson next, here on the Flavors of Northwest Arkansas.