Little Magic celebrates grand opening of new gluten-free kitchen menu

Little Magic Bar is bringing back its kitchen with a new menu. The small business, owned by Sam Pennington, now offers a fully gluten-free menu for customers, as well as an assortment of vegan and vegetarian options. Pennington said the grand opening celebration not only highlights the changes in the kitchen, but also the opening of its operations for customers after the kitchen closed in August. "Closing gave us the time to gut this kitchen properly, do a reset and educate the entire staff on the allergy," Pennington said. "And now it's going to be a lot easier because everything on the menu is gluten-free." The menu items are a blend of new and old options for customers, but all maintain gluten-free standards. Pennington said Little Magic's popular chicken tenders will be making their return, as well as the chicken sandwich and Beyond Burger, which is vegetarian and vegan-friendly. She also said anything fried for someone who is vegan or vegetarian is done with Fera fruit oil, which is separate from the other fryer which uses beef tallow. Some of the new items are the Firecracker Okra and the Sweetcorn Hushpuppies, which are made with Pennington and her mom's homemade chow chow. She added she was personally excited about the Creole Fried Catfish dish, which has heirloom red grits, black-eyed peas and collard greens to accompany two pieces of Cajun-fried catfish. The decision to make Little Magic entirely gluten-free, said Pennington, was personal. She has celiac disease and said many people who come to her bar often ask about gluten free options. "It is a big deal, and I know a lot of people look at gluten allergies as a fad and a health thing, and it is healthy and I'm glad that it's a fad," she said. "It's frowned upon in the service industry though, like oh is it an allergy or just a choice? And when that question arises, that shows how little respect people working and handling your food have for your allergy. That's not what we want to have at Little Magic – we want everyone to know that they're safe." Pennington added having a gluten-free only menu for people to enjoy in her bar helps to set Little Magic apart from other businesses. She said she's excited to have the options available for customers and happy with the work the staff has put into getting the kitchen back into operation. "I'm just really proud of my team and staff and all of us having to find new, innovative ways to cook and prepare foods and make foods that typically have gluten items," she said. "We flipped the switch and did it successfully, and that's what we're most excited about." Little Magic Bar is located at 121 N. Commerce St. The kitchen will open at 4 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and noon on Saturday.