Secret Handshake Chef Justin Ruttley, Mike Gallagher, Mitchell Taylor, and Eddie Padilla. – Submitted photo.
Nearly two dozen Hot Springs restaurants, grills, and businesses served their finest and most inspired dishes during the Greater Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce’s Taste of the Park on Thursday, May 17.
The food was remarkable, diverse, and of course delicious, from gourmet beef sliders and BBQ ribs to exquisite watermelon bites with feta and herbs, meatballs, mozzarella balls, gumbo dumplings, pineapple upside-down cake with a rum glaze, sushi rolls, and quesabirria tacos.
But there could only be one winner, and for the second year in a row, the 2026 Taste Champion was Secret Handshake. Mitch Taylor and Chef Justin Ruttley served an elegant and deceptively simple, seared ahi tuna with a soy miso vinaigrette, sliced jalapeno, on a light-as-air rice cracker, along with crawfish etouffee with cheese grits and a gorgeous tiramisu ball with coffee syrup and mascarpone whipped cream.
421 Beer Garden walked away with the Best Booth award for their lush and elaborate decorations.
This year, hundreds attended Taste of the Park, which is an annual fundraiser for The Chamber of Commerce. That means each chef had to be prepared with hundreds of samples of each dish. After 19 years, Taste of the Park has become a celebrated, signature event in Hot Springs.
Open Wednesday through Sunday, Secret Handshake is located inside Splash on Ouachita Avenue. For more information about Taste of the Park, contact the Greater Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce, 501-321-1700, or info@growinghotsprings.com.
