A year ago, I posted a list of things I looked forward to and hoped to see in the Oklahoma City food scene in 2012 food scene. So now it’s time to review.

First up was the opening of Local, which turned out to be one of the coolest things that happened in 2012. Chef Ryan Parrott left the kitchen at Iguana Mexican Grill to help open this ambitious Norman concept with sisters Melissa Scaramucci, Heather Steele and Abby Clark. The fledgling restaurant has endured typical growing pains and Normancentric growing pains, but the future looks bright for this farm-to-form restaurant that features a seasonal menu, lots of square-footage, an area just for kids and an approachable, affordable menu.

Staying in Norman, there was the arrival of the Austin, Texas-based chain Chuy’s Tex-Mex Cafe. The place has been a resounding success, and units for Oklahoma City proper and Edmond can’t be far behind. When this growth occurs, current Tex-Mex purveyors will be on notice to elevate or be eliminated.

I wrote that I wished to see the locavore movement spread beyond the true believers: Thanks to the foundation of champions for local and the Whole Foods effect, more people are using local than they have since they had no other choice. That’s refreshing. The next step is for our local producers to fortify distribution. Currently, we have the Oklahoma Food Cooperative and a string of county-by-county farmers markets, which have served us well. Growth and cooperation will make things even better for both vendor and customer.

I was also hoping street food growth would expand, and it has. Once upon a time, Bobo’s Chicken and a fleet of nearly anonymous taco trucks south of downtown were your best options for late-night street food. The H&8th get-togethers during warm months have succeeded in developing demand for an organized effort to gather and sup after hours. Waffle Champion has been so successful that a bricks-and-mortar location is now in the works. Heo’s Kitchen andTaste of Soul Egg Roll have fortified the work of Big Truck Tacos. So, there’s a little growth, but I would love to see even more.

 Next up was a proclamation that this would be the year I cooked a whole hog in a pit. #fail. #trytryagain.

Speaking of #fail, I promised to drop a few pounds. #trytryagain.

Continued improvement in school menus was another wish for 2012. The jury is still out on this one, but I know things are moving in the right direction. I plan to spend the early part of 2013 taking a look at the progress that’s occurred since Edmond schools set the standard with help from chef Dave Fouts.

On top of that wish, I hoped for better education at home about food. Take a second to shoot me an email to detail what you did in the last year to better educate yourself and your family about the foods you eat.

I hoped against hope we’d see sensible changes to our antiquated liquor laws. #fail. #trytryagain.

I continue to hope for our local Slow Foods community to grow. God bless Kerry Norman andKamala Gamble for organizing our effort to share the gospel of local artisanal and organic food producers. If you’re reading this column, you should be a member of this group. And you should invite at least five friends to join you. Do it at www.slowfoodokc.com.

Finally, I hoped to drink more Amarone and that’s been a #fail as has my effort to help Oklahoma develop a signature flavor. I’ll keep after those goals and a lot more in 2013. If you’d like to find out what my hopes and wishes for 2013 are, be sure to find my column in the Mood section of Thursday’s editions of The Oklahoman.

http://newsok.com/food-dude-looks-back-at-2012s-success-list/article/3742050

]]> http://www.mobilefoodnews.com/2013/01/oklahoma-city-ok-food-dude-looks-back-at-2012s-success-list/feed/ 0 http://www.mobilefoodnews.com/2011/10/h-8th-outdoor-food-market-makes-successful-relaunch-friday-in-oklahoma-city/ http://www.mobilefoodnews.com/2011/10/h-8th-outdoor-food-market-makes-successful-relaunch-friday-in-oklahoma-city/#comments Sun, 02 Oct 2011 00:18:49 +0000 MobileFoodNews.com http://www.mobilefoodnews.com/?p=22040 BY STEVE LACKMEYER| NewsOK.com

People gather along Hudson Avenue between N &th and 8th streets for H&8th Friday, September 30, 2011. Photo by Doug Hoke, The Oklahoman Doug Hoke

Health inspectors and food truck operators cheerily went about their business Friday night against the backdrop of fiddle music as the H&8th outdoor food market was successfully relaunched in MidTown.

The festival gathering, hosted by Elemental Coffee at NW 8 and Hudson, was a far cry from the first attempt in August that was raided by 27 state and city agents and inspectors.

Crowds arrived early and within the first hour after opening at 8 p.m., more than 200 people were lined up at the string of food trucks lining Hudson Avenue. Twice as many food trucks were participating Friday compared to the first market, and the second time around included live music performed by Kyle Dillingham and Horseshoe Road.

Sasan Pilehvar, an inspector with the Oklahoma City/County Health Department, arrived early and by 8 p.m. determined all of the operators to be in compliance with state and city regulations.

“All of them are excellent, well-built units,” Pilehvar said. “I’ve been with the department for eight years, and before that I ran a doughnut shop in Midwest City. I know how difficult it is for these guys to make a living. There has to be a healthy respect for what each side is doing.”

When H&8th was first launched in August, Laura Massenat, co-owner of Elemental Coffee, found herself having to disappoint scores of people when the event was shut down under a deluge of citations ranging from improper extension cords to disputed permits.

One of those who’d hoped to enjoy the August festivities, designer Matthew McLarty, said he was dining at nearby Joey’s Pizzeria when news of the shutdown spread through the restaurant via social media on patrons’ phones.

McLarty, a board member of the MidTown Association, had helped promote the market via Twitter and Facebook and was disappointed by the enforcement action.

“That next morning I saw all the upheaval on social media, I read about it in the paper, and it was very disconcerting,” McLarty said.

“The inspectors didn’t seem to be interested in helping these people out and making the event a success.”

McLarty said the city/county health department, ABLE Commission and the city need to embrace the emergence of food trucks and markets like H&8th and adapt local laws to prevent a repeat of the August shutdown.

“This is going to happen — get used to it,” McLarty said. “This is important. It starts to create an identity for an area like this. It provides pieces of the puzzle Oklahoma City is looking for. These events are going to spread.”

Massenat, who expressed frustration at the extra expense and effort required to stage the market, was beaming as the festivities got under way.

“I’m glad,” she said. “It was worth it.”

Crews Morris (left) and Jon Grupe prepare tacos and burritos at the Big Truck Tacos mobile stand in front of the Oklahoma County Courthouse in downtown Oklahoma City, OK, Thursday, Sept. 22, 2011. By Paul Hellstern, The Oklahoman

When Big Truck Tacos saw one of its two trucks shut down last month at an outdoor food market in MidTown, it was just the first of three visits in 24 hours by health inspectors.

Such frequency is nothing new to Cally Johnson, who as co-owner of Big Truck Tacos, has seen firsthand how much more scrutiny is given mobile food operations compared to established restaurants.

Indeed, records show the Oklahoma City-County Health Department conducts “sweeps” of food trucks twice a year while no such efforts are staged against the city’s various restaurant corridors. Such scrutiny is now being challenged by operators who say the odds are stacked against them by city and state statutes.

“We run our trucks all the time, every week, and if we were not doing it right, we would not have any business,” Johnson said. “People would put it on Facebook, on Twitter, because that’s how we roll. I don’t even know any rationale for this attention.”

Health department officials respond the laws might not be perfect, but they were written with the idea that food trucks inherently pose more of a risk than established restaurants. They also note Oklahoma City contracts with the agency to inspect food trucks anytime they appear at a special event — which was the case when the H&8th outdoor market was raided Aug. 26.

Phil Maytubby, public health protection chief for the Oklahoma City-County Health Department, said Big Truck Tacos and two other vendors were subjected to a surprise inspection because H&8th was deemed a special event.

Big Truck Tacos had both of its trucks inspected the next day because one was shut down for having the wrong permit at H&8th, and inspectors did not know which truck had returned to service.

“When you’re looking through these records, you’ll see some that have been inspected 15 times — because they’re involved in a special event,” Maytubby said.

Mike Bailey, chief inspector at the health department, said the trucks are seen as a higher risk because they have small kitchens and they don’t have the same resources as restaurants to maintain clean operations. He admits, however, that the agency doesn’t receive many complaints from the public about food trucks.

Records obtained by The Oklahoman show that of more than 230 complaints received by the Health Department since Jan. 1, only two were against mobile food operators. And while Big Truck Tacos saw all of its food from the truck thrown out and the market closed on Aug. 26, other restaurants with track records of Dozens of complaints over the years have seen far less scrutiny.

In one case, Pizza Town at 430 W Main has seen more than 82 violations, 12 listed as a direct cause of foodborne illnesses, since 2004. Bailey admits the business hasn’t been subjected to three visits in 24 hours as was Big Truck Tacos, but it is under the threat of being placed on state enforcement as complaints and violations have continued to be recorded.

The health department took no action when it received a complaint April 20 alleging bottles of urine were being kept in a storage room above the Pizza Town dining room. Bailey said the owner, E.J. Chamhidray, would not allow the inspectors access, claiming the room was a living quarters and not part of the restaurant.

Chamhidray said this week he had no knowledge of the complaint.

“The hazmat team was called out, and they got it out,” Bailey said. “He was apparently letting transients live upstairs.”

Records show no complaints filed this year against Big Truck Tacos.

Bailey said the department’s sweeps of food trucks may be the reason so few complaints are filed. He added violations are found on the sweeps, and that when the inspectors continued their visits to trucks on the southside they cited 10 mobile food operators.

Johnson is hoping the city and the health department will work with food truck operators to create procedures that promote and do not discourage mobile food operations.

“Work with us and get to know us so you can write an effective law,” Johnson said. “We’re not trying to kill people; trust us — that would be bad for our business. I think instead of making a law for a law’s sake, why not create a law and boundaries that serve the common good?”

OKLAHOMA CITY – With vendors and food lovers referring to the heavy-handed sweep of an outdoor food event in MidTown Oklahoma City as being like a “SWAT team” raid, The Oklahoman has followed up on their earlier story by showing how sloppy, obnoxious and unapologetic Oklahoma’s ABLE Commission is.

Like a Sovietized Gestapo sweeping out of the blue, guns at the ready, to shut down a family-fun event, ABLE, along with the Oklahoma City/County Health Department and Oklahoma City code enforcement agents and more, proved to moms and dads with kids in strollers just how tough they are by ruining everybody’s fun.

Yeah, food trucks like the one operated by the popular Big Truck Tacos, need to be shut down because “it didn’t have the right license posted,” according to The Oklahoman.

Another truck didn’t have “proper screening,” and another had “no working electricity or refrigeration.” While that last one is troubling, no health complaint citations were issued.

One business owner, Jonathan Stranger of Ludivine, put it perfectly in Steve Lackmeyer’s Oklahoman story, out today: “There were things done wrong (by event organizers), but the show of force was insane … this was a shakedown.”

Another person, Brian Bates, told The Oklahoman that “I found the sheer number of authorities and their overall demeanor to be adversarial and counterproductive.”

Bates continued, saying, “The entire ordeal seemed to be in sharp contrast to city leaders public stance of progress, cooperation with local businesses and forward thinking.”

Indeed. Oklahoma City has come a long way in the past five years and now, with exciting new businesses opening up all the time, “the authorities” who are trying to justify their jobs that includes a badge and a gun and a bad attitude, people will avoid the event.

We are seeing that in Tulsa with ABLE behind raids up there of legitimate watering holes. It’s ridiculous.

And ABLE always seems to be involved in these hamfisted, bumbling raids, as we noted in our Red Dirt Report story posted Monday.

And while the Health Department admitted to The Oklahoman that things could have been handled differently, ABLE, who had three agents, said an agent complained and notified his bosses after seeing an Oklahoman story promoting the H&8^th block party.

Said ABLE spokesman Jim Hughes: “(T)hey were not sure the caterer had a mixed-beverage license.”

As noted in Lackmeyer’s story: “Hughes said a surprise visit is the only way to ensure liquor sales are being handled properly and that he doesn’t have the manpower to communicate in advance.”

One of these guys at ABLE can’t pick up a phone over their lunch break and doublecheck with a vendor? Don’t have the manpower? Are they kidding? What in the blazes are they doing over there at the ABLE Commission?

And they admit they are monitoring news stories and “Facebook,” as noted by Hughes. The message here is: Big Brother is watching and they can make or break you. They can give you a license or squash you like a bug. It is the out-of-control government agencies that decide if you have fun or not.

Do you have a license? A screen? A this or a that? Only government can decide. You are simply a slave in the eyes of Big Brother and the ever-expanding Nanny State.

We hope Gov. Mary Fallin calls for a thorough investigation of the increasingly unpopular ABLE Commission.

http://theintelhub.com/2011/08/30/oklahoma-able-commission-proven-to-be-as-obnoxious-and-superfluous-as-they-conduct-armed-raid-on-food-vendors/

Food trucks will be gathering MidTown the last Friday of each month as part of H&8th night food market at Elemental Coffee, 815 N Hudson. photo CHRIS LANDSBERGER

Could Oklahoma City support an outdoor nighttime food market and join the ranks of edgy cities like Austin, Texas, and Portland, Ore.?

J.D. Merryweather admits it was a spur-of-the-moment idea that led him to join Laura Massenat, co-owner of Elemental Coffee at 815 N Hudson, and start H&8th, an outdoor evening food court beginning tonight at the coffee shop.

Merryweather, a photographer and co-owner of Coop Ale Works, is a frequent traveler and said he was always impressed at how such food markets served as community gathering spots.

J.D. Merryweather, partner in Coop Ale Works, and Laura Massenat, co-owner of Elemental Coffee, out front of Elemental Coffee, 815 N. Hudson, in Oklahoma City. Photo by Paul B. Southerland, The Oklahoman

“I’ve seen it in other cities — Portland, San Antonio, Austin — they all do great night markets. There are enough foodies here, we’ve seen how popular the trucks are, and this might be a good way to bring everyone together.”

It was during an open house party hosted by Elemental Coffee that Merryweather dreamed up the idea of doing a nighttime food market in Oklahoma City.

“I looked at the craft, and how could we get others involved,” Merryweather said. “It’s a win-win for all.”

For the first market, which is set to run the last Friday of each month, vendors will include Big Truck Tacos, Cuppies and Joe, and The Munchbox, a relative newcomer to the food truck market that serves a mix of American fare.

Jonathon Stranger with Ludivine will serve cocktails, and Coop Ale Works will have its truck present to serve local brews. Coffees, teas and soft drinks will be sold exclusively by Elemental Coffee.

Future events likely will include vendors like Patty Wagon, Copper Cup and the Flying Cotton Brothers. The idea, Merryweather said, is to offer a variety of food and not just feature taco trucks.

Massenat admits the idea of hosting an outdoor food market along Hudson Avenue would have been dismissed as an impossible feat just a few years ago. But the area is in a “fast” transition now, Massenat said, with housing and shops rapidly filling MidTown’s empty buildings and lots.

“So many great cities are doing similar events,” Massenat said. “And we’re all about helping Oklahoma City continue to grow and become a city with more interesting things to do.”

Read more: http://newsok.com/outdoor-nighttime-food-market-debuts-in-midtown/article/3598215#ixzz1W6j6Rmrj

The trailer and the truck were stolen from their Collinsville residence sometime overnight Thursday.

COLLINSVILLE, Oklahoma — The owners of a popular Owasso restaurant — Robyn’s Harden’s Hamburgers — is asking the public’s help in locating a stolen trailer that was used as a mobile kitchen.

The trailer and the truck were stolen from their Collinsville residence sometime overnight Thursday. The truck was later recovered but the trailer remains missing.

The trailer contained several items, including a flat top griddle, freezer, refrigerator and a cash register.

The trailer contained several items, including a flat top griddle, freezer, refrigerator and a cash register.

The owners believe the trailer may be in another county. Anyone with information can contact the restaurant at 918-371-1441.

http://www.newson6.com/story/15179380/truck-trailer-stolen-from-popular-owasso-restaurant

Big Truck courted the small crowd of online influences and members of the media in Oklahoma City. Read more: http://newsok.com/social-media-influential/article/3563192#ixzz1KzB2lQii

I’m writing this from Oklahoma City, the 76th-most socially networked town in the country.

What, you didn’t know? The social networking city rankings are out, thanks to the numbers crunchers at Men’s Health Magazine, of all places.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love Men’s Health, especially if I need 18 easy steps to get jaw-dropping power abs. But this latest report card about how good the metros of the U.S. are at social networking makes my head hurt.

Some online sites have given the report some kudos, based on how Men’s Health was able to dig up and quantify the information. “The list … is as much a study of how to find this information as it is a valid assessment of which city has the bragging rights,” writes Mashable.com‘s Charlie White in his take on the report.

While the numbers may be right — starting with LinkedIn and Facebook users per capita — I think what gets lost in the story (not to mention its letter grades. D-plus? Ugh!) is the main appeal of social media, especially in business.

Influence.

Men’s Health built part of its study on similar research done by B2B research firm NetProspex last fall, which also measured business people based on their social connectivity and reach across the networks. Oklahoma City came staggering across the finish line there as well, ranked 46th out of 50 cities.

Now do I think Oklahoma City and other Midwestern burgs need to leapfrog over Seattle, Silicon Valley and Austin? No, obviously social media is more mainstream in all of those places. But that’s precisely my point.

In cities where social media is less adapted by the mainstream, but used by the first-adapter and decision-making crowd across a smaller geographical space, it can be more influential than it may be in New York, Los Angeles or Chicago.

Consider the case of Big Truck Tacos. Adopting an aggressive social media marketing strategy, Big Truck courted the small crowd of online influences and members of the media in Oklahoma City. The result was standing room-only crowds at the restaurant, nearly 16,000 Facebook fans and a victory in Food Network‘s $10,000 online contest to name the nation’s top food truck.

Social media engagement and influence, indeed, even from a city in the low 40s.

Companies looking for an online edge shouldn’t worry about the rankings Men’s Health comes up with in its lab (when it’s not conducting research on squat thrusts). Instead it needs to trust in the ability of small die-hard followers (Tribes, as marketing guru Seth Godin calls them) to provide online influence and advocacy.

That’s what will separate the cities where social media works and where it’s just another thing to do on your way to your fancy skyscraper.

Oh wait, we’ve got one of those, too.

Koehler, of Oklahoma City, is president and chief strategist of Smirk New Media.

Kathryn Mathis and Cally Johnson pose with one of the food vending trucks for their Big Truck Tacos. (Photo by Paul B. Southerland, The Oklahoman)

It wasn’t that long ago that downtown was not the place to stage events and festivals. It’s a part of Brewer family lore that State Fair Park was considered the choice venue for a Halloween haunted house when the late Jim Brewer took a shot at opening the Bricktown Haunted Warehouse a quarter century ago.

At that time downtown was host to the annual Spring Festival of the Arts, and that was about it. In 2011, however, everyone wants to stage events and festivals downtown, especially in Bricktown.

But special events often require street closings painful to merchants and businesses. They can even bring about competition for visitors time, attention and money. For the most part, such conflicting interests have been resolved peacefully with event organizers agreeing to end their events and reopen streets by early evening.

The Oklahoma City Council is tasked today with deciding, or at least delaying a decision, on whose interests to protect when it considers an application by Montage Festivals to close Mickey Mantle Drive for a weekend-long art festival this summer.

Bricktown merchants — restaurants like Nonna’s and Mickey Mantle Steakhouse who have invested millions in creating a permanent presence in the district — stand to lose customers during the street closing.

This loss of business won’t be for a charity or a nonprofit venture. Montage is a commercial entity — with no investment in Bricktown — wishing to stage an art festival and make some money regardless of the expense to the district’s merchants.

It’s of interest that city staff is recommending the application be approved. Would they make a similar recommendation to shut down Memorial Road by Quail Springs or Pennsylvania Avenue in front of Penn Square Mall for a commercial entity as well?

Organizers of the arts festival argue their event will increase business for the merchants, though there is no indication of increased sales for merchants during last year’s festival.

This sort of conflict goes beyond special events. Over the past year downtown has seen a surge, and then a pullback, of food trucks from popular restaurants lining up along Park Avenue.

The conflict again comes up — should a mobile food operation with no investment downtown be allowed to park in front of established restaurants with far more at risk?

The Oklahoma City Council is tasked today with deciding, or at least delaying a decision, on whose interests to protect when it considers an application by Montage Festivals to close Mickey Mantle Drive for a weekend-long art festival this summer.