Chefs' Feast | Benefiting the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma

Cafe Evoke Catering - Oklahoma's premier specialty coffee catering company is proud to be a part of the upcoming annual fundraiser for the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma. The event is being held on April 9th from 7:00 - 10:00 in the evening at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. Here is a recent press release about the event: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Angie Gaines 405-604-7109 againes@regionalfoodbank.org JOIN “SUPER FOOD DUDE” AS HE TAKES A BITE OUT OF CHILDHOOD HUNGER AT THE CHEFS’ FEAST! Oklahoma City (March 23, 2009) – Fear not: hunger-hero Super Food Dude is here to fight childhood hunger at The Chefs’ Feast on Thursday, April 9th at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum from 7 to 10 p.m. The 22nd annual food and wine tasting event benefits the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma’s Food 4 Kids backpack program, which provides weekend food to more than 8,000 chronically hungry elementary school children. The superhero themed Chefs’ Feast, presented by Chesapeake Energy Corporation, will feature some of the finest chefs the Oklahoma City metro area has to offer. Along with the SUPER food and wine, guests will have the opportunity to “take a bite out of childhood hunger” by purchasing chances to win a trip to Batman’s hometown of Gotham City, courtesy of Southwest Airlines; Lois Lane and Clark Kent Timepieces (watches), courtesy of B.C. Clark; an autographed cookbook by Super Chef Paula Dean; and superhero liquid courage at the wine pull, courtesy of Glazer’s, where one bottle is worth nearly $250! Through The Chefs’ Feast, chefs help feed hungry children by doing what they do best: creating delicious cuisine, such as grilled coconut chicken with thai basil sauce, mini red velvet cupcakes, and mini lobster baked potatoes. In fact, the event includes an open bar and will feature flavorful samples from over 100 entrees and 25 desserts that are guaranteed to jumpstart anyone’s taste buds! The following hunger-fighting chefs and restaurants will help Super Food Dude save the day: Coordinating Chef Kurt Fleischfrasser, The Coach House; Coordinating Chef Don Thiery, The Catering Company; Chef Genni Woodward, Casady; Chef Robert Black, Cheever's Cafe; Chef Ken Bradford, Chef's Requested Foods; Chef Anthony Graves, Faculty House, University of Oklahoma, HSC; Gopuram Taste of India; Chef Ken Burkemper, Ideas In Ice; Chef Ryan Thomas, Iguana Grill; Chef Trina Burks, INTEGRIS Southwest; Chef Marcelo Miranda, INTEGRIS Baptist; Chef Kamala Gamble, Kam's Kookery and Guilford Gardens; Chefs Mike Todd and Jonathan Krell, Nonna's Euro-American Ristorante & Bar; Chef Jonas Favela, Ranch Steakhouse; Chef Kyle Mills, Red Prime Steakhouse; Chef Rob Ferris, The Sheraton; Chefs Kelli Keegan, Kenny Stratton, and Joe Hackett, Sodexho Catering; Chef Ian Wagner, The Gourmet Grill, located inside Buy 4 Less; Chef Gerald Harden, The Mantel Wine Bar & Bistro; Chefs Chad Mays and Christine Dowd, Trattoria Il Centro; and Chef Jeffrey Khowong, Will Rogers Theater. -MORE- CHEFS’ FEAST – 2 Guests can give childhood hunger a one-two punch by purchasing a patron table, which includes reserved seating for 10, two bottles of fine wine and sponsorship of a Food 4 Kids backpack of weekend food for one child for an entire school year, for $1,400. Individual tickets start at $100. “Children should not have to worry about where their next meal will come from,” said Claudia Robertson, chair of The Chefs’ Feast. “This is a fun way for every Oklahoman to become a hunger hero in the fight against childhood hunger. By purchasing a patron table or a ticket to Chefs’ Feast, one person really can make a difference in the life of a child.” Currently, more than 8,000 elementary school students in 239 schools in 37 counties benefit from the Food 4 Kids program by receiving a backpack of nutritious, kid-friendly food to sustain them over weekends and holidays when school meal programs are not available. Many of these children were eating little or nothing between their school lunch on Friday and school breakfast on Monday. “Childhood hunger in Oklahoma is a serious problem, but we have the solution,” said Rodney Bivens, executive director of the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma. “A donation of $200 can provide weekend food for a hungry child for an entire school year, which puts food in their belly and a smile on their face. The Regional Food Bank is extremely thankful that the participating chefs are donating their time and efforts to help fight this worthy cause.” Superhero sponsors include: Presenting Sponsor Chesapeake Energy Corporation; Devon Energy Corporation; SandRidge Energy; NBC Bank; Chef’s Requested; B.C. Clark Jewelers; 7UP/RC Bottling Company; Glazer’s Oklahoma; Traction Marketing Group; 92.5 KOMA; Magic 104.1 KMGL; Southwest Airlines; Event Planning by Leilani, Inc.; Tarawick Photography; and the Toy and Action Figure Museum. To purchase a patron table or tickets to The Chefs’ Feast, contact wonder-girl Angie Gaines at againes@regionalfoodbank.org or 405-604-7109. To learn more about the Regional Food Bank’s Food 4 Kids program, visit www.regionalfoodbank.org. -30- The Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma is a private, 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization that acts as a link through which the food industry and community may donate food and other goods. The products are then distributed to nearly 700 schools and charitable feeding programs in 53 central and western Oklahoma counties. In the last fiscal year, the Food Bank distributed nearly 25 million pounds of food and product to help the charitable community effectively feed people in need. Since its inception in 1980, the Food Bank has distributed more than 300 million pounds of food to feed Oklahoma’s hungry. You can go ahead and add Cafe Evoke Catering to that list! We fill feature our full service deluxe specialty coffee bar for this event along with a great single origin drip coffee to go along with all the great food that will be presented. If you are looking for a way to get involved in the community and help out a great cause, this is the place for your to be on April 9th. Contact the group for more information and be sure to tell everyone you know about it so that this year's event will raise the bar for the future of kids across our city. ...be bold Tagged: cafe evoke catering, Oklahoma City, coffee catering, regional food bank of oklahoma Add us on Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter!

1708 - An Update

After checking the calendar, it is clear that it is the 28th of March. We are way behind schedule with getting the doors unlocked at 1708 - the new home of Cafe Evoke Catering, Gibson Events and Josh McCullock Photography. We are anxious and ready for the move but also are trying to make this the best studio/tasting room that we can! Here are a few photos of the progress. We think we are about two weeks away at this point: These photos are a few days old. We ran by today and found out that the HVAC system is in place throughout the space now and it looks like they are about to get the bathroom stuff installed and get the rest of the kitchen going. There was a minor set back in that the City will not let us in until the space right next door is done so there is a big push on that right now. Things are looking great! Keep checking back for more updates. ...be bold Tagged: cafe evoke catering, Oklahoma City, coffee catering, CHANGE! Add us on Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter!

A New Look for Cafe Evoke @ The Brides of Oklahoma

***Updated*** - Just wanted to let you know that the contact form at CafeEvoke.com is now working properly! Cool. As many of you know, weddings are a big thing for Cafe Evoke Catering - Oklahoma's premier specialty coffee catering company. We love serving up great espresso drinks at these events! We have become great friends with one of the magazines we advertise in - The Brides of Oklahoma - and when they told us they added a new option for their vendors, we jumped right on board! We now have a brand new vendor profile! Go take a look and let us know what you think! If you know someone getting married in OK, this is a great place to start in finding the best vendors Oklahoma has to offer. Also, on a side note, we know that the contact form at CafeEvoke.com has a bit of a color problem - we are on it! It should be easier to use in the next day or so. If you have tried to contact us through the form and got confused, no worries. Just give us a call or send an email to the address to the left of the form. The form does work, you will just not be able to see what you typed once you move to the next box. Have a nice Wednesday! ...be bold Tagged: cafe evoke catering, Oklahoma City, coffee catering, the brides of oklahoma Add us on Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter!

The Tale of the Gourmet Coffee Bean

Something easy to start your day... I got an email yesterday from the "The coffee freaks at Happy Bean Coffee" about a little "tale" they created to tell the story of their coffee. They asked that I put it up on the blog. I will be honest, I normally would not put something like this up. Not because I do not want to promote other coffee companies or what they are doing to get the word out but because these can sometimes get a bit to much on the "cheese" side. This one wasn't to bad actually. Here is a sample: In the dreamy hours of the morning, the coffee bean begins anew to draw energy from dark, rich, volcanic soil and sunlight filtered through the remains of the previous night. The coffee bean stirs within and, to the first sounds of birds and the morning rituals of nearby inhabitants, the rain forest awakens around it. It is drawn forth towards the day, guided by the call of nature and its internal rhythm. It will be a gourmet Arabica bean or it will be nothing; it will taste rich and be aromatic or existence will be meaningless. It will surpass all expectations. It will start this day as it should and as it does always. You can read the rest over on their website. The company also has a blog that features coffee recipes. While many of the recipes seem to be for beverages, there are some desserts mixed in as well. So, here is to a short "tale" to start your Tuesday. ...be bold Tagged: cafe evoke catering, Oklahoma City, coffee catering, coffee story Add us on Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter!

1708 - Coming Soon!

...be bold Tagged: cafe evoke catering, Oklahoma City, coffee catering, plaza district okc Add us on Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter!

It's About Last Impressions, Really.

Most of the time I just shrug it off but lately it has been getting to me. Picture this: We call and get reservations weeks before we go. We plan out our every move in anticipation for the night - well dressed excitement really. The night finally rolls in and we head out. We arrive just in time dressed in our best and walk to the stand. Yes, we are here - table for two. The wine is fantastic, the service educated and intelligently pleasing and the food is speechlessly remarkable. Everything we had hoped for really. We are in the clouds as we view the fresh handmade art they call dessert. Wow. The dessert comes along with our choice of coffee - black coffee, a cappuccino maybe. Ah, a cappuccino to accompany this triple chocolate delight. First bite and you just want to float away. It is great! Then, you look at your cappuccino...... It's over. It is the same feeling as when you get water poured on your head as you awake from the best sleep imaginable. It is the alarm clock buzzing in your ear. How could a place this great serve something so bad? A place that has spent thousands on wine and the best ingredients they can find. A place that has spent hours training their kitchen staff and servers. A place on the corner of the hip area of town. Coffee gets forgotten! The major problem with this? It has nothing to do with a coffee snob expecting more than they should. It has to do with the final impression. Think about it, you could easily spend $500.00 or more on a great meal with wine and dessert and to finish it off with something that tastes like the back water in your dishwasher? The way I see it is this. Spend a few bucks to train staff! It is that easy. While many would not even dream of putting a plate on the menu that is sub-par as an offering to their customers coffee seems to take the second hand. Realize that the effort to impress is all for nothing if the last thing I do when I am there is send back a coffee drink. That is on my mind, not the great food and experience you set before me only minutes before! All this said - I think times are changing. As customers begin to understand what quality is in coffee they are demanding it. If they are not yet, they will. While we will not accept a steak not cooked to our liking, we are only beginning to return cappuccinos when not up to par. I would challenge everyone to create a coffee program that is as good as the best thing on the menu. Keep in mind that, just like in sports, you are only as good as your weakest link and if the coffee is bad, you have probably just left a sour taste in the mouth you worked so hard to please. Tomorrow I will be talking about a place that is doing things right - serving top notch food and great coffee and dessert at the end. Check back from some thoughts on Crested Butte's own, Soupcon Bistro - a masterpiece by Chef Jason Vernon. ...be bold Tagged: cafe evoke catering, Oklahoma City, coffee catering, Soubcon Crested Butte Add us on Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter!

Live on the Plaza!

cross posted from The Plaza District's Blog LIVE on the Plaza Friday, March 13th 7-11 PM As it is getting warmer, the Plaza District is gearing up for some fantastic LIVE on the Plaza events for spring! Get ready for outdoor arts market, new local artists, outdoor performances, Take your Momma Out shows and sales plus much more! Check below for this month’s events: The Convergence Collective will host a free film screening and dialogue about “Holly”, a film highlighting the issue of child trafficking in various countries around the globe. This fantastic film screening offers an opportunity for education about the issue, and dialogue about the future. Please join the Convergence Collective in screening this articulate and important film. The screening will begin shortly after 7 PM. You are also cordially invited to join Paula And Company Realtors for the Saint Patrick’s Day Luck O’ the Irish Celebration! They will be serving Green Beer, Corned Beef and Cabbage, Soda Bread and Irish cupcakes! The team at “Paula And Company Realtors” enjoys participating and meeting new people each month during this event. Please join their team in celebrating their heritage and the love of the Plaza District community! Also, at 8 PM and 9 PM don’t miss the Balcum Rancum Puppetry Show at Bad Grannies Bazaar along with a open house, refreshments and door prizes given away every 30 minutes! DNA Galleries will host artist Tanner Frady and band Philthy Meat, along with local handmade art and accessories in the DNA Galleries storefront. Collected Thread will be open with local art, crafts, accessories and yummy refreshments! Across the street Performance Dancwear will host free ballroom dance lessons and music by Black Tie Event.Outdoor artist booths will be on display, as well as open studios at No Regrets Tattoo. If you are interested in showing visual art and handmade crafts and accessories at the monthly LIVE on the Plaza, please contact kristen@plazadistrict.org for visual arts, or reartoklahoma@yahoo.com for handmade/indie craft booths. ...be bold Tagged: cafe evoke catering, Oklahoma City, coffee catering, the plaza district okc Add us on Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter!

It's Short Lived | The Coffee and Tea Festival

Alright, so here's the deal. Back in the day, Blog Carnivals where a big hit. They were a great way to get a weekly/monthly/daily/whatever dose of your favorite topic. I have participated in several - from small business to coffee - and I enjoyed them. I thought it would be a great idea to bring it back - the Coffee and Tea Festival that is. I think I was wrong. So, the festival is done with. Here is why: 1. I do not have time to get around 10 or so posts each week 2. We were only getting 2 or so submissions per week 3. Posts about cats, dogs, toilets, beer, sales, etc have NOTHING to do with coffee (getting spam submissions like crazy!) 4. No readers! There is no bitter feelings here at all. I just want to bring better content to A Thought Over Coffee and the festival is not something that is worth it anymore. If you are interested in reading any back editions of the festival, you can check them out here. There is quite a bit out there for you. Here are the final posts that I never got to. Go check them out! Matt presents Now Serving Up....The Best Coffee & Beignets In The World! posted at Actual Food For Thought. Linda Mundy presents About Kona Coffee posted at LJM's Kitchen. If you want to give this festival a go on your blog, leave me a comment and we will get you set up! I still think the idea is good, just need someone to run with it! ...be bold Tagged: cafe evoke catering, Oklahoma City, coffee catering, coffee and tea festival Add us on Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter!

B-cycle | Bring B-Cycle to Oklahoma City!

(**Update** - Oklahoma City is up to 189 votes and number 2 in the nation for B-cycle! Keep the votes coming!) So, you may have heard about Zip Car - a car sharing idea that many large cities take full advantage of. Well, meet B-cycle - a bike sharing idea that is taking the country by storm. Before I go on, here is a short video taken from their website: (**UPDATE** - due to this video running without pushing play, I have taken it down. Please head over to their site to catch the video. While you are there, check out the B-effect, how B-cycle will change your community.) Bike sharing itself is not a new concept. In fact, many small ski towns throughout our country have been doing this for years - along with many European cities including Paris. Take Crested Butte for instance. Every summer, you can find "zebra bikes" parked at bike racks all across the city. The bikes are kept up by students at the community school as they need them. The bikes are then used by the community. You need to head down to town so you find a zebra bike and jump on. When you are done, you put it on the nearest bike rack for the next person. Simple! B-cycle takes it a step further with it's check out system. It not only allows you to check out a bike like a book from a library, it also tracks distance, calories and other data for you and for the total from your community. You can check out more information on B-cycle on their Knowlege Page. We need your vote though. Here is how you do it: 1. Go to the Who Wants It More page and view the map. 2. Click the "I Want It More" link and fill out the form 3. Be sure to check the "tell my mayor I want B-cycle" button before sending That's it! Easy! There is one quick note about this - we need to be sure to put Oklahoma City as the location. I know, some do not live in OKC but if we put Oklahoma City, that will grab much of the areas around it. If we put suburbs, it dilutes the voting results. My cousin Blair over at ImagiNATIVEamerica has been tracking the progress of the vote to get Oklahoma City on the short list of cities that B-cycle will try for. At last update, OKC was number 2 nationally! Keep it up! We need you to push this along to all of your friends as well. This would be great for our community, our health and our budgets! This comes at a great time for me as I am in the process of trying to "de-car" as my friend Siel lies to say over at GreenLAgirl. I will talk more about this in the coming days for sure as I get into a new commuter bike and begin my life on the bike. I will also share local bike pages and other resources for your commute and bike share life. ...be bold Tagged: cafe evoke catering, Oklahoma City, coffee catering, B-cycle Add us on Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter!

CafeEvoke.com | A New Section

We are ready to roll out a new section at CafeEvoke.com. Our goal is to get you the information you need for your next event and we think this will be a great addition! We have added a Downloads section on our site that will give you more information on Cafe Evoke Catering - Oklahoma's premier specialty coffee catering company. In this section you will find menus for each season, our information kit and more information as we go along. This will also be a place that you can download specials that we are offering. Keep checking back as it could be a great way to save you money! Please feel free to download any of the resources found in this section and let us know if you have any other questions. ...be bold Tagged: cafe evoke catering, Oklahoma City, coffee catering, menus Add us on Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter!

Sad News from Home | Explosion in Bozeman, Montana

(photos by Manifest Bozeman) My friend Jon Lewis sent me a message this morning telling me about an explosion in downtown Bozeman, Montana this morning. I thought it was probably a bad thing but that it was not a huge deal. While Jenni and I have been gone for a year now, which is hard to believe, it still feels like home and hurts as bad as it would have if we were still there - if not more. We have been trying hard to get more information and it appears many others have as well. I have been watching Twitter Search for the past few hours. It has been a great way to get information fast. Here are a few videos I have found as well: (Those videos were found with searches on YouTube - all rights belong to the creators) CBS in Bozeman is updating their news feed as soon as information is available. They also have great video feeds and picture galleries. Here is what I know: No Reported Casualities - there were 11 missing but that number is now down to 1 missing It happened around 8:00 am this morning Rocking R Bar, Boodles, Lily Lou's, Montana Trails Gallery and the American Legion where all destroyed I will keep an eye out as the day goes on. While we at Cafe Evoke Catering are no longer in Bozeman, our thoughts and prayers are with everyone there - our friends and family. For some great images, please visit Manifest Bozeman's Design Blog. Thanks to those that are working hard to get the details out and those that are trying to help the situation. Keep it up. Thanks to Twitter for the quick responses and for keeping us up to date! ...be bold Tagged: cafe evoke catering, Oklahoma City, coffee catering, bozeman explosion Add us on Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter!

Off Topic | Smith Evolve Googles

Bare with me for a second. This post has nothing to do with coffee other than I have having a cup as I write it. But, it is in line with both our trip to Colorado and our passion for helping our environment and community. At the end of last season, I came down very hard while skiing with buddies at Montana's Moonlight Basin - one of our favorite places to take some turns. It snapped my goggles and left me with having to tie them on. I arrived her and realized that I needed to get some new ones. We headed down to the shop to grab some and we came across a new line from Smith - one of my favorite companies when it comes to eye wear. The line is called Evolve and, according to Feed the Habit, the line is made "with frame material of up to 96% recycled materials and a bamboo-reinforced strap." They also have a helmet as well to go along with it. Ok, my modeling is not the best you have seen - hell, I try! I have used these several days now and have loved every second of having them. Keep in mind that it is only the frame/strap that come from recycled material. The lens can be one of Smith's great options - about 5 to choose from. If you are in the market for a new set of goggles for Spring Break or end of the year skiing, go check them out. If you are in Crested Butte, you can get them at Shades of Crested Butte for about $150.00 or so (I think). We got a chance to take a look at the 2009/2010 versions and those are going to be great as well. Later... ...be bold Tagged: cafe evoke catering, Oklahoma City, coffee catering, smith evolve Add us on Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter!

Hello from beautiful Crested Butte, CO!

Here we are, in Crested Butte, CO for the first time in what seems like a long time. There is something about stepping out of the car for the first time when you are back in the mountains that brings back those memories - the crisp air, trees, bright stars - it's great! We have had a great time so far with awesome weather - warm but with soft snow, perfect! As I said, I never stay away from coffee, however. We have had a chance to hang around two different shops here in town and hopefully one or two more when we head down to Gunnison in a few hours to pick up family at the airport. The two main shops in town are Camp 4 Coffee and Buckaroo Beanery. Both do their own roasting and have a nice vibe. Buckaroo Beanery calls themselves a "Latte Loft & Internet Cafe" with: -Brand new high speed internet nooks -High quality used books -Board Games -Comfortable Conversation quarters -Occasionally Live Music This is a nice little place with some interested single origins that can be purchased in bulk or to enjoy there. They use a nice Rancillo machine and older Simonelli grinders. They also have a nice loose leaf tea menu which is great. They are open from 6:30am - 10pm Mon-Fri and 7am - 10pm Sat-Sun. Camp 4 Coffee is a veteran in the coffee business of Created Butte. Here is bit from their "story" page on their website: Camp 4 Coffee is located in the beautiful mountain town of Crested Butte Colorado. All of the coffee that is served in the four retail locations and through the web is roasted by hand in small batches by human beings. In fact, only two humans know the top-secret recipe for creating the delicious Camp 4 beans. Camp 4 is lucky to have a great team of baristas, kitchen crew and roasters, who are lead by a dynamic personality known as Al Smith. While I am not sure what they mean when saying that no one knows the secret recipe for created their "beans" but they have a nice product. I have had much more of Camp 4's stuff than Buckaroo's so I will offer my opinion. It is dark - all of them! They also do not offer any (that I saw) single origins that I have grown to love in the cup. We pressed the Silver Hammer which is a Fair Trade and Organic version of their "award winning" Sledgehammer. It about knocked me over! I could hardly pick out any of the flavors in the blend. I will give it another go a bit later to see what I think. They have a great crew working there, however, and we have enjoyed strolling over for coffee in the morning and talking. They have a few that pour latte art which is fun and their is always a lively crowd hanging around the bar. While I prefer my cappuccinos to have a more velvety smooth milk, I have not had to put any of theirs down yet. We will talk more about coffee as we go. Maybe I will try to see about getting to meet with Al, the owner of Camp 4 Coffee, and get a tour of the roastery! I'll keep you updated. Here are some pictures from the trip so far... ...be bold Tagged: cafe evoke catering, Oklahoma City, coffee catering, crested butte colorado Add us on Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter!