Tiep Nguyen, with Heo’s, prepares food for rescue workers inside his mobile kitchen as volunteers work to aid tornado victims on Tuesday, May 21, 2013 in Moore, Okla. Photo by Steve Sisney, The Oklahoman

I just spoke with Jinny Chen, who has been helping coordinate food trucks into the devastated areas in Moore to support rescue and recovery crews. She tells me they no longer need any volunteers. The Health Department also issued a release about food trucks lining the perimeter of the affected area, which were not meeting health standards. It sounds like those who should never have been down there have been sent away.

The food trucks which do belong out there are now deploying from the Norman Armory. Jinny tells me the trucks themselves could use donations as could the Oklahoma Chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police.

The trucks who’ve been participating include: MotoChef, The Crepe Brewers, La Gumbo Yaya, The Taste of Soul Egg Roll, Wild Al’s, Pizza23, Big Truck Tacos, Mutt’s Amazing Hot Dogs, Heo’s Kitchen and Waffle Champion. Chef Ryan Parrott, soon of Tamazul, has also been active as has The Meat House and Szechuan Bistro in bringing food and product to workers and truck operators.

I’ll be going down to ride along on Friday and will have more coverage then.

UPDATED:

Well, it’s only for a day, or two, but it’s true. James Beard Award-winning chef Danny Bowien, who grew up in Oklahoma City, is returning home to not only help but bolster the OK Chefs Relief Pop-Up Restaurant on Monday. Chef Jonathon Stranger of Ludivine confirmed Bowien will be on the line Sunday to help cook for those willing to donate money to the Red Cross.

Read the link above to find details about how Bowien will pop-up a street version of his wildly successful Mission Chinese concept in the Myriad Gardens restaurant space. Good buddy Christina Tosi is helping, too, by supplying dessert from Momofuku Milk Bar.

Bowien was recently named The James Beard Foundation’s Rising Star Chef of the Year for 2013 after his Mission Chinese in New York City made Bon Appetit’s Best New Restaurant list in 2011. Bowien also owns Mission Burger in San Francisco.

Bowien has said in numerous publications that he’s interested in opening a full-time restaurant in his home town, but has no imminent plans. Of course, who knows what a good showing here might affect that.

I will have much more on Bowien’s imminent arrival and the OK Chefs Relief effort. Be sure to use the #OKChefsRelief hashtag as you retweet this amazing news.
See you there?

If you happen to be out of town this Cinco, you can still get  a 2-ounce serving of the new queso with tortilla chips at locations in Texas, Kansas, Louisiana, and Missouri. In Arkansas, Taco Bueno restaurants in Bentonville, Fayetteville, Ft. Smith, Rogers and Springdale will be participating. For a store locator, go here.

James Beard Award Winning Celebrity Chef and judge of Food Network’s hit show “Chopped,” Maneet Chauhan has partnered with ProStart to include future culinary students in her tour stop of Oklahoma City.

Maneet will be in town as part of her tour with co-author, Daily Food & Wine Founder and Jetset Magazine Travel Editor, Doug Singer to promote their book “Flavors of My World” (Favorite Recipes Press; May 1, 2013). She also has a dinner and book-signing planned for Saturday night at the Museum Cafe.

Local ProStart students from Meridian Technology Center will meet at Francis Tuttle Technology Center Rockwell Campus, 12777 N. Rockwell Ave., to compete for first, second, or third place on Saturday from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. The students will have 40 minutes to create a healthy entrée that is indicative of contemporary American cuisine. The winner will receive a set of Gunter Wilhelm Executive Series knives, a favorite of professional chefs worldwide. The top three ProStart student finalists will experience firsthand the National Restaurant Association Show 2013 and the honor of traveling to Washington, D.C, where they will spend the day cooking with one of the featured chefs of the White House Chef Tour.

ProStart is a two-year program supported by the National Restaurant Association Education Foundation and state restaurant associations across the country. The career-building program blends classroom learning with mentored work experience to teach high school students the management and culinary skills needed for a career in the restaurant and foodservice industry.
The competition is free and open to the public and can be found on the west side of campus in the school of Culinary Arts.

Meanwhile, check out here video for a mac ‘n’ cheese using Indian inspiration above.

The event a Oklahoma City Museum of Art’s Museum Cafe, 415 Couch Dr., on Saturday, April 27, starting at 6:45 p.m.

Guests will receive a signed and personalized cookbook, a specialty cocktail, three-course meal and wine pairings with the appetizer and entree courses and the chance to meet chef Chauhan.
Cost is $95 plus tax and gratuity. The book-signing begins at 6:45 with dinner served at 7:45. Call 235-6262 for reservations.

At the event the Oklahoma City Museum of Art’s Museum Cafe, 415 Couch Dr., on Saturday guests will receive a signed and personalized cookbook, a specialty cocktail, three-course meal and wine pairings with the appetizer and entree courses and the chance to meet chef Chauhan.

Cost is $95 plus tax plus gratuity. The book-signing begins at 6:45 with dinner served at 7:45. Call 235-6262 for reservations.

The H&8th Night Market returns Friday from 7 to 11 p.m. on Hudson Avenue between NW 7 and 8 Street. The season opener in March drew an estimated 2,500 folks, which has inspired some changes.

“We’re all incredibly inspired by the way the community has embraced this celebration of food and music,” said Laura Massenat, H&8th co-founder and co-owner of Elemental Coffee. “We’re all having a blast and constantly looking for creative ways to improve the experience. Right now we’re focusing on how people move around in the space, crowd-flow.”

A free bike valet service will make its debut at the April event; check-in is behind Elemental Coffee. Food trucks will be pushed back approximately 4 feet to the curb and realigned in a wing formation around the live music stage, providing additional walkable space and encouraging more use of the lawn area for games and activities.

Food and beverage output will also be increased to accommodate large crowds. Food vendors will coordinate menus to reduce overlap and share best practices to increase speed and efficiency. There will be more lighted outdoor furniture, spread more evenly across the event space.

This month’s food truck participants include: Hawk’s Hot Dogs; Heo’s Kitchen; MotoChef; Off The Hook Seafood; Pizza 23; Roxy’s Ice Cream Social; Taste of Soul Egg Roll; Urban Agrarian; and Wild Al’s. Organic Squeeze, a soon-to-open organic, cold-pressed juice bar will offer free samples. Ludivine will serve its full menu with open seating. Elemental Coffee will serve coffee and tea, fresh salads, hummus and pita, and coffee-inspired cocktails. COOP Ale Works will offer craft beer.

HonkyTonk StepChild will kick-off the live music at 7 p.m., followed by the Paul Benjamin Band at 8 p.m., The Waymires at 9 p.m. and Sonic Violence at 10 p.m. Edmond High School senior Sara Boone will play acoustic music inside Elemental Coffee from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
ScissorTale Salon will host an in-store Bones ‘N’ Arrows pop-up shop, featuring vintage and local handmade goods. E-Roy, host of “Toaster Brunch” on The Spy will DJ inside Ludivine from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. and Katie Wicks, host of The Spy’s “SpyLab,” will DJ the Ludivine after-party from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m.

The Oklahoma City Arts Council’s Festival of the Arts has named H&8th its official Friday night after-party spot. Ludivine will donate 25 percent of bar sales to Arts Council of Oklahoma City.
For more information about H&8th Night Market, including an event map, visit h8thokc.com or call 633-1703. Updates will be posted on Facebook and Twitter: #OKCNightMarket.

Who’s goin!?!

American charcuterie teacher Kate Hill and French farmer/butcher Dominique Chapolard will be in Oklahoma City on April 16 and 17 as a guest of the Culinary Arts program at Francis Tuttle CareerTech, 12777 N Rockwell.

This is a hands-on workshop with Dominique and Kate, who will help students discover the French way to butcher and breakdown a pig for charcuterie and create a butcher’s dozen of traditional French Farmstead charcuterie including: noix de jambon, jambonneaux, ventrèche roulée, fricandeaux, paté de campagne, paté en croute, paté de tête, saucisse de Toulouse, saucisson, saucisse seche, paupiettes, rillettes, and grattons.

To Book a place go online to here. For more information, email Marc Dunham at MDunham@francistuttle.edu. Workshop fee is $875 and includes 15 hours instruction, workshop materials costs; class written materials; lunches and beverages. Workshops limited to 20 participants max.

The Coach’s in downtown Norman, 102 W Main St., was the first to open and as of Jan. 31, was the last to close. The venerable pizza, barbecue and burger concept makes way for a new S&B Burger Joint, marking the fourth addition to the local chain. The downtown Norman space had been operating as S&B Burger Joint by Coach’s since October, but ownership ultimately decided a full-on conversion was in order, retiring the Coach’s name at the end of January.

Shannon Roper explains plans for the conversion of Coach’s into S&B Burger Joint in Norman.

The new store opens Monday with special services benefiting Food and Shelter for Friends from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Customers can get a table with a minimum $5 donation and eat for free. All items besides bottled sodas, alcoholic beverages and pies will be free with that donation.

The little burger joint that could thanks to the imagination of Shannon Roper and Bryan Neel is quickly becoming the face of Oklahoma City burgerdom. I am told the next target for S & B is far north Oklahoma City. The tentative target is for a June opening.

Coach’s originally opened in 1996 by Sooner legend Steve Owens, Jack Hooper and Hal Smith. It eventually expanded into Bricktown and Edmond before those stores closed in reverse order. It was a common place for Sooner fans to cheer on the crimson and cream with a cold beer and something to eat.

Are you sadder to see Coach’s go or more excited to see S&B Burger Joint arrive in downtown Norman?

Originally 105degrees Cafe, Matthew Kenney OKC had its last dinner service Saturday.

Big Truck Tacos partners Kathryn Mathis, left, and Chris Lower, back, will open a new barbecue restaurant this spring. Partner Cally Johnson is now executive chef at Cafe 501 Classen Curve.

Matthew Kenney OKC, 5820 N Classen Blvd., has closed, ending an ambitious experiment introducing upscale raw food. The troubled restaurant opened as 105degrees in 2009 before changing to Matthew Kenney OKC in 2011.

Restaurant officials have said the space will reopen under Kenney’s direction in the spring as a new concept. No official word yet on whether the new concept will continue to spotlight raw food preparations. Here’s hoping whatever chef Kenney does with the Classen Curve space will resonate as his raw foods restaurant helped boost the culinary reputation of Oklahoma City.

About the time Kenney’s new concept opens, two of three founding partners of Big Truck Tacos and Mutt’s Amazing Hot Dogs will unveil their interpretation of barbecue. Partners Chris Lower and Kathryn Mathis promise Back Door Barbecue, 315 NW 23 St., will celebrate classic barbecue and elevate it in the same way Big Truck Tacos did the taqueria and Mutt’s did the hot dog stand.

Mathis has already been hard at work testing recipes for the menu, which she and Lower hope to unveil is in the next two months. You can keep up with updates on the restaurant’s Facebook page. The second half of the Taco Twins, Cally Johnson, is now executive chef at Cafe 501 Classen Curve. She maintains a stake in both BTT and Mutt’s.

The addition of Back Door Barbecue to Uptown further strengthens the position of the NW 23 Street corridor, which is anchored by Big Truck, Mutt’s, Tucker’s Onion Burgers, Cheever’s Cafe, the recently opened Pizza 23 and the Asian District.

Which new concept do you look forward to the most?

Snowpacalypse 2013 is upon us, and I was asked to venture out to see what local grocers might have earmarked as “emergency foods.” Turns out, I actually made the mistake of overlooking the oncoming snowpacalypse predictions before doing our weekly grocery shopping on Sunday. I was treated to crowded aisles, empty shelves and fevered shoppers. Reaching for a package of 80-20 ground chuck, I was crossed on both sides by women boxing me out for fear I was interested in impeding on the ground round and 90-10 extra lean in their sights. How little those two know my name. Ground round was my mother’s grind, and 90-10 is strictly prohibited in Castle Cathey. Teetering on the brink of claustrophobic meltdown, I retreated to the safety of the frozen foods section. Few were cleaning out the freezer, perhaps for fear that power outages were in the forecast.

On Monday, I made it out to two different Walmart stores, hunting the elusive “emergency foods” we hypothesized might exist. While I didn’t find that designation, I did run into some folks stuffing carts, ignoring 20-item limits at cashiers and a lot of empty bread shelves.
On the upside, I did find a new product I couldn’t survive without trying. East Coast snack-cakery Tasteekakes has released Kandy Bar Kakes with a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup interpretation. They had me at spelling cake with a K, but Reese’s just added pace and anticipation to the trip from the snack aisle to the cash register.

So quickly did I Daytona 500 it toward the exit, I almost missed the beef stock I needed to make tonight’s carne guisada. Anyone who claims a kinship to comfort food knows carne guisada is in the top tier of that designation. What’s more handy than comfort in an emergency situation?

What have you stocked up on for the impending snowpacalypse and what comfort foods have you got in mind for your family?

The Emmy and James Beard Award-winning series was renewed for an eleventh season this week, triggering open calls for chefs interested in competing in the high-stakes culinary competition.

For additional casting information and to download an application, visit www.BravoTV.com/casting. “Top Chef” season 11 casting calls are as follows:

AUSTIN
Monday, February 11, 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Uchiko

BROOKLYN
Wednesday, February 20, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Talde

LAS VEGAS

Wednesday, February 20, 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
STK in The Cosmopolitan

CHICAGO
Sunday, February 24, 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Girl & The Goat

MIAMI
Monday, February 25, 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Michy’s

LOS ANGELES
Friday, March 1, 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
The Foundry on Melrose

On the latest episode, contestants docked in Juneau, Alaska, guest judge Sean Brock joined Emeril Lagasse, Hugh Acheson, Gail Simmons, head judge Tom Colicchio and host Padma Lakshmi.
Chef Sheldon Simeon took the King Crab quick-fire challenge, and chef Brooke Williamson won the salmon bake and sourdough elimination challenge. South African chef Lizzie Binder’s meh Salmon Sourdough Slider fell short, costing her a shot at the finale in Los Angeles.

We will record a new “Top Chef” podcast on Friday afternoon, meanwhile check out some of the podcasts we’ve recorded so far:

Holiday update from Jan. 4

 Holiday update from Nov. 30