Dialogue Institute’s Friendship Dinner In OKC

The Oklahoma Chapter of the Dialogue Institute of the Southwest held its annual awards dinner on the evening of March30th, 2017. The Dialogue Institute is dedicated to increasing understanding among people and the event was held to recognize several Oklahomans who have worked to accomplish that goal. The attendees were greeted with works of Turkish pottery that were offered for sale through a silent auction and the honorees were given large circular plates of that pottery with their names embossed on them. The guests were also given brightly colored Turkish pottery bowls as gifts
The attendees reflected the diversity of the greater Oklahoma City area, and included Jewish rabbis, Muslim imams, elected officials, and two members of the Oklahoma Supreme Court.
The annual Humanitarian Award was bestowed on Thunder Basketball player Enes Kanter and the Light Foundation that he founded. The attendees were shown a short film that documented how Kanter has worked at the Oklahoma City Food Bank and visited schools in low income areas of Oklahoma City. In addition, he has travelled the world to play basketball with young children in an effort to encourage them to strive to be the best that they can be. When he accepted the award Kanter spoke of how he initially came to Oklahoma City since he was traded to the Thunder team, but in the intervening years Oklahoma City has become his home.
Robert Henry, the president of Oklahoma City University, was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award and the video that was shared on his career documented that his career of public service began with his election to the Oklahoma State Legislature and that he was subsequently elected Oklahoma’s attorney general. The honoree later served as a judge in the U.S. Court of Appeals. As chief executive of OCU Henry has sought to connect that institution and its students to international organizations and people of various faiths and the video showed how he has been successful in those efforts.
Henry expressed gratitude for the honor bestowed on him and told of the work that the Dialogue Institute has done to bring people of different religious traditions together to foster greater toleration.
The Global Vision Award honoree was Mary Blankenship Pointer, who is an official at the Oklahoma City based Republic Bank And Trust. The film presentation shown on her told of how she has worked tirelessly on projects around the world to assist the less fortunate through organization such as the Sister Cities program and an organization that provided natal care to women.
The keynote address was delivered by Reverend Dirk Ficca, who reminded the attendees that all faiths have their radical elements and that they do not reflect the believes and attitudes of the mainstream members of those religions. He told of the commonality of faiths was recently displayed after a Muslim mosque in Texas was burned to the ground and the rabbi of a synagogue in the same community presented the keys to his structure to Muslim leaders and how Muslims raised funds to rebuild a Jewish cemetery after it had been vandalized.
Ficca warned of the dangers of when extreme rhetoric moves from the fringes of society to the mainstream, and when particular groups are demonized.
The event concluded with an invocation delivered by Representative Collin Walke of the Oklahoma Legislature who asked God to help bring people together and foster greater understanding among different groups

Camilya’s Mediterranean Café In OKC

The New York Times recently ran an article about the 91 year old “Miss Ella” Brennan of New Orleans, Louisiana, who is the owner and founder of the Commander’s Palace restaurant in that city. Her brother Owen Brennan was the owner of Brennan’s restaurant that is located in the French Quarter of New Orleans.
The article detailed how the formidable Ms. Brennan, who is also known as “Hurricane Ella,” became one of the first female restaurateurs in New Orleans and mentored many chefs, including Paul Prudhomme and Emeril Lagasse who later opened their own popular eateries. Brennan has charmed patrons for more than five decades and is credited with the development of culinary tradition that is known as “haute Creole.” The only regret that Brennan expressed in the interview was the fact that a family feud separated her from several of her restaurateur relatives for years, and she is quoted as saying “family is everything.”
And it is possible that in the decades to come similar statements will be made about Abeer Esleem who is the owner and operator of Camilya’s Mediterranean Café on May Ave in Oklahoma City. She formerly operated that facility with her former husband, Alex, and when they parted several years ago she assumed ownership of the place. Her former husband opened a new place in Edmond that is named “Jerusalem”. And Esleem displays a warmth comparable to Brennan’s to her patrons as well as a savvy business sense that accounts for the café’s success under her ownership. It is located in the Quail Plaza Shopping Center, and its somewhat small interior has sometimes resulted in customers waiting for tables to become available. That fact may account for the increasing number of orders that are phoned in, Esleem believes, and the arrival of professional deliverers of food who arrive there during the dinner hour carrying heat maintaining containers that appear to be the size of coffins. There is also a small porch area where patrons be served that is popular during the fall and spring seasons. And the fact that many patrons order without first perusing the menus may be indicative of the establishment’s loyal customer base. The ease in which those patrons order items such as gyros, chicken tawook, kufta kabobs and lentil soup would suggest that those Mediterranean staples are in the process of becoming part of Oklahoma City’s culinary traditions.
She operates her place with the assistance of two young   chefs, Tayseer Zaid, who is her nephew, and Ahmed Hetnawi, and both of them on a recent day could be observed preparing food with youthful enthusiasm and gusto. It is possible that in time they may be opening their own eateries. Esleem has a devotion to her family comparable to Brennan’s, and her two young daughters are frequently in the place. She does not open on Sundays, she explains, because she wants to spend the day with her children and also wants her employees to be able to spend to with their families on that day as well.

Expedition To Altus For Walkin’ On Chalk Event

Altus- The City Auditorium in this southwestern Oklahoma town began to come to life yesterday at midmorning as people of various ages began to enter and exit it as the annual “Walkin’ On Chalk” event began. Many of those departing the structure were brandishing boxes of brightly colored chalk that was soon being used to transform the pale sidewalks in the area into vivid works of art. The transformation was not confined solely to the sidewalks as a small piece of canvas suddenly became a bounce house castle with four turrets that soon became full of gleeful young children and a portable bowling alley sponsored by the Head Start Program of Western Oklahoma was put in place along with a tent promoting healthy eating habits that was sponsored by the Jackson County Health Department. A pretty young girl was tasked with assembling the bowling pins after they were knocked down, and she performed her duties with dedication and good cheer. A lion who walked on two legs who was wearing a shirt that publicized the Head Start program was in attendance as well. A contingent of food trucks stood a silent sentries adjacent to the area and provided refreshment to the attendees. Inexplicably, four canoes were in place on the pavement near the sidewalks where the artists were at work. In previous years the gathering, which is sponsored by the Altus Main Street organization, was held on the Town Square of Altus, which served to highlight the improvements that are being made there. But it was decided to hold it adjacent to the City Auditorium would serve to generate interest in that structure that has not been used much in recent years. Inside that building is a metal plaque that lists the names of the men from Altus who lost their lives in the Second World War which gives one a sense of its historical importance to the community.
The majority of the artists were children of various races and ethnicities and their drawings reflected their youth and diversity. A brightly colored American flag was drawn near an image of the Oklahoma City Thunder Basketball Team’s logo. Some drew portraits of jaunty young men and women that they artists possibly aspire to be in the future. The enthusiasm of some of the participants resulted in their legs and arms being covered with pastel colors that served to make them works of art as well.
Artists who work in other mediums were in place in a nearby parking lot where they offered their creations for sale. Their number included Wengai Kahuni, who is originally from Southern Africa whose work includes beaded metal African animals. His creations were admired by many of the attendees and many of the zebras, lions, and elephants that stood at attention on his sale table were carried off in little hands as a result. The artist reported that he made arrangements with one customer to create a cowboy boot with the logo of the Texas A & M University on it, which may be indicative of the cultural connections that Altus and other communities in southern Oklahoma have with the Lone Star State.

Chef’s Fest For Oklahoma Food Bank At Cowboy Hall Of Fame In OKC

The annual Chef’s Fest of Oklahoma City was held in the evening of March 23, 2017 at the National Cowboy And Western Heritage Museum. The large number of attendees at the event was shown by the fact that the entire parking area was filled before the scheduled starting time of 6:30 and later arrivals had to be directed to an adjacent field where they parked their vehicles and were then taken to the Museum in groups through a shuttle service. The attendees were told in the programs that awaited them at their tables that the gathering is for the purpose of raising funds for the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma that operates a program to provide sustenance to poverty stricken students in the Oklahoma City area. A total of 22 chef tables were in place where the attendees were offered tasty dishes from the restaurants and catering services that they represented. Attendees brandishing small paper serving dishes were soon seen amassing before each of them and telling of the fare that they looked forward to sampling at the other chef tables. Images of some of the chefs in various poses were shown on a large screen that included some of them dressed as popular celebrities. One of the more intriguing images presented was a picture of Gopuram Indian restaurants chef and owner Veeral Mehta holding a large fish. While Mr. Mehta did not provide an explanation of that photo, the flavorful Indian fare that was offered from the Gopuram table was enjoyed by the patrons as shown by the number of people who surrounded it throughout the event.
The innovation that is ongoing in Oklahoma City’s eateries was evident in some of the intriguing foods that were offered such as buffalo burgers and small sandwiches made of Korean barbeque and Asian slaw. The diversity of the Oklahoma City dining experience was evident in the number of African American and Asian chefs in attendance, but it was surprising that none of the Mediterranean restaurants in Oklahoma City area were represented at the gathering . A wide array of desert items enticed patrons from several of the tables. And some patrons could be seen writing down addresses and phone numbers on their programs as they talked to the chefs present Several open bars were in place as well, which may account for the merriment that was displayed by many of the guests.
The director of the Regional Food Bank Katie Fitzgerald addressed the gathering and thanked them for their support and told of the various programs that her entity has in place for the estimated 37,000 hungry children that are currently found in central and western Oklahoma. More than 18,000 of those children in 512 schools have been given backpacks that contain food, Fitzgerald said. Pantries have also been put in place in many schools in central Oklahoma to supply food to sustain students over the weekends and holidays She also spoke with feeling of the gratitude that she felt to those who were present as she bestowed awards on several of the chefs who had organized the event.

Kerem Kanter At Zam Zam Mediterranean Grill In Warr Acres

Last year, an article appeared in the august Wall Street Journal that told of how several of the players on the Thunder Basketball Team of Oklahoma City had developed a fondness for Halal food that is prepared in accordance with Muslim dietary laws. Those requirements are similar to the ones that are used for foods that are deemed to be Kosher in accordance with Jewish traditions. The article told of how Enis Kanter of the team ordered only Halal foods while the team was on the road, and that in time several of the players, including Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant, had developed a fondness for some of those dishes and the teams food orders at the Halal establishments that prepared them increased accordingly. Soon Kanter and his colleagues began to assign numbers to the Halal places that were available in the locations that the team travelled to based on their collective preferences.
After the Oklahoma City media reported on that story, one local restaurateur, Yousef Al Yassin, who is the co-owner of the Zam Zam Mediterranean Grill and Hookah Bar located on MacArthur Avenue off of 39th Street in Warr Acres decided to invite Kanter and his teammates to sample the Halal food that is prepared at his eatery. Al Yassin, who displays the self assurance that is often found in self made men,was of the opinion that the Halal food he served would warrant a high number from Kanter and his teammates.
The resourceful Al Yassin had an invitation prepared that was written in Turkish with the assistance of some of his patrons who were natives of Turkey. And it seemed that early this week that Mr. Kanter had taken Mr. Al Yassin up on that invitation as a tall man with a mustache was present at Zam Zam with another individual who was wearing a Thunder tee shirt. In addition, a hairy figure was seen in the front seat of a car in the adjacent parking area that some patrons thought was Rumble, the mysterious creature who serves as the Thunder’s mascot.
But it was subsequently revealed that the customer in question was Kerem Kanter, the player’s brother, who was in town to attend a Thunder game and the creature in the car was in fact a large labradoodle who was waiting patiently for his owner to finish his meal.
But the younger Kanter, who appeared to be as tall as his famous sibling, proved to be as unassuming and unpretentious as his brother as well.
He told of how he is currently a student at the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay and plays on that schools basketball team, and that he had previously played with Turkey’s Olympic team. The elder Kanter displayed patience at the Turkish Festival that was held in the Myriad Gardens in Oklahoma City last year as people stood in a group waiting to take a selfie with him, and his brother was equally patient with those who wanted to speak to him at Zam Zam.
Before he departed the younger Kanter said that his brother enjoys being a member of a team based in Oklahoma City, and that after visiting Oklahoma’s capitol city he can understand what that feeling is based on.

Mighty Dog Restaurant On N. Portland In OKC

There are so many historical objects found in the interior of the Mighty Dog restaurant at 2216 North Portland off of 23rd Street in Oklahoma City that one expects the two men from the “American Pickers” television show on the History Channel to come through the door and begin negotiating with the owner to purchase some of them. They include framed film posters from the movies “Casablanca” and “The Maltese Falcon”, metal Texaco signs, a large beige radio that appears to be of World War II vintage, and an Oliver Hardy doll that includes the comedian’s trademark derby hat.
The establishment also features a wall mural of Betty Boop, Coco the Clown, and a small rodent identified as “Mighty Dog” that bears an uncanny resemblance to the 1960’s caped cartoon character “Mighty Mouse”. On the adjoining wall are framed album covers from a more recent era that include works by Steppenwolf, the sound track to the iconic film “Easy Rider” and other albums from the sixth and seventh decade of the last century. The establishment is also full of license plates from many states in the nation.
Mighty Dog is owned and operated by a U.S. citizen originally from Bangladesh, Firoz Miah, who is proud of the Americana that it contains, and reports that most of it has been in place there since when it first opened 24 years ago. Miah, who has owned the place for several years, says that many of his customers are intrigued by its décor and ask him and his wife and son who work with him about their origins, and that they reply that the initial owner was a collector of such items.
The owner further states that the tradition of providing hamburgers, hotdogs, chili. and other popular items at modest prices has also been maintained, and that some of his clientele are elderly people who have coming there since its opening.
But pursuant to evolving culinary tastes and his experiences in other places where he has worked, , Miah has expanded the menu to include gyro sandwiches pasta, salads, and chicken wings, as well as side orders like cole slaw and potato salad. Desert items offered are cheese cake and baklava. The beverages offered have been expanded to encompass bottles of the cream sodas that are now found in trendy restaurants frequented by millennials.
The new items, Miah asserts, have brought many more young people into his place, and on a recent afternoon several of them were eating food with gusto at the small counter that features several stools.
But the restaurateur is intend on further expansions of his menu and says that he is hopeful that his future additions to it are as popular as the ones that he has already added.

Another Return To Gopuram Indian Restaurant On Memorial In OKC

A recent article in the Travel Section of the Sunday New York Times told of how the city of Vancouver in Canada is in the vanguard of a new culinary tradition that combines Indian and Chinese food. The article told of how this new cuisine came into being in the part of India that is close to China and how chefs who have mastered it are in several major Indian cities and in Vancouver, which is home to a sizable community of both Indian and Chinese immigrants. And it is perhaps fitting that the Oklahoma City Indian restaurant Gopuram on Memorial Road across from Mercy Hospital recently began to offer on its buffet an item that is known as “Chicken 65” and is described as being “Indo- Chinese” in origin. The proprietor of that establishment, Veeral Mehta, prides himself on his knowledge of both the old and evolving culinary traditions of his homeland and asserts that the food he serves to his loyal and growing clientele is from various parts of the Indian Subcontinent.
The restaurateur recently made that statement in response to reports made by food writers that most Indian food served in the U.S. can be traced to the Indian province of Gujarat. Mehta, who travelled extensively through India in his youth and in the process mastered many of the different languages spoken there, asserts that many different Indian food styles are reflected on his buffet, and that some of his patrons who are originally from that nation have pointed that fact out to him. His first restaurant, which also named Gopuram is on 23rd Street off of Meridian Avenue. But it would seem that the majority of his new establishment’s patrons are native born Oklahomans and that its lunch crowd consists in large part of business people and doctors and other health care professionals affiliated with Mercy Hospital and the adjacent medical buildings. On occasion the number of customer’s in medical scrubs makes the place resemble the set of a prime time hospital drama. The restaurateur credits his wait staff and cooks, many of whom are natives of India, for the success of his eatery, and says that he is fortunate to be in a locale that affords him such good employees.
The take out business is expanding, Mehta reports, and young men who carry large containers to deliver food to homes are often seen there picking up orders and throughout the lunch hour and late afternoon individuals can be seen at the front of the place picking up to go meals. The hot Indian tea that is served has also developed a following and people of various ages sip it as they converse with their companions.
It was recently reported that in the United Kingdom the Indian dish of chicken masala has surpassed fish and chips in popularity and visits to the Gopuram on Memorial would suggest that Indian food is increasing in popularity in Oklahoma’s capital city.

Walkin’ On Chalk Event To Be Held In Altus Oklahoma

In the memorable Alfred Hitchcock film “Spellbound”, which was produced by David Selznick, who also produced “Gone With The Wind,” there is a complex dream sequence that was done by surrealist artist Salvador Dali that included a large eye and a razor that was close to it.
And visitors to the community of Altus in southwest Oklahoma annual “Walkin’ On Chalk” event a year ago saw a surprisingly similar eye in bright pastel colors that was drawn by a contestant.
And when that event is held this year on Sunday March 26th, 2017 on the Altus Town Square visitors will surely again see drawings that give insight into those that created them. Previously, an African American youth drew a large image of boxer Muhammad Ali while a somewhat older Native American girl worked on an image of a proud Indian chief. An Altus High School student named Reese Henry produced a portrait of slain ex-Beatle John Lennon that was immediately recognizable to anyone who grew up in 1970’s, and some of those viewing that work could be heard explaining to the children with them who John Lennon was and what he represented to a previous generation of young people around the world. Several groups of young people worked together on drawings, and not surprisingly their work often featured more than one person. Little children gleefully drew fierce dinosaurs and tiny creatures that appeared to have been inspired by animated images from popular cartoon films. Live bands played as well, and they may have inspired the drawings of cowboys and horses that were etched.
Altus is  home to  an Air Force base, and that may account for the number of men and women in military uniforms that were drawn. After all of the participants have completed their drawings, a group of judges make their way around the Square and eventually select several works to be honored with awards. The criteria used for the judging is not disclosed. All of the work done is photographed by the Altus Main Street organization and preserved. Visual art will also be seen in the air in the form of posters on street lights that have been drawn by students at Altus High School.
A flotilla of food trucks will be present again to provide sustenance to the artists and spectators, and it has been reported that efforts have been made to ensure that healthy food will be available this year.
Artists will be offering their creations for sale as well, and their number will include Wengai Kahuni, who works in metal and beads and has participated in other events in Altus that were sponsored by the Altus Main Street organization.
According to Amy Jo Cobb of Altus Main Street, this will be the thirteenth year that the event has been held, and that it has drawn more participants and attendees each year.

Refurbished Cajun King Restaurant In OKC

Guidebooks to the City of New Orleans often suggest that visitors to that community should partake of a meal at Brennan’s Restaurant on Royal Street in the French Quarter and that they asked to be seated in the Mardi Gras Room that is decorated with Carnival memorabilia such as pictures of the Kings and Queens of some of the various balls that are held during that season and beads that were thrown during Mardi Gras parades decades ago. And visitors to the newly renovated Cajun King Restaurant on 63rd St off of MacArthur Avenue in Oklahoma City now have a similar experience as they enter a place where seemingly thousands of Mardi Gras bead of various colors festoon the walls and dangle from the ceiling over new tables and chairs and refurbished booths. Due to its quality food, the Cajun King has developed in recent years a devoted clientele of locals, some of whom are former residents of New Orleans who fled that City as the waters of Hurricane Katrina engulfed it and have chosen to remain here. After the OSU Cowboys played in the Sugar Bowl last year it has been said that some OSU fans who attended that contest developed a fondness for inexpensive New Orleans food while they where there and may account for the number of Cajun King patrons who have OSU insignias on their clothing.
The buffet fare that it offers, that includes jambalaya, red beans and rice and other dishes that originated on the bayou, gives one a flavorful taste of that colorful city and region. Patrons are greeted with warm beignets that are replicas of the ones served at the Café du Monde on Jackson Square in New Orleans.  The chicory coffee that is popular throughout southern Louisiana is avaiable there on request.
The establishment’s formerly drab interior could have been said to be in homage to some of the family owned restaurants in New Orleans that concentrate solely on cooking and ignore the deteriorating booths and rickety tables and chairs that have cigarette burns and stains on them.
But the Cajun King’s owner, Nigerian immigrant Simeon Adda, explains that he thought that it was time for his place to have a décor worthy of the food it serves, which led to the recent refurbishment that be personally oversaw. The new items include several artifacts from the New Orleans area such as  a flag of the type that is run up flagpoles in New Orleans in front of the residences of men who have previously served as a king of a Mardi Gras ball. And the Louisiana music that is played there continues to be the authentic sound of that state . During the Mardi Gras season people could be seen waiting patiently in line for tables to become available and where offered pieces of king cakes in accordance with carnival tradition when they were finally seated The restaurateur reports that many of his customers like the new décor and that his business has increased.

OKC School Superintendent Aurora Lora’s Presentation At St. Paul’s Cathedral

The Superintendent of the Oklahoma City Public Schools, Aurora Lora, gave a presentation on March 6th at St Paul’s Cathedral in downtown Oklahoma City as part of the Oklahoma Conference of Churches annual Day at the Legislature event.
Lora began her address by telling of how that she is originally from the El Paso Texas region, and that her father was an immigrant from Mexico. She attending a predominately Hispanic school in that area whose student routinely perform poorly on national tests, but she was a diligent student and graduated Valedictorian of her high school class. But like the graduate of many low performing high schools, she encountered difficulty when she entered college and for a time considered dropping out. Fortunately, her mother dissuaded her, and she sought the help of tutors and others who could assist her and eventually obtained her undergraduate and graduate degrees. She subsequently became part of the “Teach For America” program and her first assignment was to a Houston school whose pupils who predominately from low income homes. She reported how the principal assigned to the school advised her that many of her students would not be passing the subjects she taught, and that prompted her to redouble her efforts with those students, and that many more of them passed as a result. Her diligence was rewarded the following year by her class size being doubled. She was later promoted to serve as the principal of a school for low income female students, the Harriet Tubman School, and succeeded in getting the majority of them to achieve greater academic success that was originally anticipated.
Lora subsequently served as a school administrator in Seattle, Washington before she made her way to the Oklahoma City School system several years ago.
She told her listeners that the Oklahoma City schools have problems but also potential, that include dedicated people working in it and a good community that is supportive of its efforts.
But she told of how 208 teachers were laid off due to budgetary problems previously and that more budget cuts are anticipated . Budget cuts have resulted in the loss of mental health counselors and other staff needed to assist low income students.
The superintendent also lamented the fact that most of the teachers who are graduating from Oklahoma’s colleges and universities are lured across the Red River to schools in North Texas where their starting salaries are well over $50,000 per year and said that it would take seventeen years of service in the Oklahoma City schools to achieve that salary.
Lora also spoke of the so called “ school to prison pipeline” in which minority students are suspended or expelled from school and eventually find their way into incarceration. She said that she had a brother who had gone through that process in Texas, and that she is dedicated to working with school principals and others to keep such students enrolled in school. She said that such students need what are known as “wrap around services” that will ensure that they are given the resources and guidance that they need to become productive members of society.
Lora concluded that she is hopeful that the quality of the education offered by the Oklahoma City schools will be improved in the years to come.