Matthew Kenney in Oklahoma

Yesterday I had the pleasure of traveling to the Oklahoma City/Edmond area for a very special educational class and for additional insight into the exciting plans that are well underway just about an hour & a half to the west of Tulsa. Edmond's living food chef, Mandy Canistelle, has partnered with internationally known raw chef, restaurateur, and food writer, Matthew Kenney, to bring one of the most ambitious projects in the raw & living food world to Oklahoma. In September, they will be opening a living food restaurant and education center called 105 degrees.

105 degrees will be located in Chesapeake Energy's new Classen Curve development in Oklahoma City. Matthew Kenney has been working intensively with the 105 degrees team on kitchen design and all aspects of operation. Matthew has shared with me his excitement about this endeavor by saying that this restaurant and cutting edge culinary education center "has the potential to be one of the best and most refined raw concepts in the country." Matthew will be an ongoing member of the business, promoting 105 degrees as one of his prestigious projects, along with Cafe 118 Degrees in Orlando and Free Foods in Manhattan. Please make a point to visit Matthew's website for additional information about his projects.

I couldn't be anymore delighted that Oklahoma will be the home to such a glamorous and ambitious raw center. Spending the afternoon and evening in Edmond with Mandy, her impressive team, Matthew, Dara Prentice (another business partner) and some of the lovely members of the raw community of OKC was an honor and joy. Matthew Kenney has a gentle, gracious and engaging presence and his generosity and creativity is obvious within minutes of speaking with him. He was kind enough to bring a signed copy of his soon to be released book, Entertaining In The Raw, for me. I nearly slept with it last night...I couldn't put it down. I'll look forward to reviewing it here soon, but I can already tell you, it is a masterpiece and it is a must have for your library.

I'll be sure to keep you up to date on what's happening with 105 degrees as the days get closer to its opening date.