Taste of Soul to expand into Kansas
Ludivine moving north within Midtown
For many years, Ricki and Cerese Bly’s children complained they got teased for smelling like fry oil, but no one is complaining about it now as the family’s Taste of Soul brand announced expansion into Wichita, Kansas.
Cerese Bly grew up with a father whom she said was a true foodie, which included a trip to Egg Roll Express in Edmond every Friday for as long as she can remember.
“I think they opened in like 1982, which is the year I was born,” she laughed. “I’ve been going there my entire life!”
She said her family loved egg rolls so much, they undertook learning to make them.
“Anybody can learn how,” she explained. “The wrappers come with simple instructions, but we do ours a little different now.”
Problem once was Cerese’s specialty from the kitchen didn’t resonate with her husband, Ricki.
“I never liked egg rolls, man” Ricki Bly says, almost sheepishly. “But I like ’em now. I love ’em!”
That’s because not only did his wife adjust the seasoning to his taste, but her customized egg rolls became hits with his co-workers at Mathis Brothers Furniture, where he was a receiving manager.
“People started
telling me they would buy them if I brought them in to work,” Ricki said. “Pretty soon, we had a nice little business going.”
Add that to a trip to Atlanta, where they were first exposed to the food truck uprising that began last decade, and the Blys decided the time was right to start their own business.
It was 2012 when Taste of Soul Egg Rolls first appeared on street corners across the metro, serving Cerese’s distinctive egg rolls and fried rice. The trailer was an instant smash. Lines at events like the H&8th Night Market were legendarily long and pretty soon, Ricki had the idea to diversify the menu.
“I didn’t see anybody at that time doing a chicken and waffle around town, so I talked to Cerese about it,” he said.
“Egg rolls were easy compared to coming up with a chicken and waffle recipe,” she said. “We went through so many versions before we found the one we liked.”
So in 2014, they introduced Cerese’s chicken and waffle recipe to their fans, but not in the way Ricki initially envisioned it. She believed specializing in one product projected expertise.
“I told him the chicken and waffle needed its own trailer,” Cerese said. “If people see a long line at a place that’s only doing one thing, it’s got to be good.”
In 2016, the Blys brought their Taste of Soul brand to the Festival of the Arts, which led to an even broader audience and more opportunity.
Last August, they opened their first standalone location at 301 NW 63 St, taking over Suite 150 inside the White Star Petroleum Building. The location is open 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday through Friday for breakfast and lunch. The two trailers still keep a regular schedule, though many of them are private events thanks to Taste of Soul’s popularity.
“We’re definitely blessed,” Ricki said. “We’ve been blessed in so many ways. Not just all the great customers, but all the people behind the scenes who supported us, believed in us and helped us to get to this place.”
A temporary location in Penn Square Mall last year served as the catalyst for the launch of Taste of Soul’s worldwide campaign.
“We opened on Thanksgiving Day,” Cerese recalled. “We were only there through the holidays,
but the response was so humbling.”
That short time was enough to convince the Blys that when the next opportunity came along for a permanent location, they would seriously consider taking it. What they didn’t expect was for the opportunity to come from another state.
“They really wanted us in Wichita,” Ricki said. “We think it’s gonna be a great opportunity for us to meet some new people and make some new friends. Hopefully, this will be the first of many.”
Taste of Soul will take over a space in Wichita’s Towne East Mall in early fall. Ricki is hopeful they can have the new store up and running in 45 days. It will be a stand-alone in a food court. The Blys compare it to Charley’s Steakery in design.
Cerese said she plans to eventually diversify the filling options for her egg rolls with an eye toward some day becoming an egg roll bar where people can try a variety of flavors or maybe even design their own.
For now, the tried and true version of egg rolls and chicken and waffles are available weekdays inside the White Star Petroleum Building. The restaurant has designated parking on the north side of the building, which takes you to the firstfloor entrance. You can keep track of the mobile kitchens via social media: @EGGROLLicious on Twitter and Instagram; keyword Taste of Soul on Facebook.
Ludivine on the move
Two months ago, I heard whispers that Ludivine, 805 N Hudson Ave., might be on the move, but it wasn’t until last week when I sat down with chef/owner Russ Johnson that I got the news confirmed.
Ludivine will move from its current location to 320 NW 10. If that sounds familiar, it should be. It happens to be the same building that fronts Johnson’s other property, the R&J Supper Club and Lounge.
The 3,000-plus square feet of empty space once home to Archer Printing is undergoing a remodel that should be complete in time ready for an early January move.
Johnson promises the only changes to Ludivine will be in seating capacity and bar options.
“We’re not changing who we are,” Johnson assured me over a seafood pancake and spicy pork bulgogi from Taste of Korea. “We’ll be better able to accommodate large
parties and host private events that don’t require renting the entire restaurant now.”
After the move, the bar will get its own menu.
“We’ve been doing a blue plate special on Mondays when the restaurant is closed but the bar is open,” Johnson explained.
When the restaurant reopens farther north in Midtown, Johnson said it will be open daily, the bar menu will be available all the time and late-night dining options at the bar will be available from R&J.
Ludivine splashed onto the local dining scene in October of 2010 promising a daily menu based on whatever local bounty is available and using ingredients sourced exclusively from Oklahoma ranchers and producers. The chef-driven, food-forward concept has drawn national attention and has been critical to the elevation of Oklahoma City’s dining options.
Johnson said none of that will change, but he is no hurry to make a fuss over their practices.
“Look, we’re technically a farm-to-table concept, but I’m tired of the term,” he said. “It doesn’t mean that much to the public when places that have terms like that all over their marketing (materials) but don’t bother to correct it after they stop using local ingredients. We haven’t changed our practices, that’s all I can tell you.”
Johnson said the L-shaped concept won’t be completely left behind.
“What we learned is the bar and the restaurant operate almost independently of each other,” he said. “There are people who have dined in the restaurant, who don’t know we have a bar and vice versa.”
With that in mind, Johnson and partner Chip Fudge have decided to continue leasing the space and operate a rebranded bar, tentatively named Sardina, featuring the same cocktail program but with a menu of true tapas and pinchos to complement it.
Johnson also discussed the property in Edmond previously discussed for a concept called TheIce House. Those plans were scuttled after fellow founding partner and chef Jonathon Stranger left the group two years ago.
Johnson said plans for Edmond are still in the planning stages with much work still to be done with the city of Edmond, but that progress had been made.
We’ll update both developing stories in this column space in the weeks to come.