Dining industry endures stretch of heavy loss
Over the weekend, Oklahoma City said goodbye to Jimmy Vallion, a giant in the hospitality industry for co-founding Val-Gene Associates restaurant group in the early 1960s and his stewardship of Trochta’s Flowers since 1980.
Services for Vallion are at 2 p.m. Thursday at All Souls Church, 6400 N Pennsylvania Ave.
His passing follows a recent spate of tragic news, including the sudden loss of chef Chadrick Sparks, legendary nightclub owner and restaurateur Elmer Kemp and hospitality entrepreneur Tad Blood.
Sparks was the owner of a new food truck, Sparxx Sliders, who died suddenly last month.
Kemp was founder of theTop Hat Cluband most recentlyElmer’s Uptown on Lincoln Boulevard. Elmer was a pioneer in the nightclub business leading up to and after integration. Kemp passed away earlier this summer.
Blood was someone with whom most of the city was familiar without ever knowing it.And Blood, like so many in Oklahoma City’s hospitality industry, was touched directly by Vallion and his business partner, Gene Smelser.
Blood fell into the business in college. Just like his future brotherin-law, Pete Holloway, Blood’s career in the hospitality industry was a job
working at The Hungry Peddler while a student at the University of Oklahoma in the early 1970s.
The two would end up finishing their degrees in Norman, but sticking with Val-Gene Associates long enough to enter management before breaking off to make their own way. Blood would become a director of operations for Val-Gene before leaving to help open the iconic Varsity Sports Grill.
After that, he founded Tad’s Catering and Concessions, which likely sounds familiar to anyone who’s been to the Oklahoma State Fair in the past two decades. Tad’s Bodacious Burritos ring a bell?
Blood also was a co-founder of the Hirst Hospitality Awards and served two years as chairman of the Oklahoma Restaurant Association.
Blood died Aug. 29, a couple of months after turning 69.
“The Oklahoma Restaurant Association lost a great friend and supporter when Tad Blood recently passed away,” Oklahoma Restaurant Association President Jim Hopper said. “Tad was one of those board members who was a constant source of support and guidance for the association. After his year as chairman of the board in 2006 circumstances dictated that Tad was asked to serve another year as chairman in 2007. He could have easily said no, but Tad stepped up and gave guidance for another year, the first chairman to serve two consecutive terms in 40 years. Tad was a mentor to employees and students in the restaurant business and gave back generously so others could thrive in our industry. There’s a good reason Tad Blood received the ORA Distinguished Leadership Award in 2016. He will be missed.”
Holloway, today, is the president of Holloway Restaurant Group (two Cafe 501 locations, Boulevard Steakhouse and The Martini Lounge in Edmond).
I met Jimmy Vallion back in 2015 in preparation for “Classic Restaurants of Oklahoma City” at the Cafe 501 at Classen Curve, along with his sister, Maggie.
We spent a couple hours together over lunch, and I was struck most by Vallion’s humility. Here sat a man who showed the way for an industry that’s grown to amazing heights, and all he could do was deflect
credit to people like Blood and Holloway.
Since posting news of Vallion’s passing on Facebook on Sunday, comments have come steadily from throughout the industry and the many charitable organizations he supported.
Charity was clearly something Vallion instilled in his proteges if the generosity Blood showed and Holloway continues to convey are any indication.
Jimmy Vallion’s funeral is Thursday, and he would NEVER have advised anyone to do anything in lieu of flowers, but I’m certain either would’ve been honored by a donation in their names to the Hirst Hospitality Awards Scholarship Fund. Checks can be sent to the Oklahoma Hospitality Foundation, 3800 N Portland, Oklahoma City, OK 73112. Or you can phone the Oklahoma Restaurant Association office at 9428181 to donate by credit card.
Comings and goings
Ned’s Starlight Lounge, 7301 N May Ave., is set to open on Monday. This is a father-son project between Ned and Neddie Shadid. They’ve done a full remodel on the former Nomad space and will spend the rest of this week doing preview services.My
wife and I will be dining there Wednesday for supper, so look for some photos and menu spoilers on my social media accounts (Twitter: @TheFoodDood; Instagram: the food dood; Facebook: keyword Dave Cathey The Food Dude) and an update in this column space next week . ...
Blaze Pizza will open its second location on Thursday in Town Center Plaza, 7201 SE 29, across from the Tinker Air Force Base . ...
Covell Park, 1200 W Covell Road, announced plans to shutter earlier this month. Covell Park was the sister restaurant of Guernsey Park, which closed last year. Covell’s last day of service will be Sept. 30, which will feature one last brunch . ...
Nunu’s Mediterranean Cafe has unveiled its new private dining room. The elegant space offers room for large parties or intimate gatherings replaces the market. Owner Clayton Farhood said the
change was made because the market and concept had evolved in its 10 years. He said many of the items they carried exclusively are now readily available. The private space is a better fit for the plans he and partner Stephen Bradley have for the next 10 years. Looking forward to pointing my dinner party caravan in that direction in the near future for an evening of Lebanese cuisine and wine. For information about the space, call Farhood or Bradley at 7517000 . ...
A trio from A Good Egg Dining are working together again to open a new concept by the end of the year. Jordan Winteroth and Jamie Winteroth are teaming with chef Robert Black, who is consulting, to open Social Deck and Dining in the space formerly occupied by Chae Modern Korean, 1933 NW 23. An announcement on social media indicated a December opening.