Leave a Little Better

WHAT’S BETTER THAN ICE CREAM?

There are days when you hear people complain about Ardmore: Too small. Not enough to do. Nothing new. Maybe you’ve heard some version of it yourself.

But here’s what I’ve been thinking about:  For every person who is frustrated about living in Ardmore, there is probably someone here with a story so interesting you’d never believe they ended up in the same town. Someone who has lived all over the country and all over the world. Someone who has worked in remarkable places, met remarkable people and built a life most of us could only imagine. And yet, that person chose Ardmore.

That’s what I kept thinking about after I sat down with Chef Larry Core.

Larry is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, and his culinary career has taken him far beyond Oklahoma. He has worked in high-end kitchens, as a personal chef, on aircraft and yachts, and in places that could have easily kept him anywhere but here. But here he is. What struck me most about Larry wasn't his résumé. It was his humility.

When I arrived at the space that is now home to Chef’s Table, I expected to hear about the big things - the places he had worked, the people he had met and the experiences he had collected over a lifetime in the culinary world. Instead, one of the first things Larry wanted to show me was an ice cream maker. Not exactly what I expected. But apparently, this type of machine has been a constant throughout his career.  Larry believes in ice cream!

More specifically, he believes in what food can do. It can bring people together. It can start a conversation. It can create a memory. And apparently, it can make someone sitting across the table from you say, “OH MY GOODNESS!” Larry welcomed me to try his homemade mocha ice cream. Then the chocolate. I am not exaggerating when I say I suddenly wondered if I had ever actually tasted ice cream before.  It was THAT good!

But the ice cream wasn't really the point. The point was Larry. The more we talked, the more I realized that food is simply the vehicle he has chosen for something much bigger AND better: connection. That is the idea behind Chef’s Table Ardmore. It isn't a restaurant. It's an experience.

Larry has refurbished the space where Café Alley had some of its humble beginnings, the same place that was once home to Mom’s Place, and he's creating something intentionally different. Chef’s Table offers intimate culinary experiences where food and relationships take center stage.

Maybe it's a private dinner for friends.

Maybe it's a cooking class.

Maybe it's a farm-to-table dinner, like the one Larry hosted at Dogwood Blooms.

Maybe it's a party or one of Larry's pop-up dinners, where a small group sits down for a multi-course meal prepared by someone with decades of culinary experience.

The details may change. The purpose doesn't. Bring people together. And that's what I find so compelling about this story.

Larry has had opportunities to live and work all over the world. He has met remarkable people and had experiences that could easily make someone think they had already seen it all. But he doesn't seem particularly interested in telling you how impressive his life has been. He seems much more interested in what he can do next.

What can he make? Who can he bring together? What can he teach someone? How can he make the time people spend together a little more meaningful? That, to me, is a pretty good definition of leaving a little better.

And maybe that's one of the things I love most about living in a community like Ardmore:  We don't have to be the biggest city. We don't have to have every attraction, restaurant or entertainment option. Maybe it’s not about the places at all.

It's about the people who arrive with something to give.

Larry could have taken his experience somewhere else. Instead, he's bringing it here.

And I, for one, am pretty excited to see what happens when a chef with this much experience decides to use food as his way of building community in Ardmore. Chef’s Table is still taking shape, with upcoming dinners, cooking classes, private experiences and other offerings to be announced.

And if that little ice cream maker is any indication, I have a feeling there are going to be some pretty memorable things coming out of that kitchen.

Sometimes the best stories aren't about people who left town and made it somewhere else. Sometimes they're about the people who have already been somewhere else and decided that here is where they want to be. Those are the stories I want to find. Because those are the people who make a community better simply by choosing to be part of it.

To learn more about Larry Core and Chef’s Table Ardmore, visit his Chef’s Table website chefstableok.com.