Florence Jones Kemp sports heavy medal with Oklahoma's first James Beard award

On Friday, local dignitaries gathered at the humble cafe that's stood on the northeast corner of NE 23 and Fonshill since 1959 to celebrate the state's first-ever James Beard Foundation Award to land in Oklahoma.

Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt and Sen. George Young, D-Oklahoma City were on hand to raise a glass and ovation to Florence Jones Kemp, founder and owner of Florence's Restaurant since 1952, as she was presented a silver medal from the James Beard Foundation.

Last month, Florence and her daughter Victoria Kemp attended the James Beard Foundation Awards in Chicago for receiving an American Classics Award.

During a Champagne reception at the restaurant on Friday, Holt asked Victoria how much time her 91-year-old mother still spends in the kitchen at Florence's.

"Mostly she cusses when she's in there," Victoria laughed. "When the pandemic hit, my mother had to get used to staying home. She's now in her 90s, so we had to be more careful. She still comes in, but she just ends up getting mad at somebody. Usually me. I caught her trying to walk home in this heat the other day!"

Brian Schwartz, of Tulsa, representing the Beard Foundation, presented the medal to Florence. In Chicago, Florence and Victoria were feted with five other restaurants from across the country with an American Classic award.

"It was just such an honor to be there," Victoria recalled. "My mother loved every minute of it."

On Friday, guests crowded onto the patio that was erected during the ongoing pandemic where a jazz trio set the soundtrack and provided the microphone for Victoria and Florence to take turns using to thank everyone for coming out to help celebrate.

The grand dame wore an emerald green dress and a smile that stretched all the way to her hometown of Boley. She posed for photos with anyone who asked, and thanked the Almighty for making it all possible.

Victoria said 2022 has been a nonstop parade of good news, starting with the Beard Award and followed by the steady parade of well-wishes it has brought to the restaurant.

Florence was only 22 when she opened Florence's "on a hot dog and a dream" near Deep Deuce. The cafe moved around those first few years, and the menu was ever-evolving.

"We sold hot dogs for a quarter, and hamburgers," she said in a 2018 interview. "Whatever folks wanted to eat!"

Since she moved to 1437 NE 23 in 1959, the menu has been pure comfort.

"I don't like calling it soul food," Victoria said. "It's Southern for sure. Really it's just good home-cooking."

You won't find better fried chicken, meatloaf, chicken and dumplings or oxtail in town, and no one offers a better selection of sides from collard greens to candied yams with "a nice little salad" in between. Entrees come with three plus corn bread and yeast rolls.

Victoria said the biggest thing coming down the pike will be a book she and her mother are working on with local attorney, author and historian Bob Burke. Florence's merchandise might follow. Victoria has long wanted to resurface the parking lot and add a standalone walk-in cooler, but that's as far as any expansion talk ever goes.

"People ask me if there will ever be another Florence's, and I tell them 'no,'" she said. "There might be other restaurants, but there will never be another Florence's Restaurant. My mother made her dream come true and spent all her life keeping it that way. It can never be repeated."

Amen, to that.

Quick Bites

Have you tried the fried chicken at Rococo? No? Well, veteran chef Lee Bennett (Picasso's, Iguana Lounge) fries whole birds two Mondays a month and they're everything you want from frittered fowl. This Monday, the birds came with collard greens and mashed potatoes with jalapeno gravy. In two weeks, it'll be green beans and cheese grits. If you're lucky, like we were, Lee will have gizzards and liver available, too! ...

Dave's Hot Chicken is set to open its first Oklahoma franchise next week. The folks at the Social Order Dining Collective (The Jones Assembly, Spark, Fuzzy's Tacos) are behind the move. Watch for sneak previews right here on Thursday. ...

Chef Jonas Favela announced on social media that he is leaving Steak the Experience. Go see Jonas before Aug. 6. ...

Magasin Table, 3 NE 8, closed on Saturday. The space will undergo renovations for a new restaurant. Details soon.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Florence's Restaurant is given its James Beard Award medal in OKC