By Cara Young
The crepes at Real Food Café taste amazing. Not just because they are light and fluffy, or because they include the freshest, cleanest ingredients, but because of the amazing story of persistence that is behind these handcrafted creations. “In a world where everything can be prepared from a package, people are missing out on real ingredients. That’s what we use and the customer can taste the difference,” says T. This is the whole idea behind Real Food Café. Andy likes to say “food is the only medicine”. He feels it is the cheapest and most effective prevention of sickness and disease. They believe that being a part of the food system should develop a sense of humility within you, but instead the industry today shows very little respect for food. And you can truly taste the difference at Real Food, where the food is clean, sustainable, and responsible. Real Food Café makes every effort to source as much of their ingredients locally. They craft amazing homemade salad dressings, crackers, desserts, and of course, crepes
The story of Real Food Café begins with a coffee cart in Northwest Texas Hospital. Owners T and Andy Price (seen above middle) served coffee and homemade biscotti and muffins. Eventually, they turned that coffee cart into the Coffee Cartel at 34th and Coulter. At their new location they were able to expand their desserts which left their customers wanting more, and eventually requesting lunch. The response was great but with a high overhead and a poor location, they were forced to close.
They developed Real Food Catering, making desserts for BL Bistro, Zen 721, and Crush from a commercial kitchen in Cornerstone Church. The craze over their famous chocolate soufflé, lemon tart, and honey walnut bars (to name a few) gave them the freedom to cater more. They began serving a limited lunch menu out of the Kitchen Gallery. It was a difficult set up. The Kitchen Gallery’s lack of a kitchen meant that T and Andy were forced to turn their little café spot into a daily catering gig, hauling prepared food to the Kitchen Gallery from the church. When Kitchen Gallery closed its doors, Ken and Megan, the owners of Blue Sage Gallery, offered T and Andy a space in the gallery to do lunch. Here they were able to truly develop a menu for the first time. They were still “daily catering” but it was a whole lot closer, and the public responded strongly. Real Food Café’s popularity grew more than ever before. Eventually Blue Sage Gallery needed their space back and Real Food Café was once again without a space to operate.
In July 2011, Jill Zimmer of Two Loons Warehouse, contacted T and Andy with an idea. She wanted to open a store with Real Food Café in the same building. This was it. It was the opportunity they had been waiting for and they knew it right away. They jumped at the chance and in April 2012 they opened their current location at 3208 SW 6thStreet.
Now, if you are still reading, you may be thinking, “Why so much background? Just tell me the food is good and I will try it out.” This story is an important lesson in persistence and success. It’s the type of story that we don’t hear enough of these days. Many of us work towards a goal until we are rejected and then move on to the next goal. But the greatest success stories are often stories like T and Andy’s where they continue to do what they love even in less than ideal circumstances, and eventually it pays off. They have worked hard to get where they are and they deserve every bit of success that they’ve earned because of it. Lucky for us, the customer, you can taste it in every sweet and savory bite!
Check out Real Food Café’s Facebook page and make sure to “like” them to stay up on special events. Also look for new menu items coming soon!
Real Food Cafe locally sources produce from the Garden at the High Plains Food Bank. During the month of October, come in and enjoy one of their many famous desserts, and $1 of your purchase will be donated to The Garden at the High Plains Food Bank.
