The Coach House Silver Anniversary!
To commemorate this accomplishment, we are having a series of four very special dinners. We will have three guest chefs who are former apprentices at The Coach House and Chef Kurt Fleischfresser will prepare the 25th Anniversary Gala Dinner. Each dinner will start at 6:30 pm.
Our schedule will be:
August 8, 2010 6:30 pm Chef Joshua Valentine $100 per person
September 12, 2010 6:30 pm Chef Brian McGrew $100 per person
October 10, 2010 6:30 pm Chef Robert Black $100 per person
November 14, 2010 6:30 pm 25th Anniversary Dinner prepared by Chef Kurt Fleischfresser $150 per person
Please call The Coach House at (405) 842-1000 to make your reservations.
For more information about each of our chefs:
Chef Joshua Valentine
In 2008, Joshua won the Daily Oklahoman’s Taste of Elegance culinary competition. After graduating from The Coach House, he was a chef at The Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club. After a short stint there, he went to work at Stephen Pyles in Dallas, Texas. He was then asked to be Sous Chef for Chef Pyles’ newest Dallas restaurant, Samar. But the great state of Oklahoma kept calling Josh home. He came back to Oklahoma City to open Stella Italian Cuisine. Finally, coming full circle, Chef Valentine is now a full time chef at The Coach House.
Chef Brian McGrew
Currently the Executive Chef at Stella Italian Cuisine, Brian McGrew is an Oklahoma City native who was graduated from Kurt Fleischfresser’s training program at The Coach House. He left to find work at fine restaurants around the country, including the Slanted Door in San Francisco and, most recently, the AKA, a noted restaurant in Napa Valley.
Chef Robert Black
Chef Robert Black began his career at the age of 18 in Ithaca, New York, working in the college town’s Italian restaurants, where he first formed a love for cooking and the restaurant experience.
After returning to his home state of Oklahoma, Robert began working at The Metro Wine Bar & Bistro where he worked his way up to Chef de Cuisine, at the same time earning a position as Food Cost Director for Restaurant Resource Group. Black went on to receive formal training from The Coach House’s apprenticeship program under the tutelage of Chef Kurt Fleischfresser.
After graduating, Robert served for five years as Executive Chef and Partner of the Museum Café at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.
Robert is currently serving as Corporate Chef and Partner for A Good Egg Dining Group, which operates Cheever’s Café, Iron Starr Urban BBQ, RED PrimeSteak, Market-C, Pops 66, and Republic Gastropub.
Chef Black has been involved with numerous organizations such as The International Wine & Food Society, The Made in Oklahoma Coalition, and la Chaine des Rotisseurs. Robert is currently serving on the Board of Directors for the Oklahoma Restaurant Association, the Foodservice Committee for Made in Oklahoma Coalition, and the International Resources Committee for the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma.
Robert is happily married to his beautiful wife Jami, and has two great children, Hanna and Jude.
Chef Kurt Fleischfresser
In 1988, Kurt joined The Coach House and brought with him a level of sophistication and a seamless attention to detail that has made The Coach House what it is today.
In April of 2009, Kurt was awarded the Medaille de Merite by L’Academie de Gastronomie Brillat-Savarin for his contributions in education in the culinary arts. He joins the late Julia Child, Alan Wong from Hawaii and renowned celebrity chef Paul Prudhomme as the only four American chefs to receive the honor.
Kurt currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Oklahoma Restaurant Association and is a member of The James Beard Organization and Slow Food.
Kurt lives on an acreage in McLoud with his beautiful wife, Jayne.