“We Teach a Kid to Cook!”

“Café Kiva” was founded as a nutritional health program by Tom-Scott ‘TS’ Gordon and Kathryn Harris.  Conceived as a physical venue in 2009, our first ‘pitch’ was in 2017 in San Francisco to a confluence of French ‘FoodTech’ investors. Attendees were hoping to prosper in a projected ‘FoodTech’ Revolution. We saw this as just another ‘Natural’ food branding bonanza.

Focusing on a diet of clean, nutrient dense foods continues to be your best medicine. And education is our means of proving it so. Young kids and teens who learn to cook on their own typically won’t crave ‘fast foods’ post-graduation. Some may seek to attain a fulfilling career in food services. 

Tom Gordon’s family members have operated celebrated restaurants in Arkansas, from the Lodge at Petit Jean since the 1950’s. including Juanita’s Cantina for 35 years, it is apparent that business owners today have slim hopes of hiring competent staff and prep-chef’s at any age.

Our mission is based on the meme ‘schools without walls’. A little science goes a long way in building core food memories. Above all, Café Kiva actively seeks to engage youth in measurable age-appropriate skills to improve their health and which they will need to prosper in a competitive workplace.

Sunday Buffet at Ruby Collier Thomas’ Red Apple Inn, Eden Isle, Arkansas, circa 1989

Here you see the relative cooking skill and presentation style that mom and I had achieved as we completed the photos for Feasts of Eden. It takes me back to my minor in culinary training under Chef Snowden in Chicago. Things went swimmingly well at first, except various roommates and ‘friends’ quickly ate me out of house and home. Tutelage under ‘Tacky’ at the Red Apple Inn squelched my interest in commercial ‘fast casual’ junk food, leaving me with good food memories to dine for!

“Cafe Kiva” visualized as mobile classroom.  Since 2023 we have a food cart underway and we have lots more to add about this soon…