Food briefs

The Oklahoma Restaurant Association held its annual meeting earlier this month at the Civic Center Music Hall where it named 2012 Culinary Excellence Awards and its 2013 leadership team.

Award recipients included: Restaurant Hall of Fame Award: Mexicali Border Cafe, Tulsa; Stables Cafe, Guthrie; Bill's Fish House, Waurika; Freddie's BBQ & Steakhouse, Sapulpa; Hamburger King, Shawnee.

Individual Hall of Fame Award: Ken Selby (posthumously), Mazzio's Pizza, Tulsa; Tony Salas, Salas Mexican Restaurant, Lawton; James Fidler, Fidler Marketing, Oklahoma City.

50-Year Member Recognition: Cusack Wholesale Meat Company, Oklahoma City

Hot New Concept Award: Health Nut Cafe, Oklahoma City; The Garage, Edmond/Norman; Hollie's FlatIron Steakhouse, Moore; Gabriella's Italian Grill and Pizzeria, Oklahoma City; Flint, Oklahoma City; Local, Norman; Kitchen 324, Oklahoma City.

ProStart Mentor of the Year: Sam Bracken, The Canebrake, Wagoner.

ProStart Teacher of the Year: Melody Hunter, Autry Technology Center, Enid.

The meeting also included the installment of the 2013 board of directors, which includes the following: executive committee: chairman, Kathy Bondy, The French Hen, Tulsa; vice chairman/treasurer, Kim McLendon, Emerging Brands, Oklahoma City; and 2nd vice chairman, Dennis Patrick, Clanton's Cafe, Vinita.

Hiland names awards finalists

LISLE, Ill. — Quality Chekd Dairies announced the selection of both Hiland Dairy and its ice cream division — Hiland Ice Cream Company — as finalists for the 2013 Irving B. Weber Distinguished Award for Quality Excellence. Named for Quality Chekd's first board president, the invitation-only Weber Award is modeled after the esteemed Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The Irving B. Weber Award recognizes those member dairies that have earned the highest annual scores from Quality Chekd in the areas of production quality, business ethics and leadership, customer satisfaction, marketing communications and staff development. Quality Chekd, a member-owned organization of independent dairy processors, will announce the winner at its 2013 QCS Leadership Conference April 21-24 at the Hilton Riverside Hotel in New Orleans.