New organic cafe, market to fill downtown niche

Published: October 29, 2008

An organic food market -- the very sort of retail long desired by downtowners -- is being opened this winter in Deep Deuce by a couple who recently chose to move to Oklahoma City after living and working in New York City.

The owners

Charifa Smith, 33, is a "boomeranger," returning to her hometown after a 12-year stint in New York City as a financial analyst, developer and attorney. She and her husband, Kevin, 31, decided to move to Oklahoma City after their marriage in 2006. Their cafe and market is a family venture, with assistance being lent by Kevin Smith's father, Conroy Smith Sr., executive chef at Churchill Downs Corp.

Kevin and Charifa Smith say "Sage Gourmet Cafe & Market" is named in honor of their daughter, who died this year two days after birth from a heart defect.

Reason to open

"We just want to promote heart healthiness," Charifa Smith said. "We don't want to sell things that are bogged down with chemicals."

Once open, the market at 228 NE 2 will offer an array of organic eggs, produce, milk, cheeses, vegetables and fruits, baked goods (including Monkey Bread) as well as dressings and spices. The pair also plan to offer prepared meals to go from the cafe.

"We want to have a nice, open feel so everybody who enters can enjoy all we have going on," Kevin Smith said.

"We want it to be a lifestyle experience. We want you to see you can purchase products and recreate what we have in the cafe at home. And we want people to feel that this is part of the neighborhood," he said.

A wall that separated two architectural firms already has been removed as part of the renovation, and the couple is working with New York City designer Michael Sparks to create a space different from anything in the city.

Background

A cafe with an outdoor patio will face Central Avenue, while the west half of the building, with an entrance facing NE 2, will house the market. An antique bar will mark the divide between the market and the cafe. Sparks said his designs emphasize the history of the building, built in 1925 during the height of Deep Deuce's jazz age, while showing a hint of modernism.

"When we're done, you're going to think you're in Paris or New York ... it's going to be a place where locals can get their food, eat, drink and be merry," Sparks said.

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