As many people hopefully know, Cortona Cafe has recently added black-eyed pea hummus to the menu which appears to be a hit with the majority of the regular customers. The alluring dish is made by culinary artist Kristi Brown-Wokoma and has quickly become one of the more popular items on the menu. It's a shift from the more traditional hummus made of chickpeas and more healthy (CK). Given the lack of healthy food options in the neighborhood, we're glad to have a protein rich new option for customers.

It's important to note that Kristi Brown-Wokoma is a long time Central District resident which falls in line with Cortona's mission to buy and sell products that come from the neighborhood. If you haven't tried our black-eyed pea hummus yet, check out a quick Q&A with Kristi as she talks about why she created the dish and hopefully it will encourage you to come on in and try it.

When did you first start thinking of making black-eyed pea hummus? What led you to want to tinker with that recipe?

Several years ago when I worked the lunch line at Kingfish Cafe, I was trying to impress my chef, Tracey McRae, and I thought that the black eye peas would be a perfect mix between traditional soul food cooking and the fresh Northwest cuisine.

Are there any advantages of using black-eyed peas over garbanzo beans?

Black eyed peas have a richness which isn't present in the garbanzo beans. Both are extremely rich in protein, but the black eyes peas seems to have a more complicated flavor that holds up perfectly to the other ingredients.

What type of reactions have you gotten from people who have tried it? Even people who might be skeptical at first?

I have hummus stalkers, people call me from all over the country, hitting me up on my social networks and seeking me out at events just to get me to make them hummus! I have gotten very familiar with the ways of my skeptics, they scrounge their nose up, say how much they hate black eye peas, but I am committed to making people believers! So I can get a little persuasive to get them to at least try it.

How long have you been working professionally as a culinary artist?

I have worked in the culinary industry for 20 years, mostly in catering, but have had a very varied experiences within this industry and wouldn't trade it for the world.

As a resident of the C.D. is it nice knowing that a local cafe is supporting one of your creations?

Oh my goodness yes! It has been a pleasure to work alongside Jason and Foxy to make my dream of retailing hummus a reality. I appreciate their hard work, and look forward to seeking out more ways to be a part of the community!

S.T.A.R.T.S. Youth hitting the streets with fresh produce every Wednesday from 12pm to 3pm this summer.

The S.T.A.R.T.S. Project is a 10 week program sponsored by the Seattle Youth Violence Prevention Initiative and led by Central District non-profits and organizations.

As teenagers across the city search for working opportunities during the summer slow down, nine lucky youth from Seattle are experiencing the "green jobs" opportunity of their lifetime.

Over the spring, Cortona Cafe owner Jason Davison had a vision for a youth employment program based in the Central District that would allow for young people that are disenfranchised to learn about gardening, healthy foods, and how they can become a part of the green movement. The summer program Jason had in mind is called S.T.A.R.T.S. (Students Taking Agriculture 'Round The Streets) and as of two weeks ago, it officially came into fruition.

Along with a variety of key neighborhood youth workers, there are currently nine students that are a part of the program and they're doing everything from composting and working on farms to discovering healthy food options in the neighborhood and working on a potential dish to be displayed at Cortona Cafe. There are guests chefs involved, lot's of opportunities for learning, and best of all, the youth get paid to complete the program. S.T.A.R.T.S. has managed to partner with organizations like Ground Up Yesler, Community Kitchens NW, Rotary Boys and Girls Club, Metropolitan Sickle Cell Task Force, Green Plate Special, Alley Cat Acres plus the Clean Greens and Red Barn farms to keep the teenagers' fingers in the soil and they're making nutritious meals each week out of the kitchen at Immaculate Conception. There will be more updates coming on the program as the summer continues.

The 8th annual Langston Hughes African American Film Festival gets under way here in Seattle's Central District. It's one of the only African American film festivals of its kind in the Pacific Northwest and this year, they're scheduled to show roughly 40 high quality independent films. Among this year's crop of feature-length films, shorts, and documentaries from all across the world, Karen Toering who organizes the LHAAFF says they're are 22 Seattle premiers, seven world premiers, and a record number of filmmakers that will be attendance throughout the nine day event which closes on May 8th.

Here's a word from the LHAAFF website about everything:

This festival screens provocative films from independent Black filmmakers and films about the African American experience. The festival features panel discussions, readings, matinee screenings for middle/high school youth and audience ‘talk-backs’ with filmmakers, industry professionals and community leaders.

The opening and closing nights of the festival are set to take place inside of the Quincy Jones Theater at Garfield High School (400 23rd Avenue, Seattle) from the and the rest of the films will be shown at Central Cinema (1411 21st Avenue, Seattle). That's something which is important to note for Cortona customers as the entire film festival is in walking distance of the cafe.

On opening night, the big highlight is the Seattle premier of KINYARAWANDA with guest filmmaker Alrick Brown in attendance. Here is a trailer of the powerful film about the Rawandan genocide:

Other highlights include the popular film I Will Follow returning to Seattle for the second time and local movie 23rd and Union by Seattle filmmaker Rafael Flores being shown as well. Check out the full festival line-up and support it if you can.

As of January 1st, 2011 Cortona Cafe has transitioned ownership to a NonProfit, Cortona Community, INC. Cortona Cafe originally began in Fall 2009 with a desire to foster a place of reconciliation and community in Seattle’s Central District neighborhood; and as many of you may know, Will Little (a CD resident) and Brian Wells (of Tougo Coffee) came together to make Cortona the reality it’s been for over a year now.

To further this vision of reconciliation and community building, Will and Brian have donated Cortona Cafe to the community under the oversight of Jason and Foxy Davison. Jason and Foxy Davison are former teachers and mentors in the Central District for the past ten years. Currently, they serve and volunteer in various community organizations in the Central Area that promote harmony among Central District residents, empowerment for youth of color, and advocacy for the marginalized. Given the work the Davisons have been involved with—and the coincidence of Jason and Will having been college roommates—Will & Brian felt comfortable putting Cortona in the Davisons’ hands.

So what does this all mean for Cortona as we know it? Well, Cortona Community will own the cafe, the name will remain the same, and it will still be a casual place to enjoy a tasty waffle or hot espresso. Rather than displace the culture of Cortona, Jason and Foxy desire to augment the culture of the cafe with a focus on empowerment, hospitality, and community building. This Spring we will start a small vocational program for youth or young adults of color who are struggling in school or in finding employment. With regard to hospitality, we will host community dinners and continue to open up our space and walls to any groups or artists willing to come. Finally with community building we desire to establish a board of neighbors and Central District organizations to promote harmony amongst all facets of diversity in the area, as well as advocate for leadership development for the disadvantaged among us.

Too often, we find ourselves valuing “diversity” but never practicing it for fear of “the Other." We believe this need not be so, and true community can come by valuing our stories and unique backgrounds in a posture of love towards one another. If you have not been a part of our Cortona family to this point, we invite you now!

Hope To See You Soon!

~Your Friends at Cortona Community

We are thrilled to announce the launch of a free web development class at Cortona taught by local web developers and geared toward High School students who are reasonably "good with computers" with little to no programming experience (It is, of course, open to anyone with a desire to learn). Our purpose in offering this class is to not only teach the basics of programming and how to build full-featured websites, but to spark a real interest in becoming an Internet entrepreneur - thinking how to build a useful site/service, increase web traffic, monetize it, create jobs, and be mindful of funding & exit strategies.

The format of the class will be as follows:

• It will begin at 7pm on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of the month at Cortona Cafe, starting Jan 17th and ending Dec 19th, 2011.
• ~7 days before the start of a class, homework/tutorials will be posted by the teacher (URL location TBA).
• The class itself will start with a short, 5-slide talk related to the homework.
• Right after the talk, "open community development night" starts where experienced developers can come work on their own projects along side beginners, helping them finish their homework (if it wasn't completed beforehand) and/or encourage them to blaze new trails with the concepts/tools introduced.
• With this format, students can jump into the class at any time during the year. They can work to get caught up, or just go the pace they are comfortable with while receiving one-on-one instruction.

The class will cover an introduction to the following:

• HTML (including new HTML5 features)
• CSS (including new CSS3 features)
• Javascript
• jQuery
• Ruby & Ruby on Rails (Object-Oriented Programing, Model-View-Controller paradigm, REST architecture, etc...)
• SQL (MySQL & SQLite Databases)
• Git (for version control)
• Test-Driven Development
• DNS, SSH, Unix Command Line, and Production Server Deployment
• Apache & Passenger
• Page Caching & Speed
• Scaling & Cloud Hosting Options
• Cron Tasks & Custom App Scripts
• Using APIs (Facebook, Twitter, & Google Maps)
• Business plans, funding sources, and exit strategies.
• and more....

From the very first class, students will have a working web application that will be expanded throughout the rest of the year. Space is limited to 15 per class and first priority is given to High School students - although anyone can follow the tutorials online. For questions, or if you are interested in helping teach some classes, email info@cortonacafe.com.

UPDATE - the homework tutorial for the first class can be found here.