First Valentine’s Dinner Experience at the Choctaw Cultural Center

DURANT, Okla. – The Choctaw Cultural Center is planning another first, a dinner for couples on Valentine’s Day. The Choctaw Cultural Center will host the Chi Hullo Li Dinner, Choctaw for “I love you,” on Tuesday, Feb. 14 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the center’s Champuli Café. The café’s staff will be on hand to cook and serve for up to 35 couples.

“It will be an elegant evening with delicious food,” said Chef Tanya Nicholas, who noted she will draw from a menu of traditional Native foods. Before becoming chef de cuisine at the Champuli Café in 2022, she was executive sous chef of Roots Café at the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Headquarters for five years. Her earlier experience included Harrah’s Casino and L’auberge Du Lac Casino, both in Lake Charles, La.

Handmade Choctaw baskets will decorate each table. After hors de oeuvres, couples will be treated to an entrée of steak and shrimp, garlic mashed potatoes, asparagus, Choctaw salad with squash and pecans, and for dessert, truffles with a sugar crystal dish. Drinks will include mocktails, coffee, and traditional sassafras tea.

Cheyhoma Dugger, director of development and membership at the center, said, “The Chi Hullo Li Dinner is an opportunity to have an exclusive after-hours experience in our world class facility. Our guests for this special evening will have access to our exhibits, a hosted tour, and a specially crafted menu that incorporates Choctaw ingredients.”

Attire for the evening is casual chic. Reservations are required and now being taken for the Choctaw Cultural Center’s first Chi Hullo Li Dinner, 1919 Hina Hanta Way, Durant. Cost for the evening is $80 per couple for Choctaw Cultural Center members, and $100 per couple for non-members. Call 833 708-9582 or visit the event webpage for reservations.

Annual membership support of the Choctaw Cultural Center for individuals, families and communities begins at $40. Visit the Membership webpage for information on obtaining a membership.