Uptown is stating its case
New restaurants are piling in to NW 23 corridor
Dining options along the stretch of NW 23 known as Uptown have gone from slow drip to fire hose since Cheever's Cafe first opened 17 years ago.
Now with the Tower Theatre complex booming and influence from the Asian District present, Uptown dining is on fire.
A few weeks ago, Uptown lost one of its crown jewels when Guernsey Park closed, but owner Truong Le is doubling down on the chic space with a second-row view of the main drag.
When he reopens the doors to the two-story space this spring, Le will introduce two new concepts: Okie Pokie and Noodee.
Guernsey's old upstairs dining room will operate as Noodee, a naked noodle concept. Le said guests will walk through a line and choose from five kinds of noodles to build their meal.
“We’ll have different ingredients and sauces you can add to the noodles,” Le said. “But you’ll start out with naked noodles, then add what you like.”
Downstairs will be Okie Pokie’s lair, serving Hawaiian poke (rhymes
with OK). Le said the fresh-fish concept will allow guests to build their own poke bowls in a walk-through counter. He said fans of Guernsey Park will recognize some of the flavors influencing the menu.
Okie Pokie promises to be the first of what could be three new poke concepts coming to the metro this year. According to an internet report on Monday, a Los Angeles chef will open a place just down the street with a remarkably similar name, Oki Poke.
The report on okctalk.com said chef Penny Davidi would take over a longabandoned space at 1520 NW 23. By the looks of that building, it will be awhile before Okie Pokie and Oki Poke go head-to-head in Uptown.
The third potential poke concept is not in Uptown, but won’t be too far away if it comes to fruition. Many more details on that when they come available.
But Uptown’s race up the diningsphere ladder isn’t fueled by poke, steamed buns and duck pastrami alone.
This weekend, HunnyBunny Biscuit Co. opened its doors in the Tower Theatre complex, adding another winner to that strip with more to come.
The new breakfast and lunch emporium comes to us from the folks behind Packard’s New American Kitchen. The concept sprang from a spark of inspiration chef Chris McKenna had on his honeymoon about a year ago.
“It’s hard to believe this was just an idea a year ago we were talking about how cool it would be to open a place like this,” McKenna said from deep within the crowd of Saturday’s preview service. “And now here we are.”
Here they are indeed. Despite wallto-wall guests, the kitchen consistently pumped out stunning biscuits stuffed or topped with a variety of dizzying flavor combinations. My wife, Lori, had the Hot Mess, which found begins with a bed of potato tots topped with gravy, cheddar cheese, green onions and a fried egg. She opted for the mushroom gravy, which was delicious. I tried the Classic, a biscuit sandwich stuffed with bacon, cheese and a fried egg to lay the foundation for what feels like a long, serious relationship.
HunnyBunny opens bright and early at 7 a.m. For more information, including the full menu, go online to hunnybunnybiscuitco.com.
In the weeks to come, look for stories about two of HunnyBunny’s neighbors bolstering Uptown under the Tower Theatre marquee: Daniel Chae’s steamed bun shop Urbun and Eric Fossett’s Scottie’s Deli.
Asian grandeur on display at new concept
Kwan’s Kitchen, the enormous and ambitious new concept coming from the folks at Fung’s Kitchen and the original Dot Wo, has preview services lined up for this weekend setting up a Monday opening.
The 15,000-square-foot space was host to a huge Chinese New Year celebration
on Sunday, including dancers, musicians, artists and a sampling menu.
Chef Kwan’s menu pushes past traditional boundaries of Chinese cuisine to include inspiration from other culinary traditions. Make no mistake, Kwan’s will express a vision of world cuisine with a strong Asian foundation. But find me a restaurant in the Asian District (or anywhere else in town, for that matter) that serves White Wine Curry Baked Salmon with Caviar and win a prize.
The former Fox and the Hound Pub has been converted into a palatial restaurant and event space. Look for Instagram to be inundated with selfies shot in front of an indoor waterfall that drains into an underground koi pond made visible by glass flooring.
The enormous structure could easily support a wedding reception on one side, two private parties upstairs and still have plenty of room on the other side to run a standard dining service. The sampling of food we tried was spoton and the atmosphere dramatic.
Kwan’s will be open daily for lunch and dinner. You can follow up on final details and stay apprised of promotions leading up to the grand opening on the restaurant’s Facebook page: keyword Kwan’s Kitchen.
Tune in
Travel Channel’s “Food Paradise” will air an episode called Sunday night called “Rise and Dine.” Fans of recent Oklahoman cover-boy Luidgi Del Cid’s Cafe Kacao will want to tune in as the popular Guatemalan cafe will be featured. Show time is 7 p.m . ...
If I’m reading the virtual tea leaves on social media correctly, local chef Shelby Sieg, of The Pritchard, recently wrapped shooting on an episode of “Guy’s Grocery Games” for Food Network. No confirmation, strictly a channeling of cyberbia. (That’ll be 60 bucks, please). Sieg did previously indicate an appearance was in the cards. (On the house). When an actual air date is announced, we’ll pass it along. (Mkt.)