’Twas a tasty 2018
Local dining experiences a pivotal year
When local foodies, gourmands and restaurateurs look back on 2018, it will stand out as a turning point. Only time remains to tell the tale whether the direction was up or down, but for now indications are Oklahoma City’s dining scene is ready for its close-up.
The highlights are as high as I’ve witnessed in a decade covering the tastiest stories on Red Earth: 84 Hospitality’s Empire Slice House was named Independent Pizzeria of the year by the national trade publication Pizza Today; Chandler’s David Bouska and his Butcher BBQ team (the inspiration for his son Levi’s Butcher BBQ Stand in Wellston) took home the overall title from the 2018 Jack Daniel’s World Invitational Barbecue Championship; and then, of course, Day One Hospitality’s nonesuch was named the country’s Best New Restaurant for 2018 by Bon Appetit magazine.
All this in the same year Oklahoma restaurants, bars and grocers prepared for the most significant changes to its liquor laws since 1959. Whew.
Empire Slice House is the lead dog among a pack of dynamite concepts from Rachel Cope’s 84 Hospitality. Co-founded with chef Avery Cannon, Empire opened in 2013 and rarely has seen a day when its heaping slices hasn’t drawn long lines in The Plaza.
Bouska is a longtime butcher who took a competitive streak forged in archery and aimed it at barbecue more than a decade ago. Bouska has been a regular on the circuit ever since, bringing home a succession of ribbons over the years that made this year’s result less a surprise and more a culmination of the inevitable.
Then there’s nonesuch. A year ago this week, I spent about 15 hours shadowing the kitchen crew and left dizzied as much by their inspired approach to cooking as by the uncertainty of its future.
Chef Colin Stringer and his brigade have brought unprecedented national attention on Oklahoma City dining. Writer Andrew Knowlton spent plenty of ink explaining what an unlikely place Oklahoma City was to find a culinary arts oasis like nonesuch, glossing over three decades of hard work by local chefs and producers to fertilize the market into one where a place like nonesuch could sprout.
That’s just lazy, and that’s on him.
Serious diners in the 405 know the push to create a culinary identity go back at least three decades to The Coach House Apprenticeship program, followed by years of trial and error in offering the kind of chef-driven concepts needed to educate diners.
As wonderful as the news is for Stringer, Day One President Todd Woodruff and everyone else involved in making this dream come true, it’s only the beginning.
From here, the sky’s the limit, but ground zero is never far away.
Seats at nonesuch have been the toughest in town to get since the news broke, but the challenges of a concept like this one don’t go away with a few months of good bookings.
Moving forward, sustainability and scrutiny will be nonesuch’s chief challenges. Stringer’s wife gave birth to their first child, a daughter, the day before Food and Wine revealed nonesuch as its No. 1 new restaurant in the U.S.
I spoke with Colin recently, and he mentioned Sundays are his one day a week to spend with his infant daughter. That free time is unlikely to increase in the weeks and months to come.
The kitchen at nonesuch required extraordinary attention to detail before it became a media darling. Don’t look for anyone working at nonesuch to get a breather anytime soon. Bottom line, nonesuch was always going to be a massive risk. The acclaim is well-earned, and it certainly will increase operating capital, but it doesn’t guarantee long-term success.
Knowlton certainly was correct in assessing Oklahoma City as an unlikely home for a concept inspired by Rene Redzepi’s worldrenowned Noma in Denmark. But there’s a simple reason tastingmenu concepts aren’t common across the country: There aren’t many that last long.
While nonesuch was having the most celebrated first year any Oklahoma restaurant ever had, Legend’s in Norman was busy turning 50. The Metro Wine Bar and Bistro just celebrated 30 years a couple of weeks ago. Each played a role through the years helping cultivate local diners into the kind who would one day appreciate an experience like nonesuch.
Whether it has anything to do with nonesuch or not, Oklahoma City certainly was on Food Network’s radar in 2018, with plans for more in 2019.
By the time you read this, chef Corey “Slawta” Harris (Off the Hook Seafood and More) and his family will be cruising the shoreline of Belize celebrating the holidays and a recent trip to Los Angeles to film an episode of “Guy’s Grocery Games.”
In 2018, chefs Shelby Sieg (The Pritchard), Beth Lyon (The Black Cat), Andrew Black (La Baguette Deep Deuce/ Black Walnut) and Kevin Lee (Vast, Gogi Go) all appeared on “Guy’s Grocery Games.” Lee took home $20,000 and earned another appearance on the show.
Food Network producers recently visited with chef Ana Davis, of Cafe do Brasil, about appearing on a new show starring Tyler Florence. When she told them she couldn’t participate in January, Ana said she was told Oklahoma City eateries will have ample opportunities to shine on national TV in 2019.
I guess we’ve been good for ratings. Travel Channel aired its Oklahoma City episode of “Food Paradise” in 2018 as did Cooking Channel’s “Cheap Eats.” I know of at least two other productions that came through town with plans to air segments early next year.
Discovery Family’s “Bake it Like Buddy” reached into Oklahoma for talent, selecting Jennifer and Brenda Havenar (Cakes by Jen) and Yukon’s Tiffany and Matt McBride (Tiffany’s Cake Atelier, ButterSweet Cupcakes) to compete. Lan McCabe (Sweets on the Side) made an appearance on Food Network’s “Christmas Cookie Challenge.”
I can’t say for certain what local chefs, cooks and restaurateurs will do for an encore in 2019, but I can say I will delight in tasting my way through it.