LIGHTER OPTIONS
The Food Dude runs down dining options for a cautious January, plus news from the local diningscape
Resolutions or not, the middle of January is a great time to embrace a healthier eating habits and Oklahoma City is becoming an easier place to see it through.
Two weeks ago marked the end of the 2019 holiday season, but 2020 begins its first succession of gluttony-friendly occasions two weeks from now with the Lunar New Year, Valentine's Day and Mardi Gras.
If you want to enjoy the dining celebrations 2020 has in store, it's not a bad idea to start out in training. Some people like to go meatless in January; others like to count their calories. Either is a great way to take your health by the scruff of the neck, but neither will be as effective without exercise.
I wrote extensively in “The OK” about my personal journey for dropping three and a half stones from my waistline since 2017, which involved health factors that can't be replicated. Nor would you want to. On the other hand, I can tell you the secret to my finding a more comfortable weight was finding alternatives.
Food favorites are not set in stone. While it's a great time to be alive in a world teeming with food choices and accessibility, it's not our birthright to have our three daily squares crafted by artisans. In fact, we're long past believing three meals a day is necessary or
even preferable. Some say more, some say less.
Bottom line: It's okay to skip a meal if the preceding one was super-sized in any way. Don't want to skip a meal? Make it a snack. Fruits and vegetables, always; nuts and crackers, for sure; package of pork rinds, once in a blue moon. Honesty is the best policy, but beware. Your brain will lie to you, especially if a smoking, hot doughnut trots by.
As for alternatives, beef is a common target for replacement. See Impossible and Beyond Burgers. Part of that is the shear popularity of beef. One can eat beef daily as part of a heart-smart diet, but not with third-pound burgers and pot roast.
The popularity of burger made it an early target for herbivores, meaning we've had plenty of time to find a good alternative. And I'm not talking about the previously mentioned faux-burgers.
The recently resuscitated Red Rooster Bar from Venerable Concepts offers a full-on January experience. You can go meatless with a hearty app and one of the best house-made veggie burgers in town, and if it's been a good week, splurge on a newfangled banana split that won't break the bank.
Founding chef Tim Mort left Oklahoma late last year to take a dream job in Wyoming, leaving chef Jim Gorton in charge. Gorton's time at Ludivine clearly paid off when it comes to veggie burgers. Gorton's beetand-black bean patty hits all the marks, texture most crucially. Grilled onions, avocado and pickles add life to the party, and you'll want some roasted fingerlings riding side-saddle.
Red Rooster does a very nice falafel plate served with tapenade, hummus and flatbread, but my favorite meat-free item on the menu is the Masa Grit Cakes. Pureed black beans and house-pickled squash top deep-fried cakes made of grits. A little avocado crema is the final flourish. Great texture, bold flavors kept in balance. It's an ideal start to a meal or a hearty entree.
As I said, if you've been watching calories all week, the banana split is a worthy prize for a job well done or a shining dessert on the hill reserved for Valentine's Day. Split bananas are bruleed and served with peanut butter ice cream and pretzel brittle. It's not the dealkiller a trip to Braum's is, and it's a lot more pretty.
If you would've told me in 1995 that some day the Red Rooster would have a menu that would some day rival The Red Cup, I would've told you it's time to leave the rave.
Even though he wasn't yet in school when The Red Cup opened, chef Patrick Clark leads the way among local keepers of the vegan and vegetarian arts. But the club is growing. Herbivores have never had it so good in the 405 diningscape. Vegans born into the 572 will never know whence we came.
Where we are is a market in which The Loaded Bowl can go from food truck to terra firma in three years. The Loaded Bowl is all-vegan but far from a health-food. The cashew cheese is legend and blesses everything it touches, not the least of which is the human palate.
It's joined now by downtown's Plant and
Nabati in Brixton Square serving an all-vegan menu. Taco Plant is a popular vegan food truck.
Green Goodies specializes in desserts for specialneeds diets. Chef Beth Lyon's Black Cat inside The Collective is ground-zero for food, vegan or otherwise, that's as good for the heart as it is the soul.
Down at Elemental Coffee in Midtown, Elena Farrar makes some of the tastiest vegan and health-forward food in town. Stone Sisters Pizza makes pizza dreams come true for those with allergy nightmares, and
Nourished Food Bar is a grab-and-go option downtown.
Chefs Ryan Parrott and Tom Woolly have continued to make Picasso Café a vegan favorite with monthly vegan dinners plus an extended menu for herbivores, and chef Bruce Rinehart told me he is ramping up his vegan dinner series at Rococo, too.
Perhaps no local restaurant is more invested in healthy dining choices than Coolgreens. The fast-casual concept has locations across town, Tulsa, and Texas; and has Nebraska in its sights for 2020 and feelers on both coasts.
Leap Year month begins with LEAP Event
Leap Coffee Roasters has teamed with local poet and visual artist Angie LaPaglia to create the company's 2020 Artist Series Blend coffee, Shameless, set to launch Feb. 1.
Leap's Kari Hurst Starkey and LaPaglia joined me to record a “Community Table” episode last week and enjoy a cup of Shameless, a light-to-medium roast. Beans are certified organic and hail from Brazil, Guatemala, and Sumatra.
LaPaglia and the Leap team will celebrate the coffee's debut with a launch party and art opening 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 1 at the Leap retail warehouse, 44 NE 51 St.
The event will include music by Norman-based singer/songwriter Lacy Saunders and poetry performances by LaPaglia. I'll have more coverage of this distinctive collaboration before the opening. For now, circle your calendars to check out this creativity pop-up. Learn more online at angielapaglia.com and leapcoffeeroasters.net.
Condolences
Pauline Haynes, wife of Johnnie’s Charcoal Broiler
founder Johnnie Haynes, passed away on Saturday. She was 82. The couple opened the iconic restaurant in the early 1970s and were married more than four decades. Pauline was known for her high standards, bright smile and big heart. A public viewing is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday at Vondel Smith Mortuary, 13125 N MacArthur Blvd. A Celebration of Life will commence at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at LifeChurch, 9001 Broadway Ext.
Would be a fine time to drop by the The Lounge,
the Haynes family's most recent addition to the market, to raise a toast to the matriarch of a local legend.
Short orders
Play Cafe, 610 NW 23 St., has opened. Owner Liz Howald is offering a family-frendly space with coffee, cocktails, a menu from Chris Castro and baked goods along with plenty of space. ...
Didn't make many big predictions for local dining in 2020, but I do have one: Fans of Trattoria il Centro
will get at least one more chance to enjoy the talents of chef Christine Dowd and Maggie Howell, and the first will occur this year. ...
Maples Barbecue has
closed in the Plaza District. Maples was one of four restaurants under the Day One Concepts umbrella, including Waffle Champion, Nonesuch and Buttermilk Paseo. The Maples team posted the following on its Facebook page Tuesday morning: “It's with a ton of conflicting emotions that we're ending this chapter of Maples Barbecue. It's been a good ride for our little family. We're grateful for our pit crew, led by Zach Edge and Antony Rosales, for their passion and commitment working tirelessly every night in pursuit of the magical perfect cook.”
If someone feels like they want to step in and continue writing this story you can send business inquiries to info@maplesbarbecue.com.