Deep Deuce La Baguette headed to Yukon
Culinary Edge restaurant group closed its La Baguette location in Deep Deuce last week with plans to re-emerge next year in Yukon. • Chef Andrew Black said the move was made to make room for another of his properties. • “Black Walnut is a small restaurant,” he said. “You walk in you see 20-tops, 30-tops.It needed room to grow.” • The former La Baguette space will make room for banquet space and overflow dining for Black Walnut, which Black refers to as his “mood restaurant.” • The menu specializes in bold flavors served without pretense and a cocktail program highlighted by street cocktails.
“It just hit me that in every country in a poor village there is a street cocktail,” Black said. “Growing up in Jamaica, I remember my dad would take rum and sorrell and he would ferment them for the entire year, and that’s what they drink in December.”
The eclectic menu features bites, small plates and a tomahawk rib-eye aged 28 days for two. The menu is divided by sweet and savory, fresh and light, smoky and satisfying, and casual and comforting.
Culinary Edge operates La Baguette properties in Norman, but not the location on North May Avenue. That spot was founded by La Baguette founders Johnny Jazzar and Rudy Khouri with brothers Michel and Alain Buthion, who now own it outright.
Black said the new location in Yukon will open some time next year. Black also said Culinary Edge would open a concept called The Golden Acorn in the First National Bank Building and a notyet-named concept across from The Criterion in east Bricktown next year.
Paseo percolating
Culinary Edge isn’t the only restaurant group making moves. Humankind Hospitality is in the midst of refreshing the Sauced on Paseo space in the Paseo Arts District for reopening. Fire closed the popular pizza and poetry haunt last year. While it was dark, a shift in ownership placed Sauced under the Humankind umbrella.
Chef/partner Ryan Parrott said cosmetic changes like a move for the bar are in store, but it will serve the same great pizza. He said the pandemic is playing havoc on supply lines and construction costs, which has slowed the project. Look for it to reopen this fall.
Humankind will also add a tiki bar to the Paseo. The spot first occupied by Buttermilk then Phillyhoma will reopen next year. Parrott said the new concept won’t have a formal kitchen, but it’s proximity to other Humankind kitchens like Oso, Picasso’s, Frida Southwest and The Daley will support it.
Speaking of The Daley, the “secret” tiny speakeasy next-door to Frida reopened just before the start of September.
Unwind Cafe arrives in Uptown
The long-empty restaurant space next-door to the Tower Theatre has a new tenant. Unwind Cafe takes over the space long occupied by Scottie’s Deli at 427 NW 23 St,.
The Cuban-inspired cafe, coffee house and patisserie was supposed to open in the spring, but a crime got in the way. Thieves robbed a trailer containing much of the restaurant’s kitchen equipment and set back the opening several months.
Owners Kefren and Maria Arjona and chef-partner Mikel Pichs came from Miami, Florida, and currently offer housemade pastries, premium coffee service, and breakfast, brunch, and lunch items.
Chef Pichs came to the U.S. by way of Spain and is a classically trained pastry chef. He plans to add tapas options in the future. Cocktails are also available now, and rum drinks are the specialty of the house.
The brunch menu includes egg dishes, housemade sausage, and a Benedict menu. The cafe is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Look for hours to expand when tapas are added to the menu.