The Tulsa Food Blog

Last week my husband and I took a road trip to Oxford, Mississippi. For all you super-cool book store lovers, you can guess exactly why Jeff and I went there. For all you others, I’ll just say that Jeff had an assignment to write an article for Publishers Weekly and I went along for the ride. Oxford is this uber-progressive, well-read town that I’m most definitely considering moving to for the rest of my life. Oh, to live in a city like this that also loves a good meal and of course a drink or two! And boy can they drink down there! Oxford is a college town (Ole Miss) in addition to being the home of William Faulkner. In the heart of town lies a square with absolutely no chain stores or restaurants. Can you imagine? Spending four days there felt like living in the fictional towns of Stars Hollow (Gilmore Girls) and Pleasantville all rolled into one. My own perfect kind of heaven if I may say so. Oxford is just about and hour and a half from Memphis and a very easy drive form Tulsa. No, I am not getting paid from the tourism board to write about this and I really do have a point. But like any good road trip, it may just take a little while to get there, so bear with me.

A while ago my husband read a book by British author Nick Hornby (High Fidelity) and Hornby said if he could live anywhere in America, it would be Oxford. Wow. In the book he goes on and on about this book store called Square Books which is owned and operated by the former mayor of Oxford. Super cool bookstore, with a never ending line up of writers, signings and readings. A year or so ago I was reading a piece in Bon Appetit about Oxford‘s culinary offerings. It listed a handful of great places to dine, stay and shop, listing Square Books as a trip highlight. I’m rambling I know, but we’re almost there, I promise. In this Bon Appetit article it spoke of a little place called City Grocery. The chef and owner of City Grocery (a restaurant not an actual grocery) is John Currence. Currence has also been awarded a James Beard Award for Excellence. This place is big deal. John now has four restaurants in Oxford, and while I only was lucky enough to eat at one (Boure), I consider myself lucky. The food was amazing. Who knew Oxford would be the place to discover such cooking talent? And the reality is that every place we ate in Oxford was amazing. I ate a piece of Red Velvet cake that I can still taste, that’s how good it was, it was almost like eating air or marshmallow fluff it was so soft. There was a lovely little spot called Bottletree Bakery that was absolutely precious. Different artisan breads filled the window, and huge Éclairs sat on the top shelf just begging to be eaten. They have wonderful chocolate chip cookies too (always a good thing). So finally I arrive at my point: I plan my trips around the meals and restaurants I have heard or read about. It’s only natural that someone who loves food so much would do so. So my question is this; what do out of towners look forward to when visiting us? What places do they research, anticipating the tastes to come? Sure, you have heard about places you want to try in New York and are pining away for the day you get to finally go to Chez Panisse, French Laundry, et al. My hope is that yes, there are places that visitors are dying to try once they get to Tulsa, but where? I desperately hope that the Texas food stereotype has not rubbed off on us (meat, large portions, etc…). And all I have to say is…Palace Café. One visit to this Cherry Street treasure will convert even the most metropolitan of diners into thinking we are the next food capitol. Watch out New York, there’s a new food capital and the president is Chef James Shrader. So with that said, listed below are my top twelve (ten was too hard) Tulsa food highlights. This is what I think visitors should hit up! But what about you? Where would you go, suggest, advocate? The world needs to know!

1. Any meal or dessert from Palace Café, James Shrader the chef could make Hamburger Helper seem gourmet.

2. Cookies from The Palate at Ranch Acres (especially lemon).

3. Sweetened condensed milk lattes from Café Cubana.

5. Margaritas and white queso from Café Ole.

6. Elote, anything and everything. Their entire endeavor is amazing and needed.

7. Yellow curry from Keo. Tasty long beans, potatoes, peas and pearl onions. You choose the protein.

8. The Canebrake (okay Wagoner, Oklahoma, but well worth the half-hour drive.

9. The Polo Grill. Besides being featured in Town and Country magazine, Wine Spectator and also recognized by the James Beard Foundation, the actual food is something to try. The Caesar is my favorite and the bar area is super cozy, my year-round favorite spot.

10. Bellinis from Tucci’s.

11. BBQ from Albert G’s.

12. Vintage 1740(The Porch Swing cocktail is quite lovely and they have a wonderful cheese tray)

About the Author:
Molly Martin – antoinettebakingco.blogspot.com & thevelvetmacaron.blogspot.com:

Molly is co-owner of Antoinette Baking Co. a locally-based company specializing in macarons, delectable cakes, madeleines and many other tasty treats. She is currently at work on a project which consists of creating and perfecting 52 macarons, one per week over the course of a year. The progress of this “52 Macarons” project is chronicled on her blog,”The Velvet Macaron”. Her goal, if not yet attained, is to become the “Macaron Queen” of Tulsa (if not the world). When not baking or blogging, Molly designs and sells aprons at Dwelling Space and Sage Culinary Studio. Some have suggested that Molly may have an unhealthy cake stand addiction.