As an accomplished playwright, Tony Kushner has won two Tony Awards, but he also has an Emmy Award, a Pulitzer Prize and an Academy Award nomination ("Lincoln”) to his name. Clearly, such works as “Angels in America,” “A Bright Room Called Day” and “Caroline, or Change” are not to be confined to stage dimensions. And neither is Kushner, who visits the University of Tulsa again for the TU Presidential Lecture Series. Kushner, whose works comment on critical social issues such as AIDS, racism and capitalism, will speak at the Donald W. Reynolds Center, 3208 E. Eighth St., on the TU campus at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 12. The lecture is free and open to the public, and seating is available on a first-come-first-served basis. For more, visit www.utulsa.edu.
Tulsa’s Blue Dome District will hum with the motors of food trucks parked along its corridors Saturday. Eat Street Tulsa, the annual food truck festival, brings all your favorite eateries on wheels to the area of Second Street and Elgin Avenue from 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9. Favorites such as Andolini’s, 2 Chefs on Wheels, Lone Wolf and the Dog House will be joined by trucks serving up burgers and fries, barbecue, Mediterranean, Mexican, fine cuisine, Italian and other specialties. During the day, Eat Street Tulsa will have great entertainment from local singers such as Fiawna Forte, Wink Burcham and Dustin Pittsley. There will also be a Food Truck Challenge to see which truck is Tulsa’s best. For more, look for Eat Street Tulsa on www.facebook.com.
It isn’t enough for Theatre Tulsa to bring just one of the most popular comedies of the English language to play at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center this weekend. It has to bring two, and if you’re a fan of Oscar Wilde, the timing couldn’t be better. “The Importance of Being Earnest” opens at 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 8, in the PAC’s Liddy Doenges Theatre, 110 E. Second St. If you’re looking for dainty tea cups and doilies-for-collars, however, keep walking, because director Clayton B. Hodges and Theatre Tulsa have set the farce of Victorian manners and romance in the far-flung reaches of post-apocalyptic, neo-Victorian London with an unmistakable steam punk vibe. The play runs through the weekend and Nov. 17.
Hodges, a Tulsa native now residing in Los Angeles, takes his own turn on stage in “The Critic as Artist,” a production based on Wilde’s essay laying out his aesthetic philosophy of fine art and criticism. The genius of Wilde shines at 7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 10. Tickets for “The Importance of Being Earnest” are $14-$18, and tickets for “The Critic as Artist" are $10-$12. Get them at www.myticketoffice.com.
What could be better for the well-informed and up-to-date than “A Morning with Dan Rather,” the next offering from Tulsa Town Hall and its lecture series? One of the most honored, respected and recognized American journalists, Dan Rather, the former anchor of the “CBS Evening News,” will speak in Chapman Music Hall at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center, 101 E. Third St. at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Nov. 8. Tickets are by subscription only, available at www.tulsatownhall.com. Visit the site to see the other speakers lined up for the 2013-14 season.
Imagine a theater show that brings back memories of watching nature shows on TV with your parents, field trips to the zoo or walks through the woods. Glimpses of animal life are too rare these days, but animals in the revelry of dance can only be seen on a stage. “Frogz,” a production of the Imago Theatre of Portland, Oregon, brings together cool costumes, choreography, acrobatics and humor on the Tulsa Performing Arts Center’s John H. Williams Theatre stage at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 8. Dancers transform into penguins, reptiles and, of course, frogs at 110 E. Second St., Tulsa. Tickets are $19-$25, available at www.tulsapactrust.org. And because the show is part of the Tulsa Performing Arts Center Trust’s Imagination I-Square Series, you know it’s family friendly.
Pick up your passport to some of Tulsa’s coolest residential spaces. “Dwell in the IDL” is a tour of downtown Tulsa living spaces within the Inner Dispersal Loop (or IDL) that is the arterial confluence of Interstates 244 and 44 and U.S. 75, 64 and 412. The Tulsa Foundation For Architecture will take you to seven properties – wide-open lofts, spacious apartments and unique living spaces among Art Deco skyscrapers, historic buildings and new construction. Tickets are available for $20 each at Dwelling Space, 119 S. Detroit Ave., now and through the day of the tour. For more, visit www.tulsaarchitecture.com.
The roast beef at Maxxwell's is cooked fresh daily and served with potatoes, vegetables and au jus. Photo by Brandon Scott.
It was a fine old hotel in its day, and its Spanish Colonial tile-roofed towers were a welcome and long-remembered sight to weary travelers coming into Tulsa along Route 66. But the Casa Loma was in danger. “No way it can be restored,” said one man who had toured the rundown interior. “The upper floor apartments have been vacant for years, and the ground floor tenants have moved out one by one,” wrote another. It’s “in serious danger of being abandoned or torn down.” And then a miracle happened. A group of developers arrived on the scene, and a few years later, the derelict structure was renovated and reopened as the Campbell Hotel.
Enter the Campbell today, and you are indeed cosseted in luxury, with decor that looks like what you’d imagine to have found when the hotel first opened in 1927: overstuffed leather armchairs grouped around an elaborately carved marble fireplace. But head to the eastern end of the building, beneath a huge, vaguely Deco-styled neon sign that shouts “Maxxwell’s” in tall, glaring letters, and you’ll find something totally different. Not the sort of diner that once lined 66 – which Steinbeck described as “a screen door, a long bar, stools, and a foot rail” – but a bright, high-ceilinged space: stark, spare and modern. Crystal chandeliers, an elaborately embossed tin ceiling and row after row of framed photos of Tulsa in its salad days all hint at the building’s storied past. (Indeed, when the hotel opened, this space was Betty Brown’s Kitchen, which might have had more than a passing resemblance to those Steinbeck diners.)
If you’ve come just before the dinner rush, you might see manager Sean Savage, who resembles the sort of lean, lanky weathered-face cowboy you might encounter farther west on 66, stacking glasses or pouring Maxxwell’s handmade cocktails at the long, wood-trimmed bar. Savage isn’t the kind of fellow to sit back and watch others work. And in fact, everyone is hard at work. “We make 90 percent of our items from scratch,” says Savage, including salad dressing, sauces, soups, burger buns and apple pies. Savage walks through the bright, spanking-new kitchen. One chef is stirring the mixture that will be transformed, according to the menu, into “Just-like-Mom-made” meatloaf. Another has just pulled from the oven a huge turkey straight out of a Norman Rockwell illustration. It will be used to make hot turkey melt sandwiches. Savage opens another oven, and appetizing smells waft out. Inside is a juicy rib roast. Maxxwell’s makes roast every day to be cut into huge slices and served with mashed potatoes and au jus gravy. The dishes at Maxxwell’s evoke old memories and satisfy primal cravings. “Gourmet comfort food,” says Savage.
There’s a lot of talent behind those seemingly simple recipes. Two of the chefs graduated from the Culinary Institute of America, which Julia Child called the Harvard of cooking schools, and two others hail from Platt. The head chef, Bethany Taylor, doesn’t boast a culinary degree. But, says Savage, she’s got experience. Indeed, she does. Before coming to Maxxwell’s, Taylor worked alongside one of Tulsa’s most talented chefs, Marcus Vause, at Tavolo. All this talent makes the menu shine. In addition to the delicious roast beef and meatloaf, you can find Smoky Mac ‘N Cheese made with smoked sausage and hatch chiles; shrimp pasta, beer-battered cod, with the batter done just right; and a full range of burgers and hot and cold sandwiches. Come early, and there’s a full breakfast menu of steak and eggs, flapjacks and omelets. And whenever you go you can end your meal with the quintessential American comfort food: homemade apple pie. 2636 E. 11th St., Tulsa. 918.748.5550
“I came home from work one day and my wife, Courtney, told me that Top Chef was holding auditions in Denver. I thought that was cool but didn’t take it much further than that. She did. She looked straight at me and said, ‘No, I already bought plane tickets. You’re going.’”
Pretty quickly, 34-year-old Del City native Josh Valentine found himself on a jet to the Mile High City. After a few days of auditions, he secured a spot on the Bravo TV show. Roughly 2 million viewers per week tuned in to watch Valentine and 20 other cooking ninjas race the clock and make culinary magic for the show’s 10th season.
Before he traded the hot lamps of a kitchen for the hot klieg lights of a television set, Valentine owned and operated Oklahoma City’s popular Divine Swine Pork Bistro. It landed him the Oklahoma Restaurant Association’s Hot New Concept Award in 2012, and his signature candied bacon sticky buns developed a cult-like following.
In addition to offering habit-forming food, Divine Swine served as a training ground of sorts. Valentine prepared all of the items on its menu from scratch. And cooking from scratch is what Top Chef is all about. Valentine learned early in his career that scratch cooking gave him the most control over the quality of the food he served. He doesn’t fight with purveyors to get the right ingredients. He cooks from scratch so he can guarantee that the food tastes better.
Toward the end of 2012, Valentine shuttered the doors of Divine Swine. It was made clear to him at the show’s auditions that the competition would be a 24/7 endeavor. From the minute he hit the tarmac in the host city of Seattle, it was game on. With its unusual challenges, the show pulls chefs out of their comfort zones.
Alas, no challenge demanded candied bacon sticky buns, and on the season’s 15th episode, it was duck that sent Valentine home. More specifically, it was a duck liver. Foie gras torchon is hard enough to make without racing a clock. It was the toughest dish he was asked to prepare.
“It’s virtually impossible to make foie gras torchon in two days. It’s usually a four-day process. But I had my mind made up. I was going to try. If I had pulled it off, the outcome probably would have been different.”
In the second to the last episode of the season, Valentine was asked by host Padma Lakshmi to pack his knives. He made more than a good showing, placing third. But, by then, he had something else on his mind – the birth of his daughter, Georgia. A longing to make it home in time for her birth was with him for most of the show’s season. He wasn’t just under the gun in the kitchen. He was under the gun at home.
“As we got further and further into the show, I thought about it more and more. When we got down to the end and there were just three or four of us, I was thinking that I’d make it home on time to see Georgia born. I was always thinking about it, but I tried not to dwell on it when I cooked. But any time somebody misses a life event like that, it’s going to affect them somehow.”
When he thinks back on his performance, it’s the stress that stands out the most. The days were long, never less than 15-hour stretches. Racing the clock again and again while meeting the demands of tough challenges was rough, but not that unfamiliar to him. Chefs encounter Quickfire challenges everyday. It’s how the good ones work.
“Working under stress is normal for a chef. Stress is an everyday thing. In a restaurant, we’re trying to get food out in a timely manner and make sure it’s perfect for the guests. It was the same kind of deal on the show. The stakes were just higher here because everybody in the country was watching us. But chefs actually thrive on stress.”
An exhausted Valentine didn’t make it home in time for Georgia’s birth. But he spent plenty of time with her before kicking off his next venture, The George Prime Steakhouse. Scheduled to open in late November, it will occupy the top floor of Oklahoma City’s Founders Tower. It will command the best view of the city, but that might go unnoticed by diners distracted by the food. While the restaurant will be a steak lover’s dream, Valentine plans on making it stand out with dishes unavailable at other steakhouses.
The George’s location is a bold indication of Valentine’s aspirations for the restaurant. The iconic, Art Deco building bills itself as the most exclusive address in the city. After a long vacancy, its rotating top floor will once again be home to some of the best food in the city. Previous restaurants on the 20th floor of the well-known building have set high standards for George Prime. Nikz At the Top, a much-lauded steakhouse, closed its doors amid legal wranglings in 2007. Before Nikz, it was home to The Eagle’s Nest, another well-reviewed steakhouse and Oklahoma City fixture – and hands down the most popular location for wedding proposals – for more than two decades. The owners of George Prime aren’t intimidated. Valentine’s proven himself in the kitchen, and his business partner, Kevin George, part owner of InterUrban Restaurants, brings heavy-hitting business acumen to the game.
And in case anybody’s wondering, the fate of the sticky candied bacon bun has not been sealed.
“There’ll definitely be desserts as cool as those. If we decide to open up for brunch, you’ll see the sticky buns again. They’ll also be around at special events and other things. They’re making a comeback, for sure.”
Finally moving into Tulsa’s News On 6 Concept Home near Utica Square is a culmination of more than two years’ work for homeowners Patrick and Pat Cobb. The nearly 5,000-square-foot home was open to the public in September.
The couple had owned the property for several years when they decided to build their dream home. They initially worked with architect David Simmons of CJC Architects to design the home’s layout, while Sally Taggart of Sally Taggart Interior Design, began working closely with the Cobbs to incorporate their interior goals.
“Sally designed our previous two houses and was instrumental in helping me see the bigger picture as we worked through each detail decision,” says Pat Cobb.
In the meantime, the Cobbs began the search for a builder. “They had seen my work in Parade of Homes,” says Phil Rhees, owner of BMI Next Generation Homes in Tulsa. Rhees worked on the 2005 Concept Home and knew TLConcepts, located in Kansas, was looking for a new project in Tulsa.
“The last house was a ‘spec’ home, and they were looking for a custom,” says Rhees. So he suggested the idea to the Cobbs.
Because these projects are designed to include cutting-edge products and services, the home is equipped with the latest “smart home” technology that allows virtually anything electric to be programmed and accessed remotely from a smart phone, including the window shades in the downstairs living area. Another innovative product is the hydraulic lift in the garage, allowing for two cars to be stored in the space of a single car garage. “These are fairly new to Tulsa and the first one we’ve installed,” says Rhees.
Taggart and the homeowners began working with the suppliers brought together by the project to select finishes throughout the home. “The style is a comfortable blend of contemporary and transitional,” says Taggart. The Cobbs’ previous home was very traditional, and the couple was ready for less formality. “We didn’t want it to be stuffy,” says Cobb.
While most of the furnishings are new, some existing furnishings were utilized. In the entry bath, a traditional commode was used as a base for the sink. The couple also has an extensive art and sculpture collection that was incorporated into the colorful interior.
The homeowners like bright florals, so Taggart blended a series of patterns and colors throughout the media room that opens to the living room below. The rich hues also flow into the kitchen with a blue island, while a deep red paint accents the nearby laundry room cabinets.
Because the couple was also downsizing, customized storage was created under the stairs; plus additional cabinetry, shelving and display areas were built in the media room and the library. The library, just off the entry, also provides a smaller, cozy space to watch television.
“All our main living area is on the first floor,” explains Cobb, since they plan on living here long after retirement. Upstairs, she has her own computer and workroom. Nearby, her husband has an office with an attached circular playroom for their grandchildren. In a unique addition to this nautical theme, Tulsa artist Janet Fadler Davie painted a night sky on the ceiling detailed to represent the constellations the way they were on the night the couple was married.
There is also a spacious theater room with seating for six. The décor is reminiscent of a vintage theater and packaged treats sport an OSU logo, since the Cobbs are alumni.
“We wanted a happy house,” laughs Cobb. “The end result is even better than I could have envisioned.”
You know the scene: A carved-up, oven-baked turkey missing its drumsticks sits on the dining table as the conspirators sit in half slumber around the college bowl game on TV. Eventually, someone says, “Let’s take a drive.” Holiday lights displays have become part of the Thanksgiving celebration as neighborhoods, parks, shopping districts and downtown centers throw the switch for winter’s festive atmosphere. You can check out the Midwest City Holiday Lights Spectacular (Nov. 22), Chickasha Festival of Light (Nov. 26) and Broken Arrow’s Rhema Christmas Lights (Nov. 27) before Turkey Day. Then head to Utica Square’s Lights On! and Muskogee’s Garden of Lights in Honor Heights Park for official openings on Nov. 28. The next night (Nov. 29), look for Downtown in December in Oklahoma City, Tulsa’s Winterfest and Woolaroc Wonderland of Lights in Bartlesville.
The roast beef at Maxxwell's is cooked fresh daily and served with potatoes, vegetables and au jus. Photo by Brandon Scott.
