April 2020 by 405 Magazine

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4 05 M AG A Z I N E | VOLU ME SI X I S SUE FO UR

Remembrance & Reflection 25 years after the Oklahoma City Bombing

Summer Travel Guide

David Sutton

Road Trips to renew the spirit

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DEPA RTM EN TS

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IN THE 405 16

FA SHION A stylish spring

WH AT’S ONLINE Best posts from around the 405

PER SON OF IN TER EST A home for art and artists in Deep Deuce

ARTS & CULTUR E OKC women discover the joy of ballet

OUT & ABOUT

GIVING BACK Susan Walton uses personal tragedy to bring good to others

ROAD TR IP Discover Tulsa’s luxurious Harwelden Mansion

PR I ME PICK S What to see and do in May

SOCI AL HOUR A look into OKC’s social gatherings

DINING 46

GOOD TA STE Chef Quixtan serves up Mexican fare at Iguana

THE DISH Spring for Vietnamese spring rolls

THE DR INK Brewing up cool coffee cocktails

LOCAL FL AVOR A guide to the city’s top restaurants

EVERY ISSUE

16 ON THE C OV E R A view of 9:03 Gate at the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum. Photo by Matt Payne

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LOOKING BACK OKC: The only U.S capital that was born in one day

L A ST L AUGH But wait! There’s more! A humorous look at infomercials

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OWNER | PUBLISHER

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Linda Miller, Kimberly Burk, Matt Patterson, M.J. Alexander, George Lang, Lillie-Beth Sanger Brinkman, Elaine Warner, Lauren Roth, Rebecca Moody

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Volume 6 / Number 4, 405 Magazine (periodicals 21350) is published monthly, 12 times a year, by 405 Magazine, Inc., 1613 North Broadway Avenue, Oklahoma City, OK 73103. Periodicals postage paid at Oklahoma City, OK and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to 405 Magazine, P.O. Box 16765, North Hollywood, CA 91615-6765.

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405 Magazine Volume 6, Number 4, April 2020. 405 Magazine is published monthly by 405 Magazine, Inc. at 1613 N. Broadway, Oklahoma City, OK 73103, 405.842.2266. © Copyright 2020 405 Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction of 405 Magazine content, in whole or part by any means, without the express written consent of the publisher is strictly prohibited. 405 Magazine is not responsible for the care of and/or return of unsolicited materials. 405 Magazine reserves the right to refuse advertising deemed detrimental to the community’s best interest or in questionable taste. Opinions expressed in this magazine are those of the author and do not necessarily reﬂ ect those of ownership or management. Basic annual subscription rate is $14.95. U.S. single-copy price is $4.95. Back issues are $9.50 each

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F R O M

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Our Way Forward, Together

T ’ S S P R I N G T I M E I N O K L A H O M A C I T Y, B O T H figuratively and literally. As the leaves begin to unfold and reach toward the sun, we may reflect that we are in a city that, like the blossoming of spring, also is finding its way to the light. The word renaissance hardly captures the surge of creative energy that continues to flourish both inside and outside the city core. But we can’t fully appreciate such growth without recognizing the depths of sorrow from which we’ve come. April 19 marks the 25th anniversary of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. It’s a time not only to honor those who were lost and wounded, but to cast a clear eye at the darkness that spawned such an event, and how that moment found its way into the psyche of an entire city, even a quarter of a century later. In this issue of 405 Magazine, M.J. Alexander offers a poignant look at Oklahoma City’s journey from destruction to recovery. The grief has faded somewhat; grass has grown over the scarred earth, and yet, the healing and reflection continue. For a broader view, read Greg Horton’s interview with Sam Anderson – author of “Boom Town,” a New York Times bestseller about Oklahoma City – that explores an outsider’s view of how the bombing has shaped the trajectory of the city. For many, the questions remain: Why did this happen? What are we doing to keep it from happening again? To complete our coverage of the anniversary, George Lang examines the shadow of homegrown terrorism and what many here are doing to mitigate alienation and hate. Meanwhile, Oklahoma City continues to wear a mantle of perseverance. We often are called “resilient.” It’s true. We endure raging storms and tornadoes, searing heat, bone-chilling wind, almost everything Mother Nature can throw at us except hurricanes. But I say we, as a city, are beyond resilience. I’m not sure there is a word for what Oklahoma City is now. There are so many things we experience in common – beauty, poetry, soaring joy and crippling grief. And then there’s horror. The unspeakable. The things that wars are made of. For these things there are no words. The Murrah bombing puts us in a category that defies what can be described. We join a small sisterhood of cities – Boston, Charleston, Orlando, El Paso and a handful of others – to whom we can only offer a doleful nod of understanding, forever linked in a moment defined by the worst that men can be. In the end, the only human thing is to go on. Be better. Love instead of hate. Be grateful, because Lord knows, we have so much. And learn to how to overcome from each other. And to hope.

Melissa Mercer Howell EDITOR IN CHIEF

APRIL 2020

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You’re invited to celebrate hope, joy, and peace with us at Life.Church this Easter! Bring your whole family to one of our locations in the Oklahoma City metro for an Easter service April 10-13. Find the location nearest you and a service time to fit your schedule. LifeKids is available for all children ages birth-6th grade. www.life.church/easter2020 Broadway and Britton Broadway Extn. & Britton Rd.

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In the 405

Fashion

What’s Online

Person of Interest

Arts & Culture

Giving Back

Down to a Fine Art Laura Warriner uses her Deep Deuce “ArtSpace” to nourish the creativity of those who call it home. Page 25

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Scotch & Soda printed maxi dress from rosegold; Dorothee Schumacher white cardigan from CK & Co.; Via Spiga loafers from Betsy King A Shoe Boutique; white belt from Black Scintilla.

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A Stylish Spring T HE S E A S O N F O R A CHIC STAYC ATI O N

STORY: LINDA MILLER PHOTO GR A PH Y: SHE VAUN WILLIAMS ST Y LIST: PHILIP WASHINGTON, PRIM M ANAGEMENT H A IR A ND M A KEUP: TERESA LUZ MODEL: BIZ BUCK ELE W, PRIM M ANAGEMENT LO CATION: SPECIAL THANKS TO MOD RE TRO INN

BALLIE T S, 6443 Avondale, balliets.com BE T SY K ING, 3001 Paseo, betsykingshoes.com BL ACK SCINTILL A , 1112 N Walker, blackscintilla.com CAYM ANS, 2001 W Main, Norman, shop-caymans.com CK & CO., 6429 Avondale, ckandcompany.com GRE T TA SLOANE, 6476 Avondale, grettasloane.com ROSEG OLD, 6423 Avondale, shoprosegold.com

O T I M E FOR A R EL A X I NG TR I P TO the islands, or room in the budget to jet to Palm Springs while secretly hoping for a close encounter with a celebrity? Go on a fashion journey; a stylish staycation. This spring’s fashion lineup is perfect for a getaway that has as much to do with a feeling and what you’re wearing than an actual trip – though lucky you if one’s on the calendar. Clothes can evoke a certain mood. Head-to-toe black probably doesn’t conjure images of sandy beaches and swaying palms, yet it’s nearly impossible not to smile, daydream or feel good in the bold and colorful patterns that are so popular this spring. Florals, tropical prints, stripes, retro patterns, polka dots and color combinations of orange, pink and green – often in neon hues – wash over flowy midi and maxi dresses, sometimes belted at the waist or worn loose for a more casual, comfortable option. Sleeveless tops and collared blouses in similar colors and unexpected prints take on a playful feel when paired with a flirty pleated skirt, Bermuda shorts or wide-leg trousers. But it’s dresses that look so fresh, easy and breezy. Pair one with sandals and an armful of bangles for a romantic al fresco dinner at the lake, and then slip on sunglasses and a straw hat to watch the sun set. Imagine Lake Hefner is an ocean and it almost feels like Hawaii. Not into florals, bold colors or prints? Look for dresses that embrace other trendy details such as tiered ruffles, sweetheart necklines, soft knit styles, button-down treatment and puff sleeves. The bottom line: A fashion journey, even if you never leave the 405, is a sensational escape.

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Farm multi-stripe V-neck, long sleeve maxi dress, Christian Louboutin jeweled bag and Valentino scarf from Balliets; Via Spiga coral suede slides from Betsy King A Shoe Boutique; Krewe sunglasses from Caymanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s.

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Compania Fantastica multicolor block print dress from rosegold; beaded earrings from Gretta Sloane; Smythe yellow sweater and Salvatore Ferragamo scarf from Balliets.

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David Lerner leaf and leopard print maxi dress from Caymanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s; earrings from Gretta Sloane; Dee Keller print sandals and Sondra Roberts white bag from Betsy King A Shoe Boutique.

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Theory blue and white stripe dress from CK & Co.; LeSpecs sunglasses from rosegold; W. Kleinberg silver embossed belt, 2 Chic mesh bags, Xirena striped shirt and Xirena bikini from Gretta Sloane; neon yellow skinny belt from Black Scintilla; Kat Macone white sandals from Betsy King A Shoe Boutique.

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W H AT ’ S

@noisycamera

O N L I N E

@noisycamera

Instagram Shoutout Noisy Camera is a local photographer who captures photos that make you see the 405 from a much different angle. Check him out! @noisycamera

H AV E A G R E AT P H O T O TO SHARE? Tag #Your405 on your photo for a chance to be featured in one of our issues!

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Laura Warriner at ArtSpace@Untitled in Deep Deuce.

A Space for Art DEEP DEUCE VISIONARY TRANSFORMS A CRUMBLING WAREHOUSE INTO A SANCTUARY FOR CREATIVITY BY GREG HORTON | PHOTOS BY R ACHEL WATERS

A U R A WA R R I N E R didn’t know how Oklahoma City would react to a three-day run of Eve Ensler’s soon-to-be notorious “The Vagina Monologues” in 1996, but she used an email campaign to get the word out. So many women showed up that Warriner and her friends started telling people to bring their own chairs for successive shows. Later, in an interview with The Tulsa World, Ensler singled out those shows as central to the development of what would become a cultural phenomenon. “I really think that this movement began in many ways in Oklahoma City, because everyone was so scared of it there,” she said. “I mean, they couldn’t even advertise it in the local newspapers …” That warehouse at 1 NE 3rd in Deep Deuce is now Artspace at Untitled. In 1996, Laura Warriner had owned it for about a year. Warriner made an offer on the building in 1994, but the property owners turned her down. After the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, those owners approached her again, but they brought a condition: She had to purchase two buildings and the land they sat on. “Some of the bricks from the second building were used to make our entrance here,” Warriner says. “This building was close enough to the railroad bridge that it avoided a lot of bombing-related damage, but

the other building was out in the open. We had only a couple of weeks to tear it down.” Warriner said she was looking for studio space when she bought the building, but she also wanted to preserve some of her childhood in the form of architecture. She remembers being five steps into the building when she decided to buy it. “I just knew I had to save the building,” she says. “I grew up in downtown. My mother worked at John A. Brown (department store), and downtown in the 1950s was where all the commerce was happening. I have all these wonderful memories in my brain, and it was appalling to see all those beautiful buildings torn down.” Warriner and her husband Joe, a dentist, continued to improve the building. Jesus Moroles was the featured artist at the first exhibition in 1997. Then as now, Warriner liked to work with artists she knows, and as a working artist herself, she’d seen the good and bad side of working with galleries, so she treats artists the way she wants to be treated. As she gets close to the 25th anniversary of Artspace at Untitled, Warriner is focused on the next generation, and that means she doesn’t really have time to make art of her own anymore. “I miss the creating, but I get vicarious enjoyment through creating exhibitions,” she says. “Life is about change: moving, expanding, growing. We’ve created the sculpture garden –

ArtSpace@Untitled provides an ample area for art installations.

Joe’s Space – over the past three years, and we’re getting ready for another Steamroller Print Festival.” The energy for that festival comes from young people. Warriner and her team provide art instruction to 10 high schools that have had to discontinue their art programs. The yearlong curriculum culminates with the Steamroller Print Festival, a daylong celebration of creativity scheduled for April 25. Working with youth is the key – at some level – to coming to terms with the number that most often describes us: our age.

“My number is old,” Warriner says. “God, I’m old! But my brain is 35. Being OK with change helps that, and I do draw energy and hope from the young people. I’m hopeful, I think, because they’re hopeful. There are things about their lives I just don’t grasp, but no matter what you do or I think about those things, they’re going to be running the place. It’s up to us to give them the space to dream and create so that they can make things better.”

For more information, visit www.1ne3.org

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Golden Grace OKC WOMEN DISCOVER THE JOY OF BALLET

BY REBECCA MOODY PHOTOS BY AIMEE LE WIS

H E N “ S WA N L A K E ” premiered in the late 1800s, it was a complete flop. No one liked it, and criticisms ran rampant. The ballet’s costume designs were thought to be poor, the music unimpressive and the storyline too complicated. Its debut was almost its swan song. Happily, however, after a number of artistic adjustments, this classic eventually became the world’s most popular and beloved ballet. Its allure has extended beyond enchanting audiences only, though, as the ballet has also inspired many to actually take up the practice; try out a litt le leap, an arabesque or a turn or two like the swans do. Dance classes for children, teens and middleaged adults aren’t hard to fi nd, but for those in their later years, learning options have tended to be few and far between. That is, until four years ago, when Oklahoma City Ballet launched an unusual program just for the mature dancer. The Golden Swans features ballet classes specifically for those north of 50, and everyone for whom that demographic slipper fits is

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welcome, no matter their shape, size or level of previous experience – even if that’s none. Invitingly, participation requires no tutus, pointe shoes or ability to bend one’s body into the shape of a hairpin. The founder of the program, Laura Ward, is a life-long dancer born and raised in Oklahoma. “Yes, I’m an Okie through and through,” the 71-year-old says. “I’m from Oklahoma City, a good place to be from. I’m proud of it.” Ward’s been involved in ballet almost as long as she’s been walking. “I was three when I started,” she recalls. “Those were the days when your mama put you in the car and you go. You don’t know where you’re going, but you go. And that’s where I was going; to the studio.” Th at destination turned out to be not only a place for physical accomplishment, but also a home away from home during a difficult time in Ward’s young life. “My father died when I was litt le,” she says. “Ballet became my lifesaver. It transported me. I could have all kinds of things going on in my life, and when I walked through that door to the school, something happened: Everything was OK. It elevated me, especially with the music. And we all became family.”

After years of studying the art at a number of different establishments throughout her childhood and young adult life, Ward turned to teaching just before she turned 30. Over the course of her career, she’s instructed “thousands of kids,” she says, “but also many other kinds of groups.” One of which was the older set – and her experience with that age group is what ultimately led to the creation of the Golden Swans. As Ward tells the story, she’d had a position teaching a class for seniors at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church. When the program there ended in 2016, her students didn’t want to stop dancing … but now had nowhere to go. Ward walked straight over to OKC Ballet. “I explained who I was and that I had this group of ‘bunheads’ who wanted to keep dancing,” she says. “Lynna Tallchief, who is currently the school’s administrator, and I started talking about possibilities. She asked if I would consider a class for seniors. Th is was right up my alley.” The Golden Swans launched that year with a handful of enthusiasts, including one who used a walker and had fairly severe arthritis.

In addition to being a graceful way to get ﬁt after 50, classical dance practice also leads to rejuvenated social and emotional well-being. Ward was impressed that she came to the classes, and says that “after a couple of months, she decided to put the walker aside, and I held her hands as we did the steps. She can walk so elegantly now by herself. Major miracles like that have unfolded.” Another of the original Swans, Nancy Brawner, still comes to several classes a week. She’s now 81, and as Ward shares, “loves the classical music [and] the challenge of the technique, and feels it’s important to keep moving.” As does Ward’s mother, Louise Summers, who is 98 years old. “She enjoys the classes for many reasons, but some are that she has made friends there,” Ward says. “She’s happy she can accomplish movements she thought she couldn’t do anymore, and her balance has really improved.” A Golden Swans hour begins at the barre, and halfway through moves to the center for non-supported floorwork including piques, pas des bourrees and elegant ports des bras. Key to the distinctive nature of the program, all steps stick to real-deal classical ballet vocabulary, as opposed to being “ballet-based.” Movements are simplified to accommodate the limitations

of age; for instance, plies, or knee bends, might be done only halfway down. “And nobody wears tights,” Ward adds, “just leggings or workout pants and t-shirts.” While technical achievement is one element of dance, it’s hardly the whole point. Ballet, with its slow, sustained, gentle movements, leads to better flexibility, coordination and posture. It’s also brain-sharpening. “Time is taken to talk about the technique, so the students are learning things, their minds are working,” Ward says. “And I’ll tell you what, they are sponges. “It’s becoming clear to me that one of the reasons we lose balance as we get older is that we’re not planning ahead in our movements,” she continues. “In ballet, you’re given the step and your brain needs to know where it goes. Your balance keeps up.” There are currently four locations where Golden Swans classes are offered: those at Epworth Villa and OKC Ballet’s Susan E. Brackett Dance Center have no charge, while there is a small fee for att endance at the Healthy Living Center and the Pete White Wellness Center. Stephanie Pitt s, Oklahoma City Ballet’s Community Engagement Manager, noted

that the program’s increasing popularity has led to plans for rolling out an expanded schedule. “We plan to have more free classes at the Brackett Center, and then also add a second level,” she says. “We’re always gett ing new people, so this would be a class for those who’ve been coming for a year or so and are ready to progress further.” Ward encourages any later-life ballerinasto-be who’d like to take the next step to “come on over to one of the classes and just sit and watch. It’s fi ne if you’ve never done any ballet in your life.” In addition to being a graceful way to get fit after 50, classical dance practice also leads to rejuvenated social and emotional well-being. “The students say that learning ballet has kept them reaching beyond the expectations they even had for themselves,” Ward says. “They are lifted up by the music and the camaraderie, and it transports them to a beautiful place that makes them happy. They all leave with smiles on their faces.” For questions or to sign up for Golden Swans classes, contact Stephanie Pitts at 405.208.8881.

Women practice ballet positions during class.

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Resilience and Reciprocity SUITED FOR SUCCESS FOUNDER A SURVIVOR, ENTREPRENEUR BY HEATHER WARLICK | PHOTO BY CHARLIE NEUENSCHWANDER

U S A N WA LT O N , F O U N D E R O F S U I T E D for Success in Oklahoma City, was preoccupied with two things on the morning of April 19, 1995. She had a fingerspelling test to study for, and she needed to deposit money in her husband’s CPA account to cover the company’s taxes. Finger spelling was one of the courses Walton was required to take at OSU-OKC in its American Sign Language curriculum. She hadn’t known how hard learning sign language would be … but she would later learn just how valuable it could be. “It was a beautiful spring morning, and I was zipping right along on the crosstown,” Walton recalls of that April day. “And that’s kind of where my memory ends for a little bit.” She was inside the credit union at 9:03 a.m. when the Federal building was blown apart. Walton was found pinned underneath a file cabinet and door frame. She’d suffered a basal skull fracture, had nerve damage behind both eyes, lost six teeth and had her jaw fractured in six places, her nose broken and both legs crushed from the knees down. Later, her spleen ruptured. “I was a mess,” she jokes, 25 years later. Taken to what was then Presbyterian Hospital, she was heavily sedated, but was finger spelling her name and her mother’s phone number repeatedly. An astute staff member recognized that she was signing and not flailing, and her identity was upgraded from “Jane Doe.”

She was determined to give back to the community that had embraced her by creating Suited for Success. During the next five days, Walton endured about 15 surgeries to repair her legs, skull and jaw. When she became more aware and awake – albeit still in a cloud of anesthesia with her jaw wired shut – she learned what had happened to her body and to her city, though she didn’t remember any of it. Throughout her recovery and rehabilitation, Walton had been holding onto a dream. Before April 19 and her second marriage, she been a single mom, on a tight budget but blessed with family support and a good job. She knew how expensive professional clothes were. Inspired by The Bottomless Closet, a nonprofit in Chicago that helped women get jobs by providing them with professional clothing, Walton wanted something similar in central Oklahoma. Throughout her fight recovering from massive injuries, Walton was overwhelmed by the outpouring of compassion and assistance she received from public, nonprofit and civic groups. 28

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She was determined to give back to the community that had embraced her by creating Suited for Success. She officially began collecting donated women’s suits in 1997 and today, the nonprofit has outfitted more than 10,000 women in central Oklahoma, helping them enter or re-enter the workforce, dressed to impress. “There is definitely more I want to do,” Walton says. “I know the importance of clothing and how that first impression is so important.” She wants the organization to also serve men. While the agency’s current location, at 4557 NW 23, also houses its 1st Impression Resale Clothier, it lacks the space to carry menswear. Walton envisions expanding into the available space next door to start serving men in need of professional work clothing, as well. She also dreams of an RV, retrofitted as a mobile closet, in which she could cruise to rural locations and offer her services to the men and women in areas typically underserved by nonprofit organizations. Don’t dismiss the possibility; Walton has a habit of overcoming adversity.

For more information, visit suitedforsuccessokc.com.

Suited for Success founder Susan Walton at the nonprofit’s Oklahoma City location.

Thunder

25 YEARS

“Dawn and resurrection are synonymous. The reappearance of the light is the same as the survival of the soul.” —

VICTOR HUGO

Oklahoma City Marks a Time for Remembrance BY M.J. ALEXANDER

MOR N I NG DAW NS I N OK L A HOM A C I T Y. In the stillness, the reflecting pool stretches as long as a football field, mirror-still and darker than night. The only sound is water, gently flowing where once was a busy stretch of NW 5th Street. Less than an inch deep, the sheet of water moves imperceptibly, like time itself, revealing neither source nor destination. Pushed by unseen pumps, it cycles through and spills over the rim, disappearing into a thin channel before reentering through gaps between a thousand black granite tiles below.

just feet away at 9:02 a.m. on April 19, 1995. 30

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DAVID SUTTON

And so it has been for 20 years, the water flowing to soothe wounds caused by the blast that occurred

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25 YEARS

The Survivor Tree following the 1995 bombing.

The Survivor Tree as it stands today.

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A SPACE FOR MEMORIES The Oklahoma City National Memorial beckons visitors to reflect on the resilience of a community attacked by a man who detonated a 4,800-pound homemade bomb in the back of a Ryder truck, destroying a nine-story structure, killing 168 people and shattering and rebuilding a nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s very notion of itself. Dedicated in 2000 on the fifth anniversary of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing, the memorial is framed by the monumental Gates of Time. Once golden bronze, they have since weathered to a somber, dark patina. Standing sentry over the sanctified space where so many died, the gates announce the mission of the memorial: We come here to remember those who were killed, those who survived and those changed forever. May all who leave here know the impact of violence. May this memorial offer comfort, strength, peace, hope and serenity. The gates are marked with two stenciled cut-outs: 9:01, the moment before, and 9:03, the moment after the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s deadliest act of domestic terrorism.

THE FLOW OF HISTORY Th is year’s commemorations marking the 25th anniversary of the attack will mark 9,130 days of recovery. On April 19, 2020, at the moment that family, friends and officials gather at the podium near the reflecting pool for the reading of the names of the 168 who were killed, 219,100 hours will have passed since the 9:01 that marked the last hour before the att ack. After the initial tick to 9:03 — the moment after — there was a 9:04. A 9:05. A 9:06. In all, 13,146,000 additional minutes have passed in the relentless river of time. On that day in Oklahoma City, two opposing forces made the clock stop, if only for a moment. Among the artifacts preserved in the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum, two in particular represent a cataclysm of world views that fueled the tragedy. One is a vintage white T-shirt. The other, a battered metal disc. Preserved under glass is the shirt, worn by the bomber at the time of his arrest. Entered in evidence at his trial, the front shows an image of Abraham Lincoln on a wanted poster above the Latin phrase his assassin is said to have shouted after fi ring into the back of the president’s head: Sic semper tyrannis – Thus always to tyrants. On a higher floor, also protected by glass, is another item with a different Latin phrase, part of a battered metal emblem that had been part of the Murrah Building. Pierced by shrapnel, the pockmarked and dented Great Seal of the United States was pulled from the rubble and put on display as a symbol of resilience against the lawless. Its batt lescarred eagle clutches an olive branch in the right talon, and a quiver of arrows in the left . From his beak flows a banner with a very different Latin maxim: E pluribus unum: out of many, one. In Oklahoma City, it is the call for unity that won the day.

COURTESY OKLAHOMA CITY NATIONAL MEMORIAL & MUSEUM

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: CITY OF OKLAHOMA CITY\OKLAHOMA CITY NATIONAL MEMORIAL & MUSEUM, CHRISTOPHER LEE, COURTESY FEMA,

The moment between, the moment of the blast, remains unuttered, represented by the pool itself. As the soft dawn glow begins to blush pink, birds begin tentative songs in the pines and the water reflects a landscape of remembrance: the amber glow of the gates’ backlit numbers, the circle of lighting illuminating the Survivor Tree and surrounding pathways, the frosted bases from the Field of Empty Chairs, lit from within, before they blink off in unison in the morning gray.

The damaged Great Seal of the United States.

IN OK L AHOM A CIT Y, IT IS THE CALL FOR UNITY THAT WON T HE DAY. The Murrah Federal Building following the 1995 bombing.

RISE UP On the fi ft h anniversary of the att ack, in the shadow of the newly installed glistening Gates of Time, President Bill Clinton dedicated the memorial with remarks that concluded: “The great writer, Ralph Ellison, who was a native of this city, once said, ‘America is woven of many strands. Our fate is to become one and yet many.’ On April 19th, 1995, our many strands became one – one in love and support for you, and in our determined opposition to terrorism …We may never have all the answers for what happened here, but as we continue our journey towards understanding, one truth is clear: What was meant to break has made you stronger.” 405MAGAZINE.COM

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25 YEARS

Aerial view of the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Musuem, left, with First Church to its east and downtown Oklahoma City to the south.

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25 YEARS

REBUILDING WITH BROKEN PIECES

Good Shepherd window. Photo courtesy of First Church

The Murrah Building sat amid a row of stately brick churches that marched toward downtown on Robinson Avenue. Oldest of them all was First United Methodist Church. The congregation embraced its claim as the first to hold services in Oklahoma City on April 21, 1889, the first Sunday after the Land Run. Calling themselves simply “First Church,” the Methodists soon constructed a wooden outpost for services, and in 1904 completed a grand Romanesque building on the same site. On the day of the bombing, the church became an FBI command post and morgue as rescue teams brought bodies to the lobby and investigators worked amid debris. In the sanctuary, the grand chandelier had plummeted into the pews. Stained glass littered the floor. Although only one person was injured, the church complex sustained $3 million in damage. After the dust settled, First Church members methodically picked through the shattered remains of their landmark stained-glass windows. Amid the jagged shards lay one remarkable find: the center of the old Good Shepherd window. It had survived intact, without a chip or scratch. The section, more than one foot square, depicted the face of Jesus, eyes lowered as he watched the sheep that had surrounded him in the west wall window that had faced the blast. The fragment was later fused into a window that is now the centerpiece of a chapel nestled between the sanctuary and the fellowship hall. The window features the new motto for the congregation, forged in the wake of 9:03: “The Lord takes broken pieces and his love makes us whole.”

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And it did. The event stirred what Lincoln himself called the better angels of our nature, bringing forth the grit, determination, resilience and can-doism that has hallmarked this land and its people for generations. Political disagreements that had stymied the city’s progress were set aside. Common ground was established. Rebuilding began. The phrase “Oklahoma Standard” was coined, imbuing Oklahomans with a sense of pride in their ability to bond together in the city’s darkest hour. Worldwide, imagery of the bombing shifted from bloodied victims and the shattered hull of the Murrah Building to symbols of recovery: an e pluribus unum effort of volunteers from around the state, the nation and the world, offering gifts of time, talent and teddy bears, and blue ribbons worn in solidarity. A newly united city kicked the long-delayed first phase of MAPS (Metropolitan Area Projects Plan) into high gear and passed another version, and another. The bombing became part of our DNA, remembered in reverent tones and recast as a triumph of hope and resilience. The memorial has expanded its reach, serving as an international center for education against terrorism and intolerance and sponsoring events from a marathon run to seminars that continually honor each of those lost. Its updated logo features the bright green outline of the Survivor Tree in its early stages of recovery, now enveloped by a darker green silhouette of the lush, expansive tree it has become. Its ability to not only survive but to thrive represents the evolution of the city that surrounds it. Since its arrival in 2008, the city’s long-hoped-for NBA team has brought new staff and players to tour

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Grieving friends and family erect a makeshift shrine following the bombing. Photo provided

the memorial and hear its stories. To commemorate the 25th anniversary, the Thunder unveiled uniforms of charcoal and bronze, hallmarked by stylized Gates of Time rising out of the white rectangle of the reflecting pool. Among the features inside the jersey: a blue ribbon overlaid with April 19, 1995. On the belt buckle of the shorts, the Survivor Tree rises from a streak of blue, celebrated as “a living symbol of resilience.” The museum gift shop celebrates the theme of hope, offering glass-blown Survivor Tree Christmas ornaments, sweatshirts with uplifting sayings and books about a community that not only survived but became stronger. And yet – and yet. It still hurts. A CITY’S SORROW A section of chain-link fence, originally used to cordon off the destroyed Murrah Building, remains on the 9:03 side of the monument. A quartercentury after the blast, mementos continue to be left in remembrance and condolence. On the wall of the old Journal Record Building, now the home to the museum, an angry shout of

The memorial features 168 brass chairs with lighted bases representing the 168 killed in the attack. Photo courtesy of the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum

graffiti remains. Its foot-high letters from Team 5’s first responders, scrawled with determination and defiance in the days of rescue and recovery, read: We Search for the Truth. We Seek Justice. The Courts Require It. The Victims Cry for It. And God Demands It! As the letters faded over the years, mellowed by the elements, the decision was made to make sure the message is never lost. The work has been re-spray painted three times: by Gov. Frank and Cathy Keating and family members, who retraced the original on the night Timothy McVeigh was sentenced in 1997; and by Team 5 members redoing the outline before the Oklahoma City National Memorial opened in 2000, and again in 2018. CODA; REPRISE Night falls in Oklahoma City. In the dusk, the reflecting pool mirrors a landscape of remembrance: the Field of Empty Chairs, shadows from their straight bronze backs stretching across the lawn like elongated versions of the Gates of Time; the newly lush Survivor Tree, long branches stretching skyward; the twinkling skyline with buildings unimagined a quartercentury ago. The chain-link fence outside the gate has a new teddy bear, left with a tapestry embroidered with the 23rd Psalm, recited at the funerals of the fallen: “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. … Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” As the last rays of the day touch the 9:03 gate on the 25th anniversary, the lights will again flicker on in unison, illuminating the pathways, the tree, the stenciled numbers of the gates and the etched names in the bases of the empty chairs. As silence returns, the sound of gently flowing water is heard once more, revealing neither source nor destination. The heavens slip into darkness as the city rests before the 9,131st day of recovery.

W E M A Y N E V E R H AV E A L L T H E ANSWERS FOR WHAT HAPPENED HERE, BUT AS WE CONTINUE OUR JOURNEY T OWA R D S U N DE R S TA N D I NG , O N E T RU T H I S C L E A R : W H AT WA S M E A N T T O B R E A K H AS M ADE YOU STRONGER. – President Bill Clinton

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25 YEARS

BEST SELLING AUTHOR SAM ANDERSON ON THE OKC BOMBING’S ROLE IN THE CITY’S STORY

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GREG

HORTON

hen Sam Anderson arrived in Oklahoma City in 2012, his task was both straightforward and exhilarating – at least for a sports fan. Anderson, the author of New York Times best seller Boom Town, a history of Oklahoma City, was covering the NBA’s OKC Thunder for the New York Times Magazine. The Thunder was the most surprising story in sports, thanks in large part to the play of Kevin Durant, James Harden and Russell Westbrook, all three of whom would go on to be league MVPs, and at least for KD, an NBA champion. At the time, the Murrah Federal Building bombing was 17 years in the past, but Anderson would discover that the memories of the bombing and its aftermath were woven into a narrative about the Thunder, the growth of Oklahoma City and the history of a place that was more interesting than anyone could imagine. Anderson talked with 405 Magazine about the 25th anniversary of the bombing, and his experience of the city and our people as it relates to that event.

4 0 5 : What were your memories of the bombing before coming to Oklahoma City? A N D E R S O N : I was in high school in California when it

happened. I remember it as a big news story, but like every tragedy to which you are not connected, it seemed serious but abstract. 4 0 5 : You talked to dozens of people involved with the bombing. Did you find it difficult to piece everything together from the various narratives? A N D E R S O N : I think I’ve walked through

the Memorial every day that I’ve been in Oklahoma City. You get a real strong sense of what happened there; it’s beautiful, and it feels like sacred space. The people who lived through it have prett y clear memories, too. The experience was so profound that the memories aren’t mythologized – people tend to build mythologies around big events, but the people I interviewed were clear and honest. I hate to generalize, but I think that kind of communication is a quality of the people of Oklahoma. 4 0 5 : What’s the significance of a 25-year anniversary for an event like this? A N D E R S O N : Collective memory is such a tricky thing. There

are all these stories scattered among millions of people, so a big round number gives everyone the chance to reflect, to feel the feelings again, and to think about the questions. Ten is too close

to the event, I think, so 25 feels like the fi rst monumental number; there has been time to think and reflect and change. 4 0 5 : You came here to write about the Thunder, but you ended up writing a whole book about the city. As an outsider, so to speak, how did the bombing fit into that history and what change did you notice? A N D E R S O N : The bombing actually gains in scope when viewed

from a historical perspective. I tried to take an overhead view, and when you do that, the impact of the event moves back and forth through time. In the structure of the book, the bombing comes very late, and that was intentional. I was tired of that dominating the conversation about Oklahoma City. It’s a complex place, and looking at that patch of ground throughout the history of the city made it so that when you get to the bombing, you really see what it meant to the people, the city and even the landscape of the city. 4 0 5 : What surprised you about the aftermath 17 years later? A N D E R S O N : The link between the

bombing and the Thunder. It kept coming up in conversation. So often it was described as an antidote to the tragedy, or a sign of true healing. The bombing also sped up MAPS (Metropolitan Area Projects Plan initiative), I think. Positive things were already happening, but the bombing helped crystalize the need to move forward, and it highlighted the need to be together. In that sense, the development of the city meant so much more to the people because it was part of the hopeful response to the bombing.

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25 YEARS

AMID RISING DOMESTIC TERROR, WHAT DOES THE OKC BOMBING TEACH US?

BY G E O RG E L A N G

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25 YEARS

Police in riot gear push back white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia. Photo provided

emories of what happened April 19, 1995 remain vivid among people who survived the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing. History has a way of repeating itself, though, for better or worse – and even with the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum delivering strong and uncompromising messages about the origins of domestic hate groups and terrorism, there are those who forget or choose to ignore. On June 17, 2015, a 21-year-old gunman named Dylann Storm Roof brutally killed nine African American worshippers in Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, including the church’s pastor. Roof had been radicalized by an online hate group. Two years later, 20-year-old neo-Nazi James Alex Fields, Jr. of Ohio rammed counter-protesters at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, as his ideological brethren carried and waved Confederate and Nazi flags. Both men grew up at a time when the actions of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh were part of the American landscape. They had opportunities to learn

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from the teachings of history, yet they learned the lessons of hate. As Julian Kossoff wrote in a July 19, 2015, International Business Times article, Roof and Fields internalized The Turner Diaries and the “othering” of people who are unlike them, whether it is the color of their skin or the way they vote. “The country is at a crossroads, where we have to decide if we’re going to sit down and have better conversations and do better together, or if we’re going to stay divided and go in different directions,” says Kari Watkins, executive director of the Oklahoma City National Memorial. “I think we all, left and right, have a responsibility to that answer.” Outside the memorial are 168 chairs representing the people whose lives were cut short 25 years ago as they applied for social security or met with Department of Agriculture representatives or just played with toys in the facility’s daycare center. The memorial offers remembrance of that day, but it also offers direct messages to those who chose to forget and perpetrate terror. “This memorial was never designed to be a cemetery,” Watkins says. “Our mission is

about bringing people together and working to make sure this never happens again. We create programs that help people know that this was a senseless act of terrorism and violence, and there are other ways to resolve differences other than flying planes through buildings or blowing up buildings with a truck bomb.” Domestic terrorism never completely dissipates. While discussions following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks turned to foreign-born terrorism, the reality of terrorism on U.S. soil is that most of it is committed by U.S. citizens. In February, the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness issued its 2020 report on terrorism. Groups representing a high threat level for future acts of terrorism in the U.S. were homegrown violent extremists and white supremacist extremists. In contrast, low threat level groups included Al Qaeda, HAMAS, Hezbollah, Boko Haram and ISIS. “In the U.S., more people are killed by far-right extremists than by those who are adherents to Islamist extremism,” said Georgetown University law professor Mary McCord at a February meeting at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum that was reported by The New York Times. That same month, FBI

An “Identity Evropa” handbill hangs in the historically black Deep Deuce district.

A defiant protester stands amid media and onlookers during a Charleston, Virginia, rally. Photo provided

Photo provided

director Christopher Wray told the House Judiciary Committ ee that the threat from domestic groups was equal to the threat from foreign Islamic extremists. Oklahoma City mayor David Holt was a freshman at Putnam City North High School on April 19, 1995. Holt has vivid memories of the event and the ripple effects it had in Oklahoma City, and remembers fake bomb threats being called into the PC North offices shortly aft erward. He said there is a need for many people to come face-to-face with what happened in order to truly understand the events of that day and what preceded them. “Human beings often have to face reality in person to really digest it,” Holt says. “Th at’s why people go to the Holocaust Museum or to actual concentration camps in Germany to be reminded of all the things we should do to avoid that type of wholesale murder. They go to Antietam [in Sharpsburg, Maryland] to be reminded of all the things we should do to avoid civil wars. There is no better place in the United States than the Oklahoma City National Memorial to go and be reminded of what we need to do to avoid those kinds of absurd acts of political violence.” Holt said he is concerned because the content of political rhetoric in 2020 is

moving toward dehumanization – the same thought patt ern required for McVeigh to not think about the ordinary and oft en nonpolitical people he killed that day. When the white supremacy group Identity Evropa started posting stickers and fl yers around high-traffic areas such as the Plaza District and Midtown as well as the historically African-American entertainment district Deep Deuce in 2019, Holt said it was a message of dehumanization that must be fought at every turn. “The idea that some humans are more human than others … anything that plays into that fear, we have to discourage,” he says. “It is just as absurd to me when people say, ‘Oh, I would never let my child date a Democrat’ or something. We’ve gott en to that point where it’s not even racial: political parties are some kind of divider. All these methods we use to divide ourselves become pathways to acceptance of darker and darker outcomes.” Watkins said the fl yers and stickers never appeared at or near the memorial, but the staff was watching closely. “We have zero tolerance for that,” she says. “We would prosecute, but fi rst we’d call them to the table and say, ‘What are you thinking?

Why and how do you have these extreme views, and how can we help you understand the impact of such extremism?’ I think that is something we have to do as Oklahomans.” Whenever presidential candidates visit Oklahoma City, Holt said he always encourages them to visit the memorial. “They should see it; they should bring att ention to it,” Holt says. “In decades hence, I think it should be a box you have to check when you want to be President of the United States. You have to visit Oklahoma City and see what happens when we use rhetoric that dehumanizes people and creates a sense of humans who are less human than you are.” Watkins said her work and the work of others to educate visitors to the memorial is constantly evolving and responding to how people receive information in 2020, especially the ways people born since the attack choose to learn. The memorial will debut an augmented reality app for the 25th anniversary. “We have to keep telling this story,” she says . “I had a reporter ask me yesterday, ‘What will this matt er in another 25 years?’ Well, look at Gett ysburg or the beaches of Normandy. People didn’t need to die. But here, 168 people didn’t go to war. They went to work.”

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Dining

Good Taste

The Dish

The Drink

Local Flavor

Mexican with a Modern Twist Chef Juan Quixto is delivering the kind of Mexican food deliciousness people expect at Iguana Mexican Grill, but he’s also challenging our assumptions about Mexican food at his tequila dinners with upscale, creative fare from different regions in Mexico. You will find our review of Iguana and Chef Juan’s work on page 48. 405MAGAZINE.COM

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G O O D

T A S T E

Left: Yucatan-style roasted pork with with elotes and green rice. Right: Chef Juan Quixtan, Rose Strawberry Margarita, and interior shot.

Iguana: Guac and Mole CHEF JUAN QUIXTAN’S MEXICAN MASTERY BY GREG HORTON | PHOTOS BY MIR ANDA HODGE

H EN CH EF M A RC Dunham assumed operations at Iguana Mexican Grill in 2017, he had two very important tasks: make improvements overall (both food and aesthetics) and find a chef. “The first thing I did was observe the kitchen staff,” Dunham says, “and it was obvious that Chef Juan was leading the kitchen.”

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Born in Guatemala, Juan Quixtan had worked at the restaurant since opening day, finally earning his way into a leadership position. After Dunham assumed operations, Quixtan became a partner in Iguana. “The tendency is to look outside to find a chef,” Dunham says. “Companies or owners tend to look for chefs with experience as execs to run a kitchen,

but we had a guy here who knew the food, cooked it well and ran the kitchen.” For Dunham, and partners Steve Mason and Aimee Ahpeatone, Quixtan was an easy choice. To further the young chef ’s expertise in the field, Dunham reached out to Rick Bayless, the Chicago chef and Oklahoma native, best known for translating Mexican cuisine for American consumers. Quixtan was able to spend time in Bayless’s restaurant in Chicago to better understand the complexities of the executive chef position, including recipes and techniques. Iguana is technically a Tex-Mex restaurant, and as Dunham is happy to explain, Tex-Mex is Mexican food. “Tex-Mex is Tejano food,” Dunham says. “It’s from northern Mexico, including what used to be the northern edge of Mexico: San Antonio. It was made popular in Texas by restaurateurs who served predominantly white clientele, but it is Mexican food. To say otherwise is simply to misunderstand its origins.” Quixtan is comfortable with TexMex, but he’s also passionate about more traditional foods from other areas of Mexico. He talks easily about the cuisine of Oaxaca, Yucatan and Puebla. His Yucatan Roasted Pork is essentially cochinita pibil, a traditional Guatemalan dish, so his cooking is a very literate version of Mexico and Central America … mixed with the demands of serving a predominantly white clientele. “We’ve talked about balancing cooking for yourself and cooking what people expect,” Dunham says. “Iguana is an old, established brand, and people come to us with expectations.”

Tex-Mex is Tejano food. It’s from northern Mexico, including what used to be the northern edge of Mexico: San Antonio...To say otherwise is simply to misunderstand its origins.

Those expectations are met in Quixtan’s barbacoa tacos or enchiladas. He serves up delicious chimichurri chicken, here adding the influence of Argentina. Again, he understands the Latin American cookbook, not just Tex-Mex. Of course, Iguana has the expected baskets of chips and guacamole, but Quixtan’s skill is present in the ways he uses chilies – guajillo, chipotle, poblano, arbol and of course, jalapeno. “I love mole,” Quixtan says. “People in Oklahoma are used to chocolate mole, but there are more than 30 moles in Mexico. I’d like them to experience even more of them.” The balancing act has been balanced again, this time with Quixtan’s creativity. Both Dunham and Quixtan know it’s possible to move too fast, to overwhelm a guest with too much that’s new or unusual, so they’re now doing tequila and mezcal dinners including four or five courses that allow Chef Juan to flex his culinary muscles. A recent dinner included roasted quail in guajillo mole, and tetela (a masa pastry) in a poblano cream sauce. These aren’t things you’d find on a Tex-Mex menu; they’re deeper cuts for people who want to experience something from farther inside Mexico (or Guatemala), not just the north. The event we are waiting for is the one that makes Chef Juan’s eyes light up: “I want to do a mole dinner with four or five different styles paired with mezcal,” he says. We’ll be there.

Iguana Mexican Grill 9 N 9 St., OKC iguanamexicangrill.com

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The Taste of the Season IN PRAISE OF VIETNAMESE SPRING ROLLS BY GREG HORTON | PHOTOS BY MIR ANDA HODGE

H E V IETNA M ESE NA M E IS “cuon goi,” which literally is “rolled salad,” but most English speakers know them as spring rolls. Research on the origin of the name leads only to frustration; there simply isn’t a strong historical trail of breadcrumbs leading to the point of origin. Julie Nguyen, a personal chef and the daughter of restaurant owners, said the name could come from the tendency to use fresh ingredients based on the season; that would explain why menus use spring roll and summer roll interchangeably. There also is the confusion that comes from trying to sort the Chinese and Vietnamese traditions. “Every East Asian culture is affected by China,” Nguyen says. “The same is true of southern Asia with its influences from Indian food. But spring rolls are very much a Vietnamese food; we have spring rolls, and the Chinese have egg rolls, and the cuisines have influenced each other.” Put simply, a spring roll is a combination of fresh ingredients – including lettuce, carrots, fresh herbs, vermicelli noodles, and sometimes proteins – rolled into an edible rice paper wrapper. The most important part is that it’s not fried, and that’s why they’re often referred to as fresh spring rolls to differentiate them from fried spring rolls. The principal difference between Chinese and Vietnamese isn’t so much the ingredients inside; it’s the wrapping, because egg rolls use a wheat-based wrap. Nguyen said the variety of vegetables isn’t limited to just a few allowable ingredients. Fresh veggies of all kinds, and even some pickled ones, make their way into the rolls, as do traditional Vietnamese herbs such as mint, perilla (or shiso), basil and cilantro. Because food always evolves, the

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A selection of spring rolls from Golden Phoenix, build-your-own spring rolls setup at Lido.

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Children LEARN Through PLAY possibilities multiply depending on availability, season, affordability and even location. Golden Phoenix, 2728 N Classen Boulevard, offers beef spring rolls made with the eye of round, a now-common departure from traditional pork spring rolls, and one that works well in Oklahoma. General manager Jason Xa said they also include fried wonton sticks to add a crunchy texture. Fried spring rolls, like the ones served at Golden Phoenix, tend to come with a ramekin of fi sh sauce, but fresh spring rolls do not. Instead, the fresh ones are served with peanut sauce – and most places make their own version. Still, you can count on hoisin, garlic, soy sauce … and peanut butt er. Heads up, allergy-aware diners. Ba Luong, the co-owner of Super Cao Nguyen grocery, said that for people making sauce at home, the simplest recipe is two parts hoisin to one part peanut butt er. Super Cao Nguyen also has all the ingredients necessary to make spring rolls at home, including a cheater pack of vermicelli noodles, so called because Luong said they’re the right size and shape (“like a litt le rug”) to fit easily into the roll.

The most important part is that it’s not fried, and that’s why they’re often referred to as fresh spring rolls to differentiate them from fried spring rolls. Lido Restaurant, near Super Cao Nguyen at 2518 N Military, serves a platter of roll-your-own spring rolls, and the experience is incredibly fun if sometimes frustrating. The advantage is the ability to choose which ingredients and how much you want to stuff (or try to stuff ) into your spring roll. The biggest variety seems to be at Lee’s Sandwiches, 3300 N Classen, where you can fi nd several styles wrapped to go. They’re made fresh every day and the options include vegetarian spring rolls, as well as more traditional roasted pork and Chinese sausage with egg. Nguyen said pork, shrimp and tofu are the most common proteins because of the extensive coastline of Vietnam, and the fact that pigs are easier to raise than cows. The influence of Buddhism on the country has also increased the likelihood of fi nding vegetarian cuisine, thus the tofu. Wherever you decide to try, even if it’s all of the above, get out and try something fresh and delicious. Th is is, after all, the season.

Oliver learning and playing in Learning Tree’s kitchenette

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D I N I N G

T H E

D R I N K

Cool Coffee Cocktails

OTH E R S I P S WORTH TH E T R I P S

TASTY BEVERAGES TO PERK UP THE SPRING SEASON BY GREG HORTON | PHOTOS BY MIR ANDA HODGE

COF F E E COCK TA I L IS K I N D of like a chocolate martini, opined Brady Sexton, owner of Scratch Kitchen and Cocktails. “Most guys won’t order one, but every time I ask one of my friends, ‘But did you like it?’ they admit they did, because they’re delicious,” he says. The Flatliner is a common drink around Telluride, Colorado, where Sexton had a Scratch location in a hotel for a short time. The Telluride versions – nearly every bar has one – usually contains espresso, vodka, coffee liqueur, Irish cream and a few other ingredients to create variations. Sexton said he believes the one they developed at Scratch is the best version because of the balance. “The drink can run really sweet,” Sexton says, “so we worked to balance the ingredients, because we wanted delicious, not syrupy.”

While it’s available all the time, the beverage appears on the after-dinner drinks menu at Scratch Norman (132 W Main), and Sexton personally treats it like dessert. “I don’t eat solid desserts very often, so The Flatliner sort of takes the place of that for me.” The cocktail’s only fl aw – if it is a fl aw – is that it’s so easy to drink. The balance of ingredients makes it easy to sip or slam, but it’s a serious drink with Indian Grass Vodka, house-made coffee liqueur (by way of roasters Eote Coffee), Irish cream liqueur and Bittercube Cherry Bark Vanilla bitters. Th at’s three local ingredients in one cocktail. “We go as local as possible,” Sexton says. “We’re happy to work with Bittercube, Eote and Oklahoma Distilling Company. If you can get quality ingredients made here in Oklahoma, why look elsewhere?”

When Burger Punk opened in April at 3012 N Walker in OKC, the new 84 Hospitality concept had its Turbo front and center in the marketing. Rightly so; this is a stellar frozen cocktail. Rachel Cope, founder and CEO of 84 Hospitality, said she and her team love a couple of coffee drinks from Austin’s well-known Nickel City and Jo’s Coffee. “When our beverage director Ryan Goodman said he wanted a frozen or slushie drink on Burger Punk’s menu, we thought a coffee drink would be the best fit,” Cope says. “The name comes from Jo’s, because they have a drink there that I get every time I’m in Austin. It’s not the same drink, but the name is a shout-out.” The Turbo is served from a machine, much like frozen margaritas, but it’s finished with a couple of additional ingredients, not including a garnish. The base is Evan Williams Bottledin-Bond Whiskey, with Elemental cold brew coffee, coconut cream and chocolate bitters. Cope, too, likes to work with local providers when possible, and she said she loves Elemental Coffee’s products. As for the drink itself, it’s a boozy, coffee-forward, frozen treat that’s sure to be massively popular, especially in the hotter months. Ponyboy (423 NW 23rd, OKC) has two new coffee cocktails on its spring menu, as well, including a frozen, Jameson Whiskey-based riff on an Irish coffee. Made with cold brew and salted caramel Irish cream, it’s also coffee-forward with enough sweetness to make it dessert-like. The more adventurous Scissortail is made with Prairie Wolf Obahoshe Inland Rum, Cynar and cold brew. It’s a little more serious thanks to the artichoke-based Cynar, and it’s served up, rather than frozen.

The Flatliner at Scratch - Norman 405MAGAZINE.COM

APRIL 2020

D I N I N G

L O C A L

F L AV O R

Restaurant Guide These listings are not related to advertising

A SI A N

Leo’s Bar-B-Q Rich flavor and tender tex-

Elemental Coffee Seriously spectacular

ture, delivered with authenticity for commendable

coffee roasted in-house, augmented with

Goro An “izakaya” is a Japanese pub, like this

value – no wonder its ribs and brisket are favorites

locally sourced salads, breakfast options and

cheerful Plaza District spot for expertly crafted

among Oklahoma connoisseurs. 3631 N Kelley,

other vegetarian and vegan friendly treats and

ramen, yakitori, bar snacks and more. 1634 Black-

OKC 424.5367 $

entrees. 815 N Hudson, OKC, 633.1703 $

BRE A K FA ST & BRUN CH

T, An Urban Teahouse Proving that an

in 405 Magazine. If you find that a restaurant differs significantly from the information in its listing or your favorite restaurant is missing from the list, please let us know. Email steve.gill@405magazine.com

welder, OKC, 606.2539 $

Designation $ MOST ENTREES UNDER $10

Gun Izakaya A Paseo District hot spot, Gun

$$ MOST ENTREES $10 TO $25

features yakitori and yakimono, as well as dump-

Los Comales This Stockyards taqueria isn’t

and broad, these retreats offer over 100 vari-

$$$ MOST ENTREES OVER $25

lings, gyoza, hot chicken and regular fish features.

just a breakfast joint, but the breakfast tacos

eties and expert counsel to explore a world of

The catfish is stellar, and the whiskey highball will

ought to be way more popular than they are. Big

possibili-teas. 519 NW 23rd, OKC $

bring you back for cocktail hour. 3000 Paseo, OKC,

portions and explosive flavors make this place a

900-6615 $$

favorite among taco-heads, and the pork verde

A MERICA N

establishment’s focus can be at once narrow

C O N T INEN TA L

is easily among the best in OKC. 1504 S Agnew, Magic Noodle Locations in Norman and

OKC, 272.4739 $

Ludivine The menu adjusts constantly to reflect

Black Walnut The eclectic, creative cuisine is

Oklahoma City have identical menus that feature

hard to categorize, but Chef Andrew Black delivers

authentic, hand —stretched, fresh noodles,

Neighborhood Jam Serving tasty

ents - but every dish is the result of genuine culinary

seafood, chops, steaks, and healthy fare with equal

delicious dumplings, and some very authentic

takes on classic American dishes and more

artistry. 805 N Hudson, OKC, 778.6800 $$$

attention to detail and beautiful presentation.

dishes for the more adventurous eaters, as well

specialized options, this breakfast-centric spot

Always say yes to the fish, and the cocktails are

as gluten-free options. 1915 Classen Blvd, #119,

aims to become a community favorite. 15124

The Metro A perennial favorite that feels

excellent as well. 100 NE 4, OKC, 445-6273 $$$

OKC, 217.2877 $

Lleytons Court, Edmond, 242.4161 $

comfortably upscale, the far-reaching menu covers

The Hamilton Tucked into Northpark Mall,

Sala Thai The revamped menu and interior

Sunnyside Diner Traditional breakfast

this Okie-centric supper club features upscale

signalled a change in this popular Uptown

spot in multiple locations, serving excellent

casual dining with regional favorites like bison

eatery, but the food is as good as it’s always been.

classic breakfasts, as well as specialty items like

tartare, quail and steaks, as well as an excellent

Dependably tasty Thai food, including excellent

Eggs in Purgatory and verde tamales. 824 SW

wine list and creative cocktails. 12232 N. May,

curries, and you can make it as spicy as you like.

89, OKC, 703.0011 $

OKC, 849.5115 $$$

1614 NW 23, OKC, 528.8428 $

The Hutch On Avondale Chef David

Tokyo It’s neither huge nor lavishly appointed,

Henry serves modern American cuisine with

and the menu focuses on tradition rather than cre-

a creative twist, and the bar offers a full suite

ativity; but it’s palpably fresh and routinely cited

The Mule Solid beer and beverage selection

of tempting cocktails, wines and spirits. 6437

as among the metro’s best sushi. 7516 N Western,

plus a delectable array of gourmet grilled chees-

Avondale, OKC, 842.1000 $$$

OKC, 848.6733 $$

es and melts; this relaxation destination in the

La Baguette Bistro Les Freres Buthion

Plaza District stays popular. 1630 N Blackwelder,

have deep roots in the city’s culinary landscape,

B A K ERY

OKC, 601.1400 $

and this flagship combines fine dining with a great

cuisine for lunch and dinner. It’s a thorough

Ganache Patisserie Yes, they’re also

New State Burgers A small, focused

treat for breakfast or brunch. 324 N Robinson,

chocolatiers, but the pastries, baked treats, pies

menu with burgers and a few sandwiches and

OKC, 763.5911 $$

and cakes at Ganache are made by a husband-wife

sides in a burger joint that understands the most

chef team who really get food as art. As beautiful

important thing is the burger. Sneaky good

Nashbird Make tracks to this Nashville-style

as they are delicious, the food at this Chisholm

whiskey list, local beers, and thoughtfully crafted

Das Boot Camp Longtime Deutsch

“Hot Dang!” chicken, with adjustable spice

Creek patisserie is one of OKC’s best indulgences.

cocktails round out a great meal. 1705 NW 16th,

fixture Royal Bavaria brews up exceptional

level. Speedy service, cocktails and a spectac-

13230 Pawnee Dr., Ste. 114, OKC, 286.4068 $$

Ste. A, OKC, 724-7524 $$

cuisine and magnificent beer in a less expensive,

La Baguette Comfortable ambience and

Nic’s Grill This is the one everyone talks

exquisite baking make a tres chic destination

about, including Guy Fieri. Ask a local where

Scratch Isn’t that the best place for food to

for brunch and beyond. 1130 Rambling Oaks,

to get a burger, they’re going to say Nic’s. It’s

Royal Bavaria Superb takes on traditional

come from? Top-of -the-line ingredients are

Norman, 329.1101; 2100 W Main, Norman,

a classic onion burger, but somehow so much

dishes like Weinerschnitzel, Jagerbraten and

combined into carefully concocted entrées,

329.5822 $

more. 1201 N Penn, OKC, 524.0999. $

sausages, plus fantastisch house-brewed beers.

George’s Happy Hog A well-kept secret

C O FFEEHO USE & T E A RO O M

availability of elite-quality, locally sourced ingredi-

culinary high points from vichyssoise to crème

Kitchen No. 324 A seasonally inspired

BURG ERS & S A ND W ICHES

Café Cuvée A classic French bistro in the Ambassador Hotel, serving breakfast, lunch, dinner and brunch. Choose from fresh oysters, beef Bourguignon, Dover sole, escargots, and OKC, 600.6200 $$

bakery, deli and butcher on site. 7408 N May, OKC, 840.3047 $$

G ERM A N

faster-paced location in downtown Norman.

ular patio add extra savor. 1 NW 9th, OKC,

sides and wondrous craft cocktails. 132 W

FREN CH

delicious French desserts. 1200 N. Walker,

café and craft bakery serving rustic American

388.0033 $

brulée. 6418 N Western, OKC, 840.9463 $$$

B A RBEC UE

Main, Norman, 801.2900 $$

229 E Main, Norman, 701.3748 $

The time spent is a worthy investment. 3401 S Sooner, Moore, 799.7666 $$$

IND I A N

Vast Keeping your attention on the elegant

among State Capitol workers, the word is finally

cuisine might be difficult; the view from atop the

getting out. The turkey and greens are worth the

Clarity Coffee The space is crisp, cool and

Devon Tower is truly unparalleled in Oklahoma,

trip, and if you’re hungry add potato salad and rib

comfortable – including seating for sipping or

Misal Of India A Norman institution for over

making this a fantastic date spot. 280 W Sheridan,

ends. 712 Culbertson Dr., OKC, 525.8111 $$

getting some work done – and the brewers have

30 years, specializing in tandoori-cooked delica-

their beverages down to a science. 431 W Main,

cies and boasting healthy, natural, delicious cuisine

OKC, 252.0155 $

served. 580 Ed Noble Pkwy, Norman, 579.5600 $$

49th floor, OKC, 702.7262 $$$

APRIL 2020

405MAGAZINE.COM

Harissa Blackened Salmon on the dinner menu at Vast.

in OKC, but this breakfast, lunch and dinner

etouffee, and catfish round out a Southern

joint could help change that. Chimichurri pork

menu with Louisiana spice. 9205 NE 23,

chops are the easy part of the menu, but the

OKC, 259-8473 $$

bombastic flavors are in the pastelitos (similar to empanadas) and pickled veggies. 3001 N May

Florence’s For more than 60 years, this

Ave., OKC, 673.7678 $$

eastside eatery has been serving crispy fried chicken, hearty meatloaf, tangy greens, and all

PIZ Z A

the country cooking associated with soul food. Don’t leave without trying the pear pie. 1437

Empire Slice House This was the city’s first by-the-slice pizzeria, but you can also get full pies, giant meatballs, fresh salads, and a great

NE 23rd, OKC, 427.3663 $$

S O U T H W EST ERN

selection of cocktails and local beer. The full menu is also available late night inside or on the excellent

Cheever’s Southwestern-influenced

patio. 1804 NW 16, OKC, 557.1760 $

recipes (the chicken-fried steak is a house specialty) and love of seafood drive the con-

Hideaway Pizza If you’ve been serving a

temporary comfort food in one of the city’s

devoted following for over half a century, you’re

finest dining destinations. 2409 N Hudson,

doing something right. In this case, that’s incredi-

OKC, 525.7007 $$

ble pizza in jovial surroundings. 8 metro locations, Hacienda Tacos Quality, of both

hideawaypizza.com $$

ingredients and execution, and variety make this Sheesh Mahal While billed as a combination of Pakistani and Indian cuisine, the menu

MED I T ERR A NE A N & A FRICA N

will be familiar to fans of Indian food, with butter

restaurant in Northpark a pleasure to visit, and to

(which uses an extremely hot fire to quickly

explore the menu again and again. 12086 N May,

cook superfine flour crusts) stars alongside

OKC, 254.3140 $

Italy-inspired entrees, pastas and appetizers.

chicken, delicious curries, basmati rice, and fresh

Mediterranean Imports & Deli

naan. You won’t find a buffet in the building, but

The menu is stocked with authentic, quick and

you get complementary tea with every meal.

savory options, and there’s even a mini-grocery

4621 N. May, OKC, 778.8469 $$

stocked with select staples. 5620 N May, OKC,

I TA L I A N & PIZ Z A

Pizzeria Gusto Neapolitan-style pizza

2415 N Walker, OKC, 437.4992 $$

ST E A K HO USE

PL A N T B A SED & V EG E TA RI A N

Boulevard Steakhouse Perfectly soigné ambiance down to the last detail and cuisine easily in the metro’s elite – a sump-

810.9494 $ Plant The Midtown restaurant features

tuous, if pricy, masterpiece. 505 S Boulevard,

Nunu’s Mediterranean Café If there

beautiful, creative vegan cuisine--including ice

Edmond, 715.2333 $$$

Patrono Not only is Chef Jonathan Krell’s

is another place in the metro to get hashwa, we

cream--for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Food

food some of the best in OKC, the service at

don’t know of it, and if you’ve never had it, go to

is fresh, smoothies are made without ice, and

Cattlemen’s Almost as old as the state

Patrono is professional, friendly and seamless.

Nunu’s immediately. The popular Lebanese dish is

flavor is the focus. A small selection of beer

itself, this Oklahoma institution’s immense

Krell is as adept at seafood as pasta and chops,

the main draw, but the traditional favorites—ka-

and wine is also available. 1120 N. Walker,

corn-fed steaks and matchless atmosphere are

so it’s impossible to go wrong with this spectac-

bobs, tabouli and hummus—are also excellent.

OKC, 225.1314 $$

history served anew every day. 1309 S Agnew,

ular menu. 305 N Walker, OKC, 702.7660 $$

3131 W Memorial Rd., OKC, 751.7000 $$

OKC, 236.0416 $$ The Loaded Bowl The food truck turned

Sparrow Chefs Jeff Holloway and Joel Wingate have put together stellar Italian dining

ME X ICA N & L AT IN A MERICA N

in Edmond with this sleek, modern space.

brick and mortar helped pioneer vegan comfort

Mahogany Prime Steakhouse

food in the metro, and they’re still famous for

The ambiance and service are sublime, but fine

their “mac and cheese.” The menu runs the

aged steak broiled to perfection is the star. 3241

The agnolotti is house-made for an elegant,

Café Kacao A sunlit space filled with

spectrum from healthy vegan to comfort food,

W Memorial, OKC, 748.5959; 100 W Main,

delicious dish, and the pepperoni pizza and

bright, vibrant flavors from the zesty traditions of

and the bar serves excellent cocktails, beer and

OKC, 208.8800 $$$

100-layer lasagne are a must. 507 S Boulevard,

Guatemala. Lunch possibilities beckon, but it’s

wine. 1211 SW 2, OKC, 820-9599 $$

Edmond, 815.3463 $$

the breakfast specialties that truly dazzle. 3325 N

Opus Prime Steakhouse A beautiful

Classen, OKC, 602.2883 $

SE A F O O D

tastes for a casual lunch, or romantic dinner,

El Fogon De Edgar Colombian food

The Drake The Good Egg Group’s flagship

is exceptional. Prime steak, seafood, chops,

amid stylish scenery. The weekend brunch

made from family recipes is the heart of this

and a standard-bearer for diners who crave excel-

lamb and hearty appetizers make this a class

offerings are especially superb. 1201 N Walker,

hidden gem. A bowl of aji verde accompanies

lent seafood, it serves chef’s creations featuring

steakhouse experience. 800 W. Memorial Rd.,

OKC, 235.2200 $$

every meal and it should be ladled liberally

the sea’s finest, plus an oyster bar and tempting

OKC, 607.6787 $$$$

on nearly everything, including flank steak,

cocktails. 519 NW 23rd, OKC $$$

interior contributes to the experience of the

Stella A luscious spate of legitimately Italian

excellent food and service, and the wine list

Victoria’s A relaxed atmosphere for enjoying

morcilla, arroz con pollo and patacones. 7220 S

superb pasta – the chicken lasagna and linguine

Western, OKC, 602.6497 $$

S O UL F O O D

E. Main, Norman, 329.0377; 3000 SW 104th,

Fonda K-Tracha Honduran cuisine isn’t

Brielle’s Bistro Blueberry beignets are

OKC, 759.3580 $

as well known as other Central American dishes

the draw, but Chef Dwayne Johnson’s gumbo,

For more, visit

with snow crab are especially excellent. 215

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APRIL 2020

Gain Confidence in Your Retirement Path The retirement path can be a long journey. Selecting an advisor to guide you is one of the most important decisions you will make. Retirement Investment Advisors acts as a fiduciary â&#x20AC;&#x201C; required by law to put your best interests above all else. Our CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERâ&#x201E;˘ professionals offer a no obligation, second look at your portfolio.

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Oklahoma City | Edmond | Frisco

FUNDING THE FUTURE FINANCIAL BENEFITS OF THE SECURE ACT A R T-T I M E E M P L O Y E E S , older workers and small business owners are among those who will benefit from the SECURE Act, fi nancial advisers say. The Sett ing Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 is designed to give more workers access to tax-advantaged accounts, and help all Americans bolster their retirement savings. Most of the rules took effect Jan. 1. One provision requires employers to offer participation in their 401(k) plans to employees who have worked more than 500 hours a year for three consecutive years or 1,000 hours during the past year. “That’s phenomenal news,” says Tania Smith, vice president and fi nancial adviser for T.S. Phillips Investments of Oklahoma City. “Th is will really help people who haven’t saved enough for retirement.” Another provision removes the age limit for making contributions to a Traditional IRA . Previously, people had to stop contributing once they reached age 70½. “There was no particularly good reason to have that limit in the fi rst place, so that’s a good thing,”

BY KIMBERLY BURK

says Mark Iwry, a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and former senior adviser to the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. “People are working longer. For those who want to keep saving, why not?” Meanwhile, new rules raise the age for required minimum distributions (RMDs) from Traditional IRA s from 70½ to 72. “The good news from the SECURE Act is that those clients who don’t need to take distributions from their retirement accounts are not required to do so until age 72,” said Carol Ringrose Alexander, executive vice president for Oklahoma City-based Retirement Investment Advisors. “Deferring the distribution and tax is helpful to those who don’t need the money now.” Funds from inherited IRA s must now be fully withdrawn by beneficiaries within 10 years of the account owner’s death. The SECURE Act effectively eliminates “stretch IRA s,” which had allowed young beneficiaries to extend the payout period over their lifetimes and spread out the income tax burden.

Some beneficiaries of the new rules are exempted, including surviving spouses, minor children and the chronically ill and disabled. “I think it was inevitable that this would be curtailed,” Iwry says. “This intergenerational estate-planning technique has been used a fair amount. People have been able to postpone RMDs for decades.” A new rule regarding multiple employer plans (MEPs) allows non-related businesses to band together to form retirement plans; previously, the businesses had to be in the same industry. “Administrative costs and management usually are the reasons why smaller businesses are not as quick to offer retirement plans,” says Smith. “This allows them to give employees options that are more diverse.” The SECURE Act also protects employers from liability when they offer annuity contracts as an investment option. “Th is is potentially very important over time,” says Iwry. “There’s been an effort to restore lifetime income to the pension system. I call it ‘restoring the pension to the pension system.’ It’s monthly income that people can count on.”

405MAGAZINE.COM

APRIL 2020

Ikpomambo micha pomamba' ki'yo The Chickasaw people have always had a strong culture and joyful spirit, and today both are shared with the world at the Chickasaw Cultural Center. We invite you to experience the beauty, warmth and vibrancy of our unique culture through immersive exhibits, delicious cuisine, a traditional 1700s era village and so much more.

CULTURAL CENTER S U L P H U R, O K L A H O M A

C h i c k a s a w C u l t u r a l C e n t e r . c o m | 5 8 0 - 6 2 2-713 0

405MAGAZINE.COM

APRIL 2020

WHAT’S THE BEST WAY TO PLAN A SUMMER TRIP? T H I N K A B O U T W H AT

you love to do rather than a specific destination. A summer sojourn should provide delight, respite and a satisfying “ahh” when it’s done … all wrapped up in easy travel and comfy accommodations. For our summer travel guide, we’ve put together such a list that

TA K I N G T H E H I G H R OA D TAOS, SM A LL ER T H A N SA N TA FE , may be less “in” than its southern neighbor, but what it lacks in chic, it more than makes up for in charm. Its blend of Hispanic, Native American and Anglo culture provides a wealth of experiences in a high desert sett ing.

MUST SEE The Taos Pueblo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site with a 1,000-year history, is a living community and unique culture. Guided tours, a must, are given frequently. If you’re interested in art and the Taos painters, visit the Taos Art Museum in the former home of artist Nicolai Fechin. For a hot, but healing, time, check out Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs Resort and Spa.

SIDE TRIP

couple, a girls’ or guys’ trip or a

A round-trip route of about 200 miles provides a scenic drive with some interesting options. Los Ojos is home to Tierra Wools; see yarn being spun and weaving done. South near Abiquiu is Ghost Ranch, with a variety of tours from paleontology to O’Keeffe landscapes. O’Keeffe’s home in Abiquiu also offers tours. Last stop: El Santuario de Chimayo, destination for pilgrims seeking healing through its sacred soil.

solo travel adventure, these road

O F F T H E B EAT E N PAT H

trips offer a chance to explore

For a breathtaking view and great photo ops, drive to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, 10 miles west of Taos on US 64.

refreshes the spirit with culture, food, drink and beauty. Whether it’s as a family, a

authentically rich locales, all within easy driving distance.

Honestly, this is more of a grownups’ town. Kid-friendly activities include lift trips up the mountain or mountain biking in Taos Ski Valley. Los Rios River Runners has raft ing trips suitable for all ages. And, though not operating this summer, consider Wild Earth Llama Adventures for future visits.

COST PER NIGHT Prices vary by season, but are reasonable, ranging from $100 on up. For unusual stays, check out La Dona Luz, Inn on the Rio and El Monte Sagrado.

UNEXPECTED PERK Millicent Rogers was an heiress, model, fashion icon of her day and a collector. She loved Taos and the arts available in the area. After her death, her son built the Millicent Rogers Museum to hold her collections. Particularly notable is the world’s largest collection of pottery by Maria Martinez. The 20 galleries contain items relating to the history and culture of the area.

DRIVE TIME The drive from Oklahoma City to Taos takes 9 hours and 16 minutes. The side trip takes 4 hour and 47 minutes with no stops. Check websites for tour times. – ELAINE WARNER, Travel Writer

Taos, New Mexico

PHOTO PROVIDED

Taos Pueblo.

K I D - F R I E N D LY

APRIL 2020

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ON TH E BOR DER OF M EX ICO A ND TH E United States is a city that, like Oklahoma City, knows tragedy. From the border crisis to the recent mass shooting at Walmart, El Paso — particularly from a tourist perspective — is overwhelmingly overlooked if not dismissed entirely. Given its proximity to Mexico, beautiful natural resources and its unique positioning along the Rio Grande River, El Paso is one of the great assets of the state of Texas. To travelers wanting the best of culture, nature and art, while potentially picking up a passport stamp along the way, El Paso is a worthy spot for a quick getaway. Recently, 405 Magazine’s travel editor and photographer spent a week in El Paso. Let his photos inspire you to visit El Paso and help this city rise from adversity in the same way as Oklahoma City.

MUST SEE El Paso’s Plaza Theater dates back to the 1930s but is still a thriving music and theater venue in the heart of downtown El Paso. The historic building features a 2,050-seat theater and hosts concerts, Broadway productions and even a fi lm festival. The El Paso Museum of Art welcomes over 100,000 visitors a year and is home to the Sam Kress collection made up of 57 pieces of European art spanning from the 12th to the 18th century. The museum also has an impressive contemporary southwest art collection. Franklin Mountains State Park features spectacular views of the city as well as impressive hiking and biking trails. You can’t get any closer to Mexican food than El Paso. It is literally almost in Mexico. Nightlife in El Paso’s downtown area is an explosive combination of world class food, exciting bars and night clubs and a healthy dose of tequila.

El Paso, Texas S O U L F U L R E T R EAT ON THE RIO GRANDE

COST PER NIGHT Prices for standard accommodations range from $50 to $200 per night.

UNEXPECTED PERKS Saturday mornings at 10 a.m. visitors can hit up the El Paso Farmer’s Market where local artists and farmers share their wares. (Flower image is also from farmer’s market.) El Paso boasts a robust collection of murals and street art. Each day, hundreds of Mexicans cross the border to work in the U.S. I spoke with one musician who crosses the border each morning to play music for tourists in El Paso, demonstrating that crossing the border is a far more pedestrian and everyday occurrence than is often portrayed.

O F F T H E B EAT E N PAT H El Paso is a two-hour drive from White Sands National Park in the northern Chihuahuan Desert of New Mexico. It is the newest National Park in the United States.

MATT PAYNE

DRIVE TIME It takes about 10.5 hours to drive to El Paso from Oklahoma City. – MATT PAYNE, Travel Editor 405MAGAZINE.COM

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expanse of the cave system and the 100-foot-high formations that cover the ceiling, walls and floor make this the largest commercial cave in Texas. The Greune district in New Braunfels also claims German roots and features boutiques and eateries situated amid quaint, 19th-century architecture. Visit the oldest continually operating dance hall in Texas – Gruene Hall – built in 1878. naturalbridgecaverns.com | gruenetexas.com

O F F T H E B EAT E N PAT H

The Texas Hill Country A SOJOURN FOR THE SENSES

T H E TE X A S COU N T RY BOA STS natural beauty, unique culture and superb wine. In fact, with more than 50 wineries dott ing the countryside, the Texas Wine Trail — U.S. 290 from Austin to Fredricksburg — offers a leisurely tour through picturesque wineries and small towns that are nestled within a green and rolling landscape.

MUST SEE Fredricksburg is a crown jewel of the wine tour. The Texas Hill Country boasts natural beauty, unique culture and superb wine. In fact, with more than 50 wineries dotting the countryside, the Texas Wine Trail — U.S. 290 from Austin to Fredricksburg — offers a leisurely tour through picturesque wineries and small towns nestled within a green and rolling landscape. Not only is Fredricksburg rife with wineries, its German heritage infuses the city with cultural fl avor, literally — from bratwurst to schnitzel, the taste of Fredricksburg is authentic and festive. Visit nearby Becker Vineyards in Stonewall for an estatestyle tasting experience. Most wine tastings run $5 or less per wine. visitfredericksburgtx.com

About an hour and a half north of Fredricksburg lies Lake Buchanan and Canyon of the Eagles, which takes its name from the American Bald Eagles that winter in the area. Canyon of the Eagles offers a restaurant and lounge, as well as overnight stays in its lodge or its RV and camping park. Daytime programming is available for short-term visitors. For nature lovers, it’s a one-stop-shop with land and water excursions including guided kayak tours, canyon cruises down the Colorado River, a twilight hike and an observatory to enjoy the stars from its dark-sky locale. Visitors may observe eagles, hawks, blue heron, bobcats and wild Spanish goats. canyonoftheeagles.com

K I D - F R I E N D LY Just north of Austin in Marble Falls, kids can pick their own berries or pumpkins at Sweet Berry Farm. They also can learn about animals at the farm’s pett ing zoo, slurp up homemade ice cream and run off some excess energy in a huge kid-friendly maze shaped like Texas. Kids’ activities are $10 or less and strawberries — available mid-March through May — are $2.99 per pound. sweetberryfarm.com

COST PER NIGHT Accommodations in Fredricksburg range from less than $100 per night to the mid-$250s for rental cottages. Vineyards that offer overnight stays are available for $200 to $600 per night for villa accommodations.

UNEXPECTED PERK Roadside stands throughout the area sell local peaches, tomatoes, blackberries and other produce in summer.

For a change of pace and exposure to the natural beauty of the Hill Country, take a quick trip south to New Braunfels. The area holds a network of numerous underground hiking and spelunking opportunities, such as Natural Bridge Caverns. The 60

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Fredricksburg from Oklahoma City is 6 hours, 37 minutes. Winery side trips from Fredricksburg are 2 hours or less. And Round Top from Fredricksburg is 2 hours, 45 minutes. – MELISSA MERCER HOWELL, Editor In Chief

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Art in the Park Oklahoma City will host its 53rd Festival of the Arts April 21-26 in Bicentennial Park. Page 68

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Dogwood Suite

Harwelden Mansion

Tulsa’s Lap of Luxury LAVISH SIGHTS AT THE HARWELDEN MANSION

A M PSHIR E I N ENGL A N D H A S Highclere Castle, made famous by “Downton Abbey,” but Oklahoma has Harwelden Mansion, a 1923 English Tudor-Collegiate Gothic beauty born of Tulsa’s oil boom days. Earl Harwell (his name, not his title) built this magnificent manor atop a hill overlooking the Arkansas River and the oil installations beyond. Owned by Tulsa entrepreneur Teresa Knox, who spent several years – and several million dollars – restoring it to its former glory, it opened last year as a boutique bed and breakfast and event center. Harwell obviously took his oil baron moniker seriously; the house is full of symbols reflecting British royalty and tradition. Tudor roses are scattered on plaster ceilings and moldings. Th istles, a symbol of Scotland, and acorns, a long tradition even now incorporated into Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton’s royal crest, can be found in decorative touches throughout the structure. Inside the entrance doors is a set of hand-forged, open-work doors beautifully adorned with thistles and acorns. An ample stairway with elaborately craft ed spindles and balusters leads to the second floor. To the left , toward the Italianate garden room, Knox has created a small museum with historical photos and artifacts of the era. The wallpaper was custom designed with drawings of significant Tulsa structures. Outside, Knox is using original drawings to re-create the original landscaping, including a large, stone-lined pond that has been restored near the carriage house.

BY EL AINE WARNER

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Four lavishly decorated suites on the mansion’s second floor are augmented by a pair of two-bedroom suites in the carriage house. The bedrooms bear the names of some of the property’s flora including lilacs, redbuds, magnolias, sycamores, primrose and dogwoods. The Lilac Suite, bathed in soft lavender hues, imparts elegance and formality without sacrificing comfort. The Redbud Suite features the luscious deep pink of Oklahoma’s state tree. A large sitt ing area abuts a raised area, once a sleeping porch, now home to a king-sized bed and a spectacular view. Sleek grays and whites provide a tranquil backdrop for the Dogwood Suite – which is ADA compliant. A side table made of massive tree roots holds a bowl of fresh fruit, one of many treats in each room. A popular venue for weddings, Harwelden has a large area for bridal parties, including a groom’s room, bride’s room and a gathering area. The grand entry, garden room, sunroom, grand salon and dining room on the main floor make the mansion perfect for large social occasions. Harwelden also offers a monthly traditional English afternoon tea with savory and sweet delicacies and live music. Scheduled tours of the mansion are available, too. A draw for celebrities and dignitaries, its quiet elegance offers a higher level of service and privacy than other area accommodations. Amenities include complimentary in-room wine or imported lager or pilsner, luxury bed linens and robes, in-room yoga mats and a private butler and concierge upon request. Prices range from $650 to $950 per night. Whether it’s a tour, tea or an overnight stay, every guest is treated like royalty. Who doesn’t enjoy that?

LEFT: PHIL CLARKIN, RIGHT: ELAINE WARNER

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The Oklahoma City Project The Oklahoma City Repertory Theatre will stage two performances of Ruth Charnay’s powerful live docudrama “The Oklahoma City Project” on April 17 and 18. Both performances will be at the Freede Litt le Theatre inside the Oklahoma City Civic Center. Originally performed as part of the 10th anniversary commemoration of the Murrah Bombing, the “living history” relies on the actual words of survivors, fi rst responders, and the families of those killed on April 19, 1995. Both performances are offered free to the public. 66

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(e)motion(s) Oklahoma City Ballet presents “(e)motion(s)” April 17 – 19 at the Oklahoma City Civic Center. The season typically ends with a focus on modern ballet and dance, and this year’s triple bill includes Finnish choreographer Jorma Elo’s “Red Sweet” and a world premiere piece of modern dance created for the OKC dancers by American choreographer Penny Saunder. The focus of the evenings will surely be Robert Mills’s new piece that focuses on the lives lost in the Murrah Bombing, but also offers hope in the resilience of our city and our people.

Festival of the Arts The 2020 Festival of the Arts will be in Bicentennial Park April 21 – 26. The city’s largest art event features 144 visual artists from around the country, as well as performing and culinary arts. On Saturday, April 25, artists from 8 to 18 years old will have an opportunity to sell art in the Youth Art Sale. Th roughout the six days, approximately 300 musical acts will occupy the three stages, and the always popular food vendors will return as they do annually to help feed the nearly 750,000 people who att end.

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Oklahoma singer-songwriter John Moreland will take the Tower Theatre stage on Saturday, April 11, in support of his new project “LP5.” The fi ft h album from Moreland is a slight departure from his more stripped-down early works. His lyrical expertise is still present, including haunting, melancholy and deeply evocative meditations on life, death and personal struggle, but he spent a couple years playing around with layers and textures to add depth to the sonic side of his music. Doors at 7 p.m., and show begins at 8.

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Experience contemporary art and creativity in a new and unforgettable setting. Alicia Eggert, The Sun, 2015. Courtesy of the artist.

OklahomaContemporary.org Free admission 11 NW 11th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73103

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Men’s Dinner Club of Oklahoma City The Men’s Dinner Club of Oklahoma City met Feb. 10 at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum for A Night of Magic and Comedy.

1. David Mayﬁeld, Jim and Dixie Stengle, Bekah Berry and Brent Sharky. 2. Dennis and Deloris Bradford, and Joy and Jerry Richardson. 3. Dr. Joe Fallin, Dr. Jim Lowe and John Wilkins 4. Judy and Guy Liebmann, Melanie and Dr. Mark Hanstein, Mac King, former Gov. Mary Fallin, Wade Christensen.

Boots and Ball Gowns

Infant Crisis Services hosted its Boots and Ball Gowns gala to help fund provisions supplied by the organization, including formula, food, diapers, blankets, clothing and other basic necessities. The event was held Feb. 8 at The Criterion in Bricktown. 1. Davonna and Carl Milan with Janet Barresi. 2. Elizabeth and Adam Christensen and Chad and Jessica Ford. 3. John Walker, Jayme Phillips, Christopher Lloyd, Erik Salazar, Elizabeth Farabee, Virginia Hefner, Gen and

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and Bill Price.

FRAN KOZAKOWSKI

Bradeon Quick. 4. Lucien and Barb Jones with Maggie

This event will feature ﬂoral sculpture interpretations of works from our permanent collection, all crafted by designers from the Oklahoma City community. These exciting new works will be displayed in-gallery and throughout the Museum. A special Third Thursday, daily tours, and workshops will round-out this can’t-miss festival of ﬂowers!

F O R M O R E I N F O , V I S I T O KC M O A . C O M /A R T I N B L O O M

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Tents and makeshift building s spring up near downtown Oklahoma City on April 24 , 1889, shortly af ter the fir st land ru n.

The Beginning of Here LOOKING BACK ON THE DAY OKC CAME TO BE BY MELISSA MERCER HOWELL | PHOTO COURTESY OF OKL AHOMA HISTORY CENTER

EDITOR’S NOTE: Author Sam Anderson is quoted in this story from Boom Town, his No. 1 bestseller on Oklahoma City. A full interview with Anderson is on page 36.

O O T H E R C I T Y C A N S A Y I T WA S B O R N O F chaos. Yet, Oklahoma City sprang out of the prairie in a matter of hours on April 22, 1889, going from zero population at noon to 10,000 by nightfall. It was the first of Oklahoma’s seven land runs. The mayhem on the afternoon of the 22nd was an amalgam of fist fights, gun shots and broken wagons as settlers – or boomers – raced to claim their 160 acres or townsite lot. Harper’s Weekly reporter William Willard Howard, who had been dispatched to cover the event, called it “one of the most bizarre and chaotic episodes of town founding in world history.” Indeed, it may be the most unusual origin story of any state capital known to American history. The founding of Oklahoma City, like other cities in the unassigned lands, was a curious combination of political pressure and President Benjamin Harrison’s proclamation that the unassigned lands in Indian Territory would open all at once — in a single moment — at noon on April 22, 1889. “When President Harrison signed the document announcing the date of the Land Run … his signature sent a bat signal out over the end of the 19th century,” wrote Sam Anderson, author of Boom Town: The Fantastical Saga of Oklahoma City, Its Chaotic Founding ... Its Purloined Basketball Team, and the Dream of Becoming a World-Class Metropolis. “Oklahoma was a gift: a free 70

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chunk of America for anyone who needed it. But it was also an emergency: It was free only to those who could get there first. The hysteria spread worldwide. European ports, from Liverpool to Hamburg, teemed with sudden (as they were sometimes called) Oklahomaists.” The zeal for free land also attracted a less law-abiding element, from which Oklahoma takes its nickname: the Sooner State. They were the so-called “sooners,” those who had entered the state early and illegally to be ready to stake a claim at noon that day. They suffered little, if any, retribution for their early incursion into the territory. While would-be settlers were drawn to Oklahoma by the promise of land, the Indian tribes that had been relocated to Oklahoma from their ancestral lands held little hope that the new land promised to them would remain intact. It was an accurate prophecy. As Howard wrote in Harper’s Weekly: “Congress had failed to provide for any form of civil government. … It documents the massive stupidity of federal policy with regard to the disposal of the public domain, but it scarcely more than hints at the tragic consequences to follow for the Indian tribes who had been forcibly relocated to Oklahoma under solumn (sic) promises that their land would be theirs forever.” In the end, the tribes lost more of their land, Oklahoma joined the union as a full-fledged state and Oklahoma City grew into a state capital — but only after a daring and surreptitious act of state seal-napping from Guthrie to OKC in 1910. But that’s another story.

“People in America should really make an effort to come and see what exists here. It’s beyond one’s belief.” – Gary Player

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N EV ER M ET A R A BBIT hole I didn’t like. I recently got lost in a Reddit feed about “things you refuse to spend money on, no matter how much money you have.” Dinner may have been burning on the stovetop, but it would have to wait as I scrolled and scrolled and scrolled. Hundreds of people weighed in with responses you might expect: “Bott led water. Tap is fi ne.” (Th is was quickly countered by, “Tap contains copper and sewage, bruh.”) “Starbucks.” “Fake nails. Fake eyelashes.” 72

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“Designer jeans.” “Paid TV subscriptions like Netfl ix, Hulu and Amazon Prime.” One comment caught my attention and sent me down another rabbit hole: “Haircuts. I’ve been cutt ing my own hair for 20 years, and that has saved me a lot of money.” (And a lot of dates, I’ll bet!) Reading about at-home haircuts brought back visions of the As-Seenon-TV Flowbee Vacuum Haircutt ing System. Does it still exist? As I look closer at some of the haircuts out there, I can’t tell whether a vacuum cleaner is

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responsible for them or a Reddit poster is saving a few bucks. I searched for the Flowbee and, as predicted, got sucked right in (pun intended). I felt like Rose in that fi nal scene of Titanic, with all my old friends there to greet me: the clap-on, clap off Clapper, Ch-ChCh-Chia (this time, it’s Bob Ross’s beard), Ronco’s Hair-in-a-Can, Mr. Microphone, the Bedazzler, the Shiwala mop, the Vidalia Slice Wizard … Just when I thought I’d seen Billy Mays at the top of the landing, I stumbled on a few more

gems that made me wonder where they’d been all my life. “As long as you’re holding your phone near your face, you might as well shave.” Fire up The Shaver Phone! It’s a shaver! It’s a phone! With all the heft of a mid-’90s Nokia phone, the plug-and-play Shaver Phone packs enough power to let you shave on the run because you’re just that busy. And hairy. Bottom line: 1.) Call your mom. 2.) Groom yourself. 3.) Not at the same time. “You should have gone before we left.” There you are, out on the links with your walnut-sized bladder. For decades, you’ve been skulking about, watering the greens like a stealthy Rain Bird. But now there’s UroClub, a porta-pott y disguised as a nine iron! The UroClub boasts that it was created by a “Board Certified Urologist” — probably because most of his career has been spent on a golf course. Bottom line: If you can’t wait until you get back to the clubhouse, you wouldn’t last 10 minutes as a woman. Or would you rather bring the golf course into the bathroom? Like all good infomercial products, this one makes no apology for its ridiculousness: the Pott y Putter, the cure for bathroom boredom that gives you “more time to practice your putt!” Time was, the golfer who needed putt ing practice went outside to his backyard, to the putt ing greens at the golf course or to Putt-Putt . Bottom line: We liked you better when you were just peeing in your nine iron. There’s a “silent-but-deadly” problem hanging heavy over the infomercial couple’s marriage — bedtime fl atulence. When the guilty dog won’t even give a courtesy bark, take cover and save the marriage with the Better Marriage Blanket! Constructed with a layer of activated carbon fabric (“the same type of fabric used by the military to protect against chemical weapons!”) the Better Marriage Blanket will protect you against that chemical weapon you married. Bottom line: If he’s otherwise tolerable, it’s probably worth $120 plus shipping and handling.

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