THE DISH

Frozen Treats and Timelessness

We all still scream for ice cream

BY GREG HORTON PHOTO BY LEXI HOEBING

ONCE YOU SEE A PICTURE OF ICE cream, reading about it is almost redundant. The joy is programmed in from childhood: birthday treat, special occasion, homemade project in the summer, a bowl with grandpa for no reason but to spend time together immersed in the simple pleasure of a story accompanied by sugar, cream, milk and whatever flavor you prefer. If that isn’t enough, we learn the “scream for ice cream” chant when screaming is still considered normal behavior — children scream when the moment is too big for their rudimentary emotion control skills.

We’re conditioned. When we were prepping the photo that accompanies this story, photographer Lexi Hoebing said, “Put the pistachio on top. The order of the other two doesn’t matter.” Why? “I just want the pistachio to be easier to eat,” she said, and the other customers in Roxy’s Ice Cream Social chuckled and nodded approvingly.

Ice cream exists in the dessert category, but it’s a dessert that, like donuts or a candy bar, doesn’t have to be part of an actual meal. Perhaps “treats” is a better name for the category. Ice cream is also special in that it stands on its own. It doesn’t need help. If there are other ingredients with the ice cream, it’s kind of like winning a million dollars, and then being told you get a house and car in addition. They enhance; they don’t improve. Ice cream is already perfect.

At Roxy’s, you can choose from more than 20 flavors, and that might be the hardest part of the process. Some customers always choose the same flavor: vanilla, pistachio, German chocolate, strawberry. Nothing wrong with that, nothing at all. Others will switch it up, and Roxy’s does offer rotating seasonal flavors at all locations so that everyone will find something they love.

Ask anyone who grew up around Oklahoma, though, and they’re going to list Braum’s among their favorite ice cream joints. Braum’s has been there for us since childhood. Chocolate almond malt after tee-ball? Check. Birthday party with ice cream and cake? Yup. A shake and crinkle-cut fries after a break-up? Absolutely.

For a composed ice cream dish, though, it’s hard to beat one of the new kids in town: the only dessert on the menu at Birdie’s Fried Chicken, Chef Kevin Lee’s Korean fried chicken concept. The Bananas Foster Sundae starts with vanilla ice cream. Of course it does, because when we think about it, vanilla’s great contribution is its ability to enhance something delicious (cookies, lattes, cereal, yogurt parfaits, etc.) and to bind the whole thing together, like a bridge ingredient. Birdies adds banana pudding, sauteed bananas, cinnamon, caramel, whipped cream and a fresh churro to craft one of the best desserts in the metro.

For creative blends — like blackberry pie or fudge brownies — Capitals in Midtown and Cities in Edmond offer locally themed frozen treats, as well as a build-your-own option. The pie is seasonal, so ask which you can have blended into your ice cream. It’s like being a kid all over again.

Three scoops of ice cream from Roxy’s Ice Cream Social

secret supper

WITH 405 MAGAZINE

Coming Soon

GREY SWEATER’S ELEVATED ELEGANCE

Chef Andrew Black has created the pinnacle of fine dining in Oklahoma City

This spring, Cadillac sent 405 senior writer Greg Horton and blogger/influencer Sarah James on a culinary adventure around Oklahoma City to talk to chefs about their food, inspiration and hospitality.

Grey Sweater is the creation of a brilliant, talented team, and the man leading that team is James Beard Award (Outstanding Chef) nominee Andrew Black. Born in Jamaica, Black grew up very poor, and food was an important part of time spent with family. He left home early and worked in kitchens from France to Memphis (Peabody Hotel), where he perfected his talents as a fine dining chef. Grey Sweater’s tasting menu and single seating per night attracts gourmands from all over the U.S. to sample dishes made with ingredients sourced from all over the world.

Sarah: This space is beautiful. I have to know how you came up with this concept. CHEF BLACK: This started 15 years ago. I had a chef’s table at the Skirvin Hotel, but back then everyone was like, “No one wants to hear the chef yelling at everyone in the kitchen,” but I always knew I wanted to do it on a bigger scale. I’ve worked in enough corporate restaurants that I know they’ll only let you get so far out there, and then they think it’s too far, so I wanted a place where we could create food with no boundaries and no allegiance to a style or a dish or a corporate template.

Sarah: The “no allegiance” means you aren’t tied to a supplier or a menu, but what’s the guest experience at Grey Sweater? CHEF BLACK: At the end of the day, the food has to taste good. We don’t owe allegiance to a dish — even your favorite dish — so we’ll eventually move on from it. That goes for wine and cocktails, too. We are constantly creating without barriers, and that means we want to constantly move on, but the food and wine and the cocktails have to be good. More than that, though, is how we make you feel. If you dine in this restaurant and somehow you don’t feel like you’re at home enjoying a great meal with friends, we’ve failed.

Sarah: How do you decide what goes on such a creative, everchanging menu? CHEF BLACK: I think chefs are artists, and we have a great team here. We ask questions of each other about the food we get from our suppliers. How do we prepare it? Highlight it? Do something different with it? The team talks through all these things, and then we start creating. I like the analogy of artists working, so the menu is whatever we choose to paint that day.

TO WATCH THE CULINARY ROAD TRIP SERIES, GO TO 405MAGAZINE.COM

Chef Andrew Black

Greg Horton senior writer for 405 Magazine Sarah James blogger, whoorl.com