Sometimes being a Cheese Wench has its perks. Getting to check out new restaurants before they open is one of them. On a lovely spring evening, a group of food junkies and media types gathered to get a sneak peek at the new garden-to-table dining room at Grogg's Green Barn. Called "The Reserve," it isn't a typical "restaurant," but the pre-ticketed series of dinners that I wrote about last week.
As I predicted, chef Matt Owen's first seasonal menu did not disappoint. The Reserve opens to the public for its first dinner event on Friday, April 7th.
We took a pre-dinner garden tour, and enjoyed a beer from Cascade Brewing Barrel House in the Grogg's Green Barn garden. Noyeaux is a Northwest-style sour beer, aged with raspberries and apricot kernels.
The evening's menu featured local honey and produce, as well as chicken from 413 Farm, and local beer from Prairie Ales.
Spring lettuces and herbs from the Grogg's garden, with walnut oil, elderflower vinegar, garden blossoms, radishes, and seeds
Smoked cream of asparagus soup with tarragon, sorrel, and browned butter
Herbed dumplings with a ragout of 413 Farm chicken leg, with wild onions and crispy chicken skin.
Lermon verbena cake with honeycomb candy and strawberry semifreddo. Just sweet enough for the end of the meal, but not too sweet for a girl who eats cheese for dessert!
This kitchen is a 2-man operation, and is open to the 40-seat dining room. Custom, locally made farmhouse tables allow diners to enjoy family-style seating.
Hungry yet?
Check out the schedule of upcoming dinners, and purchase your tickets before they sell out. I have a feeling they will.
Chef Matt Owen checks on his growing crop of ingredients.
For those unfamiliar (as I was) with a garden supply store called Grogg's Green Barn on 61st Street, just East of Mingo, you also may not have heard about Oklahoma's newest farm-to-table concept, set to open next month. The Reserve at Grogg's Green Barn will debut their Friday and Saturday night dinners on April 7th. Executive chef Matthew Owen, formerly of Yokozuna, The Canebrake, and Torero Bar and Kitchen; gave me a tour of the gardens, as well as the soon-to-be dining room and open kitchen.
Finishing touches going into the dining room.
"This will be the first true farm-to-table dinner in Tulsa" says Owen. There have been many restaurants focused on serving a menu created largely from locally-grown ingredients, but none within the city who are growing many those ingredients themselves. For that kind of experience, you had to know where to look, and be willing to make the drive to Depew, OK. Many people enjoy the Farm-to-table dinners that chef Lisa Becklund and Linda Ford have been serving at The Living Kitchen Farm and Dairy for the past 11 seasons, so much so that they'll drive from Tulsa or Oklahoma City to attend. That is of course, if they get tickets, which generally sell out within hours of being posted online. The Reserve promises to provide an option a little closer to home. Ticketing is handled in a similar fashion, with 3 months of dinners posted online at once. They outline the different themes the chef will use to create the menu, based on what is currently in season. Each dinner will host 40 guests. Tickets ($75 per guest) are purchased in advance, and include dinner, tax, and gratuity. Owen is working with local brokers to create a beer & wine package option for an additional charge.
The Reserve at Grogg's Green Barn hosts dinners on Friday and Saturday evenings throughout the growing season.
"It's pretty much every chef's dream job" Owen said of the offer that convinced him to leave his current position at Torero Bar & Kitchen, which was named "Best New Restaurant of 2016" by the Tulsa World. He has full creative freedom over a weekly changing 5-course menu, plenty of garden space to produce the majority of the ingredients, and the knowledgeable team at Grogg's to help make that happen. Grogg's raises hens on the property for fresh eggs, and bees for honey as local as it can get. There are several other Oklahoma farms on board to provide the produce they will not grow themselves, as well as meat and dairy. Dinners will only be served 2 nights per week, leaving the space (and the chef) available for private parties, and eventually quarterly cooking classes and guest chef events. The intent is to offer guests fine dining quality, in an unpretentious atmosphere. Owen also wants to push diners in Tulsa forward in knowing and appreciating the source of the food they eat.
Tickets for the April-June dinners are on sale now.
