Kitchen no 234

Alex and I have spent way too much time at Kitchen no. 324 lately. I can’t help it, one sip of their delicious cold brew coffee and I was hooked for life (or at least for every weekend from now until eternity). Plus we may have seen a certain Thunder center there a couple weekends ago that has incentivized us to continue to visit every Sunday at 10am in case he should miraculously appear again and perhaps sit next to us and subsequently become our best friend.

Anywho, since we’ve gone there about five times in the last few weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to craft the perfect breakfast. It involves:

A) cold brew coffee
B) two poached eggs
C) the most phenomenal bacon of all time (seriously, and they give you like 5 pieces to an order so it’s almost enough to share but not quite)
D) Brussel sprouts with hazelnuts

Alex swears by the eggs with pesto but I would really recommend the combo above. Or just a couple orders of bacon. I think I could live just off their bacon.

Okay, enough about the bacon.

Do yourself a favor and go get some coffee and some bacon at kitchen, your tummy will thank you.

Sneak peek- Packard’s new American kitchen

Got to take a quick look in Packard’s New American Kitchen yesterday and snagged a copy of the menu. Love the decor and the drink menu looks fantabulous. Took a couple quick pics while we were snooping. Didn’t get to check out the roof deck but it looks awesome on their Facebook page!! Can’t wait to try out the Hot Mess when they open next week. Tequila and jalapeños, yes please!

Kitchen no. 324

‘Tis the season to… open new businesses?

*Image from Good Egg Dining Group email.

Kitchen no. 324 had a soft opening this week serving breakfast and lunch and will be open to the public TOMORROW MORNING. They’ve been posting mouthwatering pictures of their food options on Facebook and Twitter and I can’t wait to go try this amazing looking meaty-vegetably thing:

*Photo courtesy of Kitchen no. 324

The Gazette profiled Kitchen last week and you know when Good Egg is involved that it is going to be good (hello Sunday brunch at Cheevers). Plus, they take Keep it Local, although the Keep it Local site doesn’t say what their discount will be yet.

On another note, I am extremely sad that I somehow completely missed the appearance of “Saxy” Santa. What a travesty.

I hope everyone has a peaceful, beautiful, white Christmas (which miraculously might actually happen in Oklahoma this year!).

Oklahoma holiday gift giving guide

So Christmas is officially two weeks away and if you’re like me you put your Christmas tree up two weeks ago and you’ve been rotating between 96.1 and 104.1 and turning the radio down when both have commercials on and humming jingle bells to yourself. Oh, you haven’t been doing that? Well neither have I obviously, that would be weird…

Anyways, since it’s the most wonderful time of the year, it means it’s time to buy presents for everyone on your list, even the people you don’t really like that much. For the Oklahoman in your life who has everything, here are a few ideas from some of Oklahoma’s most awesomest local businesses to get you started (every product listed below contributes in some way to the local economy, except Thunderstruck, but I had to include that for obvious reasons, plus KD gets a percentage of those sales and then spends all that money at OKC 7-11s and Game Stops buying sprite and video games).

-One of the best gifts you can give is the gift of deliciousness and on the deliciousness index Flint, Vast and Ludivine are all perfect tens. Get a special someone a gift card to one of these delicious restaurants. All three also have extremely magical cocktails so even a small amount would be great to go grab appetizers and drinks.

-You can’t go wrong with tickets to a Thunder Game. Two tickets to the New Years Eve game will probably win you brownie points for life (*hint hint*). Looking for something a little less pricy? How about considering the Thunder’s rowdier, boozier, more violent little cousin who lives right across the street, the OKC Barons.

-Too cheap for tickets to a Thunder Game? How about a Thunder T-shirt that says, I love you, I love the Thunder but I won’t pay to take you to a game. Well the t-shirt doesn’t actually say that, just your face, when you give that t-shirt to your friend or family member. Here are a few excellent options all created by local designers and sold in local boutiques.

• Westbrook Shirt from DNA Galleries
• Thunder Icon Tee from Tree & Leaf (I LOVE this one)
• Best in the West tee from Shop Good. Maybe if we all wear this around enough it will happen again this year.
• And one of my personal favorites from Blue 7, We are never, ever getting back together.

*Plus, Shop Good and Blue 7 which are usually closed on Sundays will be open the next two Sundays before Christmas.

-A great stocking stuffer or dirty santa gift is the Keep it Local Card. I’ve written about the glories and wonders of this card before, so check it out for more info. The one odd thing about this year’s card is that the Scissortail Flycatcher and the 2013 look disturbingly like a mockingjay and the 13 districts from the Hunger Games. Did anyone else notice this? I think someone over there at Keep it Local is subtly hinting that only the strong survive in Oklahoma. Maybe I’m just a little too obsessed with the Hunger Games, that could also be it.

*Photo courtesy of Keep it Local.

– Another option is a t-shirt to showcase your Oklahoma pride. Bonus points if you get this for someone who does not actually live in Oklahoma and in actuality has very little Oklahoma pride.

• Local 405 Tee from Shop Good.
• I tornado Gary England from Tree & Leaf. Since I really do tornado Gary England, I would proudly wear this around. He has gotten me through some tough times in my life.

– Elemental coffee might make one of the best cups of coffee in the entire city. Fortunately, you can go check it out for yourself and then head to their online store to purchase your favorite brew for a friend. Forgo the Starbucks card this year and invest in a gift that supports OKC and is also delicious.

– A great gift for the young and the young at heart is Thunderstruck on DVD (Kevin Durant’s big move into Hollywood). Even if you aren’t a Thunder fan, this movie still comes with some great life lessons and hilarious hijinks.

– Everyone knows the way to someone’s heart is through their stomach and nothing makes a stomach happier than gluten-free cupcakes from Green Goodies. I consider myself somewhat of a cupcake connoisseur, and these are hands down the best cupcakes I’ve had in Oklahoma City. They have non-gluten-free (aka gluten-abundant) cupcakes, coffee and soft-serve ice cream as well.

– Lastly, there are many, many great charities in OKC, a few of which I have profiled here (Maisha, Pets & People and the Central Oklahoma Humane Society and the Chad Peery Fund). Nothing is classier than giving a gift in a friend’s name for the holidays. That’s what it’s all about anyway right?

Did I miss anything? Leave your suggestions in the comments!

Happy shopping!