Do you like pina coladas? What about getting caught in the rain? How about a relationship with such mutual dissatisfaction that you each write a personal ad to try to find someone new and end up back together, because you're both so terrible only you can stand each other?
None of that has any bearing on this feature, however, with is my monthly Monthly Features feature, where we spotlight featured dishes at local restaurants that you can only get this month. (None of them are pina coladas, btw.)
Do you know of any locally owned restaurants doing monthly features? Drop me a line at greg@iateoklahoma.com.
Pie Junkie
Thunder Pie - $4.50 per slice, $26 for a whole pie
Greg last year: “I’ll be honest...orange mousse didn’t sound that appetizing. But this is Pie Junkie we’re talking about. I’ve yet to have a pie from Leslie and Darcy’s shop that didn’t blow my away.”
Greg now: GIVE ME ALL THE THUNDER PIE YOU GOT!
Of all the monthly features at Pie Junkie, Thunder Pie is the one I miss the most when it’s gone. That’s because they do such an amazing job balancing the sharpness and tartness of orange with the creamy, comforting sweetness of creamy mousse. The graham cracker crust does what it needs to do and doesn’t get in the way, while the candied blueberries on top very nearly steal the show.
...good lord I need another slice of pie.
Tokyo Japanese Restaurant
Miso-marinated Grilled Toro - $9.95
April’s monthly feature is not a sushi roll or a spring roll or a dinner roll, but it will help me develop another tummy roll because I don’t know how to stop eating this grilled fatty tuna. Toro usually finds its way onto a nice plate of nigiri, but Tokyo is marinating their tuna in umami-rich miso before slapping it down on the grill where the heat caramelizes the sugars and leaves a gorgeous char behind. One thing I really love is that the flavor of the toro changes a lot when grilled. As sashimi, it’s quite mild. The miso and the heat combine to give it a much more assertive taste that is very satisfying.
S&B’s Burger Joint
Balboa Burger - $12
While I would normally counsel any of you to seek professional help in the case of a mental breakdown, I’m kind of hesitant to call the authorities for the folks at S&B’s test kitchen. Are they in danger? Almost certainly. But how do you stop someone who keeps making food as clearly unhinged and delicious as this?
The Balboa is...I can’t barely wrap my head around it, because it’s so weird. Would a bacon/beef hybrid burger be wonderful? Yes. What about with mozzarella melted on top? Of course. More bacon? Sure. Parmesan cheese and garlic aioli? Pile it on.
Blackened fettuccine alfredo, though? Who makes a burger and then puts a pasta dinner on top of it? These sickos. And, god help me, it’s great. It’s insane, it’s way too much food, but it works.
Okie Picatta Fries - $8
Maybe even crazier than the Balboa, if you can imagine, are the Okie Picatta Fries. Again, you want to slather french fries in a lemon cream sauce, fried capers and parmesan cheese and I. Am. Here. For it. But adding big chunks of fried chicken tenders? WHAT IS HAPPENING? Is this a cry for help or what?
Anyway, I ate them and they’re pretty good.
