Restaurant Review – LOCAL in Norman, OK

If you live in the Oklahoma City area, you’ve got to try this restaurant. Mark and I recently went there for dinner and really enjoyed it. We’ll be going back soon. It’s tucked in a strip mall a few blocks off the freeway, but inside it is spacious, trendy, welcoming, and the food is fantastic. LOCAL is the first restaurant in the area that we’ve found using fresh, local ingredients (that’s pretty much the whole idea behind the restaurant). They also have a large selection of gluten free, vegetarian, and vegan dishes (and they are clearly marked on the menu)!  What makes LOCAL so great, is the style with which they prepare and present the local ingredients – simple, creative, fresh, delicious.

We started our meal with truffle chips – homemade potato chips with infused with truffle oil and served with three dipping sauces… sundried tomato basil, blue cheese, and house barbeque. The blue cheese dip was our favorite. (Bonus – this appetizer is free if you have a Keep It Local card --- if you don’t have one, you should! They cost $10 and get you lots of freebies and discounts at participating OKC area restaurants.)

Mark and I both chose salads… the salads are served with a fresh roll. I think there was butter baked in because it wasn’t served with any butter and really didn’t need anything to top it. It was absolutely perfect.

Mark had the Arugula salad with red onion, goat cheese, and orange honey vinaigrette.

I had the Bacon and Egg salad – it was phenomenal – arugula with crisp bacon, a panko crusted poached egg, and truffle sherry vinaigrette.  Just look at that luscious egg yolk spilling into the salad. Heaven.

We didn’t intend to order dessert, but we (actually I) couldn’t resist the creative milk and cookies. LOCAL has a daily milk & cookie option. It changes regularly based on the chef’s choice of fresh ingredients. On this particular day it was red velvet infused milk and a white chocolate pistachio cookie. Scrumptious!!! I am not a milk-lover (unless it’s chocolate), but the red velvet infused milk was sooooo good.

At the entrance to the restaurant, there’s a market where you can buy fresh grab-and-go food along with some great products created by local artists. I got this great little make-up bag. Love it!

I can’t wait to go back soon. 
Check it out for yourself!   eatatlocal.com

Cupcake Love

If you check out this blog often, you know that every so often I post a review about something new I've found that I think is worth sharing with others. Here's one for all of you in the Oklahoma City/Edmond area... Go check out Gigi's Cupcakes!

Seriously, I am a little bit of a snob when it comes to cupcakes. All too often, then cupcakes I try at bakeries are dry or lack flavor or creativity. So it's rare that I'll buy cupcakes because I'd rather bake them myself. But I have to tell you that Gigi's Cupcakes are amazing! The cakes are moist, full of flavor, and the frosting is perfect in texture and flavor. To top it all off, they look beautiful and come in cute boxes.

We recently tried three of their flavors - Pistachio was my favorite.

Caramel Sugar Mama... caramel cake with caramel buttercream frosting. Then drizzled with caramel and topped with some Sugar Babies candy.

Chocolate Almond... white coconut cake with chocolate buttercream frosting. Rimmed with toasted shaved almonds. The cupcake version of an Almond Joy candy bar.

Pistachio... pistachio cake with pistachio buttercream frosting. Topped with pistachios and course sugar.

Gigi's Cupcakes has a store on May Avenue (next to one of our favorite quick and delicious restaurants - Cafe 7) in Oklahoma City near Quail Springs Mall and also one in Norman (haven't been to that one). They have a variety of flavors that change daily and seasonally. I think I'm hooked!

GigisCupcakesUSA.com

Flatire Burgers

I'm not a professional food critic or restaurant reviewer, but I love food and I love trying new things/new places. So I've got to share when I find something that goes in my "favorites" list. That latest?... a great hamburger place... Flatire Burgers in Edmond, Oklahoma. Actually several friends recommended it, so my husband and I decided to try it out. The atmosphere was fun & relaxed, the prices were good, the service was excellent, and the burger was awesome! We will definitely be going back.

The jalepeno burger with cheese fries.
sooooooooo good - the best burger we've had so far in the OKC area
The burger was juicy topped with swiss cheese, grilled onions, grilled jalepenos, and chipotle sauce on a jalepeno bun.

 For dessert --- S'MORES! At your table! with a little campfire and everything!

So check out Flatire Burgers. Enjoy!

http://www.flatireburgers.com/