For Craft Magazine - March 2019
(Editor’s note: This story is only available in the digital version located here.)
Ah yes, the month of March. It’s one of the best months of the year. College basketball goes mad. People wear green and drink matching stale beer for a day. Baseballs are being thrown around parks across America. But before all that we try to party like our brothers and sisters in the Big Easy on Fat Tuesday, which is the culmination of Mardi Gras.
This year, Tulsans can celebrate by doing lunch or dinner at Nola’s located at the corner of 15th and Peoria. For them it will be business as usual. If you’re reading this before March 5, you might still have time to make an evening reservation.
This is a monthly magazine, which means it will be available long after Fat Tuesday, and that’s cool because you can still celebrate New Orleans culture any time by enjoying a sazerac or hurricane with a po boy or gumbo at Nola’s.
It was a cold dreary February Friday afternoon when I visited with Nola’s staff over lunch inside the restaurant’s Prohibition Room, which is often used for private dining events of up to 50 people. A collection of antique liquor bottles are displayed in the walls. The room has a dark, warm intimate feeling.
To get there I had to go down stairs from the entrance and walk through the main dining area. It was as if I was transported to a French Quarter restaurant rich with tradition.
“Everybody is blown away the first time they come in here,” says Emilia Hudson, who is is the private events and catering manager. “They always say they feel like they’re stepping back in time.”
I ordered a bowl of crawfish gumbo, a side of red beans and rice, and a pair of crab cakes. I went with my gut. And I love gumbo. I didn’t even open a menu. While I waited for lunch, Hudson discussed the wide variety of options you’d expect to find in a restaurant of its kind. She talked me through a culinary journey that included everything from crawfish, oysters and turtle soup to baguettes then on to pastas, steaks and then to the beignets before finally gushing about their bread pudding. Hudson noted many recipes came from owner Brett Rehorn’s previous popular Tulsa Creole endeavor: Bourbon Street Cafe.
Rehorn is also the Kilkenny’s owner. When I mentioned to Hudson the place has a similar feel to his Irish restaurant, she laughed and said people often say the same thing whether or not they know he owns both popular Cherry St. dining options.
“The great thing about this place is you can come in wearing jeans and a T-shirt or be in a more formal setting and enjoy a beer and a po boy or an Oscar style filet,” said Hudson. “We just want to provide you an authentic memorable experience while you’re dining with us.”
Hudson tells me her personal favorite dish is the choco veggie sandwich with a crab cake and the voodoo sauce. She also informs me their most popular item is the voodoo chicken, and it’s now available half price after 9 p.m. on Sundays.
As my meal is delivered, Hudson lets me in on a not-so-secret secret that feels like the type of information that is life changing.
“You can and probably should add voodoo sauce to everything,” she said with a smile that said more than the sentence did. I can now foresee a future where I’m adding the mornay sauce with jumbo lump crab and shrimp to every dish I order.
The gumbo was hearty, rich and a little spicy thanks to the Crystals extra hot sauce I poured atop the mound of rice and crawfish in the center of the bowl. They offer eight different hot sauces. Hudson tells me they try to keep their food at about a five on a 1-10 heat scale.
It’s just a few hours before another capacity Valentine’s crowd as Hudson discusses how business has been booming for the restaurant that opened in April 2018. She acknowledges a bumpy start thanks to a long-delayed opening and then some early turnover that isn’t uncommon in the restaurant world, but says they have found their groove and are excited about what’s to come.
She said they have private events scheduled out six months, but still have dates available along the way for those looking for a place to host a family graduation dinner party, a wedding rehearsal dinner or any other private event.
This spring there will be a weekend brunch that features a special menu and a mimosa and Bloody Mary bar. Plus outdoor patio seating that looks out at the downtown skyline.
There’s a new business box lunch catering program that features a muffaletta, a cajun turkey sandwich or a smoked ham sandwich. There’s also the gumbo, garlic soup, oyster stew a Caesar salad and a house salad. Hudson says it’s perfect for staff meetings or team lunches.
They also have happy hour specials that include $8 hurricanes that bar manager Ashley Porter told me has the closest ingredients possible to the iconic Pat O’Brien version. She describes their most popular drink as light, fresh and fruity, and not as syrupy as is often the case. She said it includes a key ingredient called fassionola.
The tin-ceiling bar section also offers a house French Ale made by nearby Cabin Boys Brewery. Porter says they also feature many OK Distilling Company spirits, including some that go through a barrel-aged program. They also offer Topeca coffee and a cold brew.
My gumbo bowl is nearly empty. A few read beans and pieces of rice remain in the side dish. There’s still a chunk of crab cake sitting on a plate. I consider dessert, especially when Hudson reminds me there is that Bourbon Street bread pudding. I decline. I’m full. I’m happy. I don’t want to leave the warm friendly confines, but I’ll be back. It’s the voodoo sauce already calling my name. Haunting me.