Bill and Sheila Do Roka

Last night was the "soft opening" of Roka, the reincarnation of Tei Kei's Asian restaurant.  It has been closed while the owners redecorated, tweaked the menu and restaffed. Sheila's boss, John Bumgarner, owns Roka.  The Journal Record calls him a "real estate magnate."  Sheila is his personal assistant.  For the past few weeks, he has had her hopping doing everything from helping the new crew to buying Asian antiques, assisting the interior decorator, etc. 

A "soft opening"  is usually a friends and family invitation only event that lets the chef and staff fine tune the operation before taking on paying customers.  It's often a social event as well.  There were a couple of hundred folks there last night.  Roka will have three "soft openings.  Last night's was for vendors, contractors and employees.  There will be another today starting at lunch.  Monday night will be more of a social event for friends of the family.  We were invited to the Monday night soiree but chose last night instead.  We invited our friends and frequent partners in crime Pam Edwards and her fiancee Wayne Elliot to join us.  It was Pam's birthday.

Te Kei's has always been one of my favorite places and I was pleasantly surprised to see that many of my favorite dishes like the Korean taco appetizers and the sinfully rich bread pudding had been retained. The new menu is actually quite sophisticated and could best be called Asian Fusion.  There are Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Korean dishes as well as a gourmet burger or two for the die-hard "I won't eat that stuff types." 

We were pleasantly surprised when the wait staff brought us a couple of sushi rolls that we hadn't ordered, a dragon roll and a spicy tuna roll.  We shared them around the table.  They were amazing.  For appetizers, Sheila ordered the pot-stickers, Wayne had the lettuce -chicken wraps, Pam had the hot and sour soup and I had Korean pork tacos.  Everything was delicious and executed perfectly.

I chose Kung Pao Chicken for my entree.  It was fabulous.  The executive chef Damon has created a  perfect combination of savory and spicy flavors in this dish.  Sheila had the Thai Green Curry which I sampled.  It is a luxurious blend of smooth coconut milk, curry and hot spices served with rice.  It was perfect.  Pam had the Pad Thai.  She pronounced it fabulous.   I forget what Wayne had but I do remember
that he thoroughly enjoyed it. Even though we were stuffed, Damon's bread pudding with brandy sauce is just too good to pass up. So we ordered two servings and each couple shared one.  It was sinfully delicious.


We lingered over the table for a while. Pam is Sheila's niece.  It was a good chance to catch up on family gossip and just visit a while.  Wayne even treated us to a few tales from his days as Head of Mergers and Acquisitions for Pepsico.  As the evening progressed, most of the Roka management team made it by our table to visit a moment.  Even Damon, who must have been terribly busy, took a moment to pop out of the kitchen and say "Hi."  At some point, Sheila and Pam took a tour of the building and Sheila circulated a bit to visit with friends, co-workers and guests.  Wayne and I stayed at the table and shared a little man talk.  It was a very nice evening.  We had a fabulous time.

We were  also very impressed with the new decor, menu and staff at Roka.  I have never had a better Asian meal.  Roka is literally a world class restaurant right square in the middle of mid-town Tulsa.  I can't think of a thing that could have been done better.  It was truly an evening to remember.

New Years Day 2016 - Celebrating Confederate Heritage

Our friends Mike and Jodi Sala just left.  We invited them over to celebrate what has become a highly symbolic meal for us.  Southerner's eat black eyed peas on New Year's Day for "good luck" but the tradition has a much darker history. 

We eat the meal of black eyed peas and greens to remember the time that Northern Americans tried to starve Southern Americans into submission by stealing or burning all of the food they could find, taking all of the livestock and leaving nothing but what they though was inedible pig food ... black eyed peas.  At the time, Southerner's considered themselves lucky to have black eyed peas and thus the legend of black eyed peas bringing good luck was born.

Here in the Indian Territories the same tactic was applied. The North planned a "March

to the Sea" through Oklahoma and Texas but Indian troops allied with Texas Cavalry cut them to ribbons every time they marched.  The Northerners then tried to literally starve the Southern sympathizing tribes into submission by withholding food distributions, burning crops and stealing livestock.  Tribal legend has it that starving Cherokee women followed the cavalry columns leaving from Ft. Gibson to pick the undigested grains of corn from the horse's droppings to feed their children.

Every year, in remembrance, Sheila and I cook a huge stockpot full of a rich old Southern dish called "Hoppin John."  It contains black eyed peas, collard greens, onions, celery, carrots, fatback and ham.  We usually cut back on the fatback, adding just enough to give texture to the broth and use smoked turkey legs instead of the ham.  It is always served over rice with corn pone of some sort on the side.  This year's light, fluffy, crusty skillet cornbread came out especially well.  We also made a big apple pie laced with golden raisins and walnuts and spiced with a generous shot of bourbon.  We will eat on the pot of "Hoppin John" for days and send bowls of it home with whoever happens to stop by.

I made a pot of strong coffee in my little French press and we sat for a long while discussing current events and remembering past ones.   It was a good meal and we had a good time catching up with our friends who have gone through a lot this year and are still picking up the pieces after multiple life stress events. 

I can only pray that the rest of year will be as pleasant as the meal.