Tulsa Food

Have you ever really stopped to think about the food you eat? Why do you eat THAT food? Why do you like it? What are your favorite dishes and why? Do you ever find something that makes you stop and look closely at those very questions? “Are there wonderful things out there that I am missing because I never think to try them, because I have so many  likes  and dislikes that I don’t branch out enough from the “Usual Suspects” when it comes to dining in, and out?”  These are questions I think we all should ask ourselves, and pay close attention to the answers they bring.

Anticipation

For over a year now I have been watching, peeking in from time to time and wondering if and when the small space on 37th & Harvard with the blue awning reading “Pure Café” was going to open. “The awning with the name was one of the first things that went up” I was told by Cynthia Beavers, Executive Chef and owner a few weeks back when I stopped in. She, along with Restaurant Manager and PR Guru Stephanie Lewis were busily working on last minute details before the restaurant opened (as in most cases, waiting on some permit or license to finalize) as well as preparing food for the weekly deliveries and nationwide shipments they have been making for quite some time. As it turns out, there have been many people enjoying Chef Cynthia’s beautiful works of culinary art (the best way I can describe them) before the majority of Tulsans were gifted with this fresh new approach to dining.

A beautiful introduction to Raw Food

Several months ago, I ran across Stephanie Lewis on Facebook of all places, through my own page, “The Cheese Wench” (yes, I am also half mouse, and love to eat, make, and write about cheese). I was intrigued because she always had such wonderful and thought provoking posts, many relating to food. I suppose it is time I fess up that I myself am a chef. I cook, I teach, and I eat. My 3 passions in life: create beautiful food, bring the appreciation of beautiful food to as many as I can, and enjoy beautiful food every single day.  Anyway I digress… at some point along the way, Stephanie began to post pictures of these simply beautiful dishes online (since we’re all on an internet food blog here no one should be surprised that is how I began to take a real interest). If you have seen pics, or better yet the food in person you know that it is usually adorned with fresh flowers…orchids, rose petals and other beautiful and equally edible blossoms; however this isn’t even what caught my eye. The colors and textures of the food itself are amazing, brought out by the lack of grease, wilting, and browning. Now I will not lie, I am a hot food chef. Anything I have ever served “raw” has been purely due to the nature of the dish I was trying to create, and not done intentionally to fit this style of cuisine. Also, I am in no way here to talk to you about the health/scientific properties of raw or vegan food, since I am neither a veg/vegan nor a longtime raw food devotee. I am here first and foremost as a food lover, and also as a chef who has truly been stirred by something very delicious, but more important, thought provoking. I am here to encourage you to explore something that, though being widely touted as “new” and “different” is simply like most meals many of us seek, just beautiful food being prepared by someone with her own culinary inspirations and passions. No matter what you think, or expect food to be, you can always find sensory delight in things that are very, very different.

At last, the visit!

If you have read any articles or reviews, you know that the dining room at Pure is small, light and bright, with simple yet fresh décor. Most noticeable are the beautiful flowers (mostly orchids) on each table. They have a nice mix of music playing, and the staff is friendly and very nice. We were introduced to our server, Tamara by Stephanie. Since it was our first time in since the restaurant opened, she gave us a quick overview of the menu. We took several minutes to look over our options (even though a printout of the menu had been thoroughly studied prior to our arrival). As with most restaurant openings, not everything on the menu is available the day they unlock to doors, so my initial pick for a first course (the White Bliss Soup) was not yet available. At this point I turned to Chef Cynthia for advice. She said the Spicy Green Avocado Lime Soup was a constantly sold-out item.  Mark, who as usual, was my dining companion last night, opted for the Baja Burritos from the Second Course menu.

Changed Perceptions

When the food arrived, you could immediately tell that everything was freshly prepared. We were instructed by Tamara that the rose petals on the plate surrounding my soup bowl were a delicious addition to the dish, and the magenta and white Orchid on Mark’s plate next to the lettuce leaf-cradled burrito was edible and delicious. I must admit as a food lover and a chef, I often have in my head a preconceived notion of a dish. What it will look like, taste like, what the texture will be like and ultimately what I expect the overall feeling of the dish will be. OOPS! At first spoonful of the soup, it was like coming up to an outed 4-way stoplight with 50 cars lined up in each direction…not what I was expecting at all, but a complete surprise! I looked at Mark with a confused, almost panic-stricken expression wondering where to go from here. “It’s terrible!” I thought. Avocado, Chiles, Lime…WARM! I ate a few more spoonfuls wondering why I was in such a state of confusion over a dish that seemed so simple and familiar on paper. Then I figured it out. It wasn’t the soup that was off balance, it was my preconceived notion of what the soup was going to/should be. As I ate I started looking (well, tasting) more closely at the favor, the texture, the balance. It was all there, just not as my mind’s palate had imagined it. I usually eat my Avocado soup chilled, with a little cream both of which lend for a much different mouth feel. This was the beginning of my evening’s revelation that this was going to be a dining experience that MUST be faced without preconceived notions of anything. Ultimately, to prove my theory to myself, I asked Tamara to box up the rest so that I may enjoy it for breakfast. I wanted to know if my first-bite perception of the dish was different when served how I had “expected it” to be.  Well folks, theory proven. With nothing different than the soup coming straight from the fridge, from bite one, it was delicious. It was so much more like the last bite I took last night, after finally realizing that the dish itself was lovely, it was my own expectation standing in the way of understanding it’s chef’s vision of it.  That is not to say that every time you eat in a restaurant there are not dishes that are inherently flawed, ill-prepared or even ill-conceived, it just means that before making a snap judgment you should think  about WHY it doesn’t taste as you expected. If you were wondering why I have not yet mentioned the Baja burritos, well fear not, they are VERY worth mentioning. Crisp, light yet satisfying, and oh so flavorful, this is certainly something that I will be revisiting very soon. The spice level was perfect for me, and the slices of Kalamata olives throughout were delightful discoveries each time I came across one. Mark was kind enough to share one, despite the fact that he was devouring them with great enthusiasm.

Not just a meal, but an evening

I don’t look at eating as simply something that must be done to stay alive. It is an experience, and adventure, and often, THE event of the evening.  Unlike many places in town, at Pure, we felt that slowly enjoying our dining experience was not only acceptable, but encouraged. The fact that a good 30-40 minutes passed between receiving our starters and ordering our main was seen as a good thing by Stephanie. She agreed that far too many people rush through life (especially meals) hurried to get on to whatever comes next. We instead, chose to spent time chatting, discussing our day, the menu, food and wine in general (usual topics of conversation) and simply enjoying the evening. Eventually we settled on our entrees. Again relying both on my initial instinct AND the chef’s recommendation, I was torn between the Yum Yum Coconut Noodles, and the White Truffle Ravioli. Mark was torn between the noodles and the Sun Burger, a well dressed veggie burger. Ultimately, we ordered the former two selections. When the Ravioli arrived, it too was much different than I had expected. The menu’s description of a “ravioli wrap” was in fact 2 thin slices of raw watermelon radish underneath and atop the pignoli herb cheese layered with pear, arugula, walnut and mushroom with white truffle cream sauce.  Though as again one (meaning I) might expect it to be, it was not warm, but it was oh so delicious. The richness of the filling in contrast to the fresh, crisp yet delicate radish was delightful! With the truffle, a perfect match for a lovely red wine, or with its freshness, a simple glass of sparkling water. So very versatile! Across the table, the Yum Yum Coconut Noodles were incredible! Sweet yet salty, rich yet light, smooth but at the same time gloriously crunchy. An amazing blend of flavors and textures. As a chef, I was floored by these two dishes. Usually when I go out, I order food, receive food  taste food,  and then evaluate it on a like/dislike level;  as well as some basic “well, it was obviously made like this, and I think such and such worked or didn’t work” etc, etc… Not this time. I had NO IDEA how on earth this food had been prepared. What, if any mild heat was applied? How the heck had she made those amazing noodles? How did she make that “Cheese” (this of course was a vegan dish, so it wasn’t actually “cheese” at all!) in the ravioli? What else on the menu was going to prove to be a big surprise? Are they open for breakfast tomorrow???

A New Appreciation

Aside from the last question, (sadly, no) the others still remain largely unanswered, though my determination to find out remains the same. So do many other things. I am a chef, who loves food. Food cooked over heat. I am an omnivore. I love fruit, vegetables, grains, cheese and of course meat. I imagine that will always be so, but today, I have yet one more variety of food to love and appreciate. Food that has been inspired, created and then prepared by a passion for nature’s cuisine, much of it just as it comes, with just a bit of craftsmanship and as much dedication and love as that of any cuisine on Earth.

In addition to beautiful food, Stephanie and Cynthia also offer classes on nutrition and metabolic wellness. Currently they are open Thursday through Saturday for lunch and dinner. They plan to be open 7 days a week in the near future, and Brunch is scheduled to begin in early November.

Pure Raw Cafe located on 3711 S. Harvard Ave. Tulsa, Oklahoma

For more information or to order food to be shipped to your home, visit   http://www.purerawcafe.com/

Pictures from the Pure Cafe Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/PureCafe