![]() The appetizer menu would make a fantastic meal for large groups, featuring fried green tomatoes with remoulade, hummus, a trio of pulled pork sliders, Thai barbecue fried duck wings, goat cheese fondue, roasted shishito peppers and grilled mussels. Hardiman offers a balanced menu chock-full of bold flavors. And because the food is made from scratch, it will bear a unique personality from its older sister restaurant to the south. Hardiman has the lattitude to make switches based on what’s available and what the locals demand. ![]() The two Whiskey Cake menus are fraternal twins rather than identical. ![]() This partnership with local producers is a clear boon on a couple of levels, according to chef de cuisine Kenny Hardiman: “We source as much of our food locally and fresh as we can, so we’re feeding our guests and the community.” The Old MacDonald-cum-Nine Inch Nails aesthetic includes a wide-open kitchen where wood is burned as often as natural gas, bread is made from scratch, and a bar where cocktails are crafted without the help of premade mixers or elixirs. Whiskey Cake even hosted its own farmers markets, inviting local producers and vendors to peddle their goods on a recent Sunday afternoon. used in the kitchen are available for purchase at a mini general store near the entrance. The dishes aren’t ambitious, but that fits the laid-back, detail-focused feel of a restaurant that serves food and drink on and in vessels sourced from the local secondhand stores and antique malls. The menu is an homage to comfort foods from around the world, interpreted through a local lens. Whiskey Cake is as franchise-friendly as a concept of its ilk can be, but it’s missing any clear concessions you might expect from an out-of-state restaurant group. “We’re a farm-to-fork, garden-to-glass restaurant, but that’s not where supporting local stops,” Fleming said. Chang’s, which led him to work around the country. Fleming took a brief break from the restaurant business to try out tech jobs before going back to work for P.F. The local flavor starts with general manager Tanner Fleming, who was born and raised in Oklahoma City, earning his restaurant stripes at the Chili’s on South Meridian during his formative years. Just as Huey Lewis once assured us it was hip to square, Whiskey Cake appears intent on making it abundantly clear that it’s cool to embrace sustainable practices. ![]() Cardboard boxes bearing kitchen products aren’t recycled by the city of Oklahoma City they are clipped into squares for use as coasters. Egg cartons aren’t tossed out they’re saved to serve as sound buffer for the echo-friendly ceiling. Exposed brick, yellow-filament Thomas Edison bulbs and ever-present stacks of firewood imbue a warehouse-meets-barnhouse sensibility. Whiskey Cake is home away from home - or at least the home you dream of if you still like to page through a Restoration Hardware catalog. ![]() That said, it’s clear by the look of it that this concept was built to be a franchise - if not the most unique franchise of its kind. The original location in Plano and the one occupying the space where the Elephant Bar once lived are the only two of their kind. This farm-to-fork concept from the Lone Star State could teach a good portion of Oklahoma’s restaurants about good stewardship of local foods and products.Ĭalling Whiskey Cake a chain is like calling a pair of bricks on the side of the house the path to the Emerald City. The proof is in Whiskey Cake, 1845 Northwest Expressway, which arrived in Oklahoma City from Plano, Texas, from the Fork It Over restaurant group. Locavores, corporate America has heard your cry: Local is good. ![]()
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