Albums

1. Middle Cyclone – Neko Case
   A certain “5 Star” album for me. It’s so comfortingly perfect to my ear. Neko Case’s voice is itself enough to fall in love with. But here she’s crafted a wonderful album around that voice. Lyrically, it manages to be both personal and about nature. When she sings about a tornado or a wild animal, they aren’t simply metaphors. They are quite literally songs about forces of nature and wild creatures. That they also allude to more personal themes only illustrates Case’s remarkable craftsmanship.
2. The Hazards of Love – The Decemberists
   A wonderfully enjoyable proggy folk opera by Meloy and company. Shara Worden’s guest appearance is a real highlight both on the album and in live performances.
3. Oh My God, Charlie Darwin – The Low Anthem
   On the bicentennial of Charles Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his On the Origin of Species, this trio delivers a strong album that ponders the implications of “survival of the fittest.”
4. Elvis Perkins in Dearland – Elvis Perkins in Dearland
   A devastating yet hopeful album that evokes Neutral Milk Hotel, Buddy Holly, and New Orleans’ second lines.
5. Embryonic – The Flaming Lips
   I think this one is only going to get better with time. After hearing some of these songs at the upcoming NYE Freakout, this album may very well creep up higher on this list.
6. Noble Beast – Andrew Bird
   As if guitar, violin, voice, and whistling weren’t enough for a multi-instrumentalist, Bird manages to make language itself a musical instrument.
7. I and Love and You – The Avett Brothers
   This sneaks its way onto the list partly based on the strength of The Avett’s 2007 album Emotionalism which I discovered this year. If that album had been released this year, it very well might be at the top of this list.
8. It’s Blitz! – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
   Bravo, Karen O. Bravo.
9. Songs in the Night – Samantha Crain & the Midnight Shivers
   Hailing from Shawnee, OK, Samantha Crain delivers a very strong follow-up to the excellent 2007 The Confiscation EP.
10. Veckatimest – Grizzly Bear
    A beautiful album. I don’t love it. But I do expect it will grow on me over time.

Honorable Mention: Actor – St. Vincent, Horehound – The Dead Weather, Merriweather Post Pavilion – Animal Collective, Dark Was the Night – Various Artists

Songs

1. “The Rake Song” – The Decemberists
2. “Charlie Darwin” – The Low Anthem
3. “Doomsday” – Elvis Perkins in Dearland
4. “I and Love and You” – The Avett Brothers
5. (tie) “Oh My God”/”I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked” – Ida Maria
6. “Home” – Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes
7. “Watching the Planets” – The Flaming Lips
8. “Songs in the Night” – Samantha Crain
9. “My Girls” – Animal Collective
10. (tie) “Zero”/”I Can Be a Frog”/”All is Love” – Karen O / The Flaming Lips feat. Karen O / Karen O & the Kids

Last month, Sarah and I ventured over to 105degrees, the recently opened raw food cuisine restaurant. It’s not so much a restaurant as it is a concept, from the minds of Matthew Kenney and Dara Prentice. It is restaurant, it is raw food store, and most intriguing, it is raw food academy. Wait. Where are we? Oklahoma City? WTF!?

And yet as we arrived at lunchtime amidst the airport terminalesque buildings that make up the new development on Classen Curve, we realized that it was all true. We were not dreaming. (Once a Whole Foods breaks ground, my head may actually explode.)

We started with their “Spicy Vegetable Summer Rolls, Mango Tamarind Chutney, Toasted Salty Coconut.” Then I had the “OM Gardens Mushroom Pizza, Pignoli Cream, Marjoram, Sun Dried Tomatoes, Black Truffle Oil” and Sarah had the “Sprouted Sesame Wrap, Crispy Autumn Vegetables, Sunflower Sprouts, Mango, Avocado, Miso-Tahini.” Then we finished up with their House Made Mint Chocolate Chip “ice cream” with Amaretti. Everything was wonderful. Sarah was particularly smitten with the ice cream. And, I was ready to elope with the mushroom pizza. The local shrooms were tasty and the pine nut cream held the whole thing together wonderfully. I think we were both pleasantly surprised with how well raw, vegan food could taste.

I am not much of a strong supporter of the raw food ”lifestyle.” I am skeptical of the assertion that 105 degrees is the optimal temperature for food preparation in order to achieve the best flavor and nutrition. I think that food is much more forgiving. I personally would not be able to maintain such a diet for any length of time. It’s tough enough to be (mostly) vegan. But, I still commend Kenney and Prentice for bringing this concept to OKC. In the end, they succeed for me because the food tastes great.

Upon leaving, I hoped that the presence of a raw food restaurant that served remarkable food would inspire other local chefs to experiment with vegan dishes. Not something with the meat protein simply subtracted from the dish and not some throwaway dish meant to fulfill some sort of vegan quota. But a dish that lives up to the other entrees on the menu. A dish that the chef is proud of, people crave, and just happens not to contain meat, eggs, or dairy.

So that brings us to the present.

Upon checking her email on Tuesday, Sarah found out that she had won tickets for two to the Rawkstar Dinner Guest Chef event on December 9th. The event would feature a raw menu created by Ryan Parrott, the chef of Iguana Mexican Grill and Table One. Sarah and I are fans of #TacoTuesday and dream about a Table One visit, so we were very excited to be able to attend the event.

Last night, we rushed into 105degrees from the frigid OKC temperatures just before the event got underway. Soon after being seated, we ordered drinks off of the night’s menu–Sarah had the Pomegranate Margarita and I had the Citrus Margarita. The drinks were fresh and tasty, but we felt it better to stretch out a bottle of wine over the evening. We went with the Gemtree Tadpole Shiraz, a biodynamic wine from Australia, which was quite good on this cold December evening.

After a brief introduction from Dara Prentice (Chef Matthew Kenney was also present), Chef Parrott described the night’s menu. He talked about the initial difficulty in “not cooking” a full menu. Once he realized where he wanted the dinner to end up, it was just a matter of harnessing the expertise of Kenney (and team) to get him there.

The dinner started off with Chips and Salsa. The chips were a raw take on the tortilla chip paired with two salsas from Parrott’s Iguana Mexican Grill–the Coral Snake salsa and the regular table salsa. Raw food meet Iguana. Iguana meet raw food. The Chips and Salsa were a nice start to the evening and we very much appreciated the servers leaving them on the table throughout most of the meal.

For the amuse, we were served a Radish Salad with avocado puree and lime sorbet. This was a nice palate cleanser and perhaps my favorite single bite of the night.

Next up for an appetizer, we were treated to three Tacos with seasoned carrot, Napa cabbage, and “smoked” tomato in jicama shells. The seasoned carrots made it a capital “T” Taco, rather than simply a vegetable-substituted taco. This was Sarah’s favorite course of the night.

From there, a Roasted Corn Pudding, acted as an intermezzo palate cleanser. This course was the most challenging for us, not having experienced anything like a corn pudding or a culinary foam before. I’m not really sure what to think, but I would certainly like to give it a second try.

The entree for the night was an excellent Smoke Chile Rellenos with an Oaxacan mole sauce with toasted pepitas. Before this, I’d associated mole with chocolate. I’m glad that I can now associate it with pumpkin seeds. And cinnamony-savory-smokey goodness.

For dessert, we were served Pineapple Tres Leches with a ginger crisp and caramelized pineapple. Despite unfortunate dribbles of red sauce on one end of the plate that looked out of place on a vegan menu, the dish was quite excellent. I believe this dessert was the brainchild of the 105degrees Pastry Chef Kelly Dennis. I’ve just tried this tres leches and some mint chocolate ice cream, but based on those two dishes (not to mention her other beautifully photographed creations that pop up on the 105degrees Facebook page) I eagerly look forward to diving into more.

Parrott’s Tacos and Smoked Chile Rellenos along with the Pineapple Tres Leches would fit perfectly on the 105degrees three-course menu. Ms. Prentice, in her introduction, mentioned that the guest chef events would become a regular occurrence. If that’s the case, I can’t wait to see who’s going to be next. Parrott just led off with a homerun. I look forward to the next at-bat. In the meantime, Sarah and I will be putting away money in a piggybank in order to save up for an eventual Table One visit.