The southern plains horizons of Oklahoma City seem to stretch to infinity in every direction. So do the streets, which line up in orderly grids. When a storm gathers, tumbling balls of black clouds pile up to the top of the sky and you cross your fingers that they don’t drop a funnel to the ground. When the sun shines, the whole landscape gets so hot that it looks like it’s about to sizzle. The heroic scale of the land and sky in this quintessential American frontier city of 610,000 allows it to sprawl 30 miles across in places. With all that elbow room, its distinct neighborhoods have matured like siblings in a big family—undeniably related but each with its own quirks.

You get a peek of the Downtown office towers in the photo above of an “Art After Five” concert and cafe on top of the striking Oklahoma City Museum of Art (www.okcmoa.com), itself the anchor for a downtown arts district. Just west of Downtown’s towers stands the up-and-coming Film Row neighborhood—see the next post for more on that. The area, where Hollywood studios came to meet Midwest exhibitors, sits cheek by jowl with some of the city’s early factories. Many of the low-rise buildings still service the oil and gas trade, but the new anchor for the west end of Film Row is the 21c Museum Hotel (www.21cmuseumhotels.com/oklahomacity).

Vision from the assembly line

It is the latest property in a small group of contemporary art museums with beautifully designed hotel rooms upstairs. The OKC hotel occupies a handsome building designed by Albert Kahn for Henry Ford. It opened in 1916 with a new-fangled assembly line to build Model T’s. Later, one of the first workers, Fred Jones bought the structure to make Ford parts and became one of the largest Ford dealers in the U.S. His heirs partnered with 21c to build the hotel. The restaurant, named Mary Eddy’s after Jones’s wife, is as homey as the name sounds and as contemporary as the art around it. In a nod to the automotive history of the building, the designer installed banquette seating (at right) intended to evoke the two-tone bench seats of the heyday of Big American Cars.

Chef Jason Campbell came from the Cincinnati hotel of the group, but his central Florida roots and training with a Moroccan chef in Orlando shine through. This being cattle country, he prepares an excellent strip steak with mild green chile peppers and a pine nut romesco sauce. (His burger is also very good.) Like many young chefs, he is enamored of charcuterie. His appetizer plate of house-made sausage, pickles, and mustard with a few cheeses and toast spread with drippings from the rotisserie is very popular. Called “Toolbox,” it’s also offered at the bar.

Truth is, Campbell really likes vegetables and does everything he can to make sure his diners do too. His grilled corn with miso and charred lime is a brilliant take on Mexican street corn. He splits the cobs and serves them in short, manageable pieces. Since we like to see how dishes come together, we ate at the dining room bar overlooking the open kitchen. We were quite smitten with a seemingly simple dish of glazed carrots. We had thought that they were roasted, but the glaze and slight char but came from reducing the cooking liquid until it evaporated. Campbell was good enough to share the recipe, which makes a side dish for a whole crew.

MARY EDDY’S HEIRLOOM CARROTS

For the carrots
1 bunch of assorted colored carrots washed and tops saved
4 tablespoons butter
2 garlic cloves
2 sprigs thyme
2 cups orange juice
peel from 1 orange (a vegetable peeler does this task well)
Salt to taste (about 1 teaspoon)

Add carrots to a large sauté pan along with all other ingredients and bring to a simmer and continue to cook until the carrots are tender. Check after 10 minutes. If the liquid reduces before carrots are done, just add water to cover and reduce again. The idea is to glaze the carrots with the sugar in the orange juice. Salt to taste after carrots are done.

For the harissa yogurt
1 tablespoon toasted cumin
16 oz Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons harissa paste
zest of 1 orange
zest of 1 lemon
Lightly crush cumin seeds and combine all ingredients, stir, and check for seasoning,
If you like especially spicy food, add additional harissa paste to taste.

To finish and serve
1 cup cooked quinoa, prepared to package directions
2 tablespoons of chopped carrot top greens
zest of 1 orange
Extra Virgin olive oil

Add cooked quinoa to glazed carrots and toss with chopped carrot greens.

Smear yogurt on large platter. Pile carrot mixture artfully on yogurt. Sprinkle with orange zest and sea salt. Drizzle lightly with EVOO.