I hear the only hold up on the bakery opening is when will the ovens show up. The last I heard only one of the three ovens are in the country.

Could be, I talked to him a few months ago and one of them was in Miami waiting to be picked up. I know he had them shipped over from France I believe. The interior looks pretty much done. Can't wait to see them open.

Awesome, I love this area and can't wait to see it filled up.

I noticed that there was a new bike rack in front of Irma's today. It was really nice looking. There was also one behind 1492.

A Special Invitation To The OKCTalk Crowd . . . .

It's still a few days off, but this year's Midtown Redevelopment Corp. (MRC) Holiday Gathering, scheduled for Tuesday December 11th from 5:30PM to 8:30PM has a really nice twist to it this year.

The event starts off in the Plaza Court lobby where a few Midtown project boards will be on display, beverages will be available and people can meet up and chat with local developers and MRC board members. Then, it's off on a self-guided walk-a-bout to some of the area's restaurants to sample tapas size offerings from their menus and special treats prepared especially for this event.

Participating venues include:

Irma's Burger Shack - Linda Lee promises some mouth watering suprises.
Prairie Thunder Bakery - Not officially open yet, but a selection of breads and pastries will be laid out by John McBryde for this event, and he'll also show you around his kitchen outfitted with those (soon to be famous) French ovens.
1492 World Cuisine - Already very popular, this is a chance to taste several of their signature selections.
Cafe do Brazil - Anna will lay out a spread of her great Brazilian appitizers.
The Grateful Bean Cafe - I believe that Peter Schaffer will be serving up dips of that fabulous Kaiser's inspired ice cream.

The event is open to all Midtown Redevelopment Corporation members and our invited guests . . . so plan to attend as my guest. It should be a lot of fun and a good way to get better aquainted with these restaurants and their gracious owners.

__________________
The Old Downtown Guy

It will take decades for Oklahoma City's
downtown core to regain its lost gritty,
dynamic urban character, but it's exciting
to observe and participate in the transformation.

Wow, THANKS ODTG! I'll be there!

__________________
Doug
http://www.dougloudenback.com/downtownOKC.htm
http://www.dougloudenback.com/oklahomacity.htm
http://dougdawg.blogspot.com/

Is there a charge for admission? Or is this event free? Sounds REALLY exciting.

There is no cover for the event. We'll have a tip jar at the Plaza Court lobby bar to raise some cash from the frequent visitors. I'm expecting big bucks from Doug.

Also, when I spoke with John McBryde this afternoon, he said that it might only be hot chocolate and marshmellows as he is still waiting on another oven, but, I'm sure he'll do something interesting and getting a guided tour of his kitchen will be worth the trip. I still think he'll come up with some goodies . . . he's a resourceful guy.

Also, I left out Subway at Plaza Court from the list of participating restaurants. They'll have a small portion assortment of their sandwichs out to sample along with some drinks.

__________________
The Old Downtown Guy

It will take decades for Oklahoma City's
downtown core to regain its lost gritty,
dynamic urban character, but it's exciting
to observe and participate in the transformation.

Thanks ODG, I'll definitely be there if my schedule allows!

I'll be there. Heard McNellie's is BYOB though.

This is great. I hope more OKC people will attend.

Support Your City!!!! after all,

ITS FREE!!!!!!!

__________________
Oklahoma City, RENAISSANCE CITY!

It's bring your own everything....they get open by St. Patty's day 2008.

__________________
The Old Downtown Guy

It will take decades for Oklahoma City's
downtown core to regain its lost gritty,
dynamic urban character, but it's exciting
to observe and participate in the transformation.

Just FYI, I drove by the new bridal shop along Walker, one building over from 1492 restaurant. They had many bridal gowns set up in the windows and they had the sign up. I didn't go in to see if they were open but if they are not open now then they will be very soon.

Yeah, I noticed that to mecarr about a week or so ago. It looked like they were open to me, if they aren't, like you said, soon.

GRAND OPENING

MEG GUESS COUTURE BRIDAL & BOUTIQUE

Date: Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Time: 10am to 4pm
Location: 1227 N. Walker Ave.
Mid-Town Oklahoma City

Meg Guess has been in business for three years with 16 years of experience in designing gowns.

Meg’s new design studio and showroom is 2,000 square feet in the heart of the chic urban area of Mid-Town.

Meg Guess Couture offers her exclusive collection of silk veils, and specializes in custom designed jewelry.

In addition to her own custom gown collection, “La Femme”, she carries Kenneth Pool and Elizabeth Fillmore, both out of New York, and Peter Langer from Italy.

Filippa Scott and Fifi are two lines of silk shoes from Australia that will be available as well.

Boutique hours:
Monday – Friday 10am to 4pm
Evenings & weekends are reserved for private appointments
405.604.2727
Meg Guess Couture Bridal

Sounds like she already has a business built up, just moving or expanding. Should be interesting to see how downtown deals with two bridal shops. There is one already in the Montgomery building that is also a couture bridal shop.

Also, I noticed yesterday FINALLY they are starting to put up the ornamental street light posts up on Walker from about 4th or so to 10th.

Any idea why there does not seem to be any work being done on the new Sushi restaurant right by 1492 restaurant on walker? For a while it seemed like significant progress was being made, then it just stopped.

I saw them out there working yesterday.

The bridal shop in the Montgomery has a very limited selection and is not a full-service retail shop, as much as it is an event planning service provider. It's called Dolly Levi's. They focus more on wedding and event planning, including catering, and happen to have a few dresses available. They don' have nearly the inventory that this other shop will have.

Trust me, a bride shopping for her wedding gown is tantamount to a search for the holy grail. She will search high and low until she has found "the dress," and won't stop until she has achieved her goal. A new shop - especially high end - is very good for the OKC market. In past years, we've had JJ Kelley and Ruth Myers (really a high-end fahsion house that dabbled in bridal). You have 1 or 2 mid-range bridal shops and go straight to discount from there. I've know many brides who travel to Tulsa, Dallas and KC (even NYC) in search of "the dress" because we've had a limited selection here. Another high end boutique should do well.

From what I've heard, the Sushi restaurant should be opening by February or March 2008. However, the wine bar that was planned for opening on the other side of 1492 is CANCELLED. One of the managers of 1492 told me that Banta and the person who was going to own the wine bar have abandoned the project, or something like that, I'm paraphrasing what I heard.

That's too bad about the wine bar being cancelled. Hopefully they put in something good in that spot. I think a Smoothie King would be great. There are no Smoothie shops in OKC. Granted there are places that serve them, but if you've ever been to a Smoothie King or Jama Juice then you know what I mean.

mecarr, we have quite a few Jamba Juices in the metro, there are several other smoothie shops around too.

Smoothie King or Jamba Juice would be a great addition for all of us and it seems like a good fit with the YMCA moving in....I still don't think the area has the head counts that these companies look for. Hopefully this will change very soon.

The wine bar is not dead just has been put on temporary hold. I have been told that Banta has two great tenants and they are trying to put one next to 1492 and one next to McNellies and they are trying to figure out which location works best for both. It seems like they don't mind waiting on deals. They just want what they want for the area. I also heard that they were trying to put a Jamba Juice in Plaza Court so that it would be near the YMCA. I think they were looking at building a space out underneath the parking garage so that they could have a drive thru. I guess only time will tell.

Ah it seems that we do. Unfortunately the nearest one to me is 7000 NW expressway. I live in downtown, so that location is 8.5 miles away. I like the idea of a smoothie place by the YMCA. I think it would do great.