Living Wright: Croque Monsieur good company on rainy day in downtown Broken Arrow

BY JASON ASHLEY WRIGHT World Scene Writer
Thursday, January 31, 2013
1/31/13 at 6:57 AM

Rose District Merchants: Check out a full list of stores in downtown Broken Arrow. Original Print Headline: Rainy BA day

I can't recall ever hearing of one before New Year's Day, but I've seen Croque Monsieur on three menus since.

And my first Croque Monsieur ever was at the Main Street Tavern at 200 S. Main St. in downtown Broken Arrow - the newly monikered Rose District.

It was a fun day of all new experiences, which is what I'm aiming to have most weekends throughout the year - doing something I've either never done before or haven't done in 10 or more years.

Unfortunately, it was a particularly nasty, cold, rainy afternoon that dictated my wearing a trench coat, which makes me look like a dumpy flasher. As opposed to the more popular svelte flasher, perhaps.

Anyway, we began the adventure at Main Street Tavern, where none of us had been before - "us" being me, Banshee, Mr. Clean, their two boys and the boys' buddy Eddie Haskell (long story).

We ordered a few appetizers, my favorite being the mozzarella sticks ($8), which were the size of small corn dogs - and very yummy.

For my entree, I had the Croque Monsieur ($10), a hot ham and baby Swiss sandwich served open-faced on toasted brioche, then drenched in bechamel - and topped, God should forbid, with a fried egg ($1 extra). It. Was. Heaven.

It was also fun to watch the kids staring out the big windows, hoping the rain would turn to snow. I can't wait to go back on a prettier spring day.

After an hour of grazing and gazing, it was time to get our consumer on, with the first stop being Seasons Home Fragrance & Decor - which, sadly, was going out of business. But we scored some great candles, a couple of which might actually make it home to Mama this spring.

Then it was over to On the Corner gift shop, 224 S. Main St., which features a variety of vendors with little boutique areas - including darling photographer Jill Solomon. Among our purchases were a striped, lightweight scarf with a blue thunder bolt by Livy Lu ($28) and a very comfortable, lightweight dark gray hoodie with "Okie" emblazoned across the front ($32, I think).

They had everything from gourmet snacks, girls' bows and women's tees to home decor, decorative knickknacks and wine-themed candles.

We ended the day at Bella Vita, 223 S. Main St., where I fell for the peacock shea butter hand soap by Michel Design Works ($10.50) and - now on my wish list - two Tulsa skyline canvas paintings by Laura Austin ($150 each).

More shops abound, and we plan on experiencing them soon on a non-rainy, non-flasher-dressed weekend - "we" being me and Mr. Croque, I hope.

Associated Images:

Downtown Broken Arrow offers a variety of shops and restaurants to help fill a weekend excursion. CORY YOUNG / Tulsa World file