Table Talk: Pi Pizzeria & Craft beer to open for dinner this weekend
BY SCOTT CHERRY World Scene Writer
Saturday, February 23, 2013
2/23/13 at 7:13 AM
Go to Scott Cherry's BlogOriginal Print Headline: Pi Pizzeria & Craft Beer to open this weekend
Pi Pizzeria & Craft Beer will open at 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. It is scheduled to add lunch some time next week.
The new restaurant is located at 5800 S. Lewis Ave. in London Square shopping center.
Co-owner Clint Engles is brewing all of the beer for the restaurant.
"I will try to always have six beers available," he said. "This weekend I will have dunkel, rye, stout, IPA, American pale ale and sahti. Sahti is a Finnish-style beer I made with juniper leaves."
Co-owner Marcos Matheos is in charge of the pizza. Matheos has been involved in previous pizza ventures (Pie Hole and Enzo's), and his mother is the longtime owner of Tucci's on Cherry Street.
Only the south dining area, which has a 16-foot communal table, a fireplace and the bar area, will be open for now. The north dining room is not completed.
Also, the large exterior sign was inside the restaurant Thursday.
"We haven't been able to get it installed because of the weather," Engles said.
Engles said he wasn't certain if it would be installed by this weekend.
The restaurant has an eclectic ambience, with most of the furniture and decorations hand-made by Matheos and Engles from repurposed materials. Children are welcome.
When Pi Pizzeria & Craft Beer is fully operational, it will be open 11 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. all week. The phone number is 918-582-6974.
Laffa Medi-Eastern Restaurant to open in stages
I caught Miranda Kaiser the way I most often do, emerging from a hot kitchen wiping her hands on a well-worn apron.
She was training the kitchen staff of the new Laffa Medi-Eastern Restaurant & Bar, set to open in stages over the next few weeks at 111 N. Main St.
"We will start with the falafel stand," said Kaiser, who also operates another restaurant, Cosmo, with husband Phil.
The falafel stand is a window that opens to the sidewalk, where customers may purchase falafel - deep-fried balls of chickpeas and spices with "lots of other stuff" - and shawarma, spicy chicken with a wide combination of stuffers such as hummus, curried tehina and mango chili sauce.
The falafel stand eventually will be open to 3 a.m. Thursday-Saturday.
"When the falafel stand is perfect, then we will start letting people in and serve a limited menu, probably mezze (appetizers), snacks and desserts. When that is right, we will add entrees," Miranda Kaiser said.
The interior of the restaurant is nearly ready. Kaiser said the restaurant's liquor license has not arrived, and she still has a good amount of training to do.
"I still have to get some other people trained on the laffa oven," Kaiser said, pointing to a shiny piece of equipment that looks like an old, hand-cranked cement mixer only a lot prettier.
"It's like a lot of things in the restaurant business. It seems easy when you have done it a couple of hundred times, but it can be a little tricky at first."
Laffa is a bread, something like naan, served throughout the Middle East.
"We won't cook anything else but breads in the oven because of vegan and vegetarian concerns," Kaiser said.
Kaiser said no definite timetable has been set to launch each stage, but she said she hoped to be fully operational by the next Brady Arts District's First Friday Crawl on March 1.
"I want everything absolutely right before we put it out there for the public," she said.
Miranda lived in Israel for 14 years and Phil for 17 years.
"This is our favorite food, and we think this is the right time and the right place to open this kind of restaurant," Kaiser said. "I'm not sure it would have worked even five or six years ago."
Laffa is located on the north end of the same building that houses the new Fairfield Inn & Suites.
Edward Delk's restaurant to close March 3
Edward Delk's, 427 S. Boston Ave., a sophisticated downtown restaurant and bar, will close March 3.
"A lot of people aren't happy about it, but sometimes those decisions have to be made," said Beth Hawkins, wife of co-owner Hunt Hawkins.
Hawkins and Eric Richards opened the restaurant about a year and a half ago.
"It wasn't financial," Beth Hawkins said. "They are still trying to figure out what their future plans are, though my husband's primary job is in the oil business."
Edward Delk's serves lunch and dinner Monday-Saturday, and Hawkins said it will maintain its regular schedule until closing.
"We will stay open until 2 a.m. on the last day, March 2," Hawkins said.
Delk's most recent menu was developed by chef Justin Thompson, who owns Juniper and Prhyme Downtown Steakhouse. It includes such favorites as sweet potato tater tots, Greek salad, fish and chips, chorizo meatloaf, bleu wedge salad, and chili-rubbed shrimp and cheddar grits.
Associated Images:
Clint Engles will brew all of the beer for the new Pi Pizzeria & Craft Beer at 5800 S. Lewis Ave. The restaurant will open at 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. STEPHEN PINGRY/Tulsa World
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