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» » Yes, Whey: Curds & Whey brings sophisticated comfort food to Mother Road Market - Tulsa World

Yes, Whey: Curds & Whey brings sophisticated comfort food to Mother Road Market - Tulsa World

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Curds & Whey is the newest addition to the Mother Road Market, and the first shop to feature someone who came to Tulsa as part of the Tulsa Remote program.

Little Miss Muffet’s go-to snack to enjoy while tuffet-sitting is, we feel it necessary to point out, not on the menu at Curds & Whey Gourmet.

But it’s not some fanciful childhood memory that prompted Faith Walker to name her newly opened space in the Mother Road Market after a children’s rhyme.

Curds and whey is something produced in the process of making cheese. In simplest terms, when an acid such as vinegar is added to milk, the proteins begin to form solids that are known as curds; when these curds are compressed to remove any moisture, the liquid left behind is whey.

“Cheese has always been one of my favorite comfort foods,” Walker said. “I’ve made cheese in the past, and when I was trying to think of something that would convey the sophisticated comfort food I was wanting to make, this was what came to mind.”

Curds & Whey is a concept Walker developed through Kitchen 66, a program of the Lobeck Taylor Family Foundation that helps guide food entrepreneurs through the process of turning their culinary ideas into reality (the foundation is also behind the Mother Road Market). Part of that process involves being featured in the market’s Kitchen 66 Takeover Cafe, and Walker’s offerings were among the most popular of all concepts that occupied that space during 2020.

Cheese has a part in six of the nine dishes that make up the menu, but Walker does not let her professed love of fermented curd get in the way of the other flavors at work.

The crumbles of bleu cheese that dot the Very Berry Salad ($12.50), for example, lend touch of salty funkiness to the sweetness of the fresh strawberries, blueberries and raspberries, the slight bitterness of the mixed greens, and the warm spices of the caramelized pecans (the strawberry balsamic vinaigrette served with this salad is best used judiciously; it’s quite tasty, but it can overwhelm).

What has become something of a signature dish, the Shrimp Scampi Fries ($13) includes a sprinkle of Parmesan and a cheddar-based cheese sauce to accent the sauteed shrimp and crisp potatoes. The Cali Girl ($13), another fries-based dish, is even more impressive, with chunks of fresh avocado and candied bacon and a zesty take on ranch; the mix of mozzarella and Monterey Jack cheeses underneath all that comes as almost a surprise as one works through the dish.

One cheeseless offering we particularly enjoyed was the Cajun Shrimp Po’ Boy Wrap ($13). Good-sized shrimp in a cornmeal coating that has a bit of spice to it are fried and set atop arugula, pickled onion, Roma tomatoes and dill pickle slices and dressed in a remoulade sauce, all rolled into a flour tortilla. It was an agreeably messy meal, the sweetness of the onions balancing the spice in the breading and the sauce.

Those who pursue a vegan lifestyle can have the Mushroom Madness Wrap ($13), although I may be returning to try out Walker’s take on the Canadian classic comfort food, poutine, here called Herb-Roasted Mushroom Overload Fries ($12.50), which is fries topped with roasted mushrooms, caramelized onions, cheese curds and a garlic herb gravy.

Walker is a Los Angeles native and spent some 15 years working for Panera Bread there. She and her husband, Obum Ukabam, came to Tulsa in 2019 as part of the first group of people to take advantage of Tulsa Remote, the program created by the George Kaiser Family Foundation to attract young professionals to live and work in Tulsa.

Ukabum landed a job as director of strategic partnership and community relations for Holberton School in Tulsa; he also has worked in local theater as a writer, director and performer.

Walker started out as a line cook at the Vista at the Boathouse at the Gathering Place, working for chef Tiffany Tisdale-Braxton, then moved to a similar job at the Summit Club before deciding to apply for the Kitchen 66 program.

“Chef Tiffany has been a great inspiration for me,” Walker said. “And my time at the Summit Club helped me learn how to perfect a dish, to pay attention to the smallest details. Both these experiences were very helpful once I started in Kitchen 66.

“The food I’m doing at Curds & Whey is like food that I would make for friends,” she said. “And just because it’s ‘comfort food’ doesn’t mean that it’s simple. We make all our sauces in-house, and use the freshest meats and produce we can get.

“Tulsa has really been an amazing place for us,” Walker added. “I don’t know if I would have taken this step, of starting my own restaurant, without the help and support we’ve found here in Tulsa.”

james.watts@tulsaworld.com

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June 23, 2021 at 12:00PM
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Yes, Whey: Curds & Whey brings sophisticated comfort food to Mother Road Market - Tulsa World

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