McHuston Booksellers

Rare, Collectible, & Otherwise

Tag: bistro (Page 38 of 105)

The Rising Rose

December 7, 2014 /

Somebody’s going to love living here. Plenty of folks enjoy mowing the lawn and raking the leaves and racing the car for miles down Elm to get to a restaurant. Others will think they have it as good as it gets living in a loft apartment in the Rose District.

And – they are beginning to look like apartments.

1a1Rose222a

For the longest time, I had a hard time imagining the Rose District appearance changing much, even after the Ross Group’s announcement of the District@222 project, which will feature Andolini’s as the anchor tenant. When I was heading back to open the shop after Saturday morning’s parade ended, it was almost a shock to see the construction progress.

By gosh, it is almost a skyscraper.

Except for the grain elevator near the railroad tracks, the District@222 (couldn’t they have picked a shorter name, though?) building will be the tallest structure in the downtown area.

I’m guessing.

1a1Rose222b

Could be the new bank building’s spire will be taller, I can’t say for sure. At any rate, the appearance of Broken Arrow’s downtown will be decidedly taller in a very short time.

Those who find themselves as loft-living Rose District residents will be able to come home from work and kick back in the living room or walk a couple of doors down to some of the finest dining around. One of the perks of working in the area is stepping outside and sniffing the great-smelling aromas. Depending on where you are standing at the moment, you might catch a scent of Mexican cuisine from Fiesta Mambo or grilled steaks from BruHouse Grill.

And who wouldn’t love to step out of the living room into the middle of delicious-ness?

I was asked Saturday, “Where is a good place to eat in the Rose District?” That is a tough question to answer, since they are all good places to eat. It depends on your mood and preference, although you can find something for every taste at any spot. I finally just listed everyone on the block and explained their offerings.

People are still surprised. “There’s an In the Raw in Broken Arrow?,” she asked, with a surprised look. Middle of the next block, I told her.

For now, there a few more options at lunch time, since Back Creek Deli and our own McHuston’s Irish Bistro service are currently limited to mid-day. For our part, we have our plans and are working toward that end.

As for the plans regarding the opening of Andolini’s and the loft apartments, I can’t say – but it looks to me like some serious progress is being made.

If you haven’t visited the Rose lately (or even if you have!)…

Come visit!

McHuston

Booksellers & Irish Bistro
Rose District
122 South Main St. Broken Arrow OK!

Opened up the morning news, and…

December 3, 2014 /

Boom! There was a frightening thing looking back at me…

I know Thanksgiving is past, but my appreciation is heartfelt for the article in this morning’s Tulsa World Weekend supplement. Mr. Scott Cherry has kindly included a mention of the bistro in his restaurant column today.

The photograph surprised me.

1a1BistroPicTulsaWorld

When Mr. Cherry visited for a review two years ago, photographer James Gibbard took a number of shots, including one while standing atop a barstool. I remember wondering whether he was trying to keep the overhead lights from reflecting off my bald head. A couple of pictures accompanied the article back then, but I never saw the one included in this morning’s paper.

It’s more apparent to me now, that perhaps Mr. Gibbard was angling his lens for a canyon-of-books effect, which is what caught my eye right away. (Being a bookseller, it’s what you’d expect.) Seeing the image this morning reminded me of the day the restaurant critic and his photographer dropped by, two St. Patrick’s Days ago.

We’ve come a ways since then.

The point of the article, which may be too small to read in the image I’ve posted (you can click on it and try, if you like!), is that my son Dustin and his wife Rachel are now providing the service that I used to race around trying to manage. It was a challenge to do it all myself, and I enjoy a good test, but one person with two hands can only do so much. I want each guest to have a great experience, and found myself increasingly sending larger groups to the neighboring restaurants, knowing I would have had trouble delivering their meals in a timely fashion.

That’s in the past.

So, a big Thanks! to Mr. Cherry for the article, and for digging into the archives for a photograph to accompany the text. I was more than a little surprised by it, but enjoyed the chance to recall his visit that day – and the way I was racing around in the kitchen preparing a meal for the newspaper’s food critic.

I can smile about it now!

A great day for lunch in the Irish Bistro, so…

Come visit!

McHuston

Booksellers & Irish Bistro
Rose District
122 South Main St. Broken Arrow OK!

Baby, I’m not foolin’

November 30, 2014 /

Fortunately, I haven’t lost my touch for electrical repairs. That’s because I never had the ‘touch’ to lose. But – nothing ventured, and all that – I decided to give it a go. The project?

My Fender guitar rebuild.

1aaFender3

Some of you will recall my earlier antics, trying to put a music-store-reject guitar back in playing condition. It met with some degree of success. I really enjoy playing it. But it looks a bit of a Frankenstein on closer examination.

It is an acoustic – a Fender Sonoran model that I picked up on the cheap in an eBay auction. It arrived with the guitar body and the neck, complete with the headstock and the tuning keys. I had to find and install all the other parts, including the electronics.

1aaFender2

Got it assembled and love playing it.

Occasionally, I’ll plug in the cord and run the sound through the store’s music PA system, harkening back to my days playing with Led Zeppelin. (What? You don’t remember that? I was in high school, they were on the record player and I was in the bedroom playing along. Badly.)

I plugged the cord in the other afternoon and there was a crink and a snap, followed by nothing. The jack would not go in completely.

It was, as they say…Broken.

In for a penny, in for a pound, so I ordered a five dollar replacement, Genuine Fender Parts. Put the soldering iron on standby and at the ready. Opened the package on arrival, and low and behold – wrong part. As you can see in the image, it is considerably shorter than the broken one I removed. Too short to reach through the body of the guitar, in fact.

As I had already passed my patience-threshold, I decided to connect it up anyway. Figure I can get the right piece later.

There was no mistaking where the first of the three wires connected, so I soldered it into place. There were only two ways for the remaining wires, the right way and the wrong way.

Naturally, after unhooking the first try, I made the connection the only other way and plugged it into the amp. Bingo. Da-da, da-da, dum, da-dum, da-dum, Whole Lotta Love…

So. It has to be considered a partial victory, anyway. It has a lovely tone, which would sound even better in my brother-in-law Dennis’s hands. But there’s that wire hanging out with a soldered-on connector. Not so princely.

1aaFender1

Since the guitar and I won’t likely be making any stage appearances soon, the dangling cord connector really doesn’t matter much. And when Led and the boys call, I can get the little Fender all gussied-up to go.

We had a busy Small Business Saturday! Thanks to all who came out and supported us ‘little guys!’ We’ll be cooking again on Monday, so…

Come visit!

McHuston

Booksellers & Irish Bistro
Rose District
122 South Main St. Broken Arrow OK!

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2025 McHuston Booksellers

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑