Just Another Day on the Red Carpet...

While Mango Tango, A's orange colored Jeep, was in desperate need of a good wash and wax that certainly wasn't the main goal of our rendezvous today. It just happened to be a nice side effect of having plenty of things to do and two cars from which to choose. So we (A and K) dropped Mango Tango off at Red Carpet and went about our scheduled day. I guess I should say that before we arrived at Red Carpet we stopped by RePUBlic Gastropub in the shops at Classen Curve for a quick nosh. Not once has that place ever let me down. So delish and consistently so.

I should have been more creative in my ordering but I'd been dreaming about the Ahi tuna tartare appetizer since like Monday and hadn't thought much past that so when it came time to order I just copied A. We both ordered the Knife and Fork BLT...be ware the knife. This is no ordinary knife. This knife is the real deal. And heavy. Anyway, A didn't get a side item but I did and let her try some. I got the mac and cheese w/ bratwurst hold the bratwurst. It's not that I don't like bratwurst, because I very much do, it's just that I like my mac and cheese to be pure. Unadulterated. You know, like how Kraft makes it?! It's probs totes delish with the brats but for now I'll stick to just the noodles and cheese and butter thank you.

The tuna appetizer is, IMO (in my opinion), the best I've found amongst several contenders. I find that the avocado and tuna pair well together when left in bigger chunks. Plus, you don't lose the texture aspect by mushing them together. And the sauce?! OMG to die for! It's salty and spicy with a little sweet and fried jalapenos on top. I don't think I have to go on. Yum. Just yum.

The BLT comes with a bit of a twist. I've found that RePUBlic likes to put their own twist on classics and, thus far, they've worked well every time. This particular BLT comes with a fried green tomato, avocado relish (yes, please!), thick-cut bacon, melted cheese and arugula/spinach atop a slice of Texas toasty type bread. The mac and cheese came in a super cute, mini dutch oven of sorts. And get this, we actually remembered to take a picture of the food BEFORE we ate it...well, A reminded me to take one of mine because I was still munching on the tuna tartare and she'd already started to eat hers. So really it's just a picture of the BLT pre-consumption and the tartare about halfway through consumption. Same thing. Whoopsa days!

I mean, look at those beauties! Makes you wish you could have them right now, huh?! Yeah I'm actually still full from lunch so I decided to blog about our day until I could think of what I wanted to eat for dinner. Decisions decisions. At any rate, RePUBlic is reasonably priced, I think. Could it be a little less expensive? Sure. But for the quality of food I've always gotten, and the service and atmosphere, I think it's well worth the price. Plus, they have tons of beers on tap and bottled from which to choose and you can order them in flights to try pairings of beers that the owners think go well together or that take you on a journey through a certain part of the world. Pretty cool! We didn't partake in any drinks today on account of the pitcher fiasco last time but I have in the past and recommend a Lambic! Yes, I know they're super-sweet girly beers but they're so delish and fruity!

Now we're at the point where we dropped off Mango Tango to get so fresh and so clean clean. While she tangoed with the Red Carpet peeps we were off to continue our regularly scheduled programming at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art in Downtown OKC. Just by writing that I instantly feel very classy. Anyway, we went to see a couple of the exhibits, specifically the glass ones. The visiting Fusion exhibit is a little odd but A found solace in a glass reproduction of E. Coli. In fact, it inspired her so much she later bought a glass ball with glass protrusions from the gift shop that she's convinced she'll turn into virus art by filling it with different things and then displaying it in random places around her house. She will take pictures of the virus art in said random places and then create a slideshow and show people her virus art. She will have captions to explain the art like in a real museum. She will become famous because her virus art will go, forgive the pun, viral. A is awesome and unique and this is why I enjoy spending time with her.

"Viral Explosion" - by A

The highlight of the afternoon was seeing the newly-rearranged Dale Chihuly exhibit. Blown glass is one of the most beautiful things to me and this artist has an unbelievable gift. I can't imagine how long it takes to create one of those pieces but then to create enough to fill an entire row boat?! Crazy! And the colors are so vibrant and, of course, everything is shiny. I like shiny things. I think my favorite part is the clear glass ceiling with a variety of his smaller pieces overhead. It creates a kind of life-size kaleidoscope. Very cool.

So basically we're saying Okc rocks! Get out there and see what it has to offer and don't forget to save room for the mini-donuts at RePUBlic! We didn't have any room left or we would've ordered some. I guess we'll just have to go back. Happy faces.