TULSA, Okla. — The Silo Event Center has been a popular place for picturesque weddings and events. Starting next week, guests won’t need a special occasion to take in the beauty.
A new restaurant inside the venue, Solaire, opens on Valentine’s Day.
It’s almost hard to believe the seven acres of gorgeous hills are in the Tulsa city limits and only eight minutes from downtown.
“It’s definitely been a dream of mine to bring people west,” said co-owner Oogo Gutierrez. “It’s a little bit of a frontier, it’s beautiful.”
Gutierrez bought the venue in 2018, spent two years remodeling and was ready to open in 2020, but the pandemic brought things to a halt. Gutierrez said now that things are up and running again, he and co-owners and chefs Jeremiah Rankin and Gabe Lazarde expanded to open Solaire.
Lazarde moved to Oklahoma six years ago from Venezuela where he grew up in the kitchen.
“I get it from my Grandmother, she got me started at a very young age,” said Lazarde. “Ever since then, I’ve loved it—it’s my passion.”
The menu will blend American and Italian cuisines along with inspiration from Lazarde’s upbringing.
“Plantains, plantains, plantains, they go with everything,” he laughs. “I will keep them coming.”
While there will be some consistency, the menu is seasonal and will change often.
“If we go to the Farmer’s Market and we see something that speaks to us we want to have that flexibility to cook the things we want,” said Rankin.
The restaurant’s original co-owner with Gutierrez was James Beard semi-finalist Paul Wilson who passed away last year in a tragic bicycle accident.
The Solaire vibe, Rankin says, is a nod to the style of Wilson—adventurous and engaged with the guests.
“You’re not paying some random person or, no offense, some 16-year-old waiter,” said Rankin. “It’s us who is doing the work, so it’s us providing the service to you.”
Reservations can be made online. The Valentine’s Day menu includes scallop crudo, fried plantain, ube gnocchi, short rib risotto and burnt cheesecake.
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