One of Oklahoma’s preeminent fine dining destinations, Nonesuch has been at the forefront of culinary innovation for eight years. In that time, the Midtown icon catapulted Oklahoma City onto a national stage when Bon Appétit named it America’s best new restaurant, and just this year, Nonesuch was nominated for Outstanding Restaurant at the coveted James Beard Awards. From its first year to its current iteration under Colorado-based Id Est hospitality group, what’s kept the restaurant cutting-edge is its ability to reinvent itself as dexterously as Taylor Swift. Which leads us to the latest era of Nonesuch: a North American wine bar called Bar None.
Adjoining Nonesuch’s main dining room, in a minimalistic room that formerly served as a private dining area, and most recently a spin-off dining space called The Den, Bar None is at once chic yet casual; esoteric yet accessible. While Nonesuch traffics in tasting menus, Bar None pares things way down—to a handful of wines by the glass, a smattering of sandwiches and a polished, wood-paneled room that looks like a Scandinavian sauna. Eschewing a bottle list, there’s a curated bottle room down the hall, where customers can peruse varietals rarely if ever seen in Oklahoma, like small-production Albariño from a vineyard in Colorado.
“While we were dreaming of what The Den could be, and what aesthetic choices we could change, we thought a wine bar could be really cool in this space,” explained Kiki Mackey, manager of Bar None. Id Est’s chef/owner—and native Oklahoman—Kelly Whitaker agreed, steering the concept to highlight North American wines, as well as mezcals and whiskeys. “We all got inspired,” Mackey added. “We started to think about the different things we could pull from: this idea of nostalgia, and how North America is overlooked in terms of wine—and Oklahoma in particular, being a middle point, and with Route 66—this idea of people and places coming together, and wanting to center wine in a different way.”
Bar None offers six wines by the glass, a set that, along with the bottle selection in back, rotates regularly and highlights lesser-known wine regions and varietals. There are also North American whiskeys and mezcals, as well as a concise cocktail program inspired by bars the management has relationships with across the country. When I visited, the “Cocktails From Friends” section included a Sumac Negroni inspired by Slow Drinks in Philadelphia, and a Tomato Highball inspired by Semiprecious in Denver. Food is more snacky, focused on fluffy white bread sandwiches made with flour milled by Id Est’s Dry Storage in Boulder. With varieties like egg salad and cold meatloaf, it’s an homage to road trips and nostalgia, and as Mackey put it, the ritual of coming together.
At its heart, though, Bar None is raising the bar on wine, by highlighting regions that often get overlooked. In many ways, it’s a full-circle ethos for a restaurant that helped highlight Oklahoma City, a once-overlooked city in the midst of an ongoing cultural renaissance. With a team of pioneering innovators at the helm—including Whitaker, Nonesuch executive chef Garrett Hare and Id Est’s beverage director, Caroline Clark—Bar None is an exciting new era for a brand with a penchant for reinvention. Eight years ago, it changed perceptions on food in Oklahoma City. Today, it’s time for wine.
