The scent of warm bread and fresh croissants. The cheerful cacophony of clinking spritzes and espresso martinis. The salted butter, smoked porchetta and pistachio cream. At first glance, sip or bite, you might mistake this blissful respite for a European sojourn. But that’s the magic of Mezzo Bakeshop, a transportive homage to Italy located in the heart of Midtown OKC.
Housed in the former space of the legendary Brown’s Bakery, Mezzo Bakeshop is a European-style cafe unlike anything else in town. We’re certainly not lacking in great Italian restaurants, but few conjure the atmospheric sensation of sitting down for an afternoon spritz in a space that looks like a sunny piazza. Combined with local art, indoor trees and a grab-and-go market stocked with tote bags, shirts and habit-forming granola, Mezzo brings the heart and soul of Italy home to OKC.
“We brought this concept together because we were inspired by our travels to Italy, and we wanted to bring one of our favorite places home,” explained Tori Arnold, who owns Mezzo Bakeshop—along with all the local Summer Moon Coffee shops—with her husband, Chad Arnold. “We love the pace of Italy. From our fast lifestyle here to there, it forces us to slow down. We love the slower lifestyle; having a cappuccino and croissant in the morning, and having an aperol spritz and walking around Rome.”
Describing the inherent “heart and soul in every dish,” and the passion for food, Italian culture—she noted—is rooted in simplicity of quality ingredients, and a simpler way of living. “We feel like we can reset,” Arnold added of their trips to Italy. “The air feels clean, pure, sweet and simple.”
The same can be said of Mezzo, where the ambience and the menu harken to leisurely afternoons and in-between moments—emphasizing simple ingredients, fresh bread and all the spritzes you can clink. The drink list, Arnold said, is inspired by quality coffee and traditional lattes, cappuccinos and cortados, along with a smattering of colorful spritzes, palomas, French 75s and espresso martinis.
Open for breakfast, lunch and unhurried intermezzos, the bakeshop boasts a dizzying array of house-baked pastries and breads, including toasty pine nut cookies, buttery Danishes and hand-piped croissants brimming with pistachio cream and frangipane. Fluffy ricotta pancakes come with salted caramel maple syrup; fried eggs arrive with meltingly tender prosciutto; and avocado toast—Arnold’s favorite—gets a bit of spice from Calabrian chile.
Later, sandwiches are made with Tuscan-style schiacciata bread, baked in-house and stacked with the likes of mortadella, pistachio cream and crushed pistachios (the All’inizio); roast beef with tomato, arugula and maitake cream (the Manzo); and house-smoked turkey with ‘nduja, Calabrian chile, provolone and arugula (the Piccolo Calda). There are also salads, soups (“the zuppa Toscana is literally Italy in a cup,” she said) and items for kids, including the “best I’ve ever had” grilled cheese.
It’s all courtesy of executive chef John Conway, who Arnold said has “done a fantastic job cultivating the flavors, textures and tastes from Italy and transporting them to Oklahoma City.” Along with branding and marketing expert Haylee Keenum and general manager Niall Ferguson (“he’s totally transported the warmth and coziness and hospitality that you get from Europe”), Arnold said this trio helped bring Mezzo to life, in a historic space ready for reinvention.
“To be in this building is so iconic,” Arnold proclaimed of the Brown’s Bakery locale. “We wanted that European feel, with the shorter booths and open concept, but that warm and elegant feeling with comfy seating,” she said. “It’s a place to pause. We want people to come here and choose us to slow down life a little bit.”
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