In 2007, Andrew Black first came to Oklahoma City, fresh off a stint cooking at the Ritz-Escoffier in Paris, to help reopen the legendary Skirvin Hotel. Seventeen years later, after earning acclaim with local fixtures like Black Walnut and Grey Sweater, a new kind of legend is born at the same downtown address, as Black—the first Oklahoma chef to take home a coveted James Beard Award—christened his latest restaurant, Perle Mesta, in the very building that first brought him to town.
Named for Perle Skirvin Mesta, the Oklahoma socialite and heiress who grew up in the hotel with her father, William Skirvin, Black’s contemporary creation resides in the exact ground-floor space where he previously presided over Park Avenue Grill. The address may be the same, but every other facet of the restaurant—a marble-clad dining room, shimmering with chandeliers and sconces designed to resemble Parisian streetlights—is wholly original, from the elegant design by local Robinson Park Studio and the original murals by local artist Julie Gudgel to the endless variations of what Black described as “possibility cuisine.”
“Possibility cuisine involves chefs pushing the boundaries of traditional cooking and experimenting with unconventional ingredients, fusion cuisine, molecular gastronomy or avant-garde techniques,” said Black. “It involves a sense of creativity, innovation and openness to exploring new culinary horizons.”
One example from his eclectic menu that sums up Black’s “possibility” approach is the parmesan and truffle fried okra with lamb, which he explains as an outside-the-box homage to fish and chips. “I’m not a big okra fan, and I’m not a big fish and chips fan, but I know people love those things, so I wanted to create my version,” he said, swapping in crispy okra—brined, dried, seasoned and battered with a rice flour—in place of chips, and candied lamb belly in lieu of fish, made by marinating, brining and cooking sous vide overnight. “That’s the perfect possibility right there.”
Elsewhere on the menus, which span breakfast, Sunday brunch, lunch, dinner and forthcoming high tea, dishes include fennel-dusted scallops with parsnip cream and butternut squash vinaigrette, butter beans and tomatoes with grilled Caribbean-Indian roti, spiced plantain chips with ranch-garlic aïoli and lavender duck with black trumpet mushroom. And this being Oklahoma, there’s a requisite steak, but here it’s brick oven-roasted and served with annatto-coconut-peppercorn sauce, charred carrots and duck fat frites. Meanwhile, along with a selection of wines and non-alcoholic beverages, the bar program nods to Prohibition days with vintage libations like the Black Russian, a vodka and coffee elixir beloved by Perle Mesta herself.
After finding success with his other restaurants (Gilded Acorn, Black Walnut and Grey Sweater), Black describes Perle Mesta as deeply personal, and deeply original. “Back in the days, that kitchen was where I did my first chef’s table, in 2009,” he noted, detailing how the whole space—aside from the original tile—was gutted. “Our goal wasn’t to kill the history, it was to enhance the history.”
In honor of the restaurant’s namesake, Black describes the decor as simultaneously feminine, dainty, romantic and sexy, with the overall goal being to make guests feel transported beyond Oklahoma to cities like London and Paris, and ultimately to become a cultural cornerstone.
“When you go to every city, you have an iconic restaurant,” he said, citing places like The Waldorf in New York City and The Peabody in Memphis. “Even though we have so many great restaurants and chefs (in Oklahoma City), I wanted to create an iconic restaurant. I want this to be the iconic Oklahoma jewel.”
For Black, Perle Mesta represents a full-circle return to form, on his terms, unbound by tradition or expectations. “I didn’t realize until I came back here this time that my kids were growing up in this hotel when I came here in 2007,” Black recalled of his young children roaming the hotel while he worked, much like Perle Mesta did herself. “Coming back here is reminiscent of my kids growing up here, and to see guests that I’m familiar with. It’s like a big welcome home party.”
