Bucket List Road: Living Kitchen Farm & Dairy

Listen, you know when a meal is so good you forget to take a photograph of every course? I KNOW. I have seen such a meal.

Let me start at the beginning by saying that, after sixteen years of marriage, the purchasing of birthday and Christmas gifts gets significantly harder, so when I was racking my brain trying to figure out what to get my husband, Brian, for his birthday, I scoured every corner of this here Internet for just the right gift, and I kept coming up empty? My aptitude for crafts leaving much to be desired, I started thinking about experiences we could have together.

Then I remembered that Greg was writing a feature about tasting menu restaurants—you’ll read it in our upcoming January/February issue, so subscribe now—and that one of the spots he was featuring was Living Kitchen Farm & Dairy in Depew. Our friend Chad Crow, lately of the Oklahoma State Parks office, wrote a great little story about it for us a few years back, and I’ve been dying to try it ever since.

And die I may have done, because Living Kitchen feels like a little bit of heaven. Turning off Route 66 and down a farm road, we first came across what our reservation confirmation email had termed “The Garden.” Though the dinner start time was 7 p.m., we decided to heed the email’s invitation for a 6:30 Garden Tour, and my goodness were we glad we did, because Linda Ford, one half of the dynamic duo that runs the place (along with their affiliated Farm Bar restaurant in Tulsa), welcomed us to one of the most well-kept and beautiful home gardens I’ve ever seen—then invited us to wander among the plants, picking our first course of the evening from their bounty. This included some truly tasty, toothsome cherry tomatoes:

Photo by Nathan Gunter

Photo by Nathan Gunter

Our appetites whetted, we left the garden and drove just a way down the road to the cabin where Living Kitchen holds its meals.

Country living isn't easy, but this rustic farmhouse produces some of the best food in Oklahoma. Photo by Nathan Gunter

What followed was one of the most unbelievably delicious, meticulous, and satisfying meals of our entire lives. I won’t spoil too much of Greg’s story, but I will tell you that while I tried for you, dear reader, to get a photograph of each of the eight courses that comprised our dinner—the theme was Autumn’s Bounty—that fascination and my taste buds took over, and failed to shoot them all before eating. However, I can tell you that the October Tomatoes with Savory Custard, Green Garlic Oil, and Tomato Broth made certain that I’ll never look at a tomato the same way again:

October Tomatoes with Savory Custard, Green Garlic Oil, and Tomato Broth. Photo by Nathan Gunter

And the eight-ball squash gratin was as hearty and satisfying a thing as I’ve ever known, and I absolutely must do more eating from tiny cast-iron skillets:

Using eight-ball squash made for a creamy, satisfying gratin. Photo by Nathan Gunter

There was a bread course THERE WAS A BREAD COURSE:

Bread is life. Photo by Nathan Gunter

And the incredible dessert of zucchini bread pudding with butternut squash-miso ice cream garnished with fresh pecans? Have YOU ever thought of making bread pudding out of zucchini bread? Me neither! But let’s all start doing that now (though I doubt any of us will top this):

Dessert at his dinner was a surprising zucchini bread pudding. Photo by Nathan Gunter

Living Kitchen Farm & Dairy doesn’t have a liquor license but does send out wine-pairing recommendations for each of its meals ahead of time. That said, with the long drive back down I-44 from Depew—it was about an hour door-to-door from our house in northwest Oklahoma City—we were happy we decided to forego alcohol. For those who want to enjoy the wine pairings guilt-free, may I recommend booking a hotel in nearby Stroud?

Reservations for December dinners just opened at Living Kitchen, so if you’re stumped on a holiday gift for the food lover in your life, may I suggest a delightful, delectable farm-to-table dinner at Living Kitchen?

Written By

Nathan Gunter

A sixth-generation Oklahoman, Weatherford native, and Westmoore High School graduate, Nathan Gunter is the magazine's editor-in-chief. When he's not editor-in-chiefing, Nate enjoys live music, running, working out, gaming, cooking, and random road trips with no particular destination in mind. He holds degrees from Wake Forest University and the University of Oklahoma. He learned how to perform poetry from Maya Angelou; how to appreciate Italian art from Terisio Pignatti; comedy writing from Doug Marlette; how to make coconut cream pie from his great-grandma; and how not to approach farm dogs from trial and error. A seminary dropout, he lives just off Route 66 in Oklahoma City.