Big Bite Food Festival
Gateway Event Center
April 20, 2024
I’m only a little bit embarrassed about the noise I made in public when I put Antoinette Bakery’s creme fraiche macaron topped with caviar and lemon zest into my mouth on Saturday night at Big Bite. And here’s why I don’t feel that bad about it: I wasn’t the only one. Other folks at other tables were making the same ecstatic noises I’d just been making, eating other things. “That’s the sound we like to hear,” said the baker behind the table, adorably pumping her fist.
This transcendent macaron (salty, creamy-sweet, acid-glinting, pillowy, with a suggestion of crunch as perfectly proportioned as the whisper of vermouth in a martini) was only the second “bite” I had at Big Bite. By the time I left, the whole night seemed like infinite versions of that head-shaking, happy-making moment.
Last year’s launch of Big Bite was crazy fun: all up in the hot zone of June’s Tulsa Tough cycling action, spilling across multiple floors of the OKPOP Museum, and paired with an outdoor concert called Big Ride that kept the party going after the races wrapped up. But this year, Big Bite shifted to its own stage, date, and location — a move that vaulted it from a Tulsa Tough add-on into a focused, totally effervescent, seriously excellent event.
The Gateway — that building wedged into downtown’s east end, covered with colorful murals by Clean Hands and other Tulsa legends — is more compact than last year’s location, and while you might think that’s not the best idea when expecting a giant crowd, it actually worked so much better. Spread throughout three large rooms and a tent-covered outdoor area (all on one level), the event’s 30 Oklahoma restaurant, bar, and brewery tables were arranged so that the flow made it easy to glimpse something delicious-looking in someone’s hand, do a scan across the room, quickly make your way to whatever table they’d found it at, take a moment to dance in front of DJ Hidden Display’s booth, and not even jostle too many people while doing it. (Everybody else was doing it, too.)
That impulse — ”what is that? I’ve gotta try that!” — was a hallmark of the Big Bite vibe. It applied to the food and drinks for sure, but also to the eye-catching creative installations: a dynamic digital video cube featuring Tulsa’s iconic murals, an interactive “Donut Hut” filled with tossable Warhol-esque mylar pillows (both via Studio 66), an edible tablescape by the flower wizards at Anthousai, and a screenprinting station from Mythic Press. These were all arrayed in the same room, but compared to last year they felt far better integrated with the rest of the event because it was so easy to move between one space and another.
VIP guests had perks like a caviar tasting and their pick of workshops earlier in the day (with titles like “How To Taste Wine Without Looking Like A Jerk” and “Fold Your Own”). But General Admission (aka “Generous Appetite”) guests were well cared for, too, with plenty of tables, comfy couches, and friendly staff regularly making the rounds to gather spent cups and paper baskets. With its high-quality / no-pressure atmosphere, Big Bite felt somehow ideal for both party people and the socially awkward, cool kids and visitors from the ‘burbs, serious foodies and the Okie-cuisine-curious.
And what about the food? Oklahoma’s chefs, brewers, and mixologists came through with offerings that ranged from sexy to hearty to refreshing. I wish I could say I tried something from every table; if I’d been able to stay the whole four-hour span of the event, I might have managed it, with plenty of dance breaks to help pace me. I almost ran to the first table I saw, bearing the home run return of Ma Der’s crackly rice lettuce wrap. I ignored everyone and entered another dimension as I took in three life-changing corn mush cake bites from NATV (with braised venison and BBQ wojapi, pork belly succotash, and pickled berries). I loved Straight Edge Lounge’s Stay Golden Wellness Tonic — turmeric, sparkling zero-alcohol rosé, elderflower, lime, rosemary — and Noche’s gazpacho-adjacent shrimp cocktail, with its cracker accompaniment and flirty heat. And it was beautiful to see the chefs having so much fun, with so much pride in their work and in the joyful faces of folks taking in their creations right in front of them.
A favorite moment of my Big Bite night was bonding with an older couple from Broken Arrow over Wanda J’s gravy meatballs and peach cobbler, all of us shamelessly making those noises. Big Bite turned out to be more than a meeting place for Oklahoma food and drink. It was a perfect little hub for Okies to find each other, too. I only wish I’d gotten one of those green hats I saw some people wearing. “With a side of ranch,” they said: a zingy, fun tribute — just like the event itself — to our beloved, only-in-Oklahoma ways.
