What do a 100-year-old constructing that after housed a Masonic temple, the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and the town of Atoka have in widespread? Reba McEntire believes in all of them, and so they all performed a component in making Reba’s Place come to life.
“This has been a dream come true,” McEntire mentioned Thursday in the course of the official grand opening occasion. “It has just turned out to be something that — it was way beyond my imagination. I just wish Momma and Daddy were here to see it, they’d love it.”
Now open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. each day, Reba’s Place, 301 E Court St. in downtown Atoka, brings three tales of country-inspired attraction and welcoming heat. The historic brick facade has been retrofitted with new home windows, a recent awning and a brilliant crimson marquee bearing the identify.
The first and second flooring of Reba’s Place embody house for eating and drinks, with hovering open ceilings in half of the house to enable the second ground to overlook the stage under. On the third ground is a retail house and library, together with a e book shelf which will or could not home a secret door that discovered a fellow journalist by accident stumbling right into a hidden room with McEntire.
More: Reba McEntire returns to the town the place her profession started: 7 highlights from her OKC present
Memorabilia starting from Reba’s albums, awards, live performance performances and film posters to iconic outfits from her profession line the partitions and stand in customized show circumstances.
McEntire mentioned she initially thought the concept of proudly owning a restaurant was insane, however she’s now grateful she allowed herself to be talked into it.
“The atmosphere is wonderful, there’s history, there’s stories to be told everywhere I look,” McEntire mentioned. “I’m a singer, but I love to tell stories.”
Intentional sourcing delivers nationwide flavors on a various menu
McEntire was saved within the decision-making course of for the restaurant on all fronts, from selecting the dishware and utensils for desk settings to menu decisions that mix deliberately sourced components for drinks and meals which are well worth the drive.
Chef Kurtess Mortensen mentioned the dialogue and bond between he and McEntire is pure and straightforward, making it apparent that he was meant to come on board.
“It wasn’t like ‘You write this menu,’ it was ‘What do you like to eat, what don’t you like to eat? What do you like to drink, what don’t you like to drink?'” Mortensen mentioned of working to develop a menu that displays McEntire’s imaginative and prescient.
Menu options embody flavors that span the nation, a nod to Reba’s songs, music, profession and extra. From the Nola BBQ Shrimp to Nashville Hot Chicken and Memphis Style BBQ Bologna, Mortensen doesn’t shrink back from daring flavors. Appetizer choices embody a Southern charcuterie board — full with beer cheese, pimento cheese and boiled peanut hummus — fried inexperienced tomatoes and extra.
While McEntire says she let Mortensen shine as he developed the menu of farm-to-table choices, she and her boyfriend, Rex Linn, performed their very own particular half within the dishes you will discover.
“When Rex and I would be at home and cooking, I started doing these smashed potatoes and Rex added the garlic and caramelized onions, and I’d send chef pictures of all of the stuff that we’d cook at home,” McEntire mentioned. “It was fun!”
Mortensen mentioned as he examined the recipe he would evaluate his dish to McEntire’s photograph attempting to ensure he pulled off the dish in the way in which she’d anticipated.
Other sides on the menu embody browned butter mashed potatoes, blue corn grits, braised greens, roasted Brussels sprouts, candy potato casserole and extra. McEntire mentioned it was vital to her that the menu embody good beans, good cornbread and good iced tea, so you will discover these, as properly.
Mortensen, who beforehand ran the kitchen at one other Oklahoma movie star restaurant — Ree Drummond’s The Pioneer Woman Mercantile in Pawhuska — plans to rotate the menu considerably seasonally so as to preserve the flexibility to supply one of the best components from the producers the restaurant has partnered with.
“We make everything from scratch,” Mortensen mentioned. “There’s no convenience products here at all, and that means there’s no processed stuff, there’s no chemicals, there’s no preservatives.”
Cocktails, mocktails, a michelada cart and extra await you on the eating places beverage menu. Spins on basic cocktails named in honor of lots of McEntire’s hit songs and playful mocktails made utilizing alcohol-free variations of basic spirits imply anybody can benefit from the social gathering at Reba’s Place.
Finish your meal with a dessert choice — the strawberry shortcake with chantilly cream is Reba’s favourite — that, like all the pieces else on the menu, is made recent in home.
McEntire has no plans to let anybody down
McEntire mentioned the individuals in Atoka and their ardour make the town particular and are the rationale she wished to see the restaurant come to life there — the truth that they wished her, too, solely sealed the deal.
“You can try and do something by yourself all day long and that’s hard and it’s not any fun, but when you have people that are excited about it — more than I was excited about it — and they kept saying ‘It’s going to help our town, it’s going to help the community, it’s going to bring jobs in,'” McEntire mentioned.
The restaurant, which falls inside Choctaw Nation boundaries is an evenly break up partnership between McEntire and the tribe, with every holding 50% possession stake.
“To be doing this with the Choctaws, the Choctaws are the best partner. They’ve been helpful, they’ve given advice, their opinions, and it’s all been 100% positive,” McEntires mentioned. “It was just a win-win situation for me.”
McEntire mentioned the restaurant “has to carry on” due to all it means to the town and the individuals there, and he or she’s dedicated to ensuring it’s profitable.
While Reba resides in Nashville at present and nonetheless spends loads of time on tour and filming, she has loads of household nonetheless dwelling close to Atoka, together with her three siblings, Alice, Pake and Susie. With them close by and niece Garett Smith serving as normal supervisor, there’s not doubt the household will maintain a detailed eye over Reba’s Place.
Thoughtful ending touches and tender recollections
And household is all the pieces to McEntire, who teared up a number of instances whereas talking of them. She additionally laughed as she remarked that her dad and mom would’ve been “posted up” in a sales space all night time lengthy, if given the prospect.
The third ground homes a beneficiant retail house the place you should buy loads of Reba-branded objects and objects that simply match the vibe of the venue.
But, maybe one of the vital heartwarming options is what you will discover nestled in a single nook of the third ground amongst cozy chairs and a ground to ceiling built-in shelf. Stacked on the cabinets you will discover the e book assortment that after belonged to Jacqueline McEntire, Reba’s mom. There to be loved by friends, the house holds a very particular place for McEntire and makes the bookmarks tucked into every of these desk settings with that dishware chosen by McEntire within the restaurant under just a bit extra important.
“It’s really a special room, and when you walk up there and see it, I hope you feel what I felt,” McEntire mentioned.
She patted the seat subsequent to her saying “Momma’s up there just kind of going ‘Sit down, let’s have a seat, grab you a book.'”
Setting the stage for the following nice county star?
For the grand opening, McEntire took to the stage and entertained the group with favorites spanning her profession, providing an instance of what the venue’s stage may be used for sooner or later.
The venue will concentrate on native and regional musicians, bringing friends leisure throughout each lunch and dinner from acts throughout southeast Oklahoma.
“It’s really, really special,” McEntire mentioned. “It’s just got a good vibe about it.”
When requested if she thought the following, massive Oklahoma star may carry out on the stage of Reba’s Place, McEntire quipped, “Oh! I hope so. Let’s just go for it. Absolutely!”
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