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Is MAHT Already OKC's Best Restaurant? · The Dry Line Podcast

• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to The Dry Line Podcast, OKC's home for blazing hip-hop and R&B.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: Oh gosh, I miss Power Warner 3.5.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: Rest in peace.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: I miss that radio station so much.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: But yes,
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: this is The Dry Line Podcast,
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: Oklahoma City's home for thoughtful analysis on its mercurial weather,
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: sacred sports,
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: and damn fine people hosted by The Dry Line's editor-in-chief,
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: that is me, Ryan Fightmaster.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: Last week, My wife and I went to Mott, finally, after a two-month wait to get in.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I have some thoughts, some Mott-y thoughts, I might say.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: And these thoughts led me at the conclusion of my article to wonder something,
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: article that I posted this week to Substack.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: And that would be, is, well,
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: could, well, could actually is Mott the best restaurant in Oklahoma City right now?
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: Why not?
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: I ask you.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: Why not?
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: First though,
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: we would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who's reached out over
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: the last week through email, through comments, phone calls, texts.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: It has been a whirlwind since we launched this thing, the website, dryline.com, and the podcast.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: Lots of editing,
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: lots of hyperventilation over nothing,
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: lots of gratitude,
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: an absurdly expensive amount of pour of a coffee,
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: And let me tell you,
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: we have some stories lined up for you about this incredibly complex and cool city
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: that we live in, Oklahoma City.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: We've got stories lined up all the way through the fall that we're really excited
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: about, both here on The Dry Line Podcast and on Substack.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: If you haven't read or writing yet,
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: that is the foundation of this entire project and where the soul of this thing lives
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: and breathes every day.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: If you'd like to read the full text,
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: example being this restaurant review of Mott,
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: that full text is linked in the show notes and available on Substack,
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: just released yesterday.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: And a little bit of background on our decision to review Mott in particular first
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: as our first restaurant.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: I chose it Because ever since it opened at the end of 2025,
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: it seems I cannot go more than three hours without someone talking to me about Mott
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: or Chef Kevin Lee.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: Never in my OKC existence can I recall this level of hype around the launch of a restaurant.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: And it had me wondering why over the last couple weeks.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: Why does it feel like OKC must see Mott?
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: This particular restaurant be successful.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: And my answer after visiting Mott and then writing the review is
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: that it's good old Oklahoma civic underdog pride at work
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: because Lee represents himself as an Oklahoma Cityan.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: We Oklahoma Cityans want to see this guy do well.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: He was born in Norman where he lived for some of his childhood.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: I couldn't figure out how many years he lived there,
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: but it sounds like a substantial part of his life.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: He did live in Norman.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: And Oklahoma.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: Before he moved to Connecticut and then spent time in Seattle and Korea too.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: During his young adulthood, he was in Las Vegas where he was working in kitchens.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: And he got an opportunity through his cousin to come back and be a part
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: the food scene and work in Oklahoma City back in 2009.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: And ever since, this guy has been working himself up the culinary ladder.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: And a huge part of that, of his emergence really inside of this industry is The Food Network.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: I couldn't believe it when I saw it,
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: but Lee has been on eight separate television shows on the Food Network.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: Eight.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: Unreal amount of time on television.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: He took second earlier this year in Guy's Tournament of Champions,
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: lost by one point to a guy named Brian Voltaggio.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: Chef Lee actually hosted Brian Veltaggio I think like two days ago at Mott as
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: a guest chef and they did some kind of collaboration.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: I thought that was just really cool.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: My dad also just told me that he's competing in guys like grocery games,
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: World Cup of Champions thing right now.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: Just like kicking ass with all these other chefs from other places and not surprising at all.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: Especially after my experience at the restaurant.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: But on these shows when you listen to him,
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: this I think has the biggest part of what Of why the city is so
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: behind this restaurant concept.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: It's that like Chef Lee is a dog.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: Like a real Dayton La Chance level competitor here.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: And he consistently reps OKC with like great pride.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: He is known as a Korean American Steakhouse OKC guy.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: I mean that is like his brand.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I think because he reps us with such pride,
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: it's given us as a community All this positive public relations that we want
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: to give back to him.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's not like we're necessarily known for producing these chefs that go on
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: to become these celebrity chefs.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: That's not what this area is known for.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: We have Andrew Black, obviously.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: He's the man.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: Other than that, we have Bill Rancho and a lot of other fried food.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: We're not necessarily known nationally for our top tier culinary talent.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: So I think we all just want to see Kevin succeed.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: He also got that James Beard nomination.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: For Birdies in 2025, he didn't win, but he got a semifinalist nomination.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: And he got that after he sank his savings into a complete pivot of
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: a restaurant concept away from the Korean fried chicken that Birdies had started as
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: and into a Korean American steakhouse.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: Then he won the James Beard nomination after that.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: So he has essentially done what you must do in Oklahoma City to earn some respect.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: And that is one, be confronted with failure.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: And risk your entire livelihood on a hunch.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: Two, strike oil.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: Three, build something big.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: He's on the Herald Ham blueprint.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: Just doing food, not oil.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: Another reason I wanted to write about Mott was its location.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: I've been long rooting for that corner at 23rd and Walker.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: Because it's on historic Route 66, which is the classic beltway for the city.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: And it's also...
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: The linchpin between districts.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's got the Paseo to the north and it's got Mesta and Midtown to the south.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: And 23rd Street has always had some possibility.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: Rest in peace to the pump.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: Also really missed that place.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: My life satisfaction continues to decrease every day.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: The pump isn't in that old gas station doing stuff.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: Love that place.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: But we got Bunker Down over there.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: We got Boomtown Creamery, other small businesses.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's...
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: Turning in, 23rd Street continues to grow.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: I think I've seen some other concepts that are currently in construction.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: But The Drake, I felt like was so close to being a really, really good restaurant in that spot.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: It looked cool when you drove past.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: The eyes are always drawn to that corner.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: But The Drake committed a cardinal sin in restaurant concepting.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: And that is,
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: if your value proposition is Oyster's,
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: Your restaurant must be located in a state that touches the ocean.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: Pearl's can get away with stuff like that because Pearl's is a Cajun restaurant.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: That's their concept.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: And Oklahoma touches Louisiana.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: So it's not a stretch for the imagination.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: But oysters, it's just too much for us Okies.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's a luxury reserved for vacations into 23A or whatever that place is
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: that people go to on the Gulf.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: Final point on location.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: Personally, I believe Mott It's at the most critical culinary geographic point in the city.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: And personally,
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: I just really want it to work because I drive past that
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: on Walker almost like every day.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: Another note.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: If you hear a child screaming at any point during this podcast,
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: it's being attended to by my wife and my mother, so please don't fret.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: It's been a tough week for a seven-week-old.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's gross spurt.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's colic.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe he's still upset about what I said last week about Mike Morgan.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: It's hard to know.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: Hard to know.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: Without further ado,
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: let's get into the actual Mott thoughts,
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: and then at the end,
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: I'll give you my argument for and against why Mott is the best restaurant
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: in Oklahoma City right now.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: This soon, only eight months after it launched?
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's only November 25 that Mott started,
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: which is crazy because I feel like it's been here for years.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, first Mott thought.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: Off the top, I think Mott has gone one too many fusions too far.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll explain that a little bit more in a bit.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: But before we get into all that, I got to say, they did some work on that space.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: Damn.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: I could not believe when I walked in that that was the same place that used to be
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: the Drake because like back then,
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: 15 foot windows,
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: open design,
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: white painted walls kind of gave you the sense that you were dining
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: with whatever's happening on 23rd Street.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: Which is not good for ambience.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot that happens on 23rd Street
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: that I personally wouldn't want participating in my meal experience.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: Ambience just sort of like dissipated into what felt at times like
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: a mid-century 1960s airport terminal.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: And whenever I used to drive past there on Walker, I would look inside.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: And do a quick head count.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: Because again, I really want whatever's in that spot.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: I want that spot to work.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: We need a bomb-ass restaurant on 23rd and Walker.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: Whenever I drive past, I would look.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: And whenever the head count would be sparse, I would worry.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: I would talk to people and be like, I'm kind of worried about the drag.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: What's cool about the way that Mott has designed that space now is that
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: when you do look into it as you drive by,
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: The shades are almost always drawn down,
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: but whenever they have the shades lifted up,
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: they only give you these viewpoints in where you can see the bar,
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: and the bar is almost always packed when I drive by,
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: or I can see a longer table full of people,
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: the vibes are good,
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: there's a lot of energy,
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: and it's dark inside, so you can't just see the whole space when you drive past.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: Which adds to this element of exclusivity that is really important to,
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: I think,
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: any steakhouse concept,
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: but especially a modern steakhouse with vibes,
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: with the juice, which is what Kevin Lee is trying to do.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: On the inside, they killed it.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: I love the colors.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: Maroon painted walls.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's black in there pretty much everywhere.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: They worked in some wood,
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: worked in a lot of gold trim on all the accents, and they cleaved the bar from...
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: The dining section of the restaurant with this rectangular shelving,
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: so it adds this other layer of dimensionality,
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: which gives the bar like its own intimate space,
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: which it didn't have before at the Drake,
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: where it all felt like one big airport terminal.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, whenever I drive past Mott, I have no worries about whether or not Mott is doing well.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: Every time I go by, the place is packed.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: Doesn't matter the night of the week, it's always doing well.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: But first impressions wise, My God, it was so cold inside.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: So cold.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: My wife was wearing this kimono style dress and she was shivering for
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: the first 15 minutes while we were there.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: It could not have been any warmer than 67 degrees.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: Seriously.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: She wanted a cocktail.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: She ended up going hot sake.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: For survival purposes.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: It was absurdly cold inside.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: And it stayed that way throughout the entire meal.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know who needs to get their thyroid checked,
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: but somebody on staff needs to take a look at their thyroid.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: What else?
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: Ultimately,
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: all the temperature stuff,
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: it was trivial, though, because they gave us a free Prosecco for my wife's birthday.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: And anytime somebody gives you a free glass of Prosecco,
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: it really fixes anything, including the feeling of being cold.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: So maybe that was all part of the plan,
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: kind of like come in and rescue the diner from this experience they're having.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: It worked.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, to the food.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: I will break it down in order based on what we got.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: So appetizer,
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: we went tuna tataki,
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: side dish,
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: we went french fries,
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: entree, bibimbap, steak, eight ounce flat iron, American Wagyu.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, back to the top.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: Actually, okay, hold on.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: To the menu construction.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: All right, so I know this is this absurd level of detail, but I think it matters.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: So you sit down, you got this big horizontal.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: Menu, okay?
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: Landscape style.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: And you're looking at it.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: Got appetizers on the left.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: You got entrees on the right.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: And then there's like a bunch of small font in the middle that isn't
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_00: as like attention generating as all the stuff on the outside.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: Like the appetizers are all written with like amazing verbiage,
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: great description, very creative.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: Entrees are too.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: And then like I was there for 10 minutes before I even realized and remembered
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: that this was a steakhouse.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: Because the steaks and the seafood They're all in this small font without much elaboration.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: You don't really know what the Korean-Asian fusion take is on all of it.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: So it was just kind of confusing.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: I think that comes back to the one fusion too far thing we're going to get into in a minute.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, regardless, appetizer, tuna tataki, totally breathtaking on arrival.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_00: You got six slices of bluefin bathed in a garlic ponzu,
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: then dolloped with a chili avocado mousse.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: Whole thing rubbed with this black pepper, rubbed that was seared into the outside of the tuna.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: This is a total fish ecstasy.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: Dissolved on tongue contact and amazing quality seafood.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: Ridiculous.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: Also, it inspired one of the more surprising flavor memories I've ever had in my life.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_00: So, the only way I can describe the way that this tasted in my mouth afterward was the way...
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: That the beef jerky from Loves,
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: those big long strips of beef jerky that you used to get at Loves by
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: the cash registers whenever I was a kid on road trips,
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: sitting in the back of my dad's like 1997 Mitsubishi Montero Sport on the way
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: to Colorado, eating this beef jerky.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: The way that that used to taste in my mouth is exactly the way that this tasted.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: If you like tuna and you've ever enjoyed Love's beef jerky,
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: which I don't know if Love still does this,
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_00: but this is a lot of advertisement for Love's.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: We're not paid by Love's.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: Love the Love family.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: If you like Love's beef jerky and you like tuna, this is going to be an amazing dish for you.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_00: It was a really good fusion, actually.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: It was a delicious dish.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: Recommend.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, to the side dish, the french fries, because they came out next before the entrees.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: I think Steakhouse french fries hit at a higher clip than Shea at the Line during clutch time.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: And these were awesome fries.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: Not the best I've ever had.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I will say, a little bit too McDonald's-y.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: I think the quote,
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_00: these fries taste like McDonald's trend at trendy restaurants is
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: a little overplayed now.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: These fries were bomb.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, they were really good.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: They were sprinkled with what looked like furikake,
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: you know, that spice they put on top of poke bowls.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: I like that a lot because I like poke a lot.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: So, extra points.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: Delicious French fries.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: Way above average French fries.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: Really good.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: Just not like the best French fries I've ever had, which was my expectation.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe that was unreasonable on my part.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: Entree.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: The bibimbap.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: Anything I tell you about this dish is going to taint how great this dish is.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: It was perfect.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_00: I have had some great bibimbap while I lived in California.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not even sure if I'm saying bibimbap right, bibimbap, I don't know.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_00: But I've had whatever dish is spelled this way in California,
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: and this was so much better than all of that that I had out there.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_00: It's laughable.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: If you've never had bibimbap before, go get it.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not even going to tell you what bibimbap is.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_00: I just want you to go there.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: It really doesn't matter.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_00: If you like food at all, Just get in your car, drive to Mott, order the bibimbap.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: Stop at stop signs, stop at stoplights, don't be a psychopath.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, steak.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: The 8 ounce American Wagyu.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to say something.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: I really didn't want to say.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_00: Mainly because my wife really wanted steak.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: And this was the first time in our relationship that she has ordered steak or red meat.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: Of any kind, really, on purpose at a restaurant.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_00: So, being that I wanted her to order it again,
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_00: and I usually get to eat whatever she doesn't eat,
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: which is typically some portion of whatever she orders,
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: I really wanted the steak to be good so she would order it again in the future.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: I needed it to be good.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_00: And it just wasn't.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: It was just a cut of meat.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: Which, given it was American Wagyu, I expected it to be more than just a cut of meat.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_00: It's not like it was bad.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_00: It just wasn't distinguishing.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I've had some really good steak in Oklahoma City, and this wasn't that, you know?
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I guess I could have ordered one of their sauces for an extra five bucks,
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_00: which apparently those sauces come for free with the steak at Birdie's.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm an Oklahoman,
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: and I was raised inside an understanding that steak is never to be sauced,
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_00: mollified, or violated.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: Steak is enough on its own.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_00: So, a well-cooked steak in my household,
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: according to my dad,
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_00: thank you dad for instilling all this wisdom,
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: is never to be mollified with sauce, alright?
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_00: So, again, these are my thoughts on this steak.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_00: It was uninspiring,
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_00: which was also unexpected, and leads me back to my takeaway about Mott at large.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's elevating the food game.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that is very clear, just as soon as you step into the restaurant.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: OKC has taken some cautionary amateur swings at the Dallas culinary scene,
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_00: like the high-end Dallas culinary scene before.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't really think we've ever been that close.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: I think this is the closest we've ever been in terms of high-end execution of
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: an original, complex concept by a top-tier chef.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_00: The vibes are Dallas-like, even Uchi-like, yet.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I see this as the best problem one can have as a restaurant.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_00: I think there's actually way too much passion going on, too much creativity so far.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I think Mott hasn't quite discovered its core identity.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it's gone one fusion too far.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_00: Let me explain.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_00: Mott has three identities, I think, that are trying to come together in a Venn diagram.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_00: One is Modern Steakhouse.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_00: What's the one at the bottom of the Omni?
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: Bob's Shop House or something like that.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_00: So that's one identity.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: Two is the Oklahoma seasoned flavored food identity.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: The chicken fried element of stuff.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_00: So those are the two elements.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: And then that bottom part of the identity is the Korean aspect and the Asian influence.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_00: So you've got these three things coming together.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: And in the middle, I felt like the Oklahoma...
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_00: And the Korean parts fused together really well.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_00: And those dishes struck the palate with impact.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I really like the tuna tataki.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_00: The bibimbap was fantastic.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: The table next to it's got this fried tomahawk T-bone pork thing.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't even know.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_00: They literally interrupted our meal to tell us how good it was.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: So I will be ordering that the next time.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's another good example of that.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_00: But the seafood...
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_00: And the steak just didn't seem to have,
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_00: like whatever is illuminating the creativity in the restaurant across the appetizers
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_00: and the entrees does not feel like it's made it fully into the seafood and
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: the steak part.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I would even argue,
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: I don't even know if they even really need seafood and steak to be like
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: an awesome restaurant.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe they do if they want to be like the best restaurant in the city.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: But I trust Kevin Lee, again, because that dude is a dog.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_00: And he's going to figure it out.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_00: And if a guy can figure out how to make an excellent steak, this guy will do it.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe this was a one-off.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe this was just like somebody just forgot to season this thing on the way out of the doors.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_00: Because I've also heard good things.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_00: My dad ate there.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_00: Loved the steak.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: Other people have told me they loved the steak.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_00: Who knows?
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_00: But I will say this about Mott in general.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: To walk this well with this much verve Through this level of notoriety and this soon
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_00: into being a restaurant that's only like eight months old,
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's affirming enough to just like as a restaurant,
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_00: just keep doing what you're doing.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_00: Keep just like throwing stuff against the wall with as much energy that you got
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_00: because they've got the it going that I've never really felt here in the city
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_00: where you feel like you're on like the cutting edge of something that's happening
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: with food, which is pretty cool.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_00: And brings up the bigger question.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: Can Mott be the best restaurant in Oklahoma City?
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_00: And is it already the best restaurant in Oklahoma City?
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, let's break down why I think it can.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_00: Mott has multiple paths to becoming the best restaurant in two separate cuisines in the city.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: So they could dominate two different disciplines.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: Mott can basically be Kyler Murray.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_00: Top 10 pick in baseball, number one pick in football.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_00: Korean, for sure.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, of course.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: Mott is already dominant there.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_00: I cannot name another Korean restaurant in this city.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: I have never ate Korean food in Oklahoma City, which is crazy to think about that.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_00: But throwing out the Korean part,
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_00: just in terms of Asian food,
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_00: I think Mott could be the top option for Asian food in this city.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_00: Like, the number one pick.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's got more versatility and a higher ceiling to its game than Mater Lao has, for example.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_00: Which I think Mater Lao is in the conversation for best restaurant in the city, no doubt.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_00: But Mater's menu is really limited to Laotian food.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_00: And it's a small menu.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_00: Which is why I think the restaurant is really cool and why I continue to go there.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_00: And because every time I go there,
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_00: the food hits at such a high level of flavor and quality
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_00: that I really haven't seen much.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_00: But Mott is different because it's a modern American steakhouse,
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_00: so it can really do whatever it wants under that brand identity.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: Lee can basically pick and choose from the best ingredients
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_00: across several different Asian cuisines,
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_00: then pair them with anything under the Steak and Seafood category.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_00: It's a ton of versatility.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_00: He can take it anywhere he wants to, and I like how he's taking it down the Oklahoma path.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_00: I think Tumont,
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_00: it's not like the Ranch or Broadway 10 or Mahogany's or Red Prime
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_00: or you name your steakhouse here, has some competitive advantage over Lee.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_00: You think Chef Lee's not getting as good a meat as those places are?
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_00: No way.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_00: I have no doubt that Lee's going to get this seafood and steak thing figured out eventually.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_00: I think honestly he just needs to get,
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_00: the Asian food is so good at Mott that I think he just needs to get the steak and
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_00: the seafood to a comparable level to his steakhouse peers.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_00: That is a low bar for Mott and I expect that they will get there very quickly.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_00: If they haven't already, again, this was one piece of steak.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_00: Mott's location,
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_00: this is to their benefit,
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_00: and nobody else does this in the city, especially steakhouse-wise.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_00: The location is in the juice, which lends the restaurant free juice in itself.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I've said juice so much in this.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_00: I'm so sorry.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to try to stop saying it, but I'm sure I'm going to say it again.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_00: But Mott has neighborhood ties.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_00: Lee has neighborhood ties.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_00: The restaurant is located just outside the Asian district,
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_00: just south of Paseo, just north of Midtown.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's near every important district in the city.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_00: This gives the restaurant like a turbo charge
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_00: that other best restaurant contenders just don't have by virtue of its proximity
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_00: to underlying coolness and the people who come there.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_00: And I think the people who come to your restaurant end up improving your restaurant.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_00: You know, hopefully over time, right?
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_00: And so they're bringing in all these people who are coming in town and spending time
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_00: in these districts.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_00: And over time, I think that's just going to continue to help them.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_00: I do not think Mott would work as well or be as effective if it was located next
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_00: to Scissortel Park or if it was near the new arena or up in Nichols Hills.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_00: Location is not as strong of a competitive advantage
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_00: for other best restaurant contenders like Elizabetta or JK by Chef King.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_00: The only real contenders that I see right now with Mott for overall best restaurant,
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_00: and my definition of what a best restaurant is,
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_00: I can hear the arguments for Grey Sweater and Nonesuch.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_00: Both have top two tasting menus and have the highest quality food in the city,
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_00: more than Mott, more than all these other places like Elizabeth or JK by Chef King.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_00: But both lack in approachability and access because of how expensive the tasting menu is.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_00: Mott doesn't have that problem.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_00: You can walk into Mott and you can have a really nice dinner and a drink
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_00: for like 40 bucks at the bar any night of the week, right?
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_00: And feel like you had a super creative meal that was original.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm excited.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_00: That brings up Dougla or Dougla, Chef Andrew Black's newest Indo-Caribbean concept.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_00: I have not had that yet.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_00: It could be in contention.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_00: I've heard good things.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_00: I've heard they have this rum collection that's like the best in the state,
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_00: which like in my book,
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_00: if they've got anything beyond like Malibu,
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_00: St. Jerry's and Bacardi, they will already advance my rum understanding.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm excited to try that and I might have missed something.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_00: Eventually we're going to do an actual legitimate Best,
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_00: you know, ranking of restaurants and tier restaurants.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_00: So that's coming.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_00: This is a bit of a preview on that.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_00: But the last reason,
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_00: most important reason,
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_00: I believe Mott can be the best restaurant in the city is because it's
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_00: a complex modern concept that doesn't feel imported out of Dallas or Houston or LA.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_00: It is Chef Lee's.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_00: It is Oklahoma's.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's authentic Oklahoma edge to the cuisine gives the city something
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_00: In our food scene that is really unique and originally us and we is committed to us
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_00: which I just love the whole idea of that and we'll always want
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_00: to see this restaurant work.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_00: Is Mott the best restaurant in the city yet?
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think it is.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's close.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_00: But not yet.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_00: Needs a little bit more editing and refining and again being where they're at
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_00: in their stage of development that is a great problem to have.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe I would rather have that problem than
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_00: to already have your core identity figured out this early in a restaurant,
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_00: but no restaurateur.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not sure who I would put above them though, which,
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_00: like Elisabetta,
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_00: I haven't ate there yet, but everybody I talked to is talking about it like Mott.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_00: It's kind of got like that Dallas vibe.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_00: Man, shout out to Petrono.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_00: That place was amazing, but that's a different level, different class.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_00: Mott's Hitting higher than that.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_00: So maybe it is Mott.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's an interesting question to have.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_00: If you've been to Mott,
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_00: feel free to share your thoughts with us about the restaurant on social media.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_00: We are posting our thoughts about Mott daily right now.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_00: So jump into the conversation on TikTok or Instagram at The Dry Line.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_00: If you enjoyed this podcast, we have more coming.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_00: Next one is a thorough and comprehensive assessment of Frontier City as an adult.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_00: Spoiler.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_00: Please go.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_00: Frontier City hits so hard still.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_00: The Wildcats still has it.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_00: Go.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_00: Do it.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_00: This weekend.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_00: While it's still summer.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_00: Release the inner child back to the best place, our inner child.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_00: Again, this analogy's gone.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know where this analogy's going.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_00: Just go to Frontier City.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_00: And if you could, please drop us a review wherever you're listening to this.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_00: Those are invaluable and appreciated and subscribed to wherever you're listening.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_00: Until the next time, you'll know where to find us.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_00: The Powerhouse.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_00: Oklahoma where the wind comes sweeping down the plains.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_00: Oh God.