MAYO HOTEL, Reborn.....

[custosnox]

And now that Brit is on her plane heading out, I can say yes, her and the other performers did get the honor of staying at the Mayo Hotel after all these years.  I wish I could report as to her stay there, but unfortunatly I did not get to talk to anyone that stayed there (The rest of the crew stayed at Crown Plaza).  However, while waiting on one of the late arivals at the airport, I was speaking to a couple of elderly women working in the Information booth.  I chanced on one of them straitening up the Oklahoma Magazine with the story on the cover, and got to talking to them about it.  Both were daughters of oilmen, and were delighted to know that the Grand Lady is being brought back to life, and they shared some of their memories with me.  I hope the Mayo can bridge many generation gaps in the years to come.

[cannon_fodder]

It will be cool if the Mayo becomes "the" place again.  I expect it will for most people on tour, but others probably prefer a routine.  Not that Brittany particularly excites me, if I wanted to see an out of shape donkey stroll around the stage lip syncing and acting like a whore I'd go to more karaoke nights  (I kid, but only kinda).   

[custosnox]

It will be cool if the Mayo becomes "the" place again.  I expect it will for most people on tour, but others probably prefer a routine.  Not that Brittany particularly excites me, if I wanted to see an out of shape donkey stroll around the stage lip syncing and acting like a whore I'd go to more karaoke nights  (I kid, but only kinda).   

I'm not a Brittany fan myself.  I was joking with some of the folks there that I DID know a couple of her songs, once I heard a couple from my time that she had redone.  But she does put on a decent show with a 15 minute circus and what not.  Too bad there were a lot of empty seats.

[SXSW]

It will be cool if the Mayo becomes "the" place again.  I expect it will for most people on tour, but others probably prefer a routine.  Not that Brittany particularly excites me, if I wanted to see an out of shape donkey stroll around the stage lip syncing and acting like a whore I'd go to more karaoke nights  (I kid, but only kinda).   

It appears headed in that direction.  Can't wait for the grand opening.

[carltonplace]

I was in the downtown tag agency yesterday and overheard another patron give their address as: "115 W 5th"...I yelled out "you live in the Mayo" (apparently I am that guy)and he was so excited to talk about how much he loves living there.

After I left I walked down 5th street I stopped and spoke...to...a doorman at the Mayo! I'm stunned by how much I love having this building alive again.

[Conan71]

I was in the downtown tag agency yesterday and overheard another patron give their address as: "115 W 5th"...I yelled out "you live in the Mayo" (apparently I am that guy)and he was so excited to talk about how much he loves living there.

After I left I walked down 5th street I stopped and spoke...to...a doorman at the Mayo! I'm stunned by how much I love having this building alive again.

Are you sure the fellow at the tag agency wasn't one of the Carpenter Union "contract" workers? 

[TheTed]

Anybody know if the bar is open yet? Looked pretty sweet from the pictures. I assume it's separate from the restaurant.

[PonderInc]

It's a bar/restaurant...so not separate.  According to Macy Snyder, they purposely wanted great food with a more casual atmosphere...because they want everyone to feel comfortable and come for lunch, happy hour, dinner, late night, etc. 

You'll notice that they left the steel beams exposed b/c of the cool rivets.  The beams that were used to construct the Mayo were originally intended for a bridge somewhere.  When the bridge funding fell through, the Mayo folks bought the steel and used it for the hotel.  You'll also note some other industrial steel "decor."  This is from the original boiler that they salvaged from the basement.  Again, cool rivets exposed.  Nice.)

Here's an article from the Tulsa Business Journal about the restaurant.

http://www.tulsabusiness.com/article.asp?aID=963973.2331349.644969.286111.81511.601&page=1

TBJ Article   

Bringing the Glory Back
Natasha Ball
9/12/2009

Hand-cut steaks, housemade pate, chicken fried steak and handcrafted chocolate desserts. Each of these foodie delights will be available at the renewed Mayo Hotel, in downtown Tulsa at Fifth Street and Cheyenne Avenue.
The executive chef at the reborn Mayo is Neall Bailey, who comes to Tulsa from the Willard Hotel in Washington D.C. Bailey, who has worked with Michelin-starred chefs in kitchens from Switzerland to Italy to New Orleans, along with a staff hired away from some of the most prestigious hotels and event centers in the country, will bring on the edibles as the hotel says to Tulsa, "Hello again – no, really, we mean it this time."

Food lovers can get their first taste of what chef Bailey has to offer late this month when the doors of Trula, the fine dining restaurant still under construction on the southwest side of the ground floor of the boutique hotel, open to the public.

Kitchen construction is in the final phases. The chandeliers are hung, the walls are half-painted and the bar will be outfitted with granite within the next few days.

The restaurant was named for Trula Austin, a fixture in the hotel during its heyday and the resident who, for longer than any other Mayo dweller, lived in the hotel, for a total of about 25 years.

The menu, under construction since early July, is being built around food that Bailey promised would be "accessible, locally driven and reasonably priced."

"We're buying beef from local ranchers and pork and chicken from nearby farmers. Tulsa's Farrell Family Bread will supply us with their artisan bread. We'll smoke our own salmon and make our own pasta and more in-house. We want control of the food from start to finish. We're going to take all this really good stuff and make it shine," Bailey said.

The menu will star dishes from the annals of Oklahoma cuisine, from burgers and chicken fried steak to ribeyes, beef tenderloin and braised short ribs, all dressed up and ready to impress, as any meeting at the Mayo would require. The restaurant will be open for lunch and dinner and will offer breakfast plates as well.

The 2,000-SF space, sporting an urban, industrial-chic design starring artifacts of the rescued Mayo (including a boiler plate integrated into the bar and dining room), will seat about 80, with more seating on the patio outside. Mark Hawley of Tulsa-based Hawley & Co., a contemporary furniture design shop, drew up the design for the restaurant.

Pricing the menu pricing was a balancing act of knowing and aiming to improve on what competitors are charging and the going rate for ingredients like ranch-cut beef untreated with hormones or antibiotics.

"That stuff comes at a premium," Bailey said. "It's expensive just for us to buy it. By the same token, we have several dinners priced $15-20, as well as several shared plates. We'll have daily specials, too."

Food service at the Mayo won't stop at Trula. Guests in any of the 102 suites at the Mayo will be able to keep their full kitchens dark and cool and order room service from a menu distilled from the restaurant instead. Room service will be ready to go when the hotel opens mid-month.

One of the many perks of residing in one of the 76 lofts in the Mayo, along with housekeeping, valet laundry and personal shopping services, will be the freedom to live as a hotel guest, putting in orders for room service alongside the more temporary Mayo inhabitants.

The first nuptials to take place in the 16th-floor Crystal Ballroom since its renovation, an event for 300 scheduled for Oct. 3, will mark the debut of banquet and special event food service at the Mayo. The special event portion of the food service operation will serve as the icing on the cake in the nine wedding and meeting spaces offered at the Mayo, which accommodate up to 400 guests.

"This is a world-class offer," Bailey said. "You could transfer the ballroom to anywhere in the world and it'd stand easily on its own. This is going to be the best hotel in the state."

"When I saw that ballroom, I was convinced. I was on my way to Tulsa," he added. "I grew up in Vancouver, and Tulsa is very much like Vancouver when I was a kid. It's like a big city with all the amenities, but with that small-town feel. People wave and say hello here. In D.C., it's all about the hustle and bustle. I feel more at home here."

"Because of its location, the Willard Hotel was tied in with the development not just of Washington D.C., but with the development of the nation as a whole," Bailey said. "The Mayo Hotel is just as integral to Tulsa."

The food services staff at the Mayo will be comprised of some familiar faces, including that of Stephen Howard, principal at local sweet shop Kokoa Chocolatier. He was awarded the contract for pastries and desserts at the Mayo Hotel and at Trula.
"It's great for me; I'm a pastry guy. This move will allow my company to focus on pastry and chocolate. I had fun doing food on Brookside, but I'm ready to get back to pastry," Howard said.

"We'll come up with some signature, show-stopper desserts that are all Mayo, all Stephen – a true partnership," Bailey said. "His desserts are excellent. I've eaten desserts all over the world, but I was blown away when I went to KoKoa. He is a master at what he does."

The Brookside location of KoKoa closed earlier this summer. Howard will be building and baking his desserts for the Mayo from the downtown location of KoKoa Chocolatier at 510 S. Boston Ave.

For the dessert menu at the Mayo, Howard is in the mood for "lots of seasonal fruit, and lots of chocolate."

"The Mayo was quality," Howard said. "It was beautiful statement of what Tulsa is all about, especially in its glory days. For Kokoa to be a part of that is thrilling."

The Mayo Hotel, purchased for $250,000 in 2001 by the Snyder family, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The renovation project was awarded funding from the Vision 2025 initiative, passed by voters in 2003. The Mayo Hotel is a member of Summit Hotels & Resorts, as well as the Historic Hotels of America, a National Trust for Historic Preservation distinction.

[custosnox]

The steel beams

[carltonplace]

I ate at Trula's on Staurday for lunch (after my coffee fix at Topeka). The restaurant is stunning.

[Townsend]

I ate at Trula's on Staurday for lunch (after my coffee fix at Topeka). The restaurant is stunning.

some picture assist

[PonderInc]

I went to a reception last week in the Mayo Hotel penthouse.  Fantastic!  Classy, beautifully decorated, great drinks/appetizers, awesome views from the roof (we saw a stunning sunset over the river) terrific customer service from the staff.  (I love how everyone I've met who works for the Mayo is proud to be a part of history.  They have such fondness for the building and respect for its past.)

Also excited to see the Mayo rooftop sign shining over downtown Tulsa.

Hard to believe how close we were to losing this Tulsa treasure.  Thanks again to the Snyder family for their dedication, passion and sensitivity in saving and restoring this grand old piece of Tulsa.  (Not just a building, but a part of us.  A place where the shared memories of a community come together.  Ask any Tulsan who was alive when the Mayo was in its heyday, and listen to their stories: proms, weddings, celebrations, honeymoons, famous visitors, special memories...treasures.)

[Hoss]

I went to a reception last week in the Mayo Hotel penthouse.  Fantastic!  Classy, beautifully decorated, great drinks/appetizers, awesome views from the roof (we saw a stunning sunset over the river) terrific customer service from the staff.  (I love how everyone I've met who works for the Mayo is proud to be a part of history.  They have such fondness for the building and respect for its past.)

Also excited to see the Mayo rooftop sign shining over downtown Tulsa.

Hard to believe how close we were to losing this Tulsa treasure.  Thanks again to the Snyder family for their dedication, passion and sensitivity in saving and restoring this grand old piece of Tulsa.  (Not just a building, but a part of us.  A place where the shared memories of a community come together.  Ask any Tulsan who was alive when the Mayo was in its heyday, and listen to their stories: proms, weddings, celebrations, honeymoons, famous visitors, special memories...treasures.)

I noticed the sign lit up tonight on my way back to my car after the hockey game.  I felt a little swell of pride to see the neon light for the Mayo again.

[custosnox]

I noticed the sign lit up tonight on my way back to my car after the hockey game.  I felt a little swell of pride to see the neon light for the Mayo again.

I saw something on the tv with it lit up.  I just happened to look up when it was on screen, still have no idea what it was about lol.

[TulsaSooner]

Are there any webcams or anything that might show the sign?  I have never seen it lighted.