Features

Eat Street Tulsa

By Mvhiya James

December 10th, 2014

     

     Eat street hosted its third annual food truck festival in downtown Tulsa in the Blue Dome District. Compared to last year, simply by the layout of the trucks, we have had many more entries. As if you haven't already noticed this year, Tulsa's food truck industry is growing rapidly! 

   This year, there were 30 trucks in attendance! That is double the attendance from last years event. And it might have been a chilly night, but the streets were packed. Eat street ran from 11am to 11pm equipped with a kid zone, performing stage with live music, and a food truck challenge to see which truck was serving up the best munchies. 

     From trucks ranging from chef created food like Lone Wolf's Ban Mi fries to people who are just really really good at making scrumptious concoctions from our personal favorites like the Dog House and their hot dogs that make you feel like you're in the baseball field. 

     As you walked the streets you could smell foods that reached around the globe varying from American, Mediterranean, Greek, Italian, Japanese, French, Mexican, Vietnamese, and many other creations that even at times fuse these tastes together. But not to worry, there was plenty there to also satisfy your sweet tooth like gourmet doughnuts, to cupcakes, and even kettle corn. 

   As always Eat Street Tulsa had plenty to offer. As always, it is better enjoyed with friends who just like me, want to eat it all; and we do. Eat Street Tulsa is the perfect event for any foodie out there wanting to explore your tastebuds. 

   

Photos by: Mvhiya James

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Wanna Spoon?

By Mvhiya James

   Yes! That's right, this year, sweater weather means gelato. As we all know, the weather is beginning to get colder! Brr...at the same time, this seems to mean that everyone’s sweet-tooth starts to kick in, especially for ice-cream and especially with this month being October! Who is excited for Halloween next week? I sure am! That being said, I have jumped on the sweet-tooth bandwagon with both feet. I’m going to let you in on my new favorite place in Tulsa; a little gelato stand called STG. 

Photo by Mvhiya James and friends.

    STG stands for Specialita Tradizionale Garantita, which when translated means “Specialty & Tradition, Guaranteed.” STG is another one of Andolini’s Pizzeria’s masterminded establishments. As most may already know, Andolini’s takes pride on holding high standards to how their food meets Italian tradition in processes and taste. Just this May, the two brothers and owners, Mike and John Bausch, visited Italy where they learned for themselves just how to make gelato. These two never go to just any gelato shop. They learn from those who had learned from their grandfathers, who had learned it from their grandfathers, and so forth. All of Andolini’s establishments display a real sense of authenticity.

    Just a peek at their ever changing delicious flavors of gelato. 

    My two favorites are the salted caramel and biscoff! Photo by 

    Mvhiya James and friends

    
    What we all look for in any type of food is quality, quantity, and price, correct? Lets be honest, some of those points stand out more than others. When it comes to quality, STG keeps their fresh and handcrafted gelato for only two days, although it never seems to make it that long. You can rest assured that with each and every visit it is not only scrumptious, but most likely made merely hours before your hunger stepped through that door.

    You may be used to being able to eat 2 or even 3 scoops of Braums’ ice cream, plus a waffle cone, but at STG one scoop is all you really need, even though it is definitely not all you want. A small is 1 scoop, while a large is two. With a large you have the choice to get two different flavors and if you want to be a real gelato-head (yeah I just made that up) you can get all that in a waffle cone as well. A small costs about $4 and it goes up from there. I will not complain with the quality and quantity being as earlier demonstrated.

 

As you can see, these are the small-sized portions. Photo by

Mvhiya James and friends.

That’s not all, STG also offers sorbeto flavors! STG’s Sorbeto’s are non-dairy gelato so everyone is able to enjoy. Featured flavors are strawberry, Porter Peach, and mango. As you can see, there are plenty of flavors to choose from. And don’t be afraid to ask to taste every flavor, they love that we love their gelato!

    If you visit their Facebook page, Gelateria STG – Tulsa, you will see a wall of mouth-watering desserts just waiting to be eaten, but being an employee of Andolini’s, I am able to get the inside scoop on what is going on and the word is that, other than the smaller Gelateria located at 5233 S. Sheridan Rd., there is a larger STG Gelateria opening in the Blue Dome district in mid November with not only gelato, but also pizza! Yay!

   In conclusion, go to STG, you will not regret it!

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Summer in Bricktown
By Elizabeth Lord
October 22, 2014

    The heat is pulsing off the bricks and I am surrounded by people sounds and smells everywhere. I can see why the Thunder have made Bricktown their home. Between the crowds, the canals and all tantalizing sounds of fun things to do it's hard to believe that this is not the hottest neighborhood in a much larger city than one finds in Oklahoma.

    My first visit to Bricktown this year found me at TapWerks Ale House. It houses a wall of taps that rivals the best of beer bars, and a list of bottled beers that made me giddy before the first sip. Once my friends arrived we wandered over to the Dollhouse. This burlesque club had us curious and a little nervous that we would be walking into an expensive strip club, but we walked into a very different scene than any of us were prepared for. A small group of dancers in lingerie took the stage and suddenly I could swear I had walked into PG13 version of Glee. The stage may have been small but the whole place came to life with their dance number, and when it was over more dancers performed solo numbers throughout the evening on smaller scattered stages including aerial silks above the bar. Between the shows and dancing with good friends it was a night to remember.

    My next trip to Bricktown found me on a self-led walking tour with a friend. We explored various buffalo statues, fountains, hidden art tucked away in canals. We found a lovely bar called Whiskey Chicks that was just fancy enough without trying to hard. We found dueling pianos, and extravagant cupcakes at a place called Pinkitzel. 

    Oklahoma City may not be the largest city, but with Bricktown it hardly needs to be. My visits there this summer have made it clear that everything I like about New York or Paris can be found in one way, shape or form right in my own backyard.

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The Shadows of Liberty screening provided an unsettling look into the world of modern journalism

By Shea Stanford
October 29, 2014

    Tulsa Community College’s journalism and mass communications student organization hosted a review of the documentary Shadows of Liberty in the Center for Creativity event hall on Oct. 17. Our own Dr. Beverly Bailey, associate professor of journalism, mass communications, and digital media, was program coordinator for the event. 

    “The film explores the current state of the news media: censorship, cover-ups and corporate control,”
wrote Bailey.

    After the screening a panel made up of This Land Press managing editor Holly Wall, assistant professor of journalism and broadcasting Ed Taylor, and film representative Debra Brown discussed the movie and answered questions. 

    Bailey introduced the movie and the panel.

    “All of the issues discussed in this film trickle down to local media as well. The fact that we all rely on advertising is a huge problem for the industry because for us to continue to do the work that we do, we need money. Part of our intention with This Land Press was to prove that you can. That people will care enough about journalism, about these types of stories, to pay for them, and we have not yet been able to prove that,” Wall stated.

    Advertising is widely accepted as a sort of antithesis of the modern day journalist. Those who not only work in the field of journalism, but are passionate about “these types of stories,” meaning news with unadulterated and relevant information about the world around us, find the subject matter within the film to be utterly detestable. 

    “I wish I could tell you that everything in that movie was untrue, but it’s not. It is all very true.  It should piss you off because it does me. I can remember not too long ago there were only three networks: NBC, ABC, and CBS. On “The West Wing” there were reporters that challenged presidents. Like they said, now, if you try to challenge, you won’t be invited back to the party and it’s all very scripted, as George Bush didn’t hide it well when he faked that it wasn’t,” Taylor said.

    “When newspapers were founded they were so critical to society that everyone subscribed and read them. They had to. It was the only way you could know what was happening. When advertising was introduced it was only because everyone was reading the newspaper, and so if you want to tell somebody something, that was how you did it and it switched now. Companies start media organizations for the sole purpose of advertising. We have so many media outlets and so little information,” explained Wall.

    The Shadows of Liberty provides raw insight into the field of journalism that can be unsettling and off-putting to anyone considering entering the film. For those already committed to journalism it is horrifying, but worth the time it takes to watch. Journalists need to be aware of the ever-changing nature of their field and how important it is to protect oneself because media companies will not do it for you.