Sure, life in central Oklahoma is usually chill (meaning laid back, not the weather! LOL), and most days you’ll find us in jeans or shorts and a T-shirt. Meals tend to be informal affairs, with burgers, hotdogs, sandwiches, tacos and other simple fare the norm. But sometimes, one gets a hankering for something a little more, well, fancy, for lack of a better word.
Both kinds of dining—no-fuss, no fancy dress required, and fine dining at its best—are available in Selah (SelahOK.com), a new urbanism community located south of Norman off Highway 9.
Pryor’s Pizza Kitchen (PryorsPizza.com), a former Norman favorite, serves a diverse selection of seriously delicious “pies” (pizzas), along with appetizers, salads and pastas at its current location, nestled in the heart of Selah. (We’ve featured this establishment in prior issues.) Reservations aren’t required to eat at this family-friendly restaurant, with the exception of the firepit areas.
Selah founders Brett and Tina Adkins added what has proven to be a popular offering—Wine Dinners—last October at another of this unique community’s venues: The Reserve at Selah (ReserveatSelah.com), a versatile space with a 1930s Speakeasy flair and an elegance designed to host celebrations that transcend expectations.
Overseeing both restaurants is “Chef Keenan” (aka Keenan Hersey), who recently took time out of his busy schedule to discuss The Reserve’s new Wine Dinners, which this month celebrates its one-year anniversary.
Offered once a month on Wednesday evenings, the Wine Dinners at The Reserve feature a four-course, themed meal expertly curated with four wines, selected by himself and Erica Vasquez, the chef at Sip at Selah coffee shop. Erica also creates the desserts served at the dinners. Typically, 50 to 55 people sign up for each dinner.
Keenan said that probably the most popular dish he has created for these dinners is the Chilean sea bass. “By the time the first 10 plates went out, the servers were already being asked if seconds were available,” he recalled, laughing.
All dishes are made from scratch, much of it from ingredients sourced locally and personally selected by Keenan. “These dinner and wine gatherings are done with love,” Keenan said, noting that they echo Selah’s overall mission of creating a sense of community.
"Our success with the gourmet paired wine and bourbon dinners at The Reserve at Selah is a testament to the collaborative spirit of our team, especially under the leadership of Chef Keenan and Chef Erica,” Brett and Tina Adkins said. “Their passion and expertise have not only fueled monumental growth but also fostered a loyal following of returning patrons who appreciate the unique environment offered in our 1930s-inspired atmosphere and experience.”
“Food is something that will always bring people together,” Keenan said. “They are like the hinges on the door; a door doesn’t work without something to anchor it. This is what drives (Selah founders) Brett and Tina, and what drives me as well. In a world that is so divisive, food brings people together.”
For more information on the Wine Dinners and for reservations, call 405.267.4663.
About Chef Keenan
Before coming to Selah to manage Pryor’s Pizza Kitchen (and before the launch of the Wine Dinners at The Reserve), Keenan helped open the original Pryor’s Pizza Kitchen in downtown Norman. After the COVID-19 pandemic, the Adkins seized the opportunity to move Pryor’s to Selah, integrating it into their community vision. Keenan then helped shape Pryor’s into its current form.
Early in his career, a now more mellow Keenan employed a more intense celebrity restaurateur/chef “Gordon Ramsay” persona in his capacity as a trainer of restaurant managers through Applecreek, the umbrella LLC under which Applebee’s and Up The Creek operated. “I started with them in my early 20s and worked there for six years. I opened four restaurants before I was legal to drink a beer,” he recalled, chuckling.
Atlanta was home base for Keenan for many years, though he twice relocated to Tulsa, and finally Norman. He managed Applecreek at 71st and Memorial, then Fire Rock Grill & Bar, across from the Woodland Hills Mall on Memorial. When the owner closed the latter, he returned to Atlanta, later returning to T-Town to open Utica Square Restaurant, a spin-off of B.G.B. (Brownies Gourmet Burgers), Tulsa’s iconic classic ‘50s diner.
For a while, he also owned a non-food-related business in Atlanta, Spectrum Technology, one of the largest in the southeast region.
“But it seemed like whenever I ventured away from food, something brought me back to it. I believe it’s my calling.”
“Food is something that will always bring people together. They are like the hinges on the door; a door doesn’t work without something to anchor it."