Food + Beverage

Cleveland County's Only Certified Neapolitan Pizzeria

Inside Volare, where a Naples-built oven, 900-degree heat, and 90-second bakes earn an international designation. Article by Jeff Weber | Photography by Provided by Volare Anthony Compagni flew to California to learn a pizza he already knew how to make. He spent a week with a master pizzaiolo who had taken second at the pizza Olympics in Italy, and by the fourth day he had stopped studying and started producing — pie after pie, stacked one on the next, until the motion became muscle memory. He...

Food + Beverage

Taste of Cleveland County

Article and Photography by Kylie Caldwell A handful of dishes and drinks in the county have earned their place as certifiable local institutions.Here's a taste of what makes Cleveland County's food scene one of a kind. APPETIZER   Graze Craze  The shop builds customizable grazing boards and boxes — meats, cheeses, fresh produce, and house-made dips and jams — assembled by staff the company calls "grazologists."  RAW BAR Hokkaido Scallops at Juliette Oyster Bar & Steakhouse Housed in...

Food + Beverage

Amy Cakes

Amy Cakes: Behind One of Norman's Longest-Running Bakeries Article by Kylie Caldwell | Photography by Lauren Beau Photography Amy Cullifer started decorating cakes at 19, working part-time at a grocery store bakery. It wasn't the plan — art and interior design was always the original passion — but the job became something else entirely. "This is my creative outlet," she said in discovery of that early job. "And then the passion for baking came with it." She and her husband, Mike, later moved...

Life + Culture

Coaches Corner: Skip Johnson

Article by Kylie Caldwell | Photography by Whitney Stilwell It's been a big summer for OU baseball coach Skip Johnson, fresh off leading the Sooners to the College World Series title. A national title, a grandbaby, a sandwich named in his honor- the coach's summer had a little everything. At Midway Deli near campus, there's a sandwich called the Skip. It's been official since June, the same month Oklahoma baseball won its first national title in over thirty years, and the same month Johnson...

Professional Services

Rockwell Holidays on Main Street

In a Norman private studio, families spend twenty minutes in true Christmas spirit. Article by Jeff Weber | Photography by Whitney Stilwell For the past seven years, photographer Whitney Stilwell has run The Santa Experience out of Red Stiletto Studios in downtown Norman: a private, “storybook-style” take on the traditional Santa photo session. She traces the idea to Norman Rockwell, and to his habit of finding the meaningful thing inside the ordinary one. There is an obvious joke available...

Finance + Legal Services

Built and Bred

The county just stopped competing with itself. Article by Jeff Weber For years, the map told a smaller story. Norman ran its own economic development. Moore ran its own. Noble, Lexington, and Slaughterville chased what they could. Then the region made a quiet decision that is beginning to reshape everything. That decision has a name. This year, the Norman Economic Development Coalition became the  Cleveland County Economic Development Coalition  — a rebrand that is really a complete rethink...

Sports + Recreation

Coaches Corner: Nick Crowell

Ten years in, OU tennis coach has made Norman home. Article and Photography by Kylie Caldwell Nick Crowell has been head coach of Oklahoma men's tennis for ten years, and Norman feels like home now, not somewhere he moved to. This is how he got here — and why he's staying. Red River Roots Crowell grew up in Amarillo, where grit was a requirement. His father — self-taught and the club's longtime tennis director — put a racquet in his hand. "A lot of what I've learned has come from him,"...

Life + Culture

From the Editor

Introducing Kylie Caldwell — OU senior, Dallas native but Sooner for life. Article and Photography by Kylie Caldwell Hi, Cleveland County. I'm Kylie- and of this issue, your new editor. Style has never been small talk to me; it's everyone's first impression, something we all participate in daily. So this felt like the natural place to begin.  If there's a person, or story I should know, tell me. I want to tell your stories-I’m so glad you’re here.  

Home + Design

Style, Room by Room

Style has a floor plan too. Article by Kylie Caldwell | Photography by Urban Kitchens For 27 years, Urban Kitchens has been quietly shaping some of the metro's most well-designed homes; including plenty right here in Cleveland County. Founder Jo Meacham, who holds a master's in architecture and historic preservation from OU, built the company on one idea: a kitchen should complement the house it lives in, not fight it. That philosophy started with her own background in historic preservation...

Shopping

Cleveland County's Handbag Headquarters

Handbags with a hometown. Article by Kylie Caldwell | Photography by Cayman's Cayman's has anchored Carriage Plaza Shopping Center on West Main Street for decades, carrying women's and men's clothing alongside home décor, fine jewelry, cosmetics, and fragrance under one roof. One of the store's defining features is its collection of handbags, a standing gallery displayed alongside the jewelry case and clothing racks — giving the store a browsing experience that goes well past a single...