Flavor Of Oklahoma: Raven, The Oklahoma City Steakhouse, Putting Vegetables First

When most people visit a steakhouse, they expect seared perfection in every cut of meat.

At Raven in Oklahoma City, however, head chef Timothy Abell focuses on crafting the perfect vegetable dish for every steak he cooks.

Located off North Western Avenue and Northwest 42nd Street, Raven opened over the summer and occupies the same building where VZD's Restaurant & Bar once stood.

Although VZD's closed in 2023, Abell said he knew the location would be perfect for his vision.

"I was always kind of looking for space," Abell said. "When this iconic restaurant was available, I thought it was perfect."

With a wood-fire grill behind the old drugstore counter and fine wine lining the shelves, Abell's now uses rare vegetables to complete the guest experience.

One of his favorite ingredients, nasturtium, looks similar to a lettuce leaf, but with much more flavor.

"It's very interesting," Abell said. "I like to change, a lot, I think it's fun."

After growing up on the East Coast, and learning his craft in California, Abell has finally come to rest in Oklahoma but continues to change his menu.

"There's like five classics that anchor the menu, like our mac and cheese, which is a dish I've been doing for years," Abell said. "Then we have, like, our lamb chops, which we have all the time. I would say at least half the menu changes if not every couple weeks, you know, every month for sure."

Despite the restaurant's upscale, farm-to-table experience, Abell said he wants it to be a place people can come to relax.

"If you want to go hang out in like a really fun friend's living room, this is the place to be," Abell said.

All the food is cooked over wood or charcoal, and as many ingredients as possible are locally sourced.

"We have a menu that highlights vegetables first, but that's not because we're not using meat," Abell said "We cook with all beef tallow and we have lots of steaks on the menu, but our focus, and what's fun, is all the vegetables we get to cook that are locally grown here in Oklahoma."

Abell said his approach to prioritizing vegetables over meat comes from the number of possibilities you can experiment with.

"Once you learn how to cook meat, it's like really easy," Abell said. "A sunchoke is a completely different animal than a potato, and people try to make them do the same thing, but they don't. Certain vegetables play better with certain meats than other vegetables, so it's fun to, like, just try to see what am I going to get from the garden, and then what kind of fun are we gonna have?"

For those planning to visit Raven, Abell said the menu is designed for sharing.

To get the full experience, Abell says to order two to three items to get the full "Raven experience."