What the Ale: NEFF Brewing celebrates two years with awards
Oklahoma’s only gluten-free brewery, NEFF Brewing, is celebrating two years of operation with a wider distribution and state and national awards.
NEFF Brewing CEO and head brewer Jonathan Neff holds Ignition Switch, which won a bronze medal in the Belgian pale ale category at the U.S. Open Beer Championship, a nationwide beer competition.
And the best reward for Jonathan Neff, head brewer and CEO of NEFF Brewing, is that the awards prove his beers are standing up to gluten beers.
"We are really proud to announce our Raspberry Pride took home a gold medal in the fruit beer category, and we also were notified that our Ignition Switch took another bronze medal in the 2020 U.S. Open Craft Beer Championship and that being a nationwide competition with thousands and thousands of entries from breweries all over the U.S., it meant a whole, whole lot to us to take home a medal in that competition with our gluten-free beer,” Neff said.
Ignition Switch won a bronze medal in the Belgian pale ale category at the U.S. Open Beer Championship, a nationwide beer competition.
“And we didn’t submit it as a gluten-free beer. It was against all other Belgian ales submitted from all the other breweries in the U.S. and that just means a lot to us.”
His gluten-free beers also recently won in Oklahoma competitions in the same categories as gluten beers.
“I am excited and proud to talk about these three beers right here, our Apollo Blonde Ale; Ignition Switch, a Belgian pale ale; and Raspberry Pride, our fruited sour golden ale. All three of these beers this year have taken home medals at a couple of different beer competitions, and they were competing against regular barley beer. And that means a lot to us because as gluten-free brewers, we want our beer to be seen as equal to other craft beer on the market and not as a product that is inherently missing something and missing flavor,” Neff said.
“These beers taste just as good or better than other beers on the market. And we are just so proud to have taken home medals. As a professional brewer, our Apollo Blonde Ale recently took a bronze medal at the inaugural Oklahoma Craft Beer Awards in the blonde ale category, our Ignition Switch also took bronze in Belgium, French-style ale in the inaugural Oklahoma craft beer award.”
Exterior of NEFF Brewing, 321 S. Frankfort on Dec. 1, 2021.
The brewhouse, taproom and restaurant are housed in a historic building at 321 S. Frankfort Ave. known as The Dock. The building was a grocery store warehouse back in the ‘40s and ‘50s and sat empty for about 50 years. The Dock has a huge covered area that overlooks downtown Tulsa.
Craft beer is about inclusion. When Neff found out he had Celiac disease, he felt left out. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease that makes it difficult for the body to absorb nutrients into the bloodstream. Gluten, which is in some of the ingredients of beer, is the cause of the problem.
He wasn’t able to drink with his friends anymore. But with his background in chemistry and engineering and his love of beer, he decided he would brew something everyone could drink.
“A lot of people were being excluded from the craft beer scene, and that’s really why NEFF Brewing was founded. It’s the problem we wanted to solve. We wanted to bring everyone around the dinner table together. That is something that a lot of people couldn’t do before because they had food allergies of one or another. So here at NEFF Brewing, we are proud to say our beer is brewed for everyone. All of our flagship beers are free of all major allergens. We have a dedicated gluten-free kitchen that also works with other people’s allergens, and we do our best to be a very inclusive space,” Neff said.
“I couldn’t drink beer and I was stuck drinking, spirits or wine, you know, both of which I can enjoy, but I grew up drinking beer. That’s my drink of choice and to be excluded from that was really hard for me. So I decided if there are no good products on the market and I need to drink gluten-free, I’ve got to use my background in the hard sciences to try and produce some good gluten-free beers,” Neff said.
What separates NEFF from other breweries is that instead of using barley, wheat and rye to produce the beers, it uses millet, buckwheat rice and quinoa.
“These grains are naturally gluten-free, and through some new inventive mashing processes, we’ve been able to produce really good products, really good beer that still tastes like beer, even though it’s gluten-free,” Neff said.
After being open for only two years, and a lot of that time included pandemic, it is hard to grow your brand. NEFF Brewing is doing that though. It is now distributing statewide in Kansas.
Bowl foods: Take comfort with these 14 hot dishes at Tulsa-area restaurants
Bowl foods: Take comfort with these 14 hot dishes at Tulsa-area restaurants
Kai Vietnamese Cuisine
Pho
Kai Vietnamese, 201 W. Fifth St.
Pho, the fragrant broth of rice noodles served with bean sprouts and herbs, is about as close to a national dish as Vietnam has. There are a number of local restaurants that offer fine examples of this dish, but we have a fondness for the pho at Kai Vietnamese.
One reason is that, while condiments such as hoisin, chili and fish sauce are available, the pho at Kai needs no such augmentation. The broth is rich, unctuous and deeply flavored. A bowl makes a full meal, and depending upon the proteins selected, costs $10-$12.
Lassalle's
Crawfish étouffée
Lassalle’s, 15 W. Fifth St.
The word étouffée literally means “smothered” — which, in Cajun and Creole cooking, is what is done when shellfish of some sort is stewed in a sauce usually including onion, celery, bell pepper and tomato, that is served over rice. Lassalle’s version is about as good as can be had outside of New Orleans. It’s available on its own ($5.25-$8.25), or as a side for one of the restaurant’s po’boy or muffuletta sandwiches.
French Hen
French onion soup
The French Hen, 314 E. Second St.
Onion soup may be something of a staple, but at the French Hen, it’s elevated to comfort-food art. Loads of onions are caramelized into buttery softness that contrast with the sharpness of the slices of brie crisscrossed over a thin but still toothsome crostini.
Ron's Hamburgers & Chili
Frito chili pie
Ron’s Hamburgers & Chili, multiple locations
There’s a good reason why Ron’s includes “& Chili” in its name — patrons have been flocking to Ron’s for 45 years to enjoy this award-winning concoction. It’s available by itself, poured over burgers and fries, but really the best way to have Ron’s chili is in the Frito chili pie, ladled over a bed of corn chips and topped with cheese ($6).
Roppongi
Pork belly ramen
Roppongi, 601 S. Boston Ave.
If there are still those who believe ramen begins and ends with those packets of desiccated noodles that can be found in any college dorm, the ramen at Roppongi will come as a revelation.
It offers several varieties, but we remain partial to the pork belly, for its simplicity — a spiral of all-natural pork belly, shiitake mushrooms, scallions and a soft-cooked egg in a velvety shoyu broth.
Flavors of Louisiana
Chicken and sausage gumbo
Flavors of Louisiana, 5800 S. Lewis Ave.
Gumbo starts with a roux — a paste of flour and fat that is painstakingly browned to create the base of this stew’s unique flavor. When it’s done well, as it’s done at Flavors of Louisiana, the broth is tasty enough to drink by itself. But this gumbo is also loaded with moist, tender chicken and pungent andouille sausage, served over rice and accompanied by slices of garlic bread. It’s available as a side ($4.99) or as an entree ($4.75-$10.50).
Brownie's Hamburger Stand
Beans and cornbread
Brownie’s Hamburger Stand, 2130 S. Harvard Ave.
If there was a hall of fame for old-school comfort food, beans and cornbread should be inducted.
Brownie’s Hamburger Stand is one of the oldest burger joints in Tulsa. Many guests choose to wash down their burgers with homemade root beer.
But Brownie’s also is a place where you can belly up to a table and dive into a bowl of beans. Navy beans and cornbread can be yours for $4.99. Other every-day bowl options at Brownie’s include stew and chili.
The Spudder
Tomato soup
The Spudder, 6536 E. 50th St.
You know a restaurant takes pride in a menu item when it’s listed as “Spudder’s famous tomato soup.”
In 2015, the Tulsa World wrote this about it: “Perhaps you’ve been to Tulsa’s well-known steakhouse and ordered up your meal that comes with the delicious potato soup as a side dish. But consider substituting the tomato soup and you may never go back again. It’s that tasty.”
The Spudder’s famous tomato soup is $6.99 as an appetizer or $4.50 to sub with dinner. The Spudder is open for dinner only — 5-9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 5-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. You can make reservations online at thespudder.com. To make reservations after 5 p.m. for the same day, call the restaurant at 918-665-1416.
White River Fish Market
Red beans and rice
White River Fish Market, 1708 N. Sheridan Road; 1105 E. Kenosha Ave., Broken Arrow
White River may be famous for its seafood dinners, from fried catfish to broiled scallops, but it also does an excellent job with two staples of New Orleans cuisine. The White River gumbo is good, but the red beans and rice are, in our opinion, some of the best in town, with beans that have the right balance of firmness and creaminess, in a rich roux liberally studded with spicy smoked sausage. A cup, which serves as a fine appetizer portion, is $5.95, while the meal-in-itself bowl is $8.95.
Kai Burmese Cuisine
Myi- oo meeshi
Kai Burmese cuisine, 6912 S. Lewis Ave.
The cuisine of Burma, or Myanmar, is influenced by its southeast Asian neighbors India, Bangladesh, China, Laos and Thailand, though it has its own identity that is difficult to describe but easy to appreciate.
Take, for example, the dish called myi- oo meeshi ($7.99), which on the menu is simply described as “noodles served in a heavy clay pot.” What one receives in said pot is seafood stew thick with shrimp, white fish, udon noodles, meatballs, Chinese cabbage, sausage, green peas, onions and snow peas in a spicy-hot sauce, served steaming hot.
Ike's Chili
Chili mac
Ike’s Chili, 1503 E. 11th St.
Chili and macaroni and cheese are two linchpins of the comfort food continuum. Leave it to Ike’s, one of Tulsa’s longest-lived restaurants, to bring these two together in a distinctive way. Instead of simply stirring a scoop of pasta into chili and calling it good, Ike’s serves up a bowl with chili on one side and mac and cheese on the other. Simple yet genius. And depending on how big a portion you can put away, bowls of Ike’s chili mac range from $7.37 for a regular size to $16.59 for a triple.
Savoy Restaurant
Braised beef tips and noodles
Savoy Restaurant, 6033 S. Sheridan Road
Comfort food is the Savoy Restaurant’s stock in trade — gigantic cinnamon rolls, anyone? And their braised beef tips, steeped in rich gravy and served over homemade noodles, is comfort food in the extreme. Unfortunately, it’s only available as a special on Tuesdays. But if you can’t make Tuesday, one of the Savoy’s Wednesday specials is chicken and noodles. Each are $12.
Mondo's Ristorante Italian
Clam & Linguini
Mondo’s Ristorante Italian, 3410 S. Peoria Ave.
Mondo’s has been serving Tulsans Italian cuisine since 1969, and one of the dishes that has been a mainstay of the menu from the beginning is the Clam & Linguini.
The recipe was developed by founder Louis Aloisio’s grandfather and remains unchanged. Plump clams in a rich, buttery sauce are served atop a substantial portion of pasta. The lunch portion is $10.95; at dinner time, it’s $15.95, and comes with choice of soup or salad and garlic bread.
EnjoyaBowl
Southwestern Thai chicken nachos
EnjoyaBowl, 111 E. Reconciliation Way
This eatery on the north end of the Guthrie Green serves just about everything they make in bowls, from egg drop soup to smoothie bowls.
Most of the entrees have an Asian twist to them, such as the Southwestern Thai chicken nachos ($9), which is made up of chunks of fajita chicken topped with blend of peanut satay and green-chili white queso sauces, vegetables and the somewhat fiercely named “Boom-Boom Sauce,” all atop of bowl full of crispy fried wonton chips.
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Tulsa restaurateurs Nelson Rogers, Greg McGill remembered
Tom Gilbert
Chief Photographer
I joined the Tulsa World in 1988 after graduating from the University of Central Oklahoma. I lived in Saudi Arabia before graduating from Broken Arrow High School. I'm married to Karen Gilbert and have three grown children. Phone: 918-581-8349
