Rococo to Open New Location
Bruce Rinehart’s Rococo Restaurant and Fine Wine is no longer an island on 28th and Penn. The owner-chef confirmed today that he’s signed a lease at Northpark Mall and will open a second Rococo location there in the fall.
The new Rococo will take over the space that’s been home to a number of restaurants over the years, most recently Poblano Grill. The space has been vacant since Poblano moved a few blocks north up May Ave. in February of 2009. Before that, the space was occupied by Tommy’s Italian Grill and Interurban.
The original Rococo location is at 2824 N Penn, in the space some historic neighborhoods and Oklahoma City University where Tony’s Italian Specialties reigned for many years.
Rinehart, who has literally worked coast-to-coast as a chef, settled in Oklahoma City eight years ago. Rococo offers a broad menu, offering steaks, seafood and pasta dishes. It also features an affordable lunch menu beset with sandwiches, burgers and smaller pasta dishes.
While the grinders are great, the burgers are a hidden gem and the steaks and pasta are prepared with precision and care, the foundation of the restaurant is the crab cake. Rinehart spent many years with Legal Seafoods of Boston, working as a regional chief for the Maryland area Legal Seafood restaurants. Bottom line, the man knows crabcakes and that means he doesn’t scrimp, using only lump meat crab from Maryland crustaceans.
Rococo’s crabcake sets the standard.
Just as the crabcake is begining of the journey with Rinehart, the Midtownish location is the begining of Rococo’s journey in Oklahoma City.
