<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/4697532538/" title="The Brook by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr"><img alt="The Brook" height="332" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4058/4697532538_be52449816.jpg" width="500" /></a></div><br />You know how when fall and winter start to come around that you notice you crave things like chicken pot pie and bread pudding and generally heavy, food-for-the-soul-type stuff? <br /><br />And how when spring arrives the first thing everyone wants is anything besides chicken pot pie and bread pudding? And how you feel like if you have to eat another piece of citrus you might just cry your eyes out? You need real fruit, by George! <br /><br />Well, me, too. And when summer (and 90-plus percent humidity) is in the air, I get to craving one thing.<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/4696900145/" title="The Brook by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr"><img alt="The Brook" height="332" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1274/4696900145_427349d114.jpg" width="500" /></a></div><br />And that's macaroni and cheese with some buffalo chicken tenders from&nbsp;<a href="http://www.brookrestaurant.com/">Brook on Brookside</a>, known by us locals as "The Brook."<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/4697533226/" title="The Brook by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr"><img alt="The Brook" height="500" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1303/4697533226_daff7d47a9.jpg" width="332" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/4697531622/" title="The Brook by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr"><img alt="The Brook" height="332" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4034/4697531622_1760ca6d25.jpg" width="500" /></a></div><br />I know it seems like an unlikely choice for summer. It's not a light meal, by any means, and it's not anything that's going to cool a person from the intense Oklahoma heat from the inside out. <br /><br />But, to me, it's bright and festive like summer, with a little spiciness to boot. And it also happens to be the best macaroni and cheese and buffalo chicken I ever had, anywhere. Including my grandma's house. <br /><br />Sorry, grandma. I love your homemade mac-and-cheese, but it's just not as creamy or as decadent or as addictive as the macaroni and cheese from The Brook. Beyond that, I can't explain my obsession. It just is. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/4696900469/" title="The Brook by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr"><img alt="The Brook" height="332" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4060/4696900469_bb8675e9aa.jpg" width="500" /></a></div><br />And so I accept it. With a knife and with a fork. And sometimes a bib. <br /><br />Because it is.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/4697532218/" title="The Brook by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr"><img alt="The Brook" height="332" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4034/4697532218_3d628fec94.jpg" width="500" /></a></div><br />That it's all served in one of the most interesting, independently-owned restaurants in Tulsa just adds to the awesomeness. See, the Brook, in all of its doo-wop splendor, was a popular movie theatre back in its first life. Now, it's one of the most happening restaurants on Brookside, open for lunch and dinner and into the night for the crowd that knows how to get their bar hop on.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/4696900469/" title="The Brook by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr"><img alt="The Brook" height="332" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4060/4696900469_bb8675e9aa.jpg" width="500" /></a></div><br />Macaroni and cheese and buffalo chicken tenders in an old moviehouse on a historic and hip bar-and-restaurant strip to help kick off summer 2010? Remind me - how far would I have to drive before I found an experience that could compare to this? All the way around the globe and back to Brookside, right?<br /><br />Yeah. That's what I thought.<br /><br /><b>The Brook</b><br />3401 S. Peoria Ave. <br /><a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/58/630195/restaurant/Brookside/The-Brook-Tulsa"><img alt="The Brook on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/link/630195/minilink.gif" style="border: none; height: 36px; width: 130px;" /></a>