From Finance to Fine Dining: Transforming Tulsa's Summit Club

In this episode of Luxe League we're exploring the world of fine dining with Jared Jordan, the visionary behind the Summit Club of Tulsa. Jared offers a fascinating insider look into his journey, from waiting tables to managing a restaurant group, and now revitalizing the Summit Club. Don’t miss his insights on how he’s transforming luxury dining, blending elegant ballroom events, chic casual dining, and upscale culinary experiences across three distinct floors. 

You'll also find out about some of Jared's favorite local restaurants and how he balances fine dining with ethnic diversity and casual options to keep up with evolving food trends. Plus, hear about the high-profile visitors to the Summit Club, including an exciting wine dinner with Danica Patrick, and plans for club renovations to enhance member experiences. 

Transcript

Exploring Luxury Dining at Summit Club

Speaker 1 0:18

Hey guys . Chris Newell here with Deluxe Real Estate Team . I've got my partner Mike at Shierdma . We do make up the Lux Real Estate team at McGraw Realtors . Thanks for joining us . We're here at the Lux League podcast and we've got a very special guest Some of you might be able to see . We're in a pretty cool location today . Micah , why don't you lead us off and we'll get this thing rolling .

Speaker 2 0:39

Hi , micah Chiersma . I'm so excited for this podcast because not only is this a place that's near and dear to my husband and myself's heart , it's also our good friend , jared Jordan , who is the CEO of the Summit Club of Tulsa . We're super excited to sit down and learn more about the summit and more about you and , kind of you know , find out some cool things that we can tell Tulsa about the summit .

Speaker 3 1:03

I'm happy to be here . Thank you , guys for having me .

Speaker 2 1:05

Yeah , first thing before we get started Tulsa . Obviously we all love Tulsa . I'm not from here , chris is . You are an Oklahoma native . Tell us , other than the fantastic food and drinks at the summit , what is the place that you and your wife like to go to to kind of get away in Tulsa ?

Speaker 3 1:28

Probably Amelia's or Basque , One of those two . Those are probably my two favorite restaurants in town . So , um , it's also a place that's you can't see everybody across the dining room , and when we got to eat I always bump into people who are members here , people that I used to work with , so it's a little bit more private .

Speaker 2 1:42

Yeah , I love that .

Speaker 1 1:44

I've heard a lot of good things yeah .

Speaker 2 1:46

Oh my goodness , it's so good for sure .

Speaker 1 1:49

So we're here at Summit Club . Obviously , as those of you watching can see , this place is , I mean , the epitome of luxury here in Tulsa , it seems , and can you highlight some of the special you know ? For those of you that don't know , there's three levels of greatness here . Tell us some of your favorite pieces of the club , maybe what the different areas are and what all you guys offer here as a social club Sure , Extremely fine dining , I will say .

Speaker 3 2:20

So we occupy the top three floors of the building . The 30th floor is our ballroom and kind of our event space . Um , we do a lot of weddings , rehearsal dinners , things like that on that floor . Um , the 31st floor the one below us uh , we opened that in 2020 , uh , while we were doing construction during the pandemic , um , and that was our new casual concept called 31 kitchen .

Speaker 3 2:43

Um , we had always been kind of into fine dining but didn't have a place to be a little bit more laid back , and as downtown kind of was growing and getting bigger and bigger , people needed a place where they could go at the club , but they didn't have to be as dressed up . You know you don't want to wear a suit and tie to a BOK Center show or a Drillers game . So Chef Bill came up with a upscale casual concept and it's just been a huge hit . So I love the 31st floor . It's got a lot of neat little rooms , the cigar rooms located on that floor . The menu changes quite a bit , so there's always a lot of variety there . It's also the floor on which we do live music on Friday nights and if you've never been on a Friday night , it's pretty busy .

Speaker 1 3:24

So I'm going to stop you . I've done a little bit of research . I went back to a 2017 article , which is , I think , when you came in you talked a lot about changing trends in the food industry and you just mentioned COVID and kind of what some things you guys altered here we always have to touch on COVID and ask about the changes and what you guys have seen .

Speaker 1 3:52

So what are some of the trends and things that you guys have tried to adapt to and accomplish as you all have grown and made you know those great additions to the other bars and areas of the restaurants ? Have you seen some certain trends in your patrons and things like that ?

Speaker 3 4:13

This business , there's always a trend . It could be anything . It trends in dining . I grew up working in fine dining in the hospitality business , so that's very near and dear to my heart , but it's a declining art form . It's kind of you know , not everybody wants to be dressed up and have a five-star white tablecloth experience every time they go out . It's also expensive , to be real honest , and one of the trends that we're seeing is that you can offer really , really great food and great experience , great service , but it doesn't have to be as dressed up . And I think that's where the 32nd floor , where we're sitting right now , is where we've kind of landed on what fine dining is . It's still a very upscale experience . It's not coat and tie .

Speaker 3 4:58

And then there's a lot of a shift to a casual approach to things . A lot of people really have gotten into more ethnic and unknown food , and that's what 31 does . So , for instance , that menu always has some things that are like street food from other regions you've never heard of . Bill travels a lot , as do I , and so we always try to bring back ideas that we're seeing in other markets , other countries and things like that . So food's always just an evolving thing . I mean it's funny , right around the time we reopened after the remodel , push carts and table-side Caesar salad had all come back into fashion . They'd been doing that here for 50 years and we kind of brushed that aside because we were like we're tired of that . But there's always something catchy like that For me . I tend to try to ignore trends and just focus on quality , because that will keep people coming back . You know , fads are fads and they fade away pretty quickly . I invest more in long-term education , you know knowing about things and being able to pass along things that we experience to our members .

Speaker 2 6:02

Yeah , and I will say something like about , like , the quality I feel like here . Um , we my husband and I have been members other places , you've been members other places and the food is just always so delicious here . It's top notch , and if we've ever had a moment where it wasn't great , we usually will say , hey , you know , this was kind of like not our favorite , or there's some things that y'all have done in the past that I beg chef Lyle , every time I see him .

Speaker 2 6:31

I will be like that pasta we had at the street food . It's got to come on the menu Cause it was on two different dinners and I was like , oh , so excited , it was so delicious , you know , Um , but even when we bring guests here , that's something that said gosh , the food is so good and I just think that's such . I mean , obviously , a testament to you , a testament to Chef Lyle , but the staff I mean that's another part of it Like the staff is so wonderful and I feel like we know them and we're friends with them and we like how are you ? How's life ?

Speaker 3 7:04

That's the great thing about this place . You know , the staff here is . My main focus as CEO is to make sure that the staff has a fantastic employment experience , because if the staff is happy and enjoying their job , the members are happy and that translates to them . So we really put a lot of focus on the employee experience as well as the member experience . We just recently added a position that basically is just uh , a coach , mentor , someone that's not really HR , but they can go , bounce ideas off , uh , talk to you about their problems , and it's been a huge hit .

Speaker 3 7:40

Um , so really starts at the ground up with the employees , and if they're happy , they're producing well , uh , the members have a great experience and , to your point , it is a lot like family . We always know who we're dealing with here because we have the same membership . You get to know these people . I mean , I've made some great friends here . I've had , I've and you know we've had some staff that have come up here , started out as a dishwasher and now they're a line cook or a sous chef , and it's just , it's always fun to see that sort of development as well .

Speaker 1 8:09

So that's very cool . I've had the honor of being the guest a few times . I'm kind of like you talked about , maybe a little old school , but I love the fine dining up here on 32 . The staff makes it as fine as it is . We've gotten a fun experience of dealing with sommeliers up here . It's really neat . These are wine experts for those of you who don't know . But can you tell us a little bit more about your offerings with that and how well-averse these employees you talk about are at that experience ? Because that is a whole table-side experience in learning and getting to taste some of the fine wines here .

Speaker 3 8:52

I'm someone that they would usually refer to as an anti-Somme sommelier . I obviously went through sommelier training . It's a passion of mine . Wine is something that it's pretty much part of my life . If I had a third arm , it would be a wine bottle , but that's part of the dining experience , because food and wine complement each other so well . That's what the sommelier's job is is to interpret what the member or guest is having for dinner , what will go best with it , what are their preferences , and we've built a team here .

Speaker 3 9:27

There's actually a really good community of sommeliers in Tulsa a lot of guys and gals that went through this together about 10 years ago and the new generation is kind of coming in .

Speaker 3 9:37

So , aside from myself , we have three other sommeliers on staff right now at various points in the training program , and it's just one of those added touches . If you've got somebody that can come , because wine can be very intimidating to a lot of people . I mean , if you don't , if you're not a wine aficionado or a huge wine fan , you know you don't know what a Gruner Veltliner is , or you don't know what's going to pair well with you know whatever you're having for dinner and it can be associated with being very snooty , which is why I'm kind of an anti-sum sum . I associate it with being a partner in your dining experience . It's like , hey , what are you having , let me help you out with that ? It shouldn't be condescending , in my mind . So I train all my wine staff to really tune into the needs of the person and live in the fact that we get to try wine for a living and then suggest it to other people , which is not a terrible thing to have to do for work .

Speaker 1 10:30

Right , yeah , I'd be sweating bullets if you asked me , to describe the wine in front of you .

Speaker 2 10:40

I think that , like on that same vein of like getting to try it and like tell people what you like , is cool , because with the specials , whenever they are like the staff has all tried them and they can give you their take . I'm a big like . Look , I'm a little bit of a special order , much to my husband's chagrin , and generally whoever I'm eating with . But I'm always like well , what do you think about this ? And so I love that the staff knows and they're like oh , I tried this and it is so good . Or you know , they might be like if you don't love something spicy , this is probably not for you . I think that's like you know , just another kind of cool .

Speaker 3 11:17

Well , I think that's it's an important piece of what we do . You wouldn't ask a guy who's never driven a Mercedes to go sell one . So you know , and education is a big part of the experience here too but you know , they've got to try it before they go

Journey to GM at Summit Club

Speaker 3 11:32

on the floor . And , to be real honest , we have some servers that don't like some things or know things that their members will not like . They'll be like hey , this isn't for you , and that's because you know you can sell specials . We're obviously spelling it because we want to , but if it's not up , someone's like oh , I like really big California reds . I'm like well , you're not going to like this French Pinot Noir then , so don't order it . You know , knowing what not to sell is just as important as knowing what to sell Appreciated .

Speaker 2 12:00

I love that , I love that aspect . Okay , so just quick , like let's touch on like kind of where you came from a little bit , because you filled some out and I was like , ah , interesting , I didn't know these things . You are a native Oklahoman . Yes , I'm from Muskogee .

Speaker 3 12:20

Yes , okay , and before Summit , what were you doing ? So it's an interesting road on how I got here , and I'll give you the Reader's Digest version . I was finishing up school in Louisiana for college and I moved back here for grad school . My grad school focus was derivative securities market . So I was a finance major and I was about to wrap up my master's in 2008, . And 2008 happened . They weren't hiring guys in their 20s to come be stockbrokers or do anything like that , and so I had to figure out what I was going to do with my life .

Speaker 3 12:53

At kind of an inflection point , and at the time I'd been waiting tables and bartending and I was managing the chalkboard in the Ambassador Hotel . So I managed that restaurant group for seven years . It started out as I'm going to be here for a month , be here six months . Then it was a year . Then we , the garlic , rose , and so we we we really kind of built a fun little family empire over there , and the family that owned it at the time were really good friends of mine . So we did a lot of great work over there , um , and after seven years was about the time that I decided I wanted to get into wine , um , and that's when I kind of started on my my journey for that , uh , so I went to work for a wine brokerage uh , easy access to product and , um , and I did that until probably 2013 . Uh , I'd been married for about a year and I was getting the itch to get back into the business , um , and so I opened a bar called Mixco . Um , yes , that was my place , uh-huh . So I I I had been while we were building it out , I was , I helped open Hodges Bend with Noah and , um , I was one of the original part . I've , I've , I've , I've bartended a lot of places , but , uh , but so Mixco was . You know it was . It was an experience . Um , we were the diviest of the craft cocktail bars , but also the most fun , and I'd been there . Oh , probably we'd been open three or four years and I was a member of the summit . My father was a non-resident member and I kind of grew up knowing the club junior member here .

Speaker 3 14:34

And around the time walter , our former long-term gm , retired , they brought in a new gm , uh , and they asked a couple people from the industry to come sit on the board and kind of help . The transition , um , didn't work out real well . The was not a cultural fit , from what I understand , and um , so my next assignment from the board was go help us find the person we need . And so I met the headhunter and went , you know , kind of fleshed it out for him , and about two weeks later we just moved into a new house and we had a seven , eighth month old Um . I get a call from the headhunter and he goes they want you to interview for the job . And I was like I don't want that job . It's like no way . Um , and and they were like , well , why don't you want it ? I was like , who wants to be the guy to tank the summit club ? Like , and I was like you do ? And I said , okay , well , we can talk . Um , interviewed , still was very hesitant to do this . And finally my wife , uh , god loves sarah , she goes , you love that place , why don't you go fix it ? And I was like , okay , and that's how I ended up here , um , and uh , so , and I I also had a catering company .

Speaker 3 15:41

We had a bar called bar stream . That was an airstream . We converted into a mobile bar , so it kind of got rid of most of my things that I was doing . I was planning on taking some time off and maybe getting back into finance , and so I landed here and then first order of business was hire a new chef . That's when I met Bill and I've really had the great pleasure of working with some awesome people here in town . Paul Kaplinger that I worked for at the Chalkboard was a great mentor of mine . Trevor Tack was my roommate and I gave him his first job in a kitchen . But Bill , hands down , is one of the most talented chefs I've ever worked with and he's kind of my work wife now . But um , I think we're attached but uh . But yeah , that's how I got to be , uh , the gm slash . Ceo of the summit club very cool .

Speaker 1 16:31

A lot of people like to hear that because a lot of unknown steps that sure are that it takes you to get to where you ultimately are .

Speaker 2 16:39

That's very cool .

Speaker 1 16:40

I love that I'm gonna maybe move on to some of the more fun questions . Sure , tell us a little bit about some of the special events you guys have . We'll kind of escalate from there .

Speaker 3 16:56

So I like doing events and I like doing no , no , no . So that's the thing . When I got here there was very little member programming and the bar I'd previously owned we were like let's throw it at the wall and see if it sticks , and did all kinds of crazy stuff . So I tempered that a little bit . But I also , as someone who dines out , a lot goes to events . I hate the standard . Let's sit down and do four-course wine dinner where someone from California comes and talks about how great the family that owns the vineyard is .

Speaker 3 17:25

So we like to shake up events and theme them and make them fun . We just recently did one . It was themed around Yellowstone and Western heritage and there's a line of wines that do Yellowstone wines . They also do the Tulsa Deco wine , I think , for TU . It's a wine that TU makes .

Speaker 3 17:45

But they brought in Buck Taylor who was in Yellowstone . He was also in Tombstone the movie . His father was on Bonanza . He's a painter . We actually bought one of his paintings last night for a new project we're working on . But it wasn't a seated dinner . There were stations everywhere where you had sommeliers and different chefs doing the different foods and really , really kind of a cool , interactive dinner , and so we kind of like to do things the fun way and as far as those things go , we're always looking for ways to do it differently . We will traditionally do a couple a year that are just kind of your normal type of event , but we found leaning into making just going overboard with everything . It's the best way to do it and the members love it and it keeps them coming back .

Speaker 2 18:30

So it was very . I mean , I went to that super fun . I bought one of his friends .

Speaker 3 18:36

I mean , I wore my boots , you know , I have my thing I was going , the Texas girl came out .

Speaker 2 18:41

You're from Texas , yeah , of course .

Speaker 3 18:42

OK , my dad went to SMU Texas girl came out .

Speaker 2 18:44

You're from Texas . Yeah , fort Worth Okay , my dad went to .

Speaker 3 18:46

SMU ? Oh , no way .

Speaker 2 18:48

Oh , that's very cool . I love that SMU is so gorgeous over there .

Speaker 3 18:52

Yep absolutely .

Speaker 2 18:53

But now I'm a Tulsan , so still a Texan , but also a Tulsan . Very specific about that .

Speaker 1 19:01

Jump in . We talked earlier . I think Micah knows the answer . I'm supposed to hear it . What's the most incredible story or person you've met that's come through the doors , maybe through an event or or just something going on in tulsa any fun stories I'll run down a like I could run down a list .

Speaker 3 19:22

Um , uh , hung out Green Day one time at Mexico .

Speaker 3 19:27

They came in after the show and just kind of hung out . That was cool .

Glimpses of Prestige in Tulsa

Speaker 3 19:31

Here we have had a slew of people come through . I mean , vice President Biden at the time was here to do a speech . One time . We've had Senator McConnell here as a guest . More recently , rudy Giuliani was here and had an interesting interaction with one of our members . I've met one of the Backstreet Boys , leonardo DiCaprio . So when they were in for Killers of the Flower Moon , we had a lot of those people coming through . Just recently , kristen Chenoweth was here .

Speaker 3 20:06

Um , so it's , it's not uncommon for us to see people like that and we actually every once in a while , be okay , center will have a you know someone performing that wants to be in somewhere private . So we do a lot of that . We don't publicize that because , obviously , but um , you get , you do get to meet a lot of cool people . Um , I'm a big music fan myself , so I love stuff like that . Um , but yeah , nigel fairer was here , uh , one even randomly on 31 . So yeah , um , so it's uh , you never know who you're gonna see I love that .

Speaker 2 20:37

Okay , uh , let's start with favorite bar in tulsa , outside of summit uh cellar dweller .

Speaker 1 20:44

Oh well , good answer that's a throwback . Good answer , that is a good one . What's your favorite dish on the menu ?

Speaker 3 20:51

here the aniseois salad , the ahitina aniseois salad , on 31 for lunch .

Speaker 1 20:57

Okay .

Speaker 3 20:57

Sneaky good .

Speaker 1 21:00

We'll try it today .

Speaker 2 21:02

What's your favorite date spot Outside of Summit , outside of Amelia's ? What's your favorite date spot ?

Speaker 3 21:06

uh , outside , outside of amelia's um you know we've got kids so we don't get to go out and do date night a ton . But if it's just sarah and I probably like lo-fi or something like that , I also dj there come on .

Speaker 1 21:19

I do really , didn't you really .

Speaker 2 21:21

We recently just went . It is delicious , by , by the way .

Speaker 3 21:24

Fantastic pizza . They did a lot of research on that and it's a really good product . Yeah , I DJ there every other Wednesday night .

Speaker 2 21:32

Because you are now a little DJ duo up here at the Summit Club . We're going to have another .

Speaker 3 21:36

Yes , we do have another one up here .

Speaker 2 21:38

I'm very excited about this .

Speaker 1 21:40

I have a member's vote on your DJ name .

Speaker 3 21:42

Actually , I already have one . It's Short vote on your DJ name . Actually it's already . It's already have one , Uh , it's , it's short King , all lowercase like me , Um , but uh , but no , so it's , uh , it's a fun gig , but no , so probably there if we've got the kids with us . We live , uh , Tulsa Hills , so we go to the waterfront a lot . It's casual and laid back , Um , and the kids like it .

Speaker 2 22:01

So it's nice Cause you . When it's nice , you can sit outside and walk around Absolutely .

Speaker 3 22:05

They do a good job . I mean , I'm not a picky . When I go out to eat . My wife hates it because I'll watch everything , because I understand the mechanics of what's going on . But yeah , so I just . It's places where I can just kind of hang out and not have my brain on .

Speaker 2 22:19

Yeah , okay , something a little different .

Speaker 3 22:22

Favorite place family oriented to take the kids . We go to Jinx restaurant for breakfast quite a bit on main street down there . I love that place . They've got great food . Uh yeah , um . Uh . My daughter Abigail says I have the best pancakes in town . Um , the three girls that work there are there every day . They're a family , I think , and uh , just good little family place , so I love spots like that . The three girls that work there are there every day . They're a family , I think , and uh , just good little family place , so I love spots like that yeah , I love little places like that I've just got one more um .

Speaker 1 22:54

Can you share with us some exciting things coming up in the future for summit ? Um any big events or anything you guys are planning ?

Speaker 3 23:02

so we do , we do . Danica Patrick is going to be here in September for a wine dinner . She owns a F1 now , but no . So she's going to be here for a dinner with her wines called Somnium , which are really , really good . So that's exciting . We're about to do a little mini remodel on the 31st floor . The overlook room is going to be converted into more of a loungy area . We have a demand for more Mahjongable space and so we're about to pick out paint colors and get rolling on that this week . So that's exciting . And this just happened .

Speaker 3 23:41

But a good friend of mine was the GM gm of tulsa country club and is retiring soon and , um , we have just recently entered into a management agreement with tcc to look at what it might look like down the road for us to possibly find some efficiencies and , you know , maybe cross social memberships and things like that , which is really exciting because of the proximity . And I think that both clubs are going through a really exciting time right now . Both of them are thriving and I think that just you see this a lot on the East Coast clubs will combine and just become a better entity and allows us to expand our offerings and them theirs . So they do . If they do , they're in the middle of phase two of a huge project .

Speaker 1 24:26

I try to sneak over and beat up on some of their golfers every now and again , but uh , I I've seen the construction going on , it's pretty exciting it's amazing .

Speaker 2 24:34

I'm impressed with it , yeah , so I think that's interesting too , because I swear everybody , when we send a member survey , goes out and it's like what could we add ?

Speaker 3 24:43

it's like other golf swimming . Yeah , I'm like sure the pool on the roof that we can't . But uh , it was a good , a little april fool's day joke that they posted about one year I love april fool's posts because I'll just say they're always very good win-win , yeah , and it usually .

Speaker 2 25:02

I'm like what so it does get me , because I forget that it's April 1st .

Speaker 3 25:06

So my wife works in social media or just digital agency , and it frustrates her that it's still the highest interactive post we've ever done , professional or amateur .

Speaker 2 25:17

Oh , I'm sure that's so funny because it was a little bit of a cheap shot . Yep , I love it . So , well , this has been super fun . Thank you for taking time to sit with us .

Speaker 3 25:28

Always good to talk to you guys and come back again . Yeah , Thanks .

Speaker 1 25:32

Tom Jared Again , chris , Noel , mike and Sherrodsma . We are the Lux Real Estate Team at McGraw Realtors . This is the Lux League Podcast . Thank you guys for watching and be sure to come check out Summit , summit club , yes , tulsa country club , everywhere else . We've discussed all awesome places that jared's been a part of and , uh , appreciate you joining us . Have a great day . See you next time you .