Juniper Restaurant, Tulsa

The best meals make you feel loved. That's certainly how it is at Juniper, which we frequent on mother-and-daughter nights out. This elegant but down-home restaurant is owned by chef Justin Thompson (shown with blackberry-glazed duck breast, left, and bluenose bass with tomato jam), a booster for our hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Every time we eat Justin's food, we just want to give him a hug. His hen-of-the-woods mushrooms are buttermilk-fried in good Okie fashion. His pan-seared river trout in brown butter has put our favorite midwestern fish in a league with sole meuniere. Then there's his chocolate bread pudding topped with toffee and caramel sauce. Now that's just pure pleasure, Oklahoma or elsewhere.