We're fifty floors up. The view is stunning — among the best in Dallas. The food and drinks are also on par, here at Kessaku, a Japanese-inspired lounge, and one floor below at Monarch. Both are restaurants from Michelin-starred chef Danny Grant.
"I think it's so awesome how much Dallas welcomed us," says Chicago-based Grant. "And it's part of, you know, why I love being down here."
In 2011, Grant won two Michelin stars at RIA in Chicago's first Michelin Guide, becoming the youngest Michelin-starred chef. The then-30-year-old followed that up at RIA in 2012. After leaving RIA, he later opened Maple & Ash steakhouse in Chicago three years later. Monarch, on the 49th floor, opened in Dallas at The National in 2021, bringing delicious, modern Italian cuisine, impeccable service and a romantic setting. Grant, decked out in his white chef's jacket, sits across from me at Kessaku. The space feels plush and intimate. Chef calls it a "jewel box." I think he's right.
"You can come in and have a full dinner experience in Monarch," he says. "You can come here before, after, mid, whatever. This is a bit more cocktail-focused with lighter food." You go to Kessaku for the drinks, but you stay for the food, whether that's a hamachi crudo, rolls or sliced wagyu. But Kessaku also has things like marinated cucumbers with wakame, shiso, scallions and ginger dressing — a bright, fresh dish like this is a perfect palate cleanser.
The night before at Monarch, he served dishes from his Michelin-starred days at RIA. "Those dishes were nostalgic," he says. "They made me think of this person, or that moment, or that."
But what does he think about Dallas getting an upcoming Michelin Guide? "I think it's awesome," he says. "Anytime I see Michelin going to a new city, I think it invokes a little bit higher level of focus, and it invokes a little bit of competition between restaurants and chefs and stuff like that, which, for me, is competition that fuels evolution."
That, he says, fuels more creative thinking outside the box. "It's pushing the boundaries, pushing the team and pushing everything," he says. "I think at the end of the day, it will yield a better result for the diners that are out eating in Dallas."
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With two stars already under his belt, surely, Grant and his team must be gearing up in hopes of receiving those honors here in North Texas. But it's hard to get ready for that. Heck, it's hard to tell who is with the guide. Michelin is a black box.
"I mean, the people who are judging have already been out eating, I'm sure but I have no idea," says Grant. "You know, I think that's one thing I'll give Michelin a lot of credit for, because we took a lot of time and energy trying to be able to spot the Michelin diners. It never happened. We never figured it out. We had no idea."
Grant tells me they're looking at new opportunities. They were slated to open a Maple & Ash in Dallas, but the deal didn't go through, and another restaurant, CATCH, will now occupy the Uptown location. Monarch and Kessaku are strongholds in Dallas, but like so many local restaurant groups, Collin County has become a very real lure.
"We're still focusing on mostly in Dallas, so we're not looking that much up there," he says. "But actually, I know there's the Frisco Food and Wine Festival, and I was actually looking at potentially doing something along the lines of that."
In the meantime, Monarch and Kessaku will continue to delight diners, whether they're from Michelin or not.
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