Monarch, Quarter Acre, and the Heritage Table Offer Tasting Menus in DFW | Eater Dallas

"Led by chef Rich Vana, this Frisco restaurant has introduced a winter tasting that deliberately defines a self-styled “Blackland Prairie” cuisine rooted in the local strip of cropland and grazing land in North and Central Texas. The menu emphasizes hyper-local sourcing and sustainability—nearly every ingredient is labeled with the farm or ranch it came from (for example, red kuri squash from Comeback Creek Farm, greens from Jubilant Fields, beets from Stout Creek)—and relies on techniques like pickling, fermenting, and using all parts of vegetables. Standout touches from the February 2025 menu include sourdough crackers and breads served with compound butters (one infused with the long green stems of Greer Farms carrots and roasted garlic, others with beef tallow or salted sorghum caramel), a Windy Meadows duck pot pie on sweet potato mash with marinated chestnut mushrooms, and substantial proteins such as a Knob Hill pork chop and a small wagyu strip from River Creek. The tasting format was adopted less as a Michelin chase than as a way to sharpen the restaurant’s focus, interrogate what local farmers bring in each season, and articulate what “Blackland Prairie” can taste like now and later." - Courtney E. Smith