12 Questions with Monarch's Chef Danny Grant About Michelin Stars in Texas

Chef Danny Grant was in Dallas recently, highlighting the arrival of the Michelin Guide to Texas. The inaugural stars for Texas restaurants will be announced on Nov. 11, adding some excitement to the local dining scene.

Grant hosted a special dinner at his restaurant, Monarch, reprising a menu from his past: RIA in Chicago, which was awarded two Michelin stars in 2011 and 2012 before closing in 2012. The Long Island native is the youngest chef at a U.S. restaurant to earn two Michelin stars.

Monarch in Dallas is a modern Italian steakhouse on the 49th floor of the Thompson Hotel downtown. According to TABSReport, which tracks alcohol sales in the state, it is one of the top-earning restaurants in Dallas. In August, it served over $250,000 in wine alone.

Reserving a window seat for the great views will set you back $125 (applied to dinner), but the bar is a great budget option (and there are windows, too, no extra charge). No open-toed shoes or T-shirts though. You'll need to class it up a bit. Up a set of stairs just off the main bar is Kasseku, a swanky sushi and cocktail lounge.

In addition to Monarch and Kessaku in Dallas, Grant also owns and manages Maple & Ash in Chicago and Scottsdale, Arizona.

We caught up with Grant as he was visiting tables at Kasseku between shifts in the kitchen at Monarch. Wearing a crisp white chef's coat, white sneakers and a boyish affability, he answered a few questions about dining in Dallas and the impending guide.

What effect does the Michelin Guide have on restaurants?
It ignites a new level of focus and excitement in the community because now all of a sudden you're like, 'Oh cool, there's this world-renowned rating system that's been going on for hundreds of years that's coming to where you live, where you run your restaurant,' and it kind of puts you on a world stage. So something that you were doing that was maybe mostly focused right here is now on a world stage. And I think the first thing that kind of happened, at least in my experience, was it ignites competition. And I think people are going to strive to get this. It ignites anxiety too. I think looking back at my experience once you get it, it's exciting, but then you have to keep it; you can lose it.

Michelin giveth and Michelin taketh. It has to hurt to lose stars.
Oh, it's crushing.

Will Texas diners see anything different on the culinary scene because of the guide?
There's always competition in this business, period. And for the most part, it's always friendly, but I think it is ignited to another level. And that then makes people start pushing boundaries a little bit further: pushing the level of service, creativity, hospitality ... all of that stuff. So for the diners of Texas, it should be a great thing.

Will it bring more talent to the state?
One hundred percent. Chefs who are in school right now will want to come here. Once restaurants start getting accolades, other restaurants will open and continue to raise the bar for what the standard is. I've been down here for three-plus years now and I've seen the community evolve greatly in that time. I think the restaurant scene here is just getting better daily.

Do you have any favorite restaurants in Dallas?
Mister Charles is one of my favorite restaurants for sure. It's small and cozy inside. Every time I've eaten there the food has just been so great. I went out to Maison Chinoise recently and had a really lovely meal there too.

Do you have any qualms about the Michelin process?
Honestly, I've gone through it many times, and I don't really know the process. That's part of why I like it so much. Restaurant critics, for the most part, you know who they are — if you have a good PR and operations team, you're able to spot them. I was reviewed by Michelin Guide inspectors maybe 20 times, and I never figured out who they were.

How has operating in Dallas been? Any particular set of obstacles?
Operating in Dallas was new for us because we opened in the middle of a pandemic. I'd say this is our first normal year. Obviously, we're dealing with inflation. This was one of the slowest summers for us, nationally. I think more people left the country this summer than I've seen in a decade or so, and the numbers and sales show that.

I think people are being more thoughtful and calculating when going out to eat. So, that's been interesting. But good restaurant operators adjust and navigate through that as seamlessly as possible.

What about staffing?
As far as staffing goes, I think that'll be another thing that Michelin will bring — a higher level of talent and staff. People want to work at those places. But we put a ton of investment into our team and to make them part of a family and like they have a home here. That helps us with retention. By keeping the right players and the right people, we're able to continue to provide them with growth. But then also the other big part is that we're not so big that we lose creativity. We have the ability to be agile, to adjust.

How do you find time to get creative with running restaurants in three states?
That's been a big focus of mine over the past year and a half, two years. I need one side of the business to run seamlessly without me. Obviously, I'm involved, I'm engaged in it, but I need that stuff to be happening really well so I can go off over here and think about what's next — think about the next evolution, the next new restaurant, the next concept, the next mood, the next everything.

Have you found a hack for doing that?
I was lucky, and I hired a life and business coach who has been working with me and also with the rest of the team on these kinds of things. He and I have been working on what structure needs to be set up to get there [to a creative space]. And it's been about two years in the making of just grinding it out, figuring out all that kind of stuff, and all of a sudden it started to click over the past eight months. I have the right leaders in these areas and now I can start to shift my vision rather than being overwhelmed and trying to do everything and getting nothing done. 

So, the business side is a well-oiled machine so you can focus on being creative in restaurants ...
Exactly. If I don't have this side of the world cleaned up [business and operations], then this side [creativity] will never get attention.

How old are you?
42.

How old were you when you figured all that out?
41.


This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.