Courtesy of Punk Noir
Audio By Carbonatix
Tasting menu season has officially arrived in Dallas.
Up until a year ago, tasting menus in Dallas were sparse. This style of dining has only become a truly sustainable menu option since the Michelin Guide arrived in Dallas less than a year ago.
One of our favorite tasting menus is at Quarter Acre, where chef Toby Archibald told us that even though he wanted to introduce it when his restaurant initially opened in 2023, he waited until late 2024. He told us earlier this year that even then, he knew it had to be “accessible” and not daunting – many tastings at high-end restaurants across the country cost more than $350, as opposed to Quarter Acre’s $125.
Other Dallas restaurants that received Michelin nods and awards, like Quarter Acre, also waded into the tasting menu pool, allowing diners a chance to understand the story of the kitchen, which is the purpose of such an experience. And many of these are at, quite frankly, decent price points: Rye has an 11-course seasonal tasting menu for $185; the Harwood District steakhouse, Stillwell’s, has a 7-course Michelin tasting menu for $125; even Monarch’s $175 tasting menu is about what one would expect to pay per person for a nice night out, so why not just let the chef take the reins?
So, perhaps Big D’s next phase is a restaurant with strictly a tasting menu (outside of an omakase).
The Concept
Punk Noir will open in the Design District early next year and will offer a 22-course tasting menu in an immersive space with a multi-room design. The restaurant is from John McKeel and his sons, Cole and Clay McKeel; the latter two studied restaurant hospitality at Cornell University and have both worked in the hospitality industry. John is in the finance industry, and his restaurant experience comes as an investor.
The family was inspired to open this concept after eating their way through some of the best restaurants in the U.S., Europe and Asia. They found some of the best restaurants stuffy and intimidating.
“We wanted to create something different: food that is just as refined and world-class, but an experience that is unforgettable, irreverent and full of energy,” says Cole.
The kitchen will be led by James Beard Award-winning chef RJ Cooper and general manager and Level II Sommelier John D’Alexander.
The restaurant is 9,500 square feet of warehouse space, with two to three seatings per night and 26 seats per seating.
Diners will move through multiple spaces at the restaurant, from a dramatic communal dining room with projection-mapped visuals and graffiti art led by a “Mistress of Ceremonies,” to an open kitchen where chef Cooper presents select courses, to an intimate neon-lit dining room, before concluding the evening in the Noir Lounge.
And just like Jo’Seon, another Design District restaurant we recently wrote about, Punk Noir will also offer a VIP car service that will arrive at a private ramp and secret entrance to the restaurant. How Dallas is that? (It’s very Dallas, newbies.)
The Food
Punk Noir will offer diners a 20-course tasting menu; Cooper will weave together, per a press release, “global influences, cutting-edge gastronomy, and his own personal inspirations.” Ingredients will be sourced from around the world, including picks from Italy, Japan and Central America, plus some flavors closer to home.
The Chef
RJ Cooper has been nominated multiple times for the James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef Mid-Atlantic award and won in 2007 while leading the kitchen at Rogue 24, a 24-course tasting menu in Washington, D.C. He also spent time at Gypsy Soul, a progressive Southern-inspired bistro. At Punk Noir, Cooper hopes to merge fine dining precision with modern creativity.
Punk Noir is expected to open early 2026. We’ll keep you posted.
