Village Kitchen’s risky move from fine dining to upscale diner is a big gamble. So far, it seems to be paying off

 

Village Kitchen’s cronuts

It’s a risky move, tearing the guts out of what was once the white-tablecloth Village Marquee to replace it with what amounts to an upscale diner in highbrow Highland Park Village.

Yet that’s precisely what owner Mark Hearl and chef Andre Natera have done with Village Kitchen.  Hearl, who steeled his risk tolerance in the financial markets, and chef Andre Natera, who tired of the cushy comforts of the Dallas Fairmont Hotel, don’t run from a trigger-snap of trouble. They dance around it.

It’s downright bold to suggest that your burger, your mac and cheese, your chicken and french fries and donuts are the best in town.

“I focused on improving every single aspect of classic comfort foods,” Natera told us recently. His would be better because he obsesses about the things that matter most: top-notch ingredients and the kind of careful, exacting cooking that won him wide praise as executive chef of Pyramid restaurant at the Fairmont.

For his messy, juicy burgers at VK, Natera grinds his own blend of short rib, brisket and chuck, adds a slice of American cheese and a beehive of shredded lettuce, then schmears a soft Village Baking Company bun with bacon mayo.

It’s not just braggadocio for Natera to call his Gruyere, parmesan and pecorino mac and cheese the best in town. Ditto the crispy skin roast chicken, the tuna tartare (made tableside) and the off-the-menu poutine, that Quebecoise coronation of crispy fries smothered in rich brown gravy and squeaky, melted cheese curds.

Let the kids have the Fruity Pebbles milk shake; save a plate of three heavenly “cronuts” – donuts made from puffy, buttery croissant dough—for yourself. And yes, those cronuts are worth every calorie of hype you’re bound to hear about them.

Village Kitchen, 33 Highland Park Village, Dallas., 214.522.6035 or hpvillagekitchen.com. As seen in the October issue of Modern Luxury Magazine