John Tesar confirms he’s opening a second Knife Modern Steak, leaks details and drawings

Just when you thought 2016 couldn’t possibly get any more interesting, Dallas’ Most Interesting Celebrity Chef hops in his car, drives outside of the loop — way out — whips out his pen, and signs on the dotted line to open a second Knife Modern Steak.

The new temple to long-dry-aged beef will occupy a choice corner of the Shops of Willow Bend in Plano. Nudged between an Apple Store, a Neiman Marcus and a Dillards, Knife will anchor a new section of the mall once inhabited by the defunct Saks Fifth Avenue, which closed in 2010..

Tesar tells the Hatch that the new Knife will be bigger and better than the original Knife, opened in 2014 in the Highland Hotel, in several ways.

More space (5500 sf with a large patio). More meat (the aging room will be several times larger). More seats (90 vs 73). More hotel (it will anchor a new Starwood hotel to be constructed adjacent to Knife).

And more Tesar (he’ll be there nearly every night at first, at least until either everything is perfect or he gets called away to star in some new rom-com or reality tv show where he has to overcome some major life obstacle like running low on 44 Farms beef or learning that Matt McCallister will open something nearby). (Oh wait, he’s already doing that.)

But wait! “It’ll be even bigger” than the plans show right now, says the king of cow. “More like 6,500 with a butcher shop” that will sell take-away portions of his long-dry-aged beef for suburbanites to cook at home, Tesar told the Hatch. “Mooo.”

Knife is slated to open in 2017.

And yes, there’s even more beefy news from JT today: he’s planning to open four stand-alone Knife Burger restaurants in DFW. “You haven’t seen anything yet,” he says.