Dallas Michelin Winner Rye Adds An Adventurous Tasting Experience to Its Menu

Since our first visit to Dallas’ seasonal American restaurant Rye in 2021, only a few of the most popular dishes remain on the menu. Known for their creative and adventurous offerings, owners Tanner Agar and Taylor Rause routinely switch things up — delighting diners with a new experience each time they visit.

Just before Michelin’s first Texas Guide named Rye a Recommended restaurant (also awarding bar manager Julian Shaffer with the Exceptional Cocktails Award), Rye debuted an 11-course tasting menu and revamped its dining room.

Rye’s New Design

“We hoped that, as we looked to raise the bar at Rye once again, we could revisit our interior and improve the comfort, feel, and luxury of dining with us,” Tanner Agar tells PaperCity. The restaurant worked with local furniture artist Grace Tudor to upgrade their chairs, banquettes, silverware rests, and the large monkey pod table in the center.

By removing exposed lightbulbs and hard wooden seating, the Lower Greenville spot has a more sophisticated look now. Today, you’ll find sage green velvet upholstery, upgraded lighting fixtures, as well as new flatware and plateware. It’s moody and sultry — more like its sister concept next door, Apothecary.

“I think the art deco-inspired fixtures help provide warm, elegant lighting,” he continues. Agar’s favorite new feature is the custom silverware rests. The wooden blocks have a slit in the middle to hold a knife, as well as space to rest a fork and spoon, making it easy to change out flatware between each course. “It’s something I haven’t seen in other Dallas restaurants,” he notes.

A New Menu at Rye

As far as the new menu, you can still order favorites like the Icelandic hot dog, Corn-ucopia, and pork belly lollipops off the a la carte section. Other options include short rib, papillote, cacio e pepe, and meatballs. However, we think the new Chef’s Tasting Menu is the way to go at a restaurant like Rye. The two-hour, 11-course experience shows the best of what Rye offers.

“We had a tasting menu previously, but it was really more of a guided experience through our a la carte menu,” Agar says. “We knew that we had more to offer and could build upon the six years we’d been running Rye to recreate it as the best version yet.”

The tasting menu will change seasonally and will feature dishes that come and go monthly. “Our hope is that if you come in once a quarter, you’ll be able to have a unique experience each time. I want [guests] to be exposed to new ingredients, flavors, techniques, and combinations that ask them to think a little differently about food. But most importantly, I want them to have fun. I’m not interested in stoic and serious dining. I’m into making people feel valued and appreciated and making them happy.”

A First Taste of the Tasting Menu

We can confirm that Rye’s new tasting menu is definitely fun. Executed by Chef de Cuisine Jay Vopatek (who joined the team in March of 2023), the coursed experience features 11 unique dishes (well, technically 12, but more on that later) — some like a magic trick, others more straightforward. The hours flew by as we remained on the edge of our seats in anticipation of what fantastical creation would appear next.

Before diving into our first course of three “Dessert for Dinner” bites of kangaroo tartare, crab & caviar cannoli, and blue cheesecake, a server presented us with two small black towels to clean our hands. At first glance, we thought these returned after this finger food course — but they were the next dish. Not actual towels, but “edible napkins.” These delicious bites were rillette-filled rice paper rolls (dyed with squid ink to appear black).

Next up, another illusion of a dish — Za’atartare. One of our favorites of the evening, this elaborate bite is not your classic steak tartare. It’s a vegan mix of carrots, fava beans, and beet that sits atop challah and is topped with a coconut “yolk.” To our delight, it broke like a real egg yolk as well.

Without giving too much of the fun away, the subsequent dishes included a scallop crudo topped tableside with sea foam, a tiny beef cheek taco, Rye’s famous Corn-Ucopia (made with five kinds of corn), another larger seafood dish with a delicious green curry and side of potato pavé, a stunningly pink beet-based “lasagna” with goat cheese, a bite of beef tongue (try not to think about it too much), and lastly, a quail and rabbit chorizo creation.

Ultimately, we considered dessert the most whimsical course in Rye’s new tasting menu. After indulging in a delicious buckle cake, Agar came by to make sure we were saving room for one last treat: “Second dessert.” The 12th course, a decadent espresso cake covered in chocolate appeared at our table. Called “Spruced Up,” the cake was topped with a tiny piece of candied pinecone.

“Bet you’ve never eaten a pinecone before,” our server accurately commented after we devoured the dessert. This is exactly where Rye excels — offering a truly unique Dallas dining experience.

Don’t rush off after your tasting menu experience. Chef Vopatek invites guests to visit the kitchen after dinner to receive a small token to remember their time at Rye.

An Exceptional Cocktail Program and What’s Next

Agar met now Michelin-recognized bar manager Julian Shaffer while he was working elsewhere.

“Once we had a spot open up, he came over to join our team,” Agar says. “It’s been very rewarding because [Julian’s] specialization in Japanese products and techniques contrasts with mine, but his commitment to making it right, every time while always pursuing something even better exactly aligns. It’s been a pleasure developing this program together.”

When visiting Rye, try the Shaffer’s Cherry Blossom & Coconut cocktail. It’s light and refreshing, featuring lychee cordial, gin, and soda. Another of Shaffer’s Japanese-inspired creations is the Hinoki Martini (the priciest drink on the menu at $30) with Roku gin and Junmai Daiginjo.

“Rye is doing the best it’s ever done, but not the best it will ever do,” Agar says. “I know that as we continue to develop both our tasting and a la carte menus, we will hit new highs, and we will redefine for ourselves what it means to be great.”

Rye’s tasting menu costs $185 per person. A vegetarian eight-course option is also available for $125.