Monarch turns five this month, and the wood-fired Italian restaurant on the 49th floor of The National is marking it with a five-course dinner on Thursday, May 28 at 6 p.m. The evening runs $250 per person for dinner alone, $300 if you want to stay for the after-party upstairs at Kessaku on the 50th floor. The after-party is also available on its own for $125.
The menu was built around the five senses, which sounds like a concept that could go sideways fast but reads like it was thought through. Chef Danny Grant and Monarch’s executive chef Jason Rohan put it together alongside pastry chef Mariella Bueza Tello. The evening opens with passed bites, a seafood display, and charcuterie before moving into the courses proper.
Sound comes first — a Tuna Carpaccio with an audible element built into the presentation. Feel is Prosciutto and Mozzarella with Ossetra Caviar, playing temperature and texture against each other. Smell is a Wagyu Italian Sausage Flambé that Grant finishes tableside. Taste is a tableside-carved Rosewood Wagyu Tenderloin. Sight closes it out with a composed Tiramisu and Salted Caramel Bon Bons to take home.
Wine pairings come from Antinori, pulled from Monarch’s 2,500-label program run by national director of wine Amy Mundwiler and head sommelier Andrew Bentz. That wine list has always been one of the better arguments for going in the first place.
After dinner, the party moves one floor up to Kessaku at 9 p.m. — bubbles, beer, wine, two cocktail tickets, passed bites, a DJ, and a dance floor until midnight. It’s a different room and a different energy, which is the point.
Monarch has been in the Michelin Guide Texas since it opened in 2021. Five years on the 49th floor of anything in downtown Dallas is worth acknowledging. Reservations through SevenRooms. The address is 1401 Elm St., 49th floor.
