Over the past few years, Chef John Tesar has rapidly grown into his role as Dallas’ newly-anointed king of meat. After the success of his steakhouse Knife, we learned earlier this year that Tesar was planning a quick-service burger concept for Legacy Hall, the forthcoming massive food court currently under construction in Plano. Now, we’ve got more details on what exactly that concept will look like.
In an interview with QSR, Tesar offered a sneak-peek into the concept which is, at this point, in its infancy. Here’s what you need to know.
You won’t place your order with a cashier.
According to Tesar, there “aren’t enough qualified servers” to provide a full-service burger experience, which means that you’ll be ordering your Ozerskys and fries from an iPad. “We’re replacing cashiers with iPads, and we put a menu on an iPad,” Tesar said. “You have this modern technology where you can swipe your credit card and pay for everything on an iPad.”
He’s still going to be sourcing his top-quality beef from 44 Farms.
Just because he’s going quick service, don’t expect for Tesar to dumb down his signature burgers. “It starts with the meat, first and foremost. 44 Farms is really something special,” Tesar said. “The cattle never leave the state. There’s integrity to it. There’s no false farm-to-table nonsense to it.”
The Ozersky is definitely going to be on the menu
Developed in tribute to Tesar’s late friend (and writer) Joshua Ozersky, the famous burger at Knife will definitely be on offer at Knife Burger. Ozersky and I sat in a car one day for 16 hours going to Boston to check out a couple of restaurants, and we talked hamburgers the entire time,” he said. “I was so inspired by that conversation that I wanted to put that element into the hotel aspect of Knife, in that you could come down from your room, experience Knife, buy a $12–$14 hamburger, and maybe come back and check it out later for the steak. It was an entry-level kind of thing. We had great success with these hamburgers.”
He’s got tentative plans to expand the concept.
Chef John Tesar has had plenty of restaurants in the works, but many (like outposts of Knife across the country) haven’t exactly come to fruition. But with Knife Burger, Tesar says the concept has “legs to grow.” My legacy as a chef—now transitioning at the age of 59 into a restaurateur—is I want to do something that’s meaningful and sustainable, and it doesn’t have to mean I’m a genius in the kitchen to do it,” he said. “I can be a genius in my execution and as a businessman.”
He’s got plans to troll Shake Shack
Tesar isn’t exactly the biggest fan of Danny Meyer’s uber-popular burger chain, which just landed in Dallas. “If there’s a line outside of Shake Shack when it opens up, while people are waiting to get into Shake Shack, I’m just going drive down there and give out free Ozerskys.”