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Back-to-Back Chef of the Year Winners Josh Harmon and Misti Norris Team Up

The duo will bring Norris’ inventive Petra and the Beast pop-ups to an East Dallas space

Josh Harmon and Misti Norris forage for ingredients, one of the mainstays of their culinary programs.
Josh Harmon/Facebook

Josh Harmon and Misti Norris have announced that they will team up to bring Norris’ Petra and the Beast pop-ups to a brand new brick-and-mortar space at 601 North Haskell.

Harmon, of Kitchen LTO fame, made waves recently with his contentious split from Junction Craft + Kitchen, the critically acclaimed restaurant he launched with restaurateur Casie Caldwell in Deep Ellum in 2017. He walked away after a dispute with a new investing partner in the restaurant.

Fresh off receiving Eater’s 2017 Chef of the Year award and the subsequent split, Harmon teamed up with Norris, who asked him to work with her on bringing Petra and the Beast to the semi-permanent space (the pop-up will be located there for the next five months).

The pop-ups aren’t anything new for Norris, who did her first dinner under the Petra and the Beast name in 2016, but the brick-and-mortar space saw its first run last weekend when the duo hosted a two-night Acadian Lowcountry-themed dinner. Norris, a Louisiana native, and Harmon served gumbo, vada boudin, and smoked collard green sandwiches drizzled with Cheez Whiz, among other dishes garnished with the duo’s various pickles and ferments. “It was a lot of fun. We had a really good turnout,” he told Eater.

More pop-ups will follow now that Petra has a brick-and-mortar. The duo has planned an eight-course sit-down dinner for this weekend that will partner with Black Man Brew for the accompanying beverages. Beef heart tartare, pork jowl, and deviled shrimp with shrimp salt peanuts and miso zucchini eggs are among the planned dishes. In addition to the pop-ups, the building will be revamped as a neighborhood market that will stock both Norris’ and Harmon’s wide array of fermented condiments, including vinegar, pickles, miso, hot sauce, and fish sauce.

Starting in March, Norris has plans to run a quick-service noodle and charcuterie spot in the space that will be open Tuesday through Saturday until 9 p.m. On Mondays and after hours, Harmon will take over and host pop-ups with various themes — right now, he’s kicking around a throwback burger night. There’s no set schedule worked out as of just yet, Harmon says diners will have to keep up with the duo on Instagram to find out when and what’s served.

Update, 4:44 p.m.: This post has been updated to clarify Harmon’s reasoning for leaving Junction Craft Kitchen.

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