One of North Texas’ most anticipated restaurant openings of the year has arrived in Plano. From the culinary minds behind Lower Greenville’s Rye and Apothecary comes Flamant, a European-inspired live-fire cocktail and bistro that opened Tuesday, June 10 on the Boardwalk at Granite Park at 5880 State Highway 121. The opening marks creative director and CEO Tanner Agar and executive chef Taylor Rause’s welcome return north.
“Coming back to North Dallas is exciting for us as we’ve missed being a part of this community since the fire at our McKinney restaurant in 2022,” Agar said in a press release.
Rye transformed Dallas’ culinary landscape when it debuted in historic Downtown McKinney in 2015. The captivating restaurant brought a seasonal, small plate philosophy filled with creative bites and paired with avant-garde cocktails that has been a defining marker of Agar and Rause since.
In 2021, the duo launched a second Rye location in Dallas’ Lower Greenville neighborhood with fateful timing. On August 15, 2022, the original McKinney location tragically burned to ashes. At the time, Agar took to Instagram to assure Dallasites that it would rise and dominate once again. “We will strive to improve Rye everyday, and when we reopen in McKinney, I promise it will be better than the Rye that burned down.”
To say Rye improved is an understatement. The restaurant received a Michelin recommendation during the guide’s Texas debut, and it earned the Exceptional Cocktails Award. The bar is set high, but Flamant aims to deliver.
“The core of our restaurants will always be hospitality and creativity,” Agar tells DiningOut. “With Flamant, we’ve created a clear focus on European flavors, unlike our other brands, and an all-day service. I think of it like a true sister concept, different enough to have its own identity, but similar enough to feel like part of the family.”
Set in a cluster of highways, the Boardwalk at Granite Park was designed to be a suburban reprieve with waterfront dining, fire pits, and lawn chairs. Flamant joins a handful of concepts, bringing an inviting atmosphere with dim lighting, a warm palette, plush ruby velvet banquettes, and a texturized, 315-square-foot Picasso-inspired mural by multimedia artist Jennifer Kindert. An open kitchen showcases Flamant’s crown jewel: a wood-fired grill.
Like its restaurant siblings, Flamant encourages sharing. Two to three small plates and two to three large plates are recommended for parties of two. The menu is a culinary voyage through Portugal, Spain, France, and Italy, anchored by Agar’s Spaniard and French culinary training.
Offerings include caviar service, a charcuterie board, and tin fish selections made for lingering wine-fueled evenings. Smaller plates feature an ocean blue scallop crudo, savory cannoli dip, and faux gras made with cashew and lacto-fermented blackberry. The Socca street bread highlights southeastern France by pairing the traditional street food with a whipped garlic spread. Larger plates include pastas, a smoked sugar-rubbed wagyu ribeye, and mussels soaked in a white wine and chorizo broth.
Octopus appears on the small plates menu, but it’s even more striking in the Ocean Garden, an onyx-hued squid ink mojito garnished with a charred tentacle. It’s Flamant’s most experimental cocktail.
If the Ocean Garden is any indication, the cocktail menu is most definitely worth studying, with spirit-forward pours, frozen drinks, summer refreshers, and espresso martinis. The brandy mule B4 and black sangria both showcase the Flamant brandy, crafted by France-trained Ironroot Republic in Denison.
“We worked with them to blend this brandy with cognac and armagnac into what we feel is a perfect cocktail brandy: higher proof, just enough residual sugar, and an incredible flavor,” Agar says. “I’m really impressed with what they put together and excited to be the first restaurant in Texas to have a private brandy.” Pro tip: Order it neat.
Flamant also marks the team’s entry into the lunch and brunch market. Soups, salads and sandwiches cater to a corporate lunch crowd, and the house-ground, wood fired wagyu burger is a sure crowd pleaser.
Weekends give way for a $40 all-you-can-eat brunch. “The AYCE has the perfect resort style feel, because the drinks are flowing and each dish is prepared fresh for each guest by our chefs,” Agar adds. “It’s indulgent, delicious, and yet still affordable. It’s everything I could want brunch to be.”
As Plano enjoys the newcomer, Agar and Rause have already set their eyes on growth. “We would like to see Flamant expand to other locations, but we’ll take expansion as an intentional, but slow process to ensure it’s done sustainably.”
Flamant, 5880 State Hwy. 121, Ste. 103-B, Plano, flamant.bar
