Kersten Rettig: A First Class Trip to New Zealand Minus the Jet Lag

Today, February 6 is New Zealand Day and to celebrate, let’s talk about the first New Zealand-inspired restaurant in Dallas: Quarter Acre.  The restaurant is led by Chef Toby Archibald, himself a Kiwi with almost two decades of cooking in acclaimed restaurants, including Café Boulud, Bullion, and most recently as the Chef du Cuisine of Georgie by Curtis Stone.

Living the Dream

The “New Zealand Dream” is to own your own quarter acre of land to build yourself a bungalow. The “quarter acre” being the term to define success and achievement. Chef Archibald seems to have achieved his quarter acre with this restaurant, an ode to his roots, his childhood, and the years he honed his craft at top international restaurants.

What is New Zealand food, you ask? Specifically on this menu, you’ll find plenty of proteins such as kingfish, “Big Glory Bay Salmon” from the very south Stewart Island, and New Zealand bone-in grass-fed wagyu rib eyes that are lined up like the welcoming committee in the drying cabinet by the front door.

The Menu

The menu infuses creativity and originality into every item which is divided into snacks, appetizers, entrees, and extras. 

Snacks, or “one biters,” are all the rage in dining these days and the four options at Quarter Acre are packed with flavor. The fish on chips features a chunk of smoked New Zealand kingfish perched upon a potato crisp with a dollop of citrus mayonnaise and a pop of caviar.  It’s the perfect bite of food.  The equally photogenic brassica balls include brassica, a plant from the cabbage and mustard family, goat cheese, and crisped quinoa. The brassica flavor was new to me, and I wasn’t prepared for the bitter taste, but it was smoothed over by the cheese.

The appetizers are all winners. The smoked beef tartare is a showstopper, the dish presented under a smokey cloche which unveils perfectly smoked, tender beef tartare sprinkled with crispy shallots. Get an extra side of house-made bread, chewy and nutty, and a great compliment to the tartare.

Butter and parmesan can make anything taste good, but their application on the grouper perfects the flakey, fresh white fish which is served with grilled cauliflower and a lemon ginger vinaigrette. Vegetarians have excellent options on the mains menu, with the charred carrot with spiced yoghurt, maple gastrique, winter garden herbs, and pomegranate, making it not only colorful but packed with antioxidants, too.

The aforementioned meat case is filled with beef, but Chef says, “down the track, I would like to experiment with other animals.” I’m assuming lamb and/or venison, both of which are high quality and plentiful down under.

Aged Beef Program

Chef offers sort of a customized dry aging process, by which, he says, “we buy it in fresh or ‘wet’ and then we dry it in the case. While it is drying, guests can see it, and if they would like to reserve a piece, they will pay a deposit for some and we will put their name on a bone. When I put it in the case, I note the date it went in and the day it is due to come out. When we are a week or two out from its ready date, we email or phone guests to inform them and they can make a reservation to come in and dine and eat it.” Brilliant.

“It is a way for our little restaurant to have dry aged meat on the menu without constantly having it on the menu,” Archibald added. “We are essentially pre-selling them and guests love the idea that there is a steak waiting for them at Quarter Acre.

There might be ingredients on the menu you’re not familiar with, such as the brassica, sour mushrooms, and the sea and soil lettuce, but servers are well-trained and, themselves, curious about the origins of the more unusual ingredients.

Kiwi Vibes

Toby Archibald is proud of his roots and, perhaps a bit homesick. He wanted to add a few touches of New Zealand to the space. “I figured if I cannot be in New Zealand, I may as well bring some New Zealand to me.”

The restaurant, like all restaurants these days, is gorgeous, thematic, and impeccably decorated.  From the oyster shell chandeliers to the soft sheepskin throws slung over the chairs to the woven fishing baskets, the vibe is pleasant, soothing, and vaguely international.

It’s clear the space, located on lower Greenville where the now-shuttered Rapscallion inhabited, is very intentional in its design which was led by designed by Dallas-based Coeval Studio.

Other nice touches include the bread baskets and napkin rings which are handwoven flax from NZ and large format wallpaper in the two restrooms that feature New Zealand native birds on them. One bathroom has birds that are all extinct, the other has songbirds you can still find in NZ’s forests and coastal areas. I didn’t know which was extinct or not, so I’ll brush up a bit before my next visit.

The desserts were fabulous, the grapefruit crémeaux looking a bit like a hot dog and tasting a lot like a creamy, slightly citrusy, fluffy bit of love. (Speaking of fluffy bit of love, order the side of crispy mashed potato.)

How It’s Going

Opening a restaurant in January is a bold move, especially with so many restaurants opening now and with weather often being an issue this time of year (hello, ice storm).

I asked Chef how it’s been so far, and his answer “the restaurant is going great guns as one might say!” (a Kiwi saying maybe?) “The Quarter Acre team has been amazing from top to bottom!

It has been hectic. a roller coaster of emotions, stress, elation, hard work, joy, pride, and insert everything else you can think of.”

I think it’s going well. “I am so happy with how the space turned out and the menu is being so well received, even more so than I could have hoped.”

Congratulations, chef, on achieving the New Zealand Dream.

Quarter Acre 2023 Greenville Ave. #110 Dallas. Book on Resy.com or by calling 214-647-1616. IG Quarteracredallas.