ref=”https://thinktasty1.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/rsz_chef_joel_harloff.jpg”>With a state as big as Texas, it should come as no surprise that we have more than one stop there during our search for restaurants that are utilizing fresh, local produce.  From Austin we travel about two hundred miles to Dallas.  Here is where you will find The Second Floor, located at the Westin Galleria Dallas.  Combining a bar and bistro concept with farm fresh ingredients seems like another great dining destination.

Chef Joel Harloff shared some thoughts on the dining at The Second Floor.

TT: What local produce items are being used in your dishes currently?

CH: To name a few I am using the following lettuces from Wichita Falls, Texas…..Hydroponic Texas Bibb Lettuce, Baby Lolla Rosa, Baby Red & Green Oak, Baby Red and Green Romaine……Mini San Marzano Tomatoes from Marfa, Texas…and lastly Arugula from Generation Farms in Rice, Texas.

TT: Have you created any special menu items that highlight the local produce?

CH: I have an arugula salad on the menu that features the arugula, our mixed greens is a combination of all the aforementioned lettuces above, and the Bibb lettuce is used in a salad of its own.

TT: What is your favorite dish that includes local produce?

CH: It would have to be the arugula salad.

TT: As you include seasonal produce in your menu, how often do you change your regular or special menu items?

CH: We change our menus four times a year in accordance with the seasons.

TT:  Do you work with any farms in particular?

CH: Mostly the ones mentioned and we have and still use Lemly’s tomatoes from time to time.

TT: What makes your menu/restaurant unique?

CH: What makes us unique is the variety we offer on our menu from the seafood to the other proteins, as well as many other hand crafted items, as everything we serve is made in house aside from our bread program.