Rich Vana opened The Heritage Table in a century-old house in Frisco’s Old Downtown neighborhood after several years of building clientele from his catering business. Back in 2017, we caught up with Vana and were smitten with The Heritage Table’s farm-to-table Southern fare served for breakfast, lunch and dinner. In a sea of chain restaurants that dot the suburbs, The Heritage Table was a standout that earned a spot on our initial Top 100 Restaurants list of 2018.
The pandemic of 2020 wasn’t kind to many businesses, and Vana’s establishment was no exception. He was forced to shutter The Heritage Table, and in its place opened a pop-up sandwich establishment called “The Impractical Sandwich”. The pop-up allowed Vana to prioritize the safety and welfare of his guests and employees, albeit at the cost of the restaurant.
As restrictions eased in 2021, The Heritage Table reopened but without the breakfast and lunch service. In its new iteration, The Heritage Table serves dinner only while retaining the same hyper-focused attention to locally sourced ingredients that defined the menu.
We’ve been long overdue to return, and Vana’s recent nomination as a semifinalist for Texas’ best chef from the James Beard Foundation only highlighted our delinquency. In our return visits, we have learned that Vana’s accolades are well-deserved and The Heritage Table has rightly resumed its place among the best farm-to-table restaurants in the area.
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The Heritage Table lives in a converted century-old house in Frisco’s Old Downtown neighborhood.
Alison McLean
Nothing Wasted, All Delicious
As part of the reopening, Vana has focused his team on using all parts of each animal and plant that comes through the kitchen, and no dish exemplifies this focus better than The Whole Beast ($32). If ramen were made in the South, we imagine it would look a lot like this. The dish’s flavor profile varies with the seasons; in the current version, the bowl contains chunks of smoked dark meat chicken, house-made chicken meatballs and chopped wagyu flatiron steak. The proteins lay atop a base of thick noodles and are topped with braised greens, a pickled egg and kimchi fermented in house. When it arrives, your server will pour the fortified broth over the dish tableside. It’s a medley of rich flavors and textures that never hits a wrong note on the tongue.
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The Heritage Table’s chicken pot pie is a savory take on a classic dish.
Alison McLean
Southern influences abound and are deftly integrated in uncommon ways. The country-fried chicken piccata ($32) blends the best parts of chicken-fried chicken (the tender and juicy breast encased in a peppery golden fried batter) and classic piccata with a bright lemon butter sauce and capers. It’s a heaping portion, served on a bed of the same noodles that appear in The Whole Beast.
On our first visit, we began with a first course of fried green tomatoes ($14). The Heritage Table’s interpretation on this Southern classic is spot on and brilliantly executed. Five large tomato slices were perfectly ripe, firm yet tender and encased in a crispy batter that never became soggy. The discs are plated on a bed of red pepper remoulade that you’ll find yourself scraping up with your fork for more of the taste. The tomatoes were so good that we couldn’t resist ordering them again on a second visit. The tomatoes were slightly smaller on the next go around, but there were more to an order and still at peak ripeness.
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The Heritage Table nails the Southern classic fried green tomatoes so well you might want seconds.
Alison McLean
You’ll also be remiss if you don’t order the milk and honey rolls ($6). Three softball-sized rolls come to an order, baked golden brown on the outside and pillowy soft and ever so slightly sweet on the inside. A delicate floral piping of butter accompanies the rolls, topped with flakes of sea salt. There’s a rotating house made jam available with the rolls for two dollars more; one visit offered a luscious blueberry jam, followed on our next visit by a savory tomato jam.
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Don’t miss the milk and honey rolls.
Alison McLean
Excellence continues across the other entrees we tried. The chicken pot pie ($28) is a comfort fare classic, filled with savory dark meat and a creamy béchamel, elevated with a sunny side up quail egg atop the flaky crust. More wagyu beef makes an appearance in the form of a beef shoulder served over a bed of sweet potato risotto ($41). The beef was a cooked a touch beyond the medium we requested, but the smoky and beefy flavor was strong in each tender forkful, countered with bites of red onion and sauerkraut jam and crème fraîche.
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Wagyu beef shoulder is served over a bed of sweet potato risotto.
Alison McLean
A poached apple and pear salad ($14) was another gem, with the brightness of the fruit deliberately tempered by small dollops of ricotta, sweet slivers of candied orange peel and a subtle cherry bourbon vinaigrette. The salad is easily shared, and our server gladly split it among two plates to enjoy before our entrees arrived.
Service and Sweets With Southern Charm
Helpful service details like splitting our salad were the norm on both of our visits, and the staff was happy to make recommendations about their menu favorites. If there was a gripe to be had, it’s with the occasional delay between ordering a dish or a drink from the bar and the order coming to the table, but we’re reaching here; just think of things working at a relaxed Southern pace and enjoy the company of your dining companion instead of watching the clock.
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The Heritage Table’s chocolate silk pie is a chocolate lover’s dream.
Alison McLean
We’d be failing you if we didn’t mention The Heritage Table’s desserts, all steeped with more Southern charm. The chocolate silk pie ($10) with an Oreo crust was a chocolate lover’s dream; the coconut cream pie ($9) sported a graham cracker and toasted pecan crust containing the decadent coconut custard. The wine list is dotted with affordable choices by the glass or bottle, and the full bar offers a handful of crafted cocktails to appeal to most any taste.
After The Heritage Table closed its doors during the 2020 pandemic, we dropped it from our list of the area’s top restaurants. But under Vana’s guidance, The Heritage Table is back on top of its game, offering true farm-to-table goodness draped in the charm and casual elegance of a distinguished Southern gentleman. Vana’s James Beard nomination is well-earned, and The Heritage Table belongs in any discussion among the area’s best dining establishments.
The Heritage Table, 7110 Main St., Frisco. Sunday – Wednesday, 5–9 p.m; Thursday – Saturday, 5–10 p.m.