Denton ups its meatless game with 940’s Kitchen

For anyone who’s interested in plant-based dining but lives in Cowtown, it’s handy to have a true college town within short driving distance.

I’ve become so thankful for Denton and its youth-driven vegetarian scene. I find I’m going there more and more to explore the restaurants, and not just the live music. Around downtown’s courthouse square, especially, you can find great veggie choices at coffeehouses and casual joints, but also up the scale a bit as Denton gets more restaurants that flirt with fine dining.

I’ve already mentioned the gastropub fare at Barley & Board, which includes vegan choices such as mushroom-walnut paté, sweet potato hummus, farro risotto and the “barley & broth” soup. And I’ve long been a fan of Hannah’s Off the Square, with its upscale take on Southern comfort food, like the so-called meatloaf veggie burger or the vegetarian Benedict at brunch that uses fried green tomatoes in place of ham.

The newest destination dining near the square is 940’s Kitchen & Cocktails, named after Denton’s area code and opened in September by Midlake drummer McKenzie Smith with chef David Rodriguez.

Before I visited or even really focused on the place, 940’s hosted a vegan pop-up dinner in December, and before it opened there were rumors that the place would be an all-vegan restaurant.

It’s far from that. The menu heavily features pork belly, short rib, duck confit and all those trendy things. But it’s amazing that I want to return to a place that’s so pleasing to carnivores because I couldn’t try all the interesting vegetarian dishes in one meal.

The menu has a few bar snacks (18-spice potato chips being the best veggie choice) if you’re mostly there for the cocktails. But then the food gets serious.

Four of seven appetizers are vegetarian, including the restaurant’s signature three-chile eggplant fries ($9). We didn’t get much chile flavor, but enjoyed dredging the lightly fried eggplant strips in jalapeño mustard and local honey (this plate can be vegan if you hold the Parmesan garnish).

There’s also spicy fried okra with black garlic aioli ($8), a four-cheese mac and cheese ($10), and avocado toasts with pecans and cilantro pesto ($7, vegan).

We couldn’t resist a salad course, since the choices sounded so appealing. We reluctantly skipped the baby gem wedge ($10) and a roasted root vegetable salad ($9, with beets, rainbow carrots, turnips, fingerling potatoes, goat cheese, pepitas, arugula and cilantro vinaigrette — vegan on request) in favor of the shaved Brussels sprouts ($10). This was a light mound of shredded leaves that was full of sweet-salty interplay, with candied pecans, sharp goat cheese and Honeycrisp apples.

From the lunch menu, we chose a roasted beet sandwich, something I’ve never seen before (the waitress will make sure you don’t think you’re ordering roast beef — you get the feeling this mistake has happened). The roasted beets sing out strongly over the avocado, goat cheese and arugula, even over huge slabs of homemade focaccia ($12; $6 for half).

There’s only one vegetarian main ($14, lunch or dinner), but it’s an excellent one: seared king trumpet mushrooms served over wild rice/butternut squash risotto and bathed in soy-sauce reduction. It’s an incredibly savory dish with a meaty flavor (in a good way). The carnivore at my table pronounced it one of the best vegetarian entrees he’s ever tried.

219 W. Oak St., Denton. 940-218-6222. On Facebook: 940’s Kitchen & Cocktails.

This story was originally published January 5, 2016 at 3:34 PM with the headline "Denton ups its meatless game with 940’s Kitchen."