“Respect is my first principle. It is very important that we respect our farmers, respect the produce and proteins that they bring us, respect the life that their animals have given, and respect each other in the restaurant family, our clients, and by our respectful actions ensure the earth’s viability. If all is given respect, everything else will follow.”

Missouri Caesar: brûléed romaine, local dairy cow’s milk cheese, cornmeal crusted Heartland catfish, and traditional dressing with anchovy replaced by house-cured Missouri trout; crispy Keifheiver Farm pigtail pieces with mung beans, garlic, jalapeño, coriander, and barbecue vinaigrette of chilies and coriander from our farm; grilled Campo Lindo Farms chicken with pan-roasted sunchokes, Shatto Dairy aged cheddar, wild arugula, and Hammons Missouri black walnut oil.

Globally, you'd be hard pressed to find a more passionate chef than Jonathan Justus, or one less interested in shortcuts. He makes his own soda with living whey and a secondary natural fermentation. He makes his own Missouri-terroir vermouth. He and his wife Camille Eklof worked without a salary for a decade establishing their internationally acclaimed restaurant Justus Drugstore, and Black Dirt does for the rich land where the Missouri and Kaw rivers meet what chefs like Alex Atala or René Redzepi have done for their own home territories. An American treasure.