The soft opening of chef Justin Freeman's new restaurant, Monarch, has opened in Uptown, offering nearly all of its menu using live fire, including artisanal pizzas and live-fired chicken. The restaurant's spinach is particularly notable as it is deep fried and deep-fried, then soaked in vinegar for four months in peppers and sprinkled with salt, resulting in a crispy, chewy vegetable chip. The chef's approach to this ingredient is seen as a key feature of the restaurant's innovative approach, using vegetables as the star instead of an afterthought. The pizzas use Dry Storage spelt whole wheat and flour from Utah’s Central Milling, mixed to 70 percent hydration and cooked lower and slower than traditional Neopolitan style pizzas. The other half of the Monarch oven features chicken, a unique hybrid of rotisserie and grilled chicken. Expect a rotating selection of pizza toppings from week to week as the seasons and available produce change.