Burger News

Fort Worth's first Shake Shack joins the Stockyards' giant makeover

Fort Worth's Stockyards are due for a big makeover.

Photo courtesy of Fort Worth CVB

Fort Worth finally gets its own Shake Shack, which will open in what is surely the most obvious location in town: the Stockyards.

The burger joint known for its unapologetic endorsement of frozen crinkle-cut fries is one of a host of big improvements planned for the Stockyards' Exchange Avenue, according to a heavily guarded press release — improvements that also include a new hotel and renovation of the historic horse and mule barns.

The Stockyards renovation is being overseen by Heritage Development Company, a partnership between Majestic Realty Co. and The Hickman Companies.

Improvements include Hotel Drover, a new boutique hotel at the end of Mule Alley's planned street of shops, eateries, creative office spaces, and live-entertainment venues.

The $175 million renovation and development project is a public/private partnership with the City of Fort Worth and Tarrant County to sensitively restore the Stockyards Historic District. The first phase just broke ground.

The release calls the collection of new businesses "interesting and eclectic." In addition to the above-mentioned Shake Shack, they are as follows:

Second Rodeo Brewing Co. This is a brewpub-meets-live music hall from chef Jason Boso, founder of the Twisted Root chain and creator of the Truck Yard complex on Greenville Avenue. This 12,000-square-foot barn will overlook Marine Creek with a picturesque patio, indoor/outdoor seating, retractable roof, street tacos, and beer brewed on site.

Marcus Paslay TBD. Chef Marcus Paslay, of Clay Pigeon and Piattello Italian Kitchen fame, will do a new concept with grilled and smoked meats and barbecue in a rustic western ambience with an open kitchen, wood-burning grills, and rotisserie smokers. But really, not even a name yet?

Hotel Drover, part of the Marriott Autograph Collection of hotels, will feature 200 rooms and suites, 15,000 square feet of meeting space, and a barn for weddings, meetings, and social events.

The hotel will have a restaurant called the 97 West Kitchen and Bar, featuring regional cuisine, as well as a café/lounge. The hotel's backyard will offer fire pits, pool area, live music, and paths to stroll Marine Creek.

The name pays homage to the legendary Drovers who embodied the true spirit of the west as they herded cattle along the Chisholm Trail to market in Fort Worth.

Other newbies coming to the Stockyards include offices for the American Paint Horse Association; a company called Simpli.fi; Rural Media Group, whose properties include RFD-TV; and home store MB Mercantile & Supply.

burgers

Chef News

Fort Worth's Will Rogers Memorial Center welcomes bright new chef

FortWorthtx.gov

Will Rogers Memorial Center

There's a new chef in town: Waylon Cornelius, named executive chef of catering and concessions for Craft Culinary Concepts, the food and beverage provider at Will Rogers Memorial Center.

Will Rogers Memorial Center is the 120-acre entertainment complex anchoring Fort Worth’s Cultural District, owned and operated by the City of Fort Worth. Cornelius will oversee menus for trade shows and other events at the center which bring in more than 2 million visitors a year.

Craft Culinary Concepts is headquartered in Glendale, Arizona, and manages food and beverage programs for entertainment, sports and cultural facilities.

Chef Waylon Corneliusfortworthtx.gov

According to a release, Cornelius joined the team this summer and is already shifting the expectations of guests from a typical “BBQ and beans” menu to a bill of fare satisfying every kind of palate.

“We always have fajitas ready to go, but we also make a beautiful Beef Wellington or baked salmon with a pink salt crust,” Cornelius says in a statement.

For consumer trade shows, Craft and its partners Caribou and Taco Heads offer more choices for the thousands of guests who attend events at WRMC annually.

“Some of our equestrian guests are away from home and here for several days, and they need more than popcorn and hot dogs,” Cornelius says. “Our concessions offer biscuits and gravy, burritos made in-house, strawberry salad, fruit and yogurt cups.”

A native of Mansfield, Cornelius grew up helping in a farm-to-table kitchen. He was raised on a farm with his mother, grandmother, and grandfather -- a Vietnam veteran who enjoyed vegetable gardens and raising hogs and chickens. He studied computer science after high school and holds an associate's degree in Cultural Resource Management and Policy Analysis from Tarrant County College.

He's a 2003 graduate of AIMS Academy of Culinary Arts in Dallas where he was mentored by a number of great chefs. While training as assistant executive sous chef at the AAA four-diamond Grand Hyatt DFW, he worked with Executive Chef Sutti Sripolpa, chef Eric Dreyer (who went on to be Oprah Winfrey’s personal chef), and Chef Jean-Claude Plihon, under whom he honed his French cooking skills.

As executive sous chef at the opening of Perry’s Steakhouse and Grille in Southlake, Cornelius gained expertise with volume. While at HG Sply Co., he learned about gluten-free items and other food allergies.

HG Sply is also where he crossed paths with Chef James R. Schell III, Craft’s general manager at WRMC, who recruited Cornelius to the complex.

"James said he needed someone who can hit moving targets, push the culinary team to be more avant-garde and use locally sourced, seasonal ingredients, so here I am," Cornelius says. "Culinary is a small world."

“I want people to say, ‘When we were in Fort Worth, you won’t believe what we got at Will Rogers!’” Schell says. “Even the celebrities who perform [in the auditorium] are surprised. When Chicago played here recently and we served dinner backstage, they said they felt treated like the Rolling Stones.”

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