This Week in Gluttony

These are the 6 best food and drink events in Fort Worth this week

Beastro features the finest area restaurants stationed throughout the zoo.

Photo courtesy of Fort Worth Zoo

The Fort Worth Zoo’s annual after-hours tasting event should be on every local foodie's calendar; the award-winning attraction knows how to throw a “wild” party in more ways than one. (If you go, forego the heels for comfy shoes as a trek through the park is required.) It’s also a week for two new cocktail events — one, a competition, and the other, a series of pop-ups. Finally, set your alarm clock early Saturday morning for a royal wedding watch party at a local British restaurant.

Thursday, May 17

Rosé in May at Cadillac Wines
The car dealership wine bar promises a rosé wonderland for those who dream in shades of pink. Guests will learn about the complexities of the blush-colored beverage with a tasting and pairing of light bites. Reservations are $35 per person, and the event begins at 6 pm. (A credit card is required to reserve your spot.)

Cocktail Series at Amon Carter Museum of American Art
For the next three Thursdays, the renowned museum will serve as a cool pop-up bar, where patrons can listen to live music, sip on a craft cocktail, and enjoy views of downtown Fort Worth. The mixologists from Thompson’s Bookstore will be on hand this Thursday, followed by Righteous Foods on May 24 and The Usual on May 31. The event will run from 6-8 pm, and in addition to the drinks, there’ll be food truck fare for purchase. Admission is free.

Friday, May 18

Wines of Mendoza, Argentina: A Seated Tasting with Pairings at Grand Cru Wine Bar & Boutique
It’s time for another tasting at the popular West Magnolia Avenue wine bar, and there’ll be two seatings to choose from — 6 and 8 pm. Latin-inspired bites to be paired with robust Argentinian wines include guacamole tostadas, skirt steak with chimichurri sauce, and lamb sausage-stuffed puff pastry. Seats are $40, and gratuity is not included.

Beastro
Feed your inner animal at the Fort Worth Zoo’s annual tasting event, which takes patrons all over the park after hours for delicious dishes, open bars, and live music. Participating restaurants this year (there are more than three dozen) include B&B Butchers & Restaurant, FunkyTown Donuts, Heim Barbecue, and HG Sply Co. General admission tickets are $110 and the party starts at 8 pm.

Saturday, May 19

Royal Wedding Watch Party at The Londoner Colleyville
Royal family fans have had this date marked on their calendar since Kensington Palace announced that Prince Harry and American actress Meghan Markle would tie the knot. In these parts, the majestic matrimony will begin at 6 am. The Londoner will open early to serve hot tea, scones, clotted cream, and sausage rolls. Pre-party for the FA Cup final (to be held later that day) in British fashion.

Cliburn Cocktail Competition
Who’ll win the first-ever Cliburn cocktail gold medal? You’ll serve as a judge at this inaugural cocktail competition in the former Waters space at the corner of Crockett and Currie streets. Local amateur teams will compete using spirits like Milagro Tequila, Hendrick’s Gin, and Flor de Cana Rum. There’ll be live music, too. Tickets are $45 and can be purchased in advance or at the door. The event will run from 7-10 pm.

cocktails wine

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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