Rolled Ice Cream

Trendy Deep Ellum ice cream joint rolls out a spinoff in Fort Worth

Trendy ice cream concept is headed for Fort Worth.

If you've strolled through Deep Ellum lately, you know that the longest line these days is not for barbecue or rock 'n' roll but instead for Chills 360, pioneering purveyor in Dallas of the hot dessert trend called rolled ice cream.

Now Fort Worth will get its chance to line up, too, as Chills 360 is opening a branch in the Warehouses at Foch, at 1005 Foch St., in the space previously occupied by the dog boutique Wag, which has ~~closed~~ moved to 4737 Camp Bowie Blvd.

Co-owner Mohammad Babar says that they'd always had Fort Worth in their sights.

"We were receiving a lot of requests from customers, and when the location on Foch Street opened, we were happy to get it," he says. "That neighborhood is perfect for us. We're next to the Reservoir Bar, and there's plenty of parking in the area."

Rolled ice cream, aka "Thai-style ice cream," is like the modern-day version of Coldstone Creamery, where an ice cream mix is poured over an icy cold disc until it freezes, then gets rolled into eye-catching pinwheels and doused with toppings.

The concept is said to have started in Thailand, but it premiered in New York at a place called 10 Below. Mohammad and Javeria Babar opened their first branch in Deep Ellum in 2016.

What seemed like it might be a fad has blossomed into an enduring business, as visitors in Deep Ellum are more than happy to wait for their rolled treat. It's not just dessert, it's like watching a performance, with lots of interactivity from the staff, who often drizzle customers' names on top of the ice cream.

Chills has stayed abreast of trends such as the black ash ice cream craze that seized Dallas in summer '17. They regularly rotate in special flavors. They recently did a peanut-butter flavor that came with pretzels and a Nutter Butter cookie. The latest special flavor is the hugely popular red velvet, into which they incorporate real chunks of red velvet cake.

The Fort Worth location will do the same. Babar anticipates a "late October" opening, and says the expansion won't stop there. A Chills opened in Rockwall in mid-summer, and he has more locations in the wings.

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Correction: This story originally stated that Wag Canine Emporium had closed. Wag Canine Emporium has not closed. It has moved to 4737 Camp Bowie Blvd., and the story has been changed to reflect that.

trends desserts ice-cream openings

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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