Parting Shots

2 veteran bars in Fort Worth close their doors for good

Austin bartender Lucas Felek makes the Fashion Cafe

Farewell Baker Street, we'll never forget you.

Courtesy photo

Not one but two longtime bars in Fort Worth are down: Baker Street Pub & Grill closed abruptly on December 4, while The Aardvark will close after the New Year.

News of the Baker Street Pub & Grill closure was relayed via a post on Facebook that laid some of the blame on Hurricane Harvey.

"Due to economic impacts this past year and recent Hurricane Harvey, we regretfully have made the difficult decision to close Baker St Pub & Grill Fort Worth's doors effective today," the post says. "We would like to thank all of our former and current employees, patrons and bands that made this place amazing."

The mention of the hurricane seems odd — until you factor in the news that two locations in the Houston area closed simultaneously, both of which posted identical messages.

The closure follows another by Baker Street's sibling Sherlock's Baker St. Pub, which shut down its location in Arlington in November, citing a lull in business and issues with parking.

A Sherlock's in Addison is still open, as is sibling concept British Beverage Co. at the Quadrangle in Uptown Dallas. A staffer from BBC said that the pub would remain open, stating, "We're still here."

The Aardvark on Berry Street is closing February 1, 2018, when owner Danny Weaver will hand over the keys to Christ Chapel, an Arlington Heights church that has been holding services at the Aardvark on Sundays for the past eight years.

Weaver points to the big increase in bars in the West 7th district as a factor, and also wants to spend more time with his kids. He'll transition into the energy business, working as a distributor for Green Panel Energy, which provides clean energy to bars and restaurants.

The Aardvark opened in 1995, taking over a space that had previously been the Rail, but before that was, for decades, The HOP. Weaver fashioned the Aardvark as a great bar hosting live music.

In September, he invested in a barbecue side venture called Texas Slim's BBQ, installing a sit-down restaurant inside the bar serving brisket, pork chops, and smoked ribeye. Texas Slim's marked its final day on December 4.

The club has booked a number of musicians such as John Price and Green River Ordinance, and will unveil more shows in January, leading up to the February 1 closing date.

nightlife closings

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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