Bar News

Southlake restaurant whose owner was arrested loses liquor license

Are the dumplings enough to survive?

Photo courtesy of Dragon House

A Southlake restaurant that was investigated for prostitution by the Dallas Police Department has surrendered its liquor license and can no longer sell or serve alcohol.

According to a release from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, Dragon House, located at 2640 E. Southlake Blvd., voluntarily canceled its liquor license after an investigation by TABC’s Special Investigations Unit.

The release from TABC says that their investigation uncovered ties between Dragon House and Jade Spa, a Dallas massage parlor whose owners are accused of human trafficking, prostitution, and other crimes.

Huh. One might say that the real investigation was by the Dallas Police Department, who shut the restaurant down in October following an investigation into prostitution.

But hey, if the TABC wants a little glory, who are we to begrudge.

Both Dragon House and Jade Spa were owned by Yong Bei Wang Murphy and Chung Shendelman. The Dallas Police Department arrested and charged the women with prostitution and promotion of organized criminal activity.

The DPD worked with state and federal partners as well as the Irving, Arlington, Grapevine, and Southlake Police Departments.

At the time, Major Max Geron, who helps oversee the DPD's criminal investigations bureau, praised the teamwork involved, saying, "The men and women of Dallas Police Department's Vice Unit and Narcotics Section, with our NGO partners, assembled a complex investigation of a criminal operation that reached into the suburbs and mid-cities."

This is where the TABC comes in. Their follow-up investigation found that funds were being sent from the massage parlor to the restaurant, indicating that the restaurant was being used to hide money stemming from illegal activity.

Cue the quote by TABC executive director Bentley Nettles:

"This case shows that human trafficking can infiltrate a TABC-licensed business, even when the crime itself isn’t taking place on the business premises," Nettles says in a statement. "By taking action quickly and decisively, we show criminals that they can’t use a legitimate business to hide dirty money."

Dragon House re-opened in November under management by its employees. Now, without liquor sales, they'll have to live or die on their dumplings alone.

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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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