Last year, if you wanted to enjoy one of the city\u2019s best new restaurants, Chef\u2019s Corner, you had to jump through a few hoops. First, you had to walk around the Twinkies.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
A year ago, Fort Worth-based chef Mike Douresseaux was working out of a gas station on the far east side. In a scene that was both surreal and a little comical, Douresseaux was making fantastically imaginative Cajun and soul food in a makeshift kitchen inside the station, right next to the soda machines, packaged muffins, and 12-packs of Red Bull.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
His tiny business became a local sensation when area TikTok-ers caught wind of his food and posted videos of it, like a majestic chicken and waffles and a lamb shank one might find in any five-star restaurant. People lined up inside and outside and hung around the station\u2019s air and gas pumps waiting for his food, which he humbly served in clamshell to-go containers because, well, it was a gas station and there wasn\u2019t anywhere to sit.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Those days came to an end when the Louisiana-born chef moved into a brick-and-mortar earlier this spring. Douresseaux is now serving his terrific soul food and Cajun cuisine out of an east side space once occupied by soul food restaurant Turkey Den. Some of Turkey Den\u2019s menu is still available, including the restaurant\u2019s namesake turkey legs, so huge they\u2019ll feed two, and some of that restaurant\u2019s staff is still working there \u2014 a friendly, attentive bunch. At press time, Turkey Den\u2019s sign was still up, too.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
But while he waits for a sign, he\u2019s intent on making a name for himself here, in this nicely decorated strip mall space on Oakland Boulevard, his ground zero for a new life and rejuvenated culinary career. As we wrote about in a previous profile, he spent years as a corporate chef before demons and addictions got the best of him, causing a fall from grace.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fueled by the need to help his daughter get through school and life, he mounted a comeback that has culminated with this new brick-and-mortar location. He\u2019s no longer hand-delivering clamshell containers. Instead, his creations arrive on artfully arranged plates, as they should.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
His spectacular gumbo, still studded with massive snow crab legs and succulent blue crab, now simmers for hours, its rich aroma filling the air. Lamb shank comes with a refined mushroom risotto. And the chicken and waffles, drizzled with burnt butter caramel, feel less like a gas station surprise and more like a gourmet indulgence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt still doesn\u2019t make that big of a difference where I\u2019m cooking,\u201d he says. \u201cWhat matters to me is, do people like what I\u2019m doing?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
So far, they seem to. During two recent visits, the place was nearly full \u2014 and it takes a lot to fill this spacious restaurant, with its split dining room and huge patio. Many followed him from the gas station, while others are getting to know him through Turkey Den\u2019s food.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe idea is, maybe they\u2019ll order a turkey leg, but then get something I made,\u201d he says. \u201cThe idea is to keep the people who love Turkey Den happy but also get them to branch out and try something new.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chef\u2019s Corner, 1201 Oakland Blvd.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last year, if you wanted to enjoy one of the city\u2019s best new restaurants, Chef\u2019s Corner, you had…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":49298,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5138],"tags":[5229,18120,2105,18121,7371,7372,18123,988,5921,358,7453,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-49297","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-worth","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-cuisine","10":"tag-food-and-drink","11":"tag-foodies","12":"tag-fort-worth","13":"tag-fortworth","14":"tag-malcolm-mayhew","15":"tag-restaurants","16":"tag-style","17":"tag-texas","18":"tag-top-story","19":"tag-tx","20":"tag-united-states","21":"tag-united-states-of-america","22":"tag-unitedstates","23":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","24":"tag-us","25":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114818903192271619","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49297\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}