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Dallas Dining Legend Ewald Scholz Has Died at 86

The iconic chef helped found El Centro College’s culinary arts program

Chef Ewald Scholz
El Centro College/Twitter
Amy McCarthy is a staff writer at Eater.com, focusing on pop culture, policy and labor, and only the weirdest online trends.

After a lengthy battle with cancer, legendary Dallas chef Ewald Scholz has died. He was 86 years old.

According to D Magazine, Scholz died on April 1, his 86th birthday. The chef was widely known for his cuisine at Cabana Motor Club in the 1960s and his namesake eatery Ewald’s, which was one of the first restaurants in the city to serve veal on the menu. A 1974 review of the restaurant in Texas Monthly assigns high praise to Scholz’ veal preparations, like veal au Moulin, served with a cream-based mushroom sauce. The German-born chef remained active in the Dallas dining scene until he retired from managing operations at his outpost of Ewald’s in the Stoneleigh Hotel in 1998.

According to the Dallas Morning News, Scholz was also instrumental in the founding of El Centro College’s culinary arts program in 1967, which has since produced some of Dallas’ best chefs along with being recognized as one of the best culinary schools in the country. Cafe Momentum’s Chad Houser and Parigi’s Janice Provost are both graduates of the program, among dozens of local working local chefs.

Details for Scholz’s services have not been announced yet, but you can bet that plenty of local chefs will stop by to pay their respects.