Chef Dylan McShan will no longer lead the kitchen at The Sleeping Lion, a highly anticipated restaurant under development in downtown Fort Davis.
McShan confirmed Friday that he is no longer involved as the restaurant’s head chef. The Sleeping Lion was also contacted about the change, but it remains unclear who will replace McShan in the kitchen.
The departure represents a significant change for a project that, until recently, had been closely associated with McShan and his culinary background.
The Sleeping Lion is under development at 211 State St., a roughly 6,750-square-foot historic commercial property in downtown Fort Davis. Earlier plans called for McShan and business partners Amber and Baxter Box to develop the property into an upscale, chef-driven restaurant emphasizing seasonal ingredients, regional sourcing and live-fire cooking.
As recently as July 31, The Sleeping Lion was advertising for employees ahead of a planned early-fall opening, with McShan identified as executive chef and co-owner. The restaurant said it was hiring salaried managers along with front- and back-of-house employees.
McShan’s involvement had been central to the restaurant’s public identity. His culinary career has included work at Houston restaurants Pax Americana and Underbelly, both associated with James Beard recognition, and he helped open Rosie Cannonball. He later spent time at David Kinch’s Manresa in California before relocating to Far West Texas, where he operated Easy Wind Catering.
The Easy Wind website describes McShan’s career as spanning kitchens in Houston, New Orleans and San Francisco and says his cooking focuses on seasonal ingredients, local sourcing and live-fire techniques.
The Sleeping Lion’s planned menu was publicly previewed this summer at a dinner at Perseid in Houston. The July event featured dishes including heirloom tomatoes with smoked corn puree and salsa verde, charred avocado with black garlic glaze, red snapper ceviche, smoked beef cheek, grilled Napa cabbage, Ora King salmon, smoked chicken and Pecos melon icebox pie.
At the time, the menu was expected to contain about 20 dishes that would change with the seasons and availability of ingredients. The Houston dinner was presented as an early look at what McShan intended to serve in Fort Davis.
The restaurant itself has been years in the making. The State Street property, known historically as The Sleeping Lion, dates to about 1905 and has served numerous purposes over more than a century, including as a service station, cafe, rock shop, barber shop, western-wear store, preschool, seafood restaurant, art gallery and bookstore.
The project takes its name from Sleeping Lion Mountain, the prominent formation immediately south of Fort Davis National Historic Site.
Construction and preparations for the restaurant have continued through 2026. When the project was first publicly detailed in February, McShan identified himself as a chef and owner of The Sleeping Lion. By summer, plans called for an elevated but approachable restaurant built around the landscape, ingredients and culinary traditions of Far West Texas.
McShan’s departure now leaves one of the project’s most important questions unanswered: who will run the kitchen when The Sleeping Lion opens.
The restaurant has not yet announced a replacement chef or indicated whether the leadership change will affect its opening schedule, menu or previously announced culinary concept.
