After Sexual Assault Conviction, Ex-Waukesha Chef Gets New Kitchen, Name

A former Waukesha chef who pleaded guilty last month to fourth-degree sexual assault is now working at a Milwaukee restaurant under a different name.

Known locally as Tony Hernandez, the chef is now cooking in Milwaukee using the name Dan Morales. On Milwaukee published an extensive feature on Morales, the new chef at INdustri Café in Milwaukee. The article features Morales' experience cooking in New York City and Morales shares in-depth about his cooking experiences and what he plans for INdustri Cafe:

I don’t want it to be one of those places that’s doing things just because everyone else is doing it. But, I’d really like to bring more seasonal items onto the menu. I’d like to go to the farmer’s market and bring in foods from there and cook them that day.

Everything I do, I make from scratch, from flatbreads to desserts – molten lava cake, apple strudel. It will be simple, well done food.

But the interview did not mention his Waukesha cooking experience. Morales is also the former chef who owned D Mo’s in The Clarke Hotel. He was convicted of fourth-degree sexual assault as Ramon A. Mitre Hernandez in Waukesha County Circuit Court in January and sentenced to a year of probation.

The victim, a customer at D Mo’s in Waukesha, told authorities Mitre Hernandez molested her after he told her was going to make her food.

Morales is not working directly with customers at INdustri Café and is an employee who does not have ownership in the company, INdustri Café owner Robert Klemm told Waukesha Patch.

Klemm is aware his employee is on probation as Mitre-Hernandez.

“We are looking forward to moving forward in a positive direction,” Klemm said. “He was very upfront in the beginning. The facts are the facts by all means.”

Klemm provided this statement to Waukesha Patch:

"From the very beginning of our relationship, Chef Dan was honest and forthright with us.  In On Milwaukee interviews and press release we did not disclose he had a failed business in the past, as it was not pertinent to his credentials. INdustri is an equal opportunity employer and it is illegal to discriminate when hiring an individual because of their background. We did our due diligence prior to hiring him, and it is obvious to all that his food speaks for its self.  We are excited to have someone of his cooking caliber working for us, and we look forward to the bright future ahead."

There has not been a restaurant or bar in The Clarke Hotel since D Mo’s closed in October 2011. While the sign at the hotel stated the restaurant was closed for renovations, Hernandez was in danger of being evicted for failure to make rent payments.