Where smoke and beer come into their own The Granary, once the home of Pearl’s cooper, or barrel maker, occupies one of the few structures of true historic interest at Pearl — not counting the signature brewery itself, soon to be reborn as a spiffy hotel. In summer,...
We can thank El Monty, as the restaurant is known by its familiars, for forcing us to endure San Antonio’s sweltering summers (and its attendant mosquitoes) out of doors — as that’s where most of the seating is at this otherwise extremely intimate (and willfully...
Stylish restaurant swims in a new direction Draped nets and fishing floats and tempest-tossed lifesavers ... the temptation must be great. I refer to the décor of so many knee-jerk seafood joints around the world — the aquatic equivalent of the serape-and-sombrero...
Meats come into their own here It’s easy these days to feel a little overwhelmed by the density of mostly new construction at Pearl. Fortunately, there are a few small gems scattered in and around the development to relieve its otherwise all-at-once aspect. Cured,...
Thoroughly French on Broadway Behind an unassuming storefront on an only marginally more noteworthy block of lower Broadway lies an unexpected surprise: Saveurs 209, a thoroughly French restaurant run by a genuine French family — in rigorously French fashion....
Let’s talk tortillas. No, not that kind; the tortilla española, a ubiquitous presence in the country’s many tapas bars, is Spain’s answer to France’s quiche and Italy’s frittata. Except that it’s at once simpler and more profound than both. In its Platonic form, the...
The pizzas have personality The Spanish term barbaro — accent on the first “a,” can mean exactly what it sounds like: awful, terrible and, yes, barbaric. And, more popularly, it can mean the opposite: great, wonderful …We don’t know what Charlie Biedenharn and Chad...
San Antonio has never been the kind of city with concentrations of ethnic restaurants in defined locations. We have no Little Italy, no Chinatown, no Baby Bavaria. Sure, there may be more Mexican restaurants on the West Side than elsewhere, but enchiladas aren’t...
Thai was not the first cuisine to begin elbowing out Chinese as our only Asian option; in San Antonio, at least, that distinction belongs to the Vietnamese — with a sideways glance at Japan. (Think returning servicemen — and often their brides.) Korean and Indian...
Americans are looking out to sea for lighter fare, and shellfish win hands down as the most popular creatures of the sea. The shellfish family is a very large family indeed. It’s divided into three main classifications: crustaceans, mollusks, and cephalopods. Each has...
Ask any Italian mama, “What’s the single most important item on your pantry shelf?” Invariably, her answer will be pasta. Whether it plays a minor role in a major dinner, or serves as a quick dish to quell ravenous appetites, a bowl of pasta is always gladly received....
In the world of widely respected cuisines, Tex-Mex doesn't get any — respect, that is. Historically, some of the problem has been simple exposure: The food didn't travel well beyond its natural habitat, and when it did end up elsewhere, it was tarred by the Taco-Bell...
It’s not easy being an icon. Either you’re relegated to senior-citizen status and effectively ignored, or you’re constantly called into question by youngsters determined to depose you from the throne. Chef François Maeder could probably care less either way. As I...
The dim sum tradition, ancient in China, is almost absent in San Antonio. True, potstickers seem to have propagated throughout Asian restaurants of every stripe, and spring rolls are everywhere you turn. But the full, clangorous service with steaming carts bustling...
In the tsunami of new restaurants in San Antonio by and for the wave of moneyed Mexicans fleeing the country's drug wars, there has been a notable number of coastal places. They don't all succeed here;Cabo, for example, went out with the tide, apparently never to...
San Antonio's premier cuisine has always been Mexican or Tex-Mex foods. We are well known for our fajitas, enchiladas, tacos and other spicy representatives from south of the border. For many people the beverage of choice is a cold cerveza, such as a Corona or Dos XX,...
One of the food blogs I regularly read attached a video to a recent article emphasizing the difficulty of obtaining puff pastry for a tart the authors desired to make. It was part of a Sesame Street series called “One of These Things is Not Like the Others,” and it...
If you don’t mind clambering up to a seat at a high banquette (somehow designers never seem to get these things proportionally correct; it’s really annoying not to have one’s feet touch terra firma — or something firma — when seated) and have a tolerance for an...
