San Antonio –\u00a0 Inroduction\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 By: Suz Pisano<\/i><\/p>\n
Just when it was starting to heat up a little bit in the Burgh, Nightwire went South.\u00a0 I wouldn\u2019t necessarily say \u201cdeep South\u201d but definitely deep in the heart of Texas – San Antonio, Texas to be exact!<\/p>\n
On the drive from the airport, I fell in love with the architecture and the ambiance of this beautiful Texas City.\u00a0 Nightwire was invited for a culinary adventure featuring some of the finest restaurants and some of the fastest rising stars of the San Antonio scene.\u00a0 As we pulled into Hotel Havana, a lovely boutique hotel along the famous Riverwalk, I couldn\u2019t wait to peruse the itinerary and see what was in store for our adventure.\u00a0 First, let me tell you a little bit about the hotel.<\/p>\n
Hotel Havana was originally built in 1914 by a successful local grocer as a residence hotel for his buyers. The name was inspired by the lush riverfront surroundings reminiscent of the Caribbean island city.\u00a0 The Mediterranean Revival design of the building reflects this influence and the Spanish Colonial architecture of surrounding San Antonio. Hotel Havana’s pan-Latin influence pays tribute to the diverse cultural elements of its Cuban namesake, as well as its proximity to Mexico and the roots of its home in San Antonio. The property offers 27 unique rooms ranging from studios to King and Queen Suites to a split- level Penthouse. Hotel Havana is highly recommended. http:\/\/www.havanasanantonio.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n Welcome cocktails were served at Ocho, the restaurant and lounge space serving drinks and food downstairs in the hotel\u2019s lower level and upstairs on the riverfront. Ocho also provides \u00a0room service for hotel guests.\u00a0 The property was reopened in 2010 by hotelier Liz Lambert and Bunkhouse Group and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.\u00a0 This gorgeous setting was the perfect backdrop for appetizers and fancy cocktails.\u00a0 I did have a phenomenal breakfast there one morning where I lingered over coffee just to enjoy the beauty of the space.<\/p>\n San Antonio hosts an annual food festival – Culinaria, which features events, restaurants, cocktails, celebrity chefs, and lots and lots of great food!\u00a0 Nightwire was excited to be a part of this gastronomic celebration.\u00a0 Chef Jason Dady of Bin 555 hosted our first dinner.\u00a0 The Winemaker\u2019s Dinner was situated in a room off of the main dining room where long tables greeted us and we were told that food would be served family style.\u00a0 Chef Jason said that he hoped that by the end of his \u201cUmai Mi\u201d themed dinner we wouldn\u2019t be able to see the table because of so many plates.\u00a0 Umami is one of the five basic tastes (combined with sweet, sour, bitter and salty). It refers to the taste of glutamates and nucleotides that naturally occur in foods such as fish, cured meats, and products that are fermented and age (soy sauce, cheese, fish sauce). A Japanese Professor from the words umai meaning delicious and mi meaning taste first discovered this phenomenon in 1985.\u00a0 Fire Roasted Edamame, Shrimp Rolls, Hot Sticky Pork Ribs, Lemongrass Roasted Chicken, Spicy Cumin Lamb, and Brisket were some of the plates that graced our table.\u00a0 Winemaker Dinners were hosted at various locations throughout San Antonio, prices varied by location.\u00a0 Check out Culinaria details on their website- www.culinariasa.com<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 Also be sure and check out Chef Jason\u2019s restaurant at www.bin555.com<\/a>\u00a0 It\u2019s a must visit if you find yourself in San Antonio!<\/p>\n Following dinner, our group was invited by local restaurateurs and celebrity Chef Johnny Hernandez to meet him at this home\/event space to prepare a barbacoa for brunch the following day.\u00a0 I learned a lot about cooking lamb wrapped in banana leaves covered with giant agave leaves & lowered into an 8-foot pit.\u00a0 The set-up was mind boggling with technology & artisanal flair.\u00a0 After watching the preparation, we went inside Casa Hernan to relax with a tequila tasting.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t help but feel bad for those in the group that opted to return to the hotel and miss this private time with Chef Hernandez.\u00a0 We tasted two of his private barrel selections created for his restaurants.\u00a0 I like tequila, have learned a lot about it and was blown away by the experience.\u00a0 Chef Hernandez travels to different Mexican villages seeking out the finest artisans for furniture, glassware, plates and an abundance of original artwork.\u00a0 I could hardly wait for brunch the next day and to get to see everything in the daylight.\u00a0 I mentioned that Casa Hernan is also his living space, which sits atop the beautiful event space where brunch was to be served the next day.\u00a0 Weddings, parties and occasional pop-up brunches are held here.\u00a0 Read more about Chef Johnny at www.chefjohnnyhernandez.com<\/a><\/p>\n Barabcoa Brunch at Casa Hernan was certainly a highlight of the trip.\u00a0 The photos can\u2019t possibly convey the warmth of the environment and the authenticity of the dishes served.\u00a0 The lamb barbacoa was served with a broth and was absolutely the focal point of the experience.\u00a0 I met a tequila purveyor who suggested that the Anejo be sipped along side coffee.\u00a0 The Mexican coffee served was delicately spiced with a little cinnamon and I quickly found that he was absolutely right!\u00a0 Casa Hernan and Chef Johnny Hernandez made me love San Antonio even more.\u00a0 I have to go back to try his other restaurants!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" San Antonio –\u00a0 Inroduction\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 By: Suz Pisano Just when it was starting to heat up a little bit in the Burgh, Nightwire went South.\u00a0 I wouldn\u2019t necessarily say \u201cdeep South\u201d but definitely deep in the heart of Texas – San Antonio, Texas to be exact! On the drive from the airport, I fell in love […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1103","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P8aPSh-hN","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nightwire.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nightwire.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nightwire.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nightwire.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nightwire.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1103"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nightwire.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1103\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1105,"href":"https:\/\/www.nightwire.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1103\/revisions\/1105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nightwire.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}