Jeret Peña at The Brooklynite (Photo Courtesy The Brooklynite)

On heels of the San Antonio Cocktail Conference—a national four-day conference modeled after the likes of the New Orleans’ Tales of the Cocktail event that brings together bartenders from around the country to learn, taste, and talk everything cocktail—I had a chance to catch up with local craft bartender extraordinaire Jeret Peña to talk about the conference, cocktails and Texas spirits. He even shared a couple of his latest recipes.

The ambitious Peña has been an integral part of the food and drink renaissance San Antonio has experienced in recent years. He even brought national attention here when he nabbed a James Beard nomination for Best Bar Program in 2012 at the historic Esquire Tavern where he held the role of Bar Manager. He has since opened his very own bar, The Brooklynite, midway between downtown and The Pearl. And if you ask this Alamo City native, we can expect great things from this town in the near future.

TM: How did you get into bar tending?

Peña: I think any bartender you ask has the same answer: by chance. I was working at Pesca at the Watermark Hotel and my general manager asked me to host a tequila seminar for guests. He gave me a month to study and prepare. I ended up learning so much that I fell in love with it.

That’s where it started. It wasn’t long before I went to Houston to meet Bobby Heugel. It was three weeks after Anvil Bar & Refuge opened and I didn’t know much about cocktails then. But meeting Bobby Heugel changed my life. Getting to know him and later, other Texas people like Bill Norris and David Alan in Austin kept pushing me in this direction.

TM: So how did you get involved with Esquire Tavern when it was renovated and brought back in 2011?

Peña: The owner of the Esquire, Chris Hill found me while I was working at a small San Antonio bar called Le Midi. That’s a place where I really came into my own. And when he saw what I was doing, shortly after, he asked me to run his program and I ran with it. We went around to different parts of the country to look at different bars like the Rickhouse, Agricole, and Bourbon and Branch in San Francisco. And began working on putting an amazing crew together.

TM: But in October 2012, you opened your own bar? That was pretty fast.

Peña: I told Chris when I met him that I’ve always wanted to own and operate my own bar. I had some contacts who had talked to me about investing in something together. We had been looking for months when this dirty, nasty nightclub came available. It was the perfect turnkey opportunity because the owners wanted out of it, but they had all the nuts and bolts in place and even had a liquor license they could turn over. All we had to do was change the aesthetics to make it look the way we wanted. So we jumped on it and turned it around in 35 days. It happened a lot faster than I thought it would, but it was fast. It’s on Brooklyn Avenue, so we named it after a classic cocktail, The Brooklynite.

TM: How do you go about choosing the spirits you want to use for your cocktails when there are so many out there?

Peña: You have to understand spirits. How they’re made. Where they come from. And you have to know the different flavor profiles between things like highland tequila or a lowland tequila. There is a lot out there, but it’s still possible to understand the flavor profiles. When you start to build a cocktail, it’s always going to be the base spirit—like gin, Scotch or rum—that will be the back backbone of the drink. I choose the actual spirit based on what works best for my style.

TM: Are you familiar with many of the Texas Spirits on the market right now?

Peña: I think Chip Tate at Balcones Distilling does a really good job. His True Blue blue corn whisky is something I’ve used in Cocktails. There’s also a new gin that’s coming on the market from Austin called Genius Gin and it’s pretty great. I think it will be the first top notch craft gin. Because I focus more on mixing drinks, I need to be able to get quality spirit at a price point that’s not going to force me to gauge my customers when they order a drink. Many of the Texas spirits on the market are just priced too high, which means I have to turn around and charge $20 for a cocktail, and no one is going to pay for that.

TM: Can you share a couple of Texas cocktails with us? Can you

Peña: One of cocktails I’m most proud of right now is called the Tobin Hill. It’s a spin on a neo-classic cocktail that called the Red Hook that was created about ten years ago. I named it after the Tobin Hill historic district here in San Antonio. It may not include a Texas spirit, but its name was inspired by Texas heritage. You have to be careful about the gin you use in this. Ransom Old Tom Gin is what you need. I’ve made it with Hayman’s Old Tom Gin and it’s completely different. I also use spicy pecan vinegar in this. I love using vinegar because it has both sweetness and acidity. It really brings balance to a drink.

The other cocktail does use the Balcones Distilling True Blue whisky. It’s called the Boots and Heels. It’s named after I found two people getting it on in the bathroom stall of my bar. All I saw were boots and heels.

The Tobin Hill

1 1/2 ounces Ransom Old Tom Gin

1/2 ounce Carpano Antica

1/2 ounce maraschino liqueur

Bar spoon of spicy pecan vinegar (Can be found at Gaucho Gourmet in San Antonio.)

2 dashes of orange bitters

Stir together on ice and serve up in a coupe glass.

Boots and Heels

1 1/2 ounces Balcones True Blue whisky

3/4 ounce of Punt e Mes (An Italian fortified wine similar to vermouth.)

1/2 ounce Averna

3 dashes of lavender bitters

Stir together and pour over rocks and serve in a tumbler with orange peel on top.

- Jessica Dupuy

Tagged: Anvil Bar & Refuge, Bobby Heugel, Esquire Tavern, Jeret Pena, Jessica Dupuy, The Brooklynite

If there’s anything the first few years at San Antonio’s The Pearl has shown us, it’s that giving a fresh new face to an iconic Texas landmark really can revive a once dilapidated part of town, if not a whole city. This 23-acre sight along the north side of the San Antonio River was originally established in the 1880s as the Pearl Brewing Company and endured a storied history lasting more than a century. But in recent years, it’s undergone a complete renovation. We’ve seen the Culinary Institute of America plant one of its satellite locations here with a Latin-inspired curriculum and NAO, its very own restaurant featuring a rotation of resident chefs under Executive Chef Geronimo Lopez who cover a whole perspective of Latin-American flavors. The Pearl hosts a handful of local retailers as well as a sprawling weekend farmers’ market and a slew of seasonal festivals. And perhaps most appetizing are the handful of San Antonio-based chefs who have opened such celebrated restaurants as Il Sogno and Sandbar, from Chef Andrew

Chicken Mole Sopa at La Gloria Ice House

Weissman, and La Gloria Ice House, from Chef Johnny Hernandez. And now there’s a whole second phase of flavors to try. Last Thursday night, the Pearl hosted a special media tasting of some of the development’s newest additions. (And we happened to indulge in a few nearby excursions as well.)

The Granary  — A counter-service BBQ joint by day, but a brew pub and full service restaurant serving composed barbcue-inspired plates by night. (Think Szechuan duck leg and Moroccan lamb shoulder.) This turn-of-the-century home at The Pearl is where, no matter the time of day, you can be sure that brothers/owners TIm and Alex Rattray will be smoking

House-made Pastrami at The Granary

some type of meat—whether a whole butchered grass-fed cow from Sabinal, or a thick hunk of Niman Ranch pork. The day I visited, they shared a steaming morsel of freshly-smoked pastrami that was so good it almost made me cry. You’ll also find an assortment of sides including crispy grit fritters (yum) and the brothers’ own version of Texas Toast griddled with a smear of beef tallow and served with a side of butter infused with beef drippings straight from the smoker. (Side of Lipitor recommended.) And the beers are pretty good as well—especially the Belgian style Rye Saison and the dark and stormy Brown Ale. But I really wouldn’t leave here without swirling a mug of homemade root beer made with pure cane sugar and sarsaparilla.

Boiler House — A self-proclaimed Texas Grill and Wine Garden, the Boiler House is every bit as Texas-sized in flavor as it is in its expansive two-story, 6,000 square-foot space. (Most of its significant architectural features have been preserved from its original function as the boiler house of the Pearl Brewery.) From the owners of Max’s Wine Dive, we wouldn’t expect anything less. Chef

Boiler House Executive Chef James Moore demonstrating a steak preparation

James Moore is a San Antonio native who has found his true home at the helm of this ranch-style restaurant. You’ll find wild game, Gulf seafood and myriad local ingredients, but their specialty, as you might expect, is steak. As if the grilled-to-perfection Prime grade beef isn’t enough to whet your appetite, Moore also serves up an assortment of compound butters including a bone marrow-infused version that he maintains adds “just a bit of unctuousness.”

Arcade Midtown Kitchen — Set to open in early 2013, make no mistake that this approachable-yet-sophisticated American kitchen concept is named for the architectural feature of a succession of arches along the exterior of a building. (In other words, if you’re thinking this is the place to bring your pre-teen for a maze of loud and obnoxious video games, you’re out of luck.) San Antonio native—by way of Atlanta, Santa Fe and Los Angeles—Chef/Owner Jesse

Lobster Sweet Potato Taco from Arcade Midtown Kitchen

Perez offered a walk-through of his unfinished restaurant interior and also gave a tasty preview of his menu. From the two helpings I had of lobster and sweet potato tacos wrapped in herb-masa crepes with corn-chile-citrus sauce, I’d say we’re in for a sensational treat when Perez officially opens the breakfast, lunch, and dinner spot at the end of January.

Bakery Lorraine  - Just a few clicks down the road from The Pearl is the new Bakery Lorraine, perhaps the only traditional French-style bakery in San Antonio. (At least that I’ve been able to find.) It’s the product of two former Napa Valley Bouchon Bakeryalums-turned-Rackspace software company employees who just couldn’t shake their love of baking. As co-owner Anne Ng says, “Once you’re bitten by the baking bug, that’s

Sweet treats from Bakery Lorraine

it.” Here you’ll find ‘the real deal’ in croissants, eclairs, macarons and tarts as well as an assortment of muffins cookies and focaccia sandwiches. From the smiles Ng and baker/co-owner Jeremy Mandrell beam from their petite little kitchen in this cheerful grey-hued craftsman-style home on East Grayson, it’s clear these two don’t miss their software gigs one little bit.

The Brooklynite  - Also, a short distance away, this sleek pre-Prohibition style craft cocktail bar popped up with little warning. Yet its word-of-mouth buzz from the loyal fans of craft bartender Jeret Peña (a James Beard nominee) has quickly made the Brooklynite the place for the see-and-be-seen crowd. Though happy hour is hopping with the post-work crowd, it‘s the late night crowd that brings an alluring verve to this place. You’ll find everything from Old Fashions and Vieux Carrés to the goulish sounding Corpse Revivers and Blood and Sands, but having recently returned from a trip to Ireland, I opted for the boozy Tipperary with Irish whiskey, sweet vermouth and green chartreuse. Reservations strongly recommended.

- Jessica Dupuy

Tagged: Arcade Midtown Kitchen, Bakery Lorraine, Boiler House, Il Sogno, James Moore, Jeret Pena, Jesse Perez, Jessica Dupuy, La Gloria Ice House, Sandbar, The Brooklynite, The Granary, The Pearl, Tim and Alex Rattray