San Antonio

(From August 2011)

Perched above the river, a bit away from the madding throng, Acenar is the most stylish culinary and architectural adventure of local restaurateur Lisa Wong (of Rosario’s and China Latina). Here you’ll find bold colors, cutting-edge design, a busy bar, good service, and, best of all, contemporary Mexican food. The guacamole is a work of art; the chips are served in those trendy cones; the margs are made with fresh-squeezed juices. Tender corn crepes, from huitlacoche to pato (duck), are among the unusual options, along with tender cabrito and Mexican-style grilled redfish. It’s far from your ordinary taco joint. Bar.

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(From June 2012)

Is there a hint of executive chef Bruce Auden’s English birthright here amid the international comfort food? Big leather chairs in the bar, shelves of pottery, baskets and wine against the windows, batter-fried chicken, Auden’s famous oysters, and sticky toffee pudding seem to suggest it’s so. At lunch, a panko-crusted flattened chicken breast topped with seasonal greens and a truffle oil dressing hit the comfort target dead-on. At night, oven-roasted chicken with saffron Israeli couscous was just the thing for sharing across the table, along with the Bluebonnet Salad, with local greens, apples, avocado, and goat cheese. Beer & wine.

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(From May 2012)

Dining at Bruce Auden’s outpost on the river is kind of like dining in a luxury ocean liner: the narrow balcony, the floaty fabrics, the glimmer and glint, the excellent service. But the food, we know, is far better than most seafaring kitchens can manage, and the local-food ethic is apparent in such dishes as warm spinach salad topped with quail and tender yet densely flavored Texas axis venison. Then there are the imaginative vegetarian specials, this time, a freshly made pasta with Rebecca Creek goat cheese, an English pea sauce, and tiny grilled yellow tomatoes. Bar.

Tuesday, March 1st, 2011, 1:03 pm
Jenny says:
Biga on the Banks showcases chef Bruce Auden’s signature New American cuisine. Biga’s main dining room welcomes the discerning traveler, convention-goer and downtown entertainment crowd in a relaxed upscale ambience. Floor to ceiling glass windows offer gorgeous views of the River, upstream from the hard-partying noise of the busier blocks. Menu standouts include Close-to-Bouillabaisse, fish and shellfish in tomato saffron broth; and the Eleven Spiced Axis Venison with Grilled Quail, crowned with juniper sauce. Perennial favorites Radiccio & Bibb Game Packets and Salmon Nachos get your party started, and be sure to conclude your meal with the eponymous Sticky Toffee Pudding, a little piece of English heaven.

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(From June 2011) This venerable north-east-sider offers plenty of specialties in the French idiom, but at the moment, the prix fixe dinners stand out for both value and accomplishment. Among the offerings are appetizers of smoked salmon (served with capers, toast, and crackers) and silky truffled pâté, itself worth a visit. Both the beef Wellington and the rack of lamb proved to be tender, flavorful standouts, especially if you skip the mint jelly with the latter and ask for the port sauce in-stead. Crumpets, with its big, high-ceilinged dining room looking out over a bosky glade, is enjoying a high point. If you haven’t been in several years, this would be the time to try it again. Bar.

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(From June 2011)

As much as we enjoy the dignified and ornate dining room, we decided to forgo its swank (and more attentive) service for one of the tables on a little ledge just above the River Walk proper. The menu, though short, is studded with standouts like appetizers of Meyer lemon risotto with crab and spinach salad with duck confit, both of which are exotic and inventive. Main courses, similarly fetching, include striped Texas bass with crab and Marcona almonds and savory grilled scallops with mushrooms. Bar.

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(From March 2012)

This has got to be the best reuse of a former Fina in the state; what was a grungy cart-and-carry a few years ago is now a sleek, mid-century dive/diner (with a namesake red Monterey out front). Join a passel of youthful Sunday morning brunchers for locavore delights: farm-fresh eggs, local bacon, salads straight from the south side, and little glasses of fresh-squeezed-orange-juice mimosas. Good specials too, like a recent beef cheek and grits—rich, cheesy, and flavorful. Beer & wine.

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Photograph by Michael Sohocki

(From May 2012)

Even with just two choices per course, you can eat remarkably well here, where traditional cooking methods (no motors in the kitchen, according to our waiter) meet locavore sensibility and deft imagination. Appetizers were a green salad with a poached farm egg or very crisply sautéed lamb kidneys with aioli (okay, the menu called them “offal,” not kidneys). Main courses offered a choice between startlingly tender pork loin with savory, not sweet, bread pudding and a spicy quail with a fiercely hot (temperature, not pepper) sweet potato empanada. The elegance of the setting and napery and the civilized service make this a truly classy dining room. Beer & wine.

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(From June 2012)

Silo’s chicken-fried oysters might as well anchor the menu here. Served as an appetizer or a main course, they’re never cloying, with their crisp coating, rich bacon-and-mustard-inflected hollandaise, and nest of spinach, and we never tire of them. The kitchen reached for the stars with its moist salmon but struck out with five-spice duck, which proved lamentably dry and overcooked. A dependable favorite is the shrimp with grits, which now seems to be a permanent (and welcome) feature of the menu. The subdued dining room, well tended by solicitous servers, was almost full one recent weeknight, yet there was no more noise than a pleasant background buzz of conversation. Bar.

Monday, February 15th, 2010, 10:40 am
Coral says:
Outstanding food and service! Not a cheap night, but worth EVERY penny! Dress ranged from casual to semi-formal. We recommend the Oysters and Pearls, Petit Filet Mignon, Lobster Bisque, and Coconut Cream Pie (the best I’ve ever had, by far!). Loved the optional four course meal arrangement. Come hungry, generous portions!

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(From March 2012)

There’s nothing rural about this chandelier- and mirror-strewn room. But it’s not as formal as it sounds: think Zen glitter with a peekaboo view into the kitchen. Here Americana meets the world. Fish and chips means a crisp-battered filet like you’d find in a London pub—but the chips are roasted red potato halves. And the stir-fries, such as trout over gingery julienne carrots and basmati rice, spin seasonal updates for health-conscious diners. Of course, any resolve will fly out the window when the toasted-coconut mousse cake, all cream in a chocolate-coated crust, arrives with its final fillip of solace. Bar.

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(From February 2012)

Bronzy, breezy rooms, a garden patio, and an interesting global menu find that just-right balance between rustic and polished, starting with the big semi-open kitchen, with a mesquite-fired grill for meats and a brick oven for wonderful upscale pizzas. Select carefully. Many of the dishes are quite hearty and, unfortunately, sometimes a bit heavy; a seafood platter delivered oysters that had disappeared in their breading and a delicate flounder filet that could have been cod for what one could discern of the flavor. On the other hand, the crab cakes here can’t be beat, and the grilled fish dishes are generally impeccably cooked and sauced. Bar.

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