San Antonio – Riveted

A Week in Texas

Laura Domela — Thu, 24 Oct 2019 22:40:07 +0000

By now it’s probably become apparent that we’ve moved all our boat-related updates and travel to our other site, Slowboat, and since most of the travel we do during the summer is by boat, there hasn’t been much news here on Riveted. But we spent last week on business in Texas and visited a few cool spots while we were there, so I thought I’d share!

We started in San Antonio and had a quick visit with Kevin’s mom. We usually try to take her out to dinner someplace cool when we’re in town, and since we’d gone to Cured the last two times we visited, we opted to try a new place this time — Clementine. It’s small and bright, the food was creative and delicious, and the service was spot on. I took no photos, but we’d definitely go back.

In the morning, we headed back to the airport to pick up our rental car and drove into Austin for our first set of meetings. Road Trip!!! I’d found us a little boutique hotel (which turned out to be absolutely lovely) called Austin’s Inn at Pearl.

Austin’s Inn at Pearl

The inn is actually several small buildings that each contain a few rooms, each distinct in their decoration. We were early, but were told our room was ready and directed to this room below, which turned out not to be our room, but was very cute. (It’s called the Library Room and is located on the ground floor of the main yellow building. Our room was actually the Bombay Room, and was on the second floor of the blue building behind, and was wonderful, but I took no photos of it.)

The Library Room at Inn at Pearl

For dinner, we returned to one of our longtime favorites in Austin, Uchiko. We had the chef’s tasting omakase, and again, took no photos, but it was incredible, as usual. Just check out some of the gorgeous food photos (from their website) and you’ll get the idea:

While in Austin, we also tried a new taco place, just down the street from where we stayed, called Keso’s Tacos. We shared a handful of tacos so we could try more than two. Along with the usual carnitas (great), barbacoa, and fish, they have fried avocado tacos, brisket tacos, and one of our favorites, the “Fire Chick” which has hand-battered fried chicken (fried in their Fire Red salsa), lettuce, pico de gallo, and is topped with cilantro ranch & queso, served on a flour tortilla. Delicious!

Next, it was on to Dallas on Thursday. Dallas is about a 3.5 hour drive from Austin, but we had no meetings on Thursday so we took our time and decided to stop in Waco for a little exploring. If you ever watch HGTV you probably know who Chip and Joanna Gaines are. If you don’t, they’re a couple with an extremely popular show called Fixer Upper, which has morphed into a gigantic successful brand that now has its own television network called Magnolia Network. They specialize in turning what starts out as kind of a crappy house into a farmhouse chic, magazine-photo-shoot-ready abode, and they do it well with a fairly specific aesthetic. (Shiplap!!!)

Anyway, we stopped in Waco and decided to check out the Magnolia Market at the Silos (because old silos! turned into a market!), which as it turns out, is a boutique home decor market that is also part of the Chip and Joanna Gaines thing). However, there was a big event going on there on this day and all the roads adjacent to the market were blocked off for event parking and tour buses and such. We googled and learned the event was called Silobration, which was basically an expanded home decor fair with local artisans in matching white booths lining the street out in front of the Market at the Silos, plus a handful of food trucks, and a stage with live music. We parked a few blocks away and made our way to the entrance, through security (yep, security, with scanners and everything). We walked the street/aisle flanked by several dozen booths where artisans displayed their clothing, leather bags, candles, jewelry, etc., most of them with the same color palette as everything else in the Magnolia Market. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a very nice aesthetic, it’s just strange to see almost everything in the same place, from different designers, all with the same muted palette. Even the attendees had a themed similarity to them! Mostly young 30-something women, often with kids, many with long hair all curled with the same curling iron tecnique, all carrying stylish little bags with perfect little goodies inside. It was pretty great, actually.

Magnolia Market at the Silos, during Silobration 2019

Silobration, with people taking photos out front with Chip’s parents (yes, really)

Silos Baking Company, Waco TX

Silos!

We walked around for a bit, went in and out of the market, and then headed the several blocks back to our rental car and moved on.

Mural near the silos

We parked down by the river and took a walk along the waterfront, and then across the Brazos River and back via the Waco Suspension Bridge. Here’s some info on the plaque at the base:

Waco Suspension Bridge with several of the (many) bronze cattle sculptures leading up to it

The Waco Suspension Bridge was built as a way to get cattle across the Brazos River. It was part of the Chisolm Trail, used during the post-Civil War era to drive cattle overland from ranches in Texas to Kansas railheads.

View from the suspension bridge

The Brazos River appears to be home to some cool-looking water birds, some biggish fish we didn’t get more than a quick glance at as they briefly splashed the surface, as well as a whole lot of red-eared sliders (turtles!)

Red-eared sliders and birds in the Brazos River

After our walk along the river, we continued on to Dallas. We checked into our hotel and did some work for a bit, and then we headed off to another restaurant I found that sounded interesting, this one in the Deep Ellum neighborhood of Dallas. It’s called the Purepeche Room, and is in the back room of a spot called Revolver Taco Lounge.

Revolver Taco Lounge wall paintings

Revolver Taco Lounge, bathroom graffiti

The Purepecha Room has two seatings per night, holds 14 people max, and the menu is a fixed price tasting menu prepared by the chef and his mom in the kitchen that opens right into the seating area. (On this night, it was the chef’s aunt filling in for his mom while she was out of town.)

Kitchen, from our table

The place is small and quaint and feels a little like you’re hanging out in someone’s home while they cook for you. We had the early seating (6:00pm) and as it turned out we were the only ones there. The food was fantastic and I actually did manage to take some photos this time.

Chef Regino Rojas puts the final touches on what turned out to be my favorite dish of the night (ceviche, pictured below)

Ceviche with spot prawn, grapefruit, cucumber, leaves and flowers, salmon roe, fresh fish (I forgot what kind) and a little bit of puffed rice for texture. The flavors in this dish were amazing!

This was a braised lamb dish with rice and potatoes and homemade tortillas, with a delicious broth

I think this was pheasant mole, with rice and a grilled fig

Pork carnitas and quail with salsas

Everything was wonderful, and we’d definitely come back, but I’d like to see them slow down a bit. There was so much food and we were completely finished by 7:30pm. We could definitely have benefitted from a little more time to breathe between courses. Since the second seating isn’t until 8:30pm, seems like there would be enough time to spread things out a little better. Also, the waitress was exceptionally sweet, but seemed very new. She recommended we have white wine with the first four courses and red with the second four, but then recommended a bottle that was $105, which didn’t come by the glass. What would we have done with a whole bottle of wine for the first four courses that came out so rapidly? Anyway, we did some by-the-glass wines that worked out great. Dessert was wonderful (traditional flan and a small slice of local pecan pie), but the coffee!!! Oh my goodness the coffee was fabulous. Café de olla is a traditional Mexican coffee with panela (whole cane sugar) and cinnamon, cooked on the stovetop and served in an earthen clay pot. Super yum!

We walked around the neighborhood a bit after dinner, gave the guy who promised to “watch our car” a few bucks, then headed back to our hotel.

Friday after the rest of our meetings, we caught our evening flight back to Portland. We’re now home and in the middle of a gigantic purging push, which consists of cleaning out the garage, closets, and other hidey-holes, getting rid of stuff we don’t use anymore, and many, many, many trips to Goodwill. We seem to do this every time we get back from a summer on that boat (just not as well as we’re doing it now), when we are once again reminded just how little we need to be happy — in fact, it’s the opposite. The “stuff” eventually becomes the boss, and gets in the way of so many things. It feels good to be getting rid of more. I’d like to be able to relax and breathe at home as well as we are able to do on the boat!

Cured in San Antonio TX

Laura Domela — Sat, 24 Mar 2018 00:53:32 +0000

We just finished a bit of a whirlwind business trip. We returned from Mexico on Friday night, spent the weekend at home, and then left on Monday morning again. This week’s travels took us to San Antonio, Austin, and Denver.

Before we left Portland, we read that chef Steve McHugh of Cured was a 2018 nominee for “Best Chef” Southwest. We hadn’t heard of Cured, but figured that while in San Antonio, we should check it out! We took Kevin’s mom out to a fun dinner on Monday night. Cured is located in the 22-acre Pearl Brewery (operating from 1883 to 2001) complex north of downtown.

The Astroturf out front serves as a little park during the day.

Cured is inside a charming, stand-alone building that once housed the administrative offices of the Pearl Brewery.

Check out the metal work on the front steps!

If you haven’t already figured out what to expect from the name of the restaurant, once inside there’s no question (although it’s worth knowing that they also have wonderful vegetarian options, and you can sit without a view of the curing meat if you wish).

Charcuterie can be ordered in 3 item, 6 item, or 9 item combinations. We opted for 6 items: Apple Jalapeño Pork Rillettes, Smoked Duck Ham, Bresaola, Orange & Pecan Salami, a Salami Diabla, and the cheese of the day. This was likely the best charcuterie board we’ve ever had. The homemade crackers were perfection, and the plate came with several interesting spreads and mustards…a beet mustard, a chimichurri mustard, a kumquat marmalade, some house-made pickles…it was all just perfect and delicious. The apple jalapeño pork rillettes and the salami diabla were probably our favorite things on the board.

Next we tried the beet salad, which was also wonderful — beet, avocado, and citrus with local yogurt and beet cracklins. Oh yeah, and our waiter Mark was THE BEST. He had such good recommendations and he was super fun and friendly and obviously very proud of the food he was serving.

Mark even recommended a bottle of TEXAN rosé, and we went for it. That’s how much we trusted him. (2016 Cinsault/Mourvedre from Lewis Wines in the Hill Country about an hour north of San Antonio.)

We next shared chicken-fried chicken livers (delicious), crawfish pie (also delicious), and the bison tartare with huitlacoche puree, bourbon, cured farm egg yolk, and brioche (hey guess what? It was delicious too!) These three little plates came out at the same time so I was too distracted and didn’t take any photos.

We shared two entrees between the three of us (which was too much, but we were on a roll and really wanted to try more stuff): grilled flat iron with mushrooms agrodolce and fries, and a red wattle pork chop with sweet potato puree and capirotada.

We were so full, but Mark made us order one dessert to share, the Vinegar Pie (with sweet potato puree, oats, blueberries, and fermented barley syrup). It was not too sweet, and super different from anything you expect for dessert, but it totally worked and was great.

Cured after dark.

So…next time we’re back in San Antonio, guess where we’re going for dinner?

San Antonio to Portland, and the Woman’s Club of San Antonio

Laura Domela — Wed, 17 Dec 2014 22:44:52 +0000

Kevin's mom is a member of the Woman's Club of San Antonio, and before we left she wanted to take us by to show us this interior of beautiful building. The Woman's Club has been here in the Woodward House since 1926.

This 2 1/2-story Neo-Classical revival home was designed in 1904–1905 by architect Atlee Ayers for San Antonio business man David J. Woodward (1864–1925) and his wife May Bock Woodward (1866–1942). The Woodward couple flipped twenty-three homes during their married life. David built the houses, and May decorated them. Each property would eventually be sold for profit when the couple moved upward to a more expensive residence. After David Woodward died, his wife sold the house at 1717 San Pedro in 1926 to the Woman's Club for $47,000. The first floor of the house has the interior parlor, library with fireplace, butler's pantry, office, kitchen, powder room and dining room. When Ayres designed the house, the second floor served as living quarters with five bedrooms, bath and sitting room. The Woodwards intended the top floor to be a ballroom and had it designed with window box seats. [Wikipedia]

The inside is filled with period-appropriate furniture and what looked like some of the original light fixtures.

Most of the ceilings that aren't wood are decorated with painted murals:

Gorgeous light fixtures throughout:

Portraits of past presidents:

Wooden columns:

Cool mirror on brick by the back door:

Pretty pink walls, drapes, and chaise:

After visiting this historic home, we made one more stop by Guajillo's for some more tacos (just as fabulous the second time) and then headed home to Portland (with a stop and quick plane change in Phoenix). As we taxied up to the gate in Portland just before 11pm, we were informed that the emergency slide at the front door had partially deployed and was now stuck and that we were going to need to wait for them to unstick it. (Sliiiiiiiide!)

After about 20 or 30 minutes, they brought a rolling stairway to the back door and we exited through the back door, walked over to another staircase back up to the jetway, past the front door and into the terminal. We got to see the partially deployed slide and it was not nearly as exciting as we'd imagined it would be:

Oops.

Now we're home getting the house ready for holiday guests (guests we hope to take up for some San Juan Island boating between Christmas and New Year's!)

Quick Trip to Texas

Laura Domela — Mon, 15 Dec 2014 14:53:05 +0000

We've been in San Antonio for a couple days visiting Kevin's mom. It's been a great trip so far. Lots of visiting, lots of exploring, and lots of eating. We had breakfast tacos at Taco Cabana for old times sake (because there's no Tacodeli in San Antonio, only in Austin, and those are the best breakfast tacos in TX). We took Kevin's mom to dinner for her birthday on Saturday night – Restaurant Gwendolyn down on the Riverwalk. It was great! We had the charcuterie board to start (highly recommended) and the 5-course tasting menu and we all really enjoyed the food.

The concept of Restaurant Gwendolyn is extremely old school, using what they had and doing as they did before the break of the industrial revolution: approximately 1850. There are no blenders, mixers, choppers, ice cream machines, deep fryers, or anything else with a motor–nothing with a plug.   "No perishable ingredient may travel further than a good, strong horse.   The menu will move absolutely in lockstep with the seasons, as okra and  eggplant taper off and leafy greens move in, we must change ourselves to  suit the product–not the other way around. What is outside is inside."

Old school tableside coffee at Gwendolyn:

Yesterday we did a little research on "the best tacos in San Antonio" and came up with a place called Guajillo's, so we tried it last night for dinner and yep, exceptionally good tacos. We each ordered a different kind of meat, but the taco plates all come with 6 small (4 inch-ish) corn tortillas flat on a plate covered with meat, and a side plate of cilantro, onions, and with my Al Pastor, some pineapple. You build the tacos from there. We traded tacos, and everyone seemed to think the Al Pastor may have been the winner, but they were all delicious.

After tacos we returned to the Riverwalk for some more walking. The trees are all decorated for the holidays and it's super festive down there right now. We took a river barge tour (always fun) and also walked a good distance along the river as well. Here are some photos from the last two nights on the Riverwalk:

Riverside architecture:

We made a quick stop at The Alamo:

Cool amimation/moving projection on the San Fernando Cathedral (happening simultaneously with a concert in the plaza):

A few random shots around the city:

Hanging Out on the River Walk

Laura Domela — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 11:45:00 +0000

After our delicious chicken fried steak lunch yesterday we headed down to the River Walk for a little touristing. Shirley treated us to a river boat ride that was such a blast! Not normally a fan of the cheesy tour guide schtick (or tour guides, for that matter), we LOVED our tour guide, Juan. He was awesome and funny and managed to keep his spiel fresh and actually funny.

The boat ride is about 8 bucks, 35 minutes, and totally worth it. After our river boat ride, we got a nice riverside table at Casa Rio and had margaritas. After margaritas we took a nice walk down the river and over a couple bridges before we headed home.

A perfect afternoon/evening!

(Before going to the "real River Walk" we stopped at newest part of the River Walk up near the old Pearl Brewery. Not much going on up there yet, but nice that they've expanded the "blinky light potential." I liked this stairway crawling up the side of one of the buildings…)