Eric Nelson's herb garden at Zachry.

Eric Nelson knows that the freshest herbs you can cook with are the ones you grow yourself.

Eric Nelson

So, the corporate executive chef for Zachry did what he needed to do to make his job easier: He put in a herb garden in an upraised bed just outside the home office on Logwood.

About two dozen herbs in all were planted, including five types of mint, four types of basil, three oreganos, Provençal lavender, onion chives, two varieties of thyme, two parsleys, two sages, lemon grass, a bay leaf tree, aloe vera and mint marigold.

Now, the herbs are a regular feature at the Crossing Cafe at Zachry, where six food stations offer gourmet treats to employees as well as guests.

The herbs are used as “décor on all catering tables, for buffets, in most all dishes served in the café and catering,” says Nelson. “We have a very wide variety that we can use in any shape or form.”

Nelson's Original Baja Fish Taco

Nelson puts his oregano to good use in his Original Baja Fish Tacos, which he demonstrated recently at the Pearl Farmers Market. The dish originated in California, where the chef grew up before heading to the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., where he met his wife, Laura.

He found work in restaurants in La Jolla, Calif., Irving, Texas, and Beaver Creek, Colo., before the couple decided to come to Laura’s hometown of San Antonio in 1996. He became the executive sous chef at La Mansión del Rio under Scott Cohen before beginning to work at Zachry.

At the construction firm, Nelson overseas all of the company’s catering needs, whether in-house or at the company’s two off-premise ranches.

Eric and Laura Nelson serve fish tacos at the Pearl Farmers Market.

Nelson offers some advice for home gardeners who want to put in their own herb beds: “Make sure you have the right soil and proper drainage (rock and sand layers). Make sure it is the size you need, a little herbs go a long way.”

His garden at Zachry is “completely organic,” he says. To help keep the plants healthy, “we use mint marigolds to fend off the bugs (bugs do not like their smell) and nematodes, if you get grub worms.”

Planting an herb garden is not new at restaurants. Nelson had one when he worked at La Mansión. But the chef says he had an inspiration that dates back further: “I remember Bruce (Auden) from the old Biga had herbs growing all around the old house that he used in the restaurant. Sometimes when you drove by in the morning, he would be out there drinking his morning coffee, watering all his herbs.”

Now, most mornings you’re likely to find Nelson doing the same as he tends his own garden before the day’s work in the kitchen begins.

(Photographs provided by Eric Nelson.)

Bruce Auden

The finalists for this year’s James Beard Foundation Awards were announced Monday, and Bruce Auden is on the list of the best chefs in the Southwest.

The chef and owner of Biga on the Banks, 203 S. St. Mary’s St., faces fierce competition this year from Paul Qui of Austin’s Uchiko. Qui was the recent winner of “Top Chef,” which filmed its season in San Antonio, Austin and Dallas.

Other nominees in the category include: Kevin Binkley of Binkley’s Restaurant in Cave Creek, Ariz.; Bruno Davaillon of the Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas; Jennifer Jasinski of Rioja in Denver; and Hugo Ortega of Hugo’s in Houston.

No one else from San Antonio was on the finalists list.

Another name that might mean something to “Top Chef” fans was Edward Lee of Louisville, Ky.’s 610 Magnolia. Lee was nominated for best chef in the Southeast.

Bruce Auden

Two San Antonio chefs, Bruce Auden of Biga on the Banks and Jason Dady of Jason Dady Restaurants, are among the semifinalists for this year’s James Beard Foundations Awards, which honor excellence in the food service industry.

The Esquire Tavern, 155 E. Commerce St., is also a semifinalist in the category of Outstanding Bar Program.

The finalists will be announced March 19, with the awards handed out on May 7.

Auden is a semifinalist in the category of Best Chef in the Southwest for Biga on the Banks, 203 S. St. Mary’s St. He has been a finalist in the category several times in the past.

Paul Qui of Austin’s Uchi and “Top Chef” contender is also among the semifinalists, as is Maiya Keck of Maiya’s in Marfa, Bruno Davaillon of the Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas, Manabu Horiuchi of Kata Robata in Houston, Anita Jaisinghani of Indika in Houston, Hugo Ortega of Hugo’s in Houston, and Teiichi Sakurai of Tei-An in Dallas.

Dady, meanwhile, in a semifinalist in the category of Outstanding Restaurateur, which covers all of his food ventures, including Bin 555, Tre Trattoria, Two Bros. BBQ Market and the DUK Truck as well as the recently closed Lodge Restaurant of Castle Hills. Another Texan on the list is Nick Badovinus of Flavor Hook in Dallas.

Jason Dady

Bryce Gilmore of Barley Swine in Austin and Grant Gordon of Tony’s in Houston are on the semifinalist list of Rising Star Chef of the Year.

Stephan Pyles of Stephan Pyles in Dallas and Sustenio in San Antonio is among the semifinalists for Outstanding Chef.

Outstanding Pastry Chef semifinalists include two from Texas: Julieta V. Adauto of Orange Peel Pastries, Cakes & More of El Paso and Philip Speer of Uchi.

Another Texas semifinalist is Café on the Green at Four Seasons Resort in Irving for Outstanding Wine Program.

The foundation has also announced that Charlie Trotter of Chicago will receive its Humanitarian of the Year Award while Wolfgang Puck will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award.

For the full list of semifinalists, click here.

Chef Stephan Pyles talks with guests at a reception for Éilan, the development that will house his new restaurant.

Celebrity chef Stephan Pyles is bringing his “new millennium Southwestern cuisine,” as his website calls it, to San Antonio.

The chef, who, along with Bruce Auden and others, helped popularize the regional cuisine, will open a restaurant later this year at Éilan, the new Tuscan-influenced hotel and living complex that is being built off La Cantera Parkway, north of Loop 1604.

Pyles was in town Tuesday sharing his signature sweet-hot Passion Chile Margarita — made with passion fruit, jalapeño and agave nectar, plus tequila, of course  — with a host of invited guests, including a few who braved the heat to look at the new facility, which will feature a 186,000-square-foot hotel, a series of condominiums, various dining areas, a dance studio run by someone from TV’s “Dancing with the Stars,” shops, office space and more.

Pyles' Passion Chile Margaritas

He says he’s glad to be joining the city’s culinary scene, which he thinks has taken off in the last couple of years. “There’s some really good cooking here,” he said. “There’s a real renaissance going on.” He singled out Auden and chef Jason Dady, the latter of whom offered a team from his various restaurants, from the Lodge Restaurant of Castle hills to Bin 555, to serve a series of ceviches to the guests.

Pyles' pizza oven is in a kitchen that has yet to be built.

Ceviches displaying Pyles’ penchant for bold flavors will be a centerpiece of the eponymous new restaurant. In fact, there will be a ceviche bar with freshly made examples for all to try. Bronzini with fennel and vanilla, sea scallop migas, lobster with avocado and guayaba, a 21-ounce cowboy rib-eye with red chile onion rings, and coriander-cured rack of lamb are among the many items currently on his menu.

The new restaurant will seat about 120 plus more on the patio. That’s a little less than the Dallas flagship, but the kitchen will be the same size. There will also be a private dining area for parties that offers a 21st century take on the chef’s table. Instead of sitting in a kitchen corner, near the chef while he works, the guests will be able to watch all of the kitchen action on closed-circuit TV, which allows them to see the action of preparing a meal up close.

Jace Heady of Bin 555 prepares ceviches.

Pyles said his cooking has evolved over the years to include new ingredients from his global dining adventures. Recent trips to Spain and Peru have brought new flavors into play, as have the spices of the Middle East. He’s headed to South Africa and Mozambique soon, so who knows what lies in store when Stephan Pyles the restaurant opens here at the end of the year.

“As long as the flavors are big and bold,” he said, in keeping with his Southwestern roots.

Though construction is far from complete on the restaurant, the wood burning-style pizza oven has been delivered.

Pyles hasn’t decided who the chef will be, but he did say it will be somebody who has worked for him and knows his style of cooking. We can also expect to see more of him in town on special occasions, much in the same way it has been good to see John Besh drop in on Lüke on the River Walk.

Éilan will offer residential housing as well as a hotel.

Johnny Hernandez is also mentioned as one of the chefs who will be on the Éilan scene with a variation on his La Gloria restaurant.

The first phase of the development is well under way, according to David Leff of Wereldhave USA, a Dutch-based developer that also has projects in San Diego, Dallas, Austin and Washington, D.C.

The main building is a hotel that will feature 165 rooms as well as 10,000 square feet of meeting space. A fitness area and a spa, open to both hotel guests and residents of the complex, will also be included. The developers want to have a market as well, but details will not be announced until someone has signed a lease.

One of the office buildings at Éilan.

Corky Ballas, who partnered with Cloris Leachman on “Dancing with the Stars,” will be opening a dance studio in Éilan.

“We have 539 living units,” Leff said; those include one-bedroom, two-bedroom and studio units, and they will be completed after the hotel. Two office buildings are also under construction.

The entire Éilan project covers 120 acres. In case you’re curious, the project’s name is derived from the French word for “ ‘élan,’ meaning vigor, liveliness and distinctive elegance,” according to the press material.

Chef Kelly Casey (with pastry bag) of Hudson's on the Bend in Austin plates her dinners.

It wasn’t about the prosciutto-wrapped quail, so juicy and tender with each bite. It wasn’t about the cocoa powder and raspberry flavors that mingled so beautifully in each sip of the Inwood Estates Tempranillo-Cabernet blend.

It was, however, about how the lush red fruit flavors of the 2007 Fall Creek Meritus joined with slices of Texas beef tenderloin marinated in coffee and chipotle to reach new  gustatory heights.

That was the point of the first Edible Texas Wine-Food Match, held Friday at the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center in Austin.

Five chefs, narrowed down from a field of more than 35, were competing to see who could make the most successful pairings of Texas ingredients with Texas wines.

It was clear to both the celebrity judges’ panel and to the audience who did that best: David Garrido of Garrido’s in Austin.

Susan Auler (left) of Fall Creek Vineyards and celebrity chef Jacques Pépin enjoy the Edible Texas Wine-Food Match.

The chef, who once worked for Bruce Auden at the original Biga, took home the $5,000 grand prize as well as the People’s Choice Award. The centerpiece of his meal was the already-mentioned beef tenderloin with the Meritus,  but he also presented a crispy oyster with habanero-honey aïoli partnered with the Fall Creek Vineyards Chenin Blanc 2010 and a pastel de calabaza, or zucchini cake, with lemon crema and spicy caramelized pecans served with the Sister Creek Muscat Canelli 2010.

Patrick James “P.J.” Edwards of San Antonio’s Bin 555 won a second place commendation from the judges for his meal, which started with a crudo of Gulf Coast group with cured Poteet strawberries and Becker Vineyards Provençal Rosé 2009. It was followed by roasted lamb loin with herb-glazed turnips and porcini-raspberry soil, which was presented with the Becker Vineyards Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2009. A Grapefruit “Dreamsicle” with vanilla semifreddo and the Becker Vineyards Clementine 2010 rounded out his meal.

Organizer Marla Camp

Other chefs in the competition included Peter Smith of the JW Marriott in San Antonio as well as Kelly Casey of Hudson’s on the Bend in Austin and Josh Raymer of Navajo Grill in Fredericksburg. Each presented small plate versions of his or her entire menu to the crowd.

Chef Josh Raymer of Navajo Grill's Prosciutto-Wrapped Quail alongisde a Fredericksburg Market Salad with Pickled Peaches.

The local ingredients included a number of treasures worth seeking out at farmers markets as well as grocery stores: Pure Luck cheeses, Round Rock Honey, quail from Diamond H and Texas Quail farms, Shiner Bock, Broken Arrow Ranch Venison, Bluebonnet Hydroponics lettuces, and Texas olive oil. Alongside Casey’s blue cheese cheesecake were figs from her own trees.

Other Texas wines poured included Messina Hof’s Riesling and Riesling “Angel,” Perrisos Viognier and Petite Sirah, Stone House Scheming Beagle Port, and Flat Creek Muscato, Estate Syrah and Port.

Kelly Casey's Hopelessly Blue Cheesecake with her homegrown figs.

The judges included celebrity chefs Jacques Pépin and John Besh as well as Mozzarella Company found Paula Lambert, François Dionot of L’Academie de Cuisine and Michael Bauer of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Proceeds from the evening, planned by Marla camp of Edible Austin and Terry Thompson-Anderson of the Texas Food and Wine Gourmet, will benefit the not-for-profit Texas Center for Wine and Culinary Arts, which is being planned for Fredericksburg. The goal is to raise all of the money needed to operate the center before it opens in October 2013.

The James Beard Foundation handed out its annual awards earlier this week, and, no, a San Antonio chef was not named best in the Southwest.

Bruce Auden, chef/owner of Biga on the Banks and one of the chefs who helped popularize Southwestern cuisine, was nominated for the sixth time. But the award was actually split between Tyson Cole of Uchi in Austin and Saipin Chutima from Lotus of Siam in Las Vegas. (Perhaps the voters read the category wrong and voted for best chef of Southwest Asian cuisine?)

Cole wasn’t the only Texan to pick up an award. Robb Walsh of Houston shared an award with Rick Bragg and Francine Maroukian for best Food Culture and Travel piece. They co-authored “The Southerner’s Guide to Oysters” for Garden & Gun, a publication that describes itself as being “a Southern lifestyle magazine that’s all about the magic of the new South.”

In other Beard Award news, the cookbook of the year was “Oaxaca al Gusto: An Infinite Gastronomy” by Diana Kennedy, who is either the most loved or most reviled cookbook author to deal with Mexican food. (For some of the latter, read what Walsh has to say about her in his “The Tex-Mex Cookbook.”)

Publication of the year was Edible Communities, which produces Edible Austin among other regional magazines.

The Beard Awards are the culinary equivalent of the Oscars. For a full list of the winners, click here.

Bruce Auden

Bruce Auden of Biga on the Banks, 203 S. St. Mary’s St., is among the five finalists for best chef in the Southwest, according to the James Beard Foundation.

Auden has been nominated several times in the past for the award, which is the culinary field’s equivalent of the Oscars.

Auden is up against several Texas competitors, including Bryan Caswell of Reef in Houston and Tyson Cole of Uchi in Austin. Saipin Chutima of Lotus of Siam in Las Vegas and Ryan Hardy of Montagna at the Little Nell in Aspen, Colo., are the other nominees.

Another Texan to make the list is Robb Walsh of Houston, who is nominated in the journalism division for Food Culture and Travel writing. He shares the nomination with Rick Bragg and Francine Maroukian for a piece in Garden & Sun titled “The Southerner’s Guide to Oysters.” They are up against Bill Addison for a piece in Atlanta Magazine on “BBQ 2010″ and Matt Gross for an article in Saveur on “Tapei, Family Style.”

The journalism awards will be announced May 6. The restaurant awards will be announced May 9. For the full list of nominees, click here.

Didn’t get to visit enough restaurants during Restaurant Week? Then check out one of Jason Dady’s places.

The chef and owner of the Lodge Restaurant of Castle Hills and Bin 555 among others, has announced that he’s continuing his specials through the end of September.

The menus will change weekly, he says, but three-course lunches will be offered for $15 and three-course dinners for $35. The specials will be available at the Lodge, 1746 Lockhill-Selma; Bin 555 at Artisans Alley, 555 W. Bitters Road; Tre Trattoria, 4003 Broadway; and Restaurant Insignia in the Fairmount, 401 S. Alamo St.

For more information, call 210-349-8466.

Bruce Auden of Biga on the Banks, 203 S. St Mary’s St., also reminded us that his restaurant has a three-course dinner special every evening for $37.

The official Restaurant Week concludes tonight. For more information, click here.

In other restaurant news, Freebirds World Burrito has opened a new location. It’s at 125 N.W. Loop 410 in the Plaza del Norte center.

Cuzco Salad at Biga on the Banks.

The ongoing Restaurant Week has been a great opportunity to sample the culinary riches of San Antonio at an affordable price. The latest we’ve tried was the avocado-friendly menu at Biga on the Banks, 203 S. St. Mary’s St.

The first course was a choice between an avocado soup and a Peruvian-influence Cuzco Salad. Both were well worth trying.

The soup was velvety, with plenty of avocado flavor. Offering a delightful contrast to the smoothness was some pico made from orange, jicama and shrimp that added immeasurably to an already-wonderful dish. It was also beautifully presented in a martini glass.

Halibut with cilantro rice at Biga on the Banks.

The salad, meanwhile, was a zesty assortment of marinated red onion, avocado, sweet potato, posole and more tucked into butter lettuce leaves.

For the main course, I couldn’t resist achiote pork tenderloin in a lively cinnamon-laced tomato sauce. Guacamole was perched atop the slices of moist meat, while roasted fresh summer corn and plantains rounded out the plate. Again, the presentation, this time on a banana leaf, added to the enjoyment.

Another option was tortilla-crusted halibut – which chef Bruce Auden and his staff provided without the tortilla – topped with an avocado purée and served with chayote squash and an excellent cilantro rice that had everyone raving.

A third option is quail atop multi-colored, house-made fettuccine in a lemon cream sauce. No avocado, but the dish was just fine with the pasta being a standout.

You can continue the avocado fix into dessert, if you choose. There’s a delicate avocado mousse with a lime lift that arrived with a scoop of coconut ice on top and an array of fresh fruit, including perfectly ripe cubes of pineapple, on the plate. For those who don’t eat sweet avocado on a regular basis, the flavor will be exotic, but the creaminess of the mousse is pure comfort.

Chocolate cake at Biga on the Banks.

Chocolate lovers, though, will find it hard to resist the dense, rich cake, which gives you a feeling that you’re eating both fudge and cake. A generous slice with a touch of chocolate whipped cream was gone almost before I had a taste.

The cost of the three-course meal is $35 during Restaurant Week. Many of the dishes are offered on the regular menu.

For more on Restaurant Week and the participating restaurants, click here.

Auden’s Kitchen, Bruce Auden’s haven of home cooking at 700 E. Sonterra Blvd., has been named one of the top 10 new restaurants in the county by gayot.com, a website that describes itself as “the guide to the good life.”

Auden and his team, including head chef Patricia Wenckus, offer diners a host of comfort foods from buttermilk fried chicken and fish of the day with chips to duck two ways and a bone-in pork chop with bubble and squeak.

The rest of the list include places in Chicago, Las Vegas, Washington, Los Angles, Philadephia, Boston and New York. Not another restaurant included was from Texas.

“Auden’s Kitchen, its wire shelf dividers lined with wines and crockery, is homey with more than a hint of haute,” the online review reads.

For another view of Auden’s Kitchen, from SavorSA’s Bonnie Walker, click here.