How do you make your chili?

Chili is a San Antonio staple. But what kind of chili? Is it made with beef or a mix of game, sausage or even a touch of bacon? Does it have beans? Does its redness come strictly from ground chiles or do you add tomatoes to the stock? Does vegetarian chili count? Can you use corn kernels, garbanzo beans or tofu and still call it chili? What about white chili with chicken meat and green chiles?

Chili is a personal dish, with no right or wrong answers. It’s all a matter of your tastes, including the tricky issue of beans. Yes, beans are not used in Texas chili, but we probably have as many bean-loving immigrants from the Midwest as we do from south of the border, and they’ve never heard of chili without beans, so that’s how they make it.

Even though there are countless ways of making chili, some rules do apply across the board. That’s what we heard from three local chili experts, who offered tips for making your chili even better, whether you’re making a large pot for a party or for dinner during the next cold snap. Here’s what they had to say:

Robert Riddle, the “Big Bob” of Big Bob’s Burgers, 447 W. Hildebrand, offers his own chili on the Big Filthy, a burger jacked up with refrieds, jalapeños and cheese. It’s also in his Frito pie as well as his chili cheese fries and tots.

The most important thing you can do to make a great chili is to cook the chili powder. We do this two different ways. First we add the chili powder to the meat that has been cooked with the garlic and onions. We continue cooking the chili powder into the meat until the color starts to darken. We then add roasted poblano chiles and tomatoes and cook everything down until it thickens. While it is cooking we usually have to add more chili powder, so we place it in a dry skillet and roast it until the color darkens. The last advice I can give you is to simmer the chili for a couple of hours until all of the flavors blend completely. Chili is difficult because it is such a simple dish. Practice, practice, practice.

How do you serve your chili? Covered in cheese? Onions? Bacon?

Garrett Stephens, pitmaster at The County Line, 10101 I-10 W. and cooking instructor, knows his way around chili in the same way he knows his smokers.

For chili, I think that it is best to use fresh spices. Instead of chili powder, I use fresh ancho chiles and make a purée out of them. I grind my cumin from seeds, and use fresh garlic clove instead of granulated garlic. I use marrow bones with onions and cilantro to make a rich broth in lieu of using water in a recipe. I would also suggest using a round steak, cut in a 1/4-inch cube, instead of ground beef. The trick would be to stop the cooking process once the meat has tendered, so that it doesn’t break down and flake apart.

Geronimo Lopez, executive chef at NAO, the Culinary Institute of America’s restaurant in the Pearl Brewery, 312 Pearl Parkway, knows chili con carne from his home country of Venezuela. It’s different from chili in Texas, but he knows that some rules apply, no matter the recipe.

There are a lot of differences in recipes, and you can use a lot of different types of meat, whether it’s game or different cuts of beef. But one thing you have to do is that the way you cut the meat must be the same. The meat must be the same size, so you can get the same mount of tenderness and so it cooks all at the same time. People need to choose their chiles carefully, so you get the right amount of heat and not too much. Balance is important with all of your flavors. Once the heat is in there, it’s kinda hard to take it out. But you can try. The one thing I know is that you can take a toasted baguette and stand it up in your pot. That can take out some of the heat, but not all. If it’s still too much, you could try to divert some of the spiciness with some sweetness, if you want.

If you haven’t developed your own chili recipe, we offer the following suggestions:

There’s room for all kinds of chili.

Red Chili, Texas Style

Sizzling Pork Green Chile

Jamie’s Chili from Scott Cohen

Cincinnati Chili

Haymarket Chili

Vegetarian Chili with Cheese and Scallions

NAO, the Culinary Institute of America’s restaurant at the Pearl Brewery, has expanded its hours.

Lunch is now being offered from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The menu is less formal than the dinner menu, chef Geronomio Lopez promises. One offering is the piled high Domenican burger, which marries Texas’ love of burgers with the New World flavors the restaurant is known for. These lunches are in addition to the Thursday five-course lunches that include cooking demonstrations.

And the restaurant at 312 Pearl Parkway is now open after hours on Saturday, from 10 p.m. to 1 or 1:30 a.m. The late hours are largely a SIN, or service industry night, says Lopez, referring to a time that waitstaff at other restaurants can enjoy going out themselves after their shifts have ended.

Lopez and his sous chef Zach Garza have planned a rotating menu of dishes such as Fire-Roasted Brussels, Chili and Waffles, Turkey King Ranch Casserole and that Burger, while the bartenders are coming up with some late-night specials. The intriguing Chili and Waffles dish features a chili that takes 24 hours to make. Lopez describes it as completely unique, with a touch of Mexican mole as well as Texas chili mixed in. It’s served over a sweet corn waffle and topped with a fried egg before serving.

“It’s street foods American style,” he says. Or think of it as “a food truck that doesn’t move.”

Reservations are not accepted for either the new lunches or for the late-night hours.

For more information, click here or call (210) 554-6484.

Geronimo Lopez

NAO, the Culinary Institute of America’s restaurant at the Pearl Brewery, 312 Pearl Parkway, is offering a series of lunches focusing on the flavors of the New World.

Each includes a cooking demonstration led by the restaurant’s executive chef, Geronimo Lopez.

The series begins Jan. 17 and ends Feb. 7. The lunch classes will only be offered on Wednesdays and Thursdays and will include five courses as well as wine, tax and tip for $100 a person.

The schedule is as follows:

Jan. 17 — An Insider’s Tour of the True Mexican Kitchen

Jan. 23-24 — Argentine Treasures

Jan. 30-31 — Peru: From the Pacific to the Andes

Feb. 6-7 — Brazilian Cuisine: The Cutting Edge.

The lunches begin with a reception at 11:30 a.m., followed by the meal from noon to 1:30 p.m. Only 20 guests will be seated for each special lunch, so prepaid reservations are necessary. Call (210) 554-6484.

The Pearl has become a food lover’s center for festivals as well as restaurants.

Bliss is aptly named.

As we approach the end of 2012, it’s time to look back on the many great flavors that we sampled. The list is lengthy, thanks to a decided upturn in culinary offerings across the city, both on the dining scene and for the food lover in general.

One of the biggest food stories of the year was the continued growth of the Pearl Brewery, which saw the opening of three praise-worthy eateries and a trendy bar. It also was the location of an increasing number of food festivals, meaning thousands from all over the city were showing up on a regular basis for cooking demonstrations at the Saturday farmers market, for paella, burgers and barbecue or tamales, and for the restaurants, all in the quest of good food.

A glimpse into the kitchen at the Granary.

The list of new restaurants includes the Granary ‘Cue and Brew, which restored beer making to the premises. Artisan barbecue, fine brews and an irresistible condiment known as ‘cue butter all made this a welcome addition. The Boiler House Texas Grill and Wine Garden delivers on the belief that quality grilled meat is prerequisite in the Lone Star State, and the massive setting, covering two stories, is epic enough to complement chef James Moore’s ranch-style fare.

The most intriguing addition, though, is NAO, the Culinary Institute of America’s full-service restaurant, which has provided San Antonio with its broadest and most authentic taste of South and Central American cuisines to date. These exciting flavors, from seafood stews and roasted meats to an inviting cocktail program, have somehow not been able to secure a foothold before in a city that values its Tex-Mex above all; yet in just a few months, NAO has developed a local following, and its client base should grow as word continues to get out to the rest of the country that the school has a campus and a destination restaurant here. When the visiting chef series returns, with culinary stars from countries as diverse as Brazil, Peru and Argentina, you’d be wise to make your reservations as soon as possible.

The CIA’s flagship restaurant in San Antonio.

NAO is also built on the concept of small plates, which has also not been widely popular in San Antonio. Yet Bite in the Southtown area and a revitalized Nosh on Austin Highway are joining in the effort to break that mold.

Southtown continued to attract diners from across the city, as Mark Bliss returned with a new restaurant, the aptly named Bliss. The warmth of the place, the impressive setting and the comfort of the food, especially when enjoyed at the chef’s table in the kitchen, all help place it among the city’s best.

Johnny Hernandez opened two distinct venues in the Southtown area, if not Southtown proper. They include the Frutería at the Steel House Lofts, where you can get everything from market-fresh fruit for breakfast to an impressive array of, you got it, small plates for dinner, and Casa Hernán, an airy catering facility and brunch spot in his own home.

Another welcome addition to the Southtown scene was the Alamo Street Eat Bar, a food truck park that featured crazy good burgers from Cullum’s Attaboy, the Peacemaker combination of pork belly and fried oysters from Where Y’At and the DUK Truck’s duck confit tacos. Add Zum Sushi, The Institute of Chili, Wheelie Gourmet and a few other visitors, as well as a great beer lineup, and you’ve got some wonderful fresh treats. And what do food trucks provide but small plates, albeit from different plates, giving you the feel of being on a tapas trail?

An “Eat Street” crew films at the Point Park & Eats.

Another food truck park that opened up north in Leon Springs was the Point Park & Eat, which also offers a great beer selection and a wide array of foods from a lineup that has changed in the months that it’s been open. The culinary confections come from trucks such as Skinny Cat, Gourmet on the Fly, Blazin’ Burgers and Say-She-Ate.

Television continued to discover may of these culinary gems. Say-She-Ate was one of four food trucks filmed for the TV series, “Eat Street.” The others include Rickshaw Stop, Tapa Tapa and Society Bakery. Meanwhile, PBS celebrity chef Ming Tsai came to town to film segments of “Simply Ming” with Diana Barrios Treviño from Los Barrios, Elizabeth Johnson of the CIA, John Besh of Lüke (visiting from New Orleans) and Johnny Hernandez at La Gloria.

Sustenio, with Stephan Pyles’ blessing and David Gilbert’s gifts, made people realize the Eilan Hotel Resort and Spa off I-10 was not just a pretty façade. Its menu, with much of the dishes derived from local meats and produce, features an exciting array of ceviches that captured the freshness of the sea and a number of dishes using South Texas Heritage Pork products.

The $13 Burger at Knife & Fork.

The gastropub movement continued with the opening of Knife & Fork in the Stone Oak area. An outgrowth of the Bistro Six food truck, it offered a $13 Burger worth every cent, an extensive cocktail program and a laid-back atmosphere.

Meanwhile, the bistronomy craze — a hybrid of “bistro” and “gastronomy” — could be found in Laurent’s Modern Cuisine on McCullough Avenue. Next door to the still-vibrant and dependable Bistro Vatel, it proved that a segment of San Antonio does love its French food.

For those who enjoy a meal every now and then at home, the number of gourmet groceries grew, thanks to the addition of Trader Joe’s in the Quarry Extension and a second Whole Foods on Blanco Road, north of Loop 1604. The food warehouse Gaucho Gourmet expanded its hours to the public to six days a week, while Groomer’s Seafood reeled in even more seafood lovers, especially when lobsters hit a mouthwatering low of $5.95 apiece.

Classic cocktails have made a comeback.

San Antonio lifted it spirits high during the year. Distilled spirits, that is. Mixed drinks, both shaken and stirred, got a huge boost from the first annual San Antonio Cocktail Conference. But it didn’t stop there. The Blue Box in the Pearl and the downtown Brooklynite joined the likes of Bar 1919 in the Blue Star Complex and the bar at NAO as havens for hand-crafted classic cocktails. A rye sour shaken with traditional egg white, a real martini made with gin and a pisco sour bright with freshly squeezed citrus were all incentives that made exploring these nightspots fun.

Expect beer’s popularity to soar in the new year. Beyond the excellent brews at the Granary, we await Alamo Beer’s ambitious plans for a downtown complex that will feature a restaurant as well as a brewing facility as well as the launch of Branchline Brewery.

What else can we expect? The Pearl will continue to expand with the openings of Jesse Perez’s Arcade Midtown Kitchen and an as-yet-unnamed venture from Steven McHugh as well as the move of Green Vegetarian Cuisine, all of which will add to the draw of the campus. Culinaria has announced plans for a community garden center offering food and agricultural education for the city. Andrew Weissman is taking over the former Liberty Bar site on Josephine Street.

With these strides forward on so many fronts, the city’s culinary scene should continue to offer some enticing new flavors for anyone with a healthy appetite.

What comfort macaroni and cheese brings.

The second annual San Antonio Cellar Classic drew hundreds to the Pearl Brewery Stables Saturday to sample a wide variety of wines that they could then take home at a discounted rate.

Taking tastes at the San Antonio Cellar Classic.

Shoppers looking to shore up their cellars with some age-worthy bottles or those just wanting to get an early start on holiday treats lined up before the doors opened and then lined up at the end to collect their purchases.

In between, there were dozens of wines poured alongside some small plates available from a series of restaurants, both established and soon to be on the dining scene, offering proof once again that fine wine loves great food.

A floral Terrazas Torrontés 2001 offered a nice balance to Feast chef Stefan Bowers shrimp ceviche, while Bending Branch’s new Cabernet Sauvignon and the Col Solare, Washington state’s answer to Italy’s Super Tuscans, both went well with sous vide flank steak from Jesse Perez’s upcoming Arcade. The tangy Ripa delle More 2008 from Castello Vicchiomaggio and veal polpette from chef James Moore’s soon-to-open Boiler House Texas Grill. Clint Connaway of Max’s Wine Dive offered a strata that was made for the Ruinart Rosé Champagne.

Jesse Perez plates his dish.

Urban Taco, NAO, the Bright Shawl, H-E-B and Ms. Chocolatier also offered treats ranging from flautas and gazpacho to salted caramel cake balls and red velvet cupcakes.

Cake balls.

While the guests were sipping and snacking to their hearts’ content, the real work was taking place in a corner under the staircase. Five of us had to judge seven different macaroni and cheese dishes from the participating restaurants. TV and web personality Tanji Patton, food writer Chris Dunn, Suzanne Taranto Etheredge of Culinaria, Lenny Friedman of Los #3 Dinners, which provided the great background music, and I were all set for the difficult task, while food writer Julia Celeste Rosenfeld served as tie-breaker, if one were needed.

How  do you judge macaroni and cheese, we asked ourselves. Quality of the pasta counts, of course. So does the nature of the cheese. Is it creamy and velvety? Does the cheese complement the rest of the ingredients? How well do the rest of the ingredients, whatever they may be, fit in with macaroni and cheese?

A judge reaches for a sample of macaroni and cheese.

The choices we were faced with ran the gamut from two made with bacon to one that featured duck confit and spinach. One was more like a casserole, in that that the meat took over, leaving the cheese in the dust. Some had breadcrumbs on top, others arrived under the protection of a crispy shield of cheese.

In the end, we were almost unanimous in our agreement that Feast’s Stefan Bowers had come up with a winner with his smoky, spicy mac and cheese with shishito peppers folded in. The smokiness carried over into the cheese. Not that the others were slouches by any means, but in Bower’s version, everything played together to provide that pure comfort that comes from a top-notch macaroni and cheese.

And the not-too-hot spice in the dish would have been perfect with the fruity Tortoise Creek Grenache Rosé d’Une Nuit 2011, a French rosé with a very New World label and approach.

Hard work, folks. Just be glad there are folks willing to sacrifice time and taste buds for a good cause.

A pocket pie

Argentine chef Hubert O’Farrell is visiting San Antonio this week to cook at NAO, the restaurant at the Culinary Institute of America. On his special menu are some down-home favorites, including these empandas, which showcase one of his country’s greatest culinary treasures, grass-fed beef.

The recipe calls for a salmuera, which is a brine, as well as a brunoise of the beef and the onion. What’s that? According to StellaCulinary.com, “Brunoise is nothing more than a very small dice. Chefs just like to call it brunoise because we love adjectives and nouns that make things seem more complex than they really are.

NAO is at 312 Pearl Parkway. Call (210) 554-6484 for information.

Argentine Beef Tenderloin Empanadas (Empanadas de Lomo Cortado a Cuchillo)

Salmuera:
1 tablespoon salt
4 cups water

Dough:
3 ¼ pounds organic all-purpose flour
10 1/2 ounces melted pig fat

Filling:
2 1/4 pounds grass-fed beef tenderloin, trimmed
3 1/4 pounds white onion
1 pound butter or “cow fat”
1 tablespoon sea salt flakes
3 tablespoons Spanish sweet pimentòn
2 tablespoons cumin
2 tablespoons coarse sun-dried aji chile powder
3/4 cup boiling water
1 pound scallions (cebolla de verdeo)

For the salmuera: Add salt to water.

For the dough: Place the flour in a mixer with a dough hook and pour the warm pig fat. Start in slow motion and slowly add the salmuera as much as the dough “needs” it. Once the dough is silky and smooth, you can turn it off and reserve for about an hour wrapped in film and refrigerate. Flatten the dough until it is thin enough without breaking. Cut in circles 2.5 inches in diameter.

For the filling: Freeze the meat for 1 hour so it is easier to cut. With a sharp knife, cut the tenderloin and the onions brunoise, separately. Toast all the dry condiments and add them to the boiling water with the salt. Cook the onions in the butter or cow fat until transparent and add the meat. Mix with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes. Turn the burner off and add the liquid and the scallions. Stir. Chill the filling in a baking sheet to stop the cooking process. Refrigerate for 2 hours. Assemble the empanadas using the preparation as cold as possible so that the juices will stay in the mixture and be more flavorful. Place the circle of dough in the palm of your left hand, place a spoonful of the filling and close quickly making a “repulgue,” a rope-like edge. Place each empanada on a baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees until the dough is browned, about 12 minutes.

Makes about 2 dozen empanadas.

From chef Hubert O’Farrell

Clams and chorizo at Bliss.

Some high-end restaurants in New York city are so popular that they’ve begun charging patrons more if they want reservations during prime hours, notably 7 to 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and for preferred seating, the New York Times reported recently.

In a way, it’s a reserve of early bird specials that reward patrons for dining earlier in the evening by giving them a break on the price of their meal.

But would the idea go over in SA? Would people be willing to pay more because they wanted to dine at the most congested time? The question was put to several key players on the dining scene. Here’s what they had to say:

Mark Bliss
Chef/owner, Bliss
926 S. Presa St.

Hmm, a premium price for premium times … I think some clientele would not have an issue, but it does seem a bit exclusive and would not allow customers on a budget to dine at premium times, especially for special events like anniversaries, birthdays, etc. We always wanted Bliss to be accessible to everyone, and if they book a week out ahead of time, they are able to secure prime times, usually. It seems that with “preferred seating” one would be setting one up for no-show credit card charges, last-minute reservations and impatience in having to wait for a table on very busy nights. We already have that exclusivity in place with our chef’s table. -Mark

Stefan Bowers
Chef, Feast
1024 S. Alamo St.

At Feast we only do reservations for tables of six or more and that’s simply because we needed to be somewhat prepared for large groups. But I can answer this question with certainty because I answer the phones during the day (we don’t have a host during the day and I don’t like people going to voicemail). The fact is that 95 percent of everyone who calls and wants a table, especially on a Friday/Saturday night, wants it at 7:30. It’s a premium time, and everyone wants it. I’ll tell the guest on the phone that 7:30-8:30 is booked and lose their business because of the trillion other options available. I suppose in New York it’s a way of recovering some of the losses of “turnaway” tables. Though, my personal belief is that it’s not good business. The party calling far enough ahead to secure a table and then being penalized for it just doesn’t make sense to me. This is exactly, on a deep level, why we became an open seating restaurant, first come-first serve (almost — we’re just too small to deal with a walk-in 14, 16 or 20 top).

The Jack Cheese Mac at Feast.

What’s happening nowadays in the contemporary restaurant scene is fascinating to me. Restaurants are completely evolving. They’re becoming far more unconventional and much more confident in calling their own shots. Big name or just solid local chefs with a national reputation (Carlo Mirarchi, David Chang, for example) are rewriting the rule books. We’re ALL aware of the fatality rate of restaurants, so I think younger chefs are taking a more defensive and protective role and saying something to the effect of “Well, I could be out of business in less than five years, so I’m going to do things my way and I’m also not going to let the guests take advantage of me OR my restaurant.” Yet, I feel this is an unstopable measure in big cities. Though, I don’t see SA doing this for another 3-5 years at the minimum.

Altogether, I don’t agree with this trend. It doesn’t feel right poking someone with a reservation time “penalty ticket” (even though there’s a part of me that can see how it might possibly eliminate the entitled guest or it might cause the more frugal guest to slide up or down a time slot), but unfortunately I think what it’s going to do, most of all, is just irritate the guest from the begining and start a VERY dangerous process of stacking the deck against the restaurant that applies it.

To put it plainly, it’s going to cheapen the guest/restaurant relationship from the start. The romance immediately dies a little between the two parties because it becomes about the money before the two parties can even get to the sex, uh, food/experience. It’s important to never make the guest feel cheap. If the guest feels cheap then the restaurant is cheap.

Jason Dady
Chef/owner, Jason Dady Restaurants,
including Bin 555 and Tre Trattoria

Is Jason Dady’s outrageous Nutella x 3 even more precious if you can order it at the time you prefer?

In my dream world, that would be perfect. It makes sense in many other entertainment industries: premium tickets for premium pricing. Down time results in lower pricing in movie theaters, Broadway shows, etc.

I think if they “band” together, it could work, but it’s only as strong as its weakest link. Look at Next and Alinea (in Chicago) selling tickets, and it’s worked great for them.

It would never, ever go over in SA, because no one has a stronghold enough on the market to garner that type of demand. But as a diner, I would certainly not mind paying a premium price for a premium time, if that’s what I wanted. You get what you pay for.

Robert Rodriguez,
General Manager, NAO at the CIA
312 Pearl Parkway

Interesting. Seems like an effort to make the time less popular. Can’t imagine they would be making much money with it. Don’t think it would go over very well here. In San Antonio, everyone wants to come in between 6 and 8 … sometimes it’s difficult to fill reservations in advance for earlier or later than that, if they plan ahead at all.

Now, it’s your turn: Would you be willing to pay more for dinner at a special restaurant if you wanted to go at a heavily trafficked time? Post your answers below.

The Culinary Institute of America, San Antonio says that critically acclaimed Brazilian chef, Yara Roberts, will serve as a visiting instructor in the college’s Latin Cuisines Certificate Program. She will be here Aug. 10 and 11.

Yara Roberts

In addition to teaching students in the program about the cuisines of Brazil, she will offer food lovers a unique opportunity to taste her cuisine with two special dinners at the college’s restaurant NAO: New World Flavors. These will be Friday, Aug. 10 and Saturday, Aug. 11.

A five-course tasting menu will be offered for $65 a person, some of the dishes include: chicken with cerrado sour heart of palm and Brazilian truffled béchamel rice, stuffed pork loin with creamed beans and crispy collard greens and seasonal greens, mango and baru nuts with a passion fruit vinaigrette.

NAO: New World Flavors, is at the Pearl, adjacent to the CIA. Reservations are encouraged.  Reserve your seats today on opentable.com, or by calling Nao at 210-554-6484.

Robert Fleming is opening a second Magnolia Pancake Haus this week.

NAO, the Latin restaurant at the Culinary Institute of America, will have its soft opening on May 23.

It will be in the Pearl Brewery, 200 E. Grayson St., and will feature dishes from throughout South America, Latin America and the islands.

NAO will be student-staffed and the menu will feature traditional dishes creatively reinterpreted for San Antonio diners.

Jesse Perez

In other Pearl Brewery news, chef Jesse Perez is opening his contemporary American restaurant, Arcade, this fall. It will be in the lab building near the stables on the property.

The streamlined industrial look of the space will be playful, Perez says.

We’re hoping the food will be as good as what we sampled from Perez during this year’s Culinaria.

In other restaurant news, Robert Fleming will be opening his second Magnolia Pancake Haus on Friday at 10333 Huebner Road.

Old favorites, such as the Apfelpfannekuchen and the pancakes as well as the house-made sausage and eggs to order, will be available. Call (210) 561-6117.

Robbie Nowlin, who left Jason Dady’s the Lodge Restaurant of Castle Hills, to work at the prestigious French Laundry in Yountville, Calif., has returned to town. He will be working for Dady again, this time at Bin 555.

The Esquire Tavern

The Esquire Tavern, 155 E. Commerce St., has been named one of the top bars in America by Men’s Fitness magazine. The listing says that “Luckily despite its tourist-y location, this is a casual local favorite that just happens to boast the longest wooden bar in Texas. At 79 feet it’s the perfect spot to throw back a few Lone Stars (the “National Beer of Texas”), and hang with the locals. As for cocktails they’re fittingly big and boozy.”

The Grand Hyatt, 600 E. Market St., has a new executive chef. Lawrence Eells grew up moving around the world. As a young boy in a military family, he spent the majority of his childhood in places such as Okinawa, the Philippines, Shanghai, Hawaii, Albuquerque, San Diego, Minneapolis and Dallas.