Shoppers in the area of Loop 1604 and Blanco Road know the H-E-B Plus there as a dependable source of great food to cook with. On Saturday, the store proved it once again, only this time the food was free and it was ready to eat.
Jason Dady serves up his nachos while his daughter, Tessa, watches. Saturday was her birthday.
The parking lot of the supermarket was the site of the first H-E-B Food Truck Face Off, and it brought four of the city’s mobile kitchens together for a friendly competition.
The competitors all had to use H-E-B products in their dishes, which were served up to hungry lines of people until their supply ran out.
The crowds enjoy the free food.
By the time the judges’ had finished their work, Pieter Sypesteyn of Where Y’At had taken first place for his New Orleans barbecue shrimp, made with Chimay ale and baguette, both included among H-E-B’s Primo Products.
His victory meant that Gordon Pictures, a Christian movie production ministry, would take home $10,000 from H-E-B. Sypesteyn also won the people’s choice award, which brought another $500 to the charity.
Johnny Hernandez brought his True Flavors catering wagon out and made pulled pork tacos, which earned $2,500 for the Culinary Institute of America’s San Antonio campus.
Michael Anthony Romo and his MARS Mobile Kitchen also served up an heirloom tomato and watermelon gazpacho.
This is the first of H-E-B’s Face Offs. The reaction from the crowds should guarantee it won’t be the last.
Johnny Hernandez (center) and his team make pork tacos.
MARS Mobile Kitchen offers heirloom tomato and watermelon gazpacho.
This Saturday morning, you can do your grocery shopping, have a snack or two, and help a local charity.
The parking lot in front of the H-E-B Plus at the corner of Loop 1604 and Blanco Road will be the setting of a Food Truck Face Off, featuring four mobile kitchens competing against each other. The fun starts at 10 a.m.
Each of the chefs will be using H-E-B products in their food. After their efforts are judged, the winner will be able to designate a charity to receive a donation.
The participants include Jason Dady’s DUK Truck, Johnny Hernandez’s True Flavors, Michael Anthony Romo’s MARS Mobile Kitchen and Pieter Sypesteyn’s Where Y’At.
The public can enjoy food from the trucks until noon.
Johnny Hernandez applauds the graduating class at The Culinary Institute of America's main campus.
Johnny Hernandez, named one of the top five Latino chefs in the United States by Siempre Mujer magazine, returned to the college that launched his thriving career Thursday and served as commencement speaker at The Culinary Institute of America’s Hyde Park, N.Y., campus.
“You have chosen the most exciting career in the most exciting industry in the world today,” Hernandez told 88 recipients of associate degrees in culinary arts and baking and pastry arts. “We are at the center of every celebration, because nothing significant happens without food.”
The 43-year-old San Antonio native remembered the advice of his late father, who only had a second grade education but whose work ethic that inspired him to become the chef and entrepreneur he is today: “You have to do what you love, so you don’t have to work.”
Hernandez’s love has resulted in an expanding restaurant empire that includes La Gloria Ice House, adjacent to the CIA’s San Antonio campus, along with Casa Hernán and True Flavors Catering Company. Two more restaurants and his first cookbook are in the works.
In presenting Hernandez with the college’s Gold Medal following the address, CIA President Tim Ryan called him “a favorite son of San Antonio.”
“Today marks the beginning of a great future that is only limited by your ability to dream big … with the solid foundation of the great culinary education you received here at the CIA,” Hernandez, who earned his CIA degree in 1989, advised graduates. A member of the college’s Alumni Council and Latin Foods Advisory Board, he has been a strong supporter of the CIA San Antonio, raising funds for college scholarships through his annual Paella Challenge contest.
Nothing says San Antonio hospitality quite like a freshly made margarita.
San Antonio chef and caterer Johnny Hernandez is inviting people into his home.
Bistec tacos are one dish available at Casa Hernan.
Casa Hernán, just off Southtown at 411 Cevallos, is a catering venue that is now open to the public for private party rentals. The opulent space reflects the hacienda style of interior Mexico, from the koi pond at the front entrance to the colorful dining area with room for several food stations.
The dishes at Casa Hernan.
Hernandez, who also operates La Gloria Ice House at the Pearl Brewery, has had the place decorated with an elegance mixed with a bold, traditional color scheme that is both energizing and tranquil and makes you feel far from the neighboring railroad tracks and right at home next to La Tuna Grill.
At the opening party, the chef and his catering company, True Flavors, put on a spread that included samples from the various menus clients can choose from. Dishes included fish in an hoja santa sauce, several ceviches, bistec tacos, sopes and cochinita pibil as well as tres leches cake shooters for dessert.
You don’t have to wait for an invitation to a private party to see Casa Hernán. Come September, Hernandez is opening the space for a monthly Sunday brunch with each focusing on the regional foods of interior Mexico.
Johnny Hernandez's deconstructed chile en nogada featured aspic versions of the pomegranate seeds, the walnut sauce and the poblano, the three colors of the Mexican flag.
Chef Jason Dady talks with his diners at Chefs and Cellars.
Pigeon stuffed with foie gras and bacon. New York strip and shrimp with a roasted pepper stuffed with fresh vegetables. Chocolate mousse with brandied cherries and red velvet crumbles. 1981 Chateau Margaux.
These were some of the many treats that diners were exposed to during Culinaria’s annual Chefs and Cellars dinners at the Culinary Institute of America’s San Antonio kitchens.
Five of the city’s best chefs — John Brand from Las Canarias and Ostra, Jason Dady from the Lodge Restaurant of Castle Hills and others, Johnny Hernandez from La Gloria and True Flavors catering, Jesse Perez from Alamo Cafe, and Andrew Weissman from Il Sogno and the Sandbar — teamed up with wine collectors from the area to present a feast of flavors.
Jesse Perez prepares a course for his diners.
Guests were seated with an individual chef, who presented the multi-course meal as if it were a chef’s table at a private restaurant. Bonnie Walker and I were lucky enough to be seated with Johnny Hernandez, who created a spectacular array of dishes to match wines chosen by local wine authority and educator Woody De Luna.
The end result offered course after course of spectacular Mexican food, from a salmon salpicon to a fig-topped Cajeta Pound Cake soaked in cream, each of which was paired with German Rieslings; perhaps California’s most sought-after Chardonnay, Stony Hill; a Sauvigny-les-Beaunes Burgundy that found a grateful home with both surf and turf; and a pair of lively Champagnes.
The lesson here was simple and clear: Great wines can work with great food, no matter where in the world each is from. Hernandez may have offered street food in the form of black bean-filled corn tortilla topped with fresh guacamole or cochinita pibil, but the dish was elevated to gastronomic heights when partnered with a 2003 Gunderloch Riesling Rothenberg Grosses Gewachs from Germany. I know first-hand from my family that the Germans wouldn’t know what to make of Mexican food, from low to high, but their wines proved a perfect partner.
Everyone we spoke with during and after the dinner sang the praises of his or her individual chef, who not only prepared the food with his staff but also explained the dishes and the approach each took.
Jason Dady served pigeons stuffed with foie gras and served with miso-corn and candied bacon.
There were some excellent wines from local cellars to match the dishes, including aged Sauternes, fine Bordeaux and Burgundies, and spectacular Chardonnays, both from California and France.
The interior of the stretch limousine from Lonestar Limousines, which helped us drink and (not) drive safely.
Because of the great amount of great wine poured, Bonnie and I engaged the services of Lonestar Limousine, a luxury service that made sure we enjoyed every last drop of wine poured without driving home irresponsibly in the blessed rain.
