Food News

4 things to know in San Antonio food: Anticipated restaurant opens by reservation only

Frida is now open — reservations required.

Editor's note: We get it. It can be difficult to keep up with the fast pace of San Antonio's restaurant and bar scene. We have you covered with our regular roundup of essential food news.

Openings

Frida, the upscale Mexican restaurant and bar concept from renowned pianist Fernando Davil, began its regular Tuesday through Sunday operations on June 2, following a soft opening last weekend. Located at 18740 Stone Oak Pkwy., it occupies the space that previously housed Mexican/American bar and grill CoCo Bongo. Frida’s extensive drink selection features mezcal-forward cocktails and a global wine list, while chef Luigi Ong’s meat-heavy menu includes such options as suckling pig-stuffed chile relleno, beef ribs, and seared tuna with aguachile negro. Frida will be open for reserved seating only, Tuesday through Thursday from 5-10 pm, Friday and Saturday from 6-11 pm, and Sunday from 10 am-2 pm. Reservations can be made on the restaurant’s website.

Starting June 6, the Pearl Farmers Market will resume in-person operations on Saturdays from 9 am-1 pm, in the parking lot by Green Vegetarian Cuisine. Shortly thereafter, on June 9, Pearl’s food hall, The Bottling Department, will reopen at 50 percent capacity. The Bottling Department restaurants and bar will be open Tuesday through Sunday, 11:30 am-8 pm. The market has also announced that it will continue to offer its curbside pickup service, launched amid COVID-19, indefinitely. Guests can continue to order online for pickup at the new Farmers Market headquarters, 300 E. Grayson St., Ste. 100, starting Friday, June 12. The last pickup from the Pearl Stable will be on Friday, June 5.

Other news and notes

Three Alamo City culinary stars will take to the virtual stage on Thursday, June 4, as part of PechaKucha San Antonio’s first-ever online event. Among the evening’s six presenters are Compost Queens co-founder Kate Jaceldo, La Fonda on Main managing partner Gabriel Ibarra, and Dorcol Distilling’s chief engagement officer Jess Elizarraras. Their presentations will be livestreamed on PechaKucha San Antonio’s Youtube and Facebook pages starting at 7 pm. They'll also be archived for future viewing.

Austin-based Torchy’s Tacos announced last week that it will gift 20 recent graduates with free tacos for a year (in the form of $500 gift cards). High school and college graduates can enter to win by posting a photo in their cap and gown or holding their diploma, along with a brief writeup detailing their “Taco Dreams for the future” and the hashtag #TorchysClassof2020. Torchy’s will contact winners directly after the promotion wraps on Friday, June 5, and entrants can increase their chances by filling out the online entry form here.

openings news-you-can-eat

NYT loves AUS

Pastry chef from San Antonio makes New York Times Best Bakeries list

Comadre Panadería/Instagram

Comadre Panadería is known for nostalgic Mexican bakes with feminine flair.

The New York Times has once again shined its spotlight on Austin’s culinary scene. It included Comadre Panadería, an Austin bakery by San Antonio native Mariela Camacho, on its new list of the 22 of the Best Bakeries Across the U.S. Right Now.

Interim food critic Priya Krishna praises pastry chef Camacho’s pastries that include conchas and her signature pink cake. “Despite their saccharine appearances, not one of the desserts is overly cloying, and even the coffee drinks (Texas pecan horchata! Cranberry vanilla agua fresca!) strike the playful tone of the pastries,” she writes.

Comadre Panadería has been widely recognized, including by this publication; Camacho, who is now based in Ausitn, won Pastry Chef of the Year in the 2023 CultureMap Austin Tastemaker Awards. She also earned a 2024 James Beard Award semifinalist nomination for Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker.

Camacho and Comadre as a whole are both invested in using baked goods to make a more equitable world, from the bakery's early days as a fundraiser for disaster relief, to a current insistence on charging enough to support ethical and organic foods, and paying staff enough to keep up with rising costs in Austin.

Although Camacho was born in San Antonio and started her baking career there, she also spent a significant time in Seattle, Washington, where Comadre started as a pop-up. According to Austin Monthly, she then moved back to San Antonio, and then to Austin. But no matter where she is, the Mexican cooking traditions of her ancestors take precedent.

Mariela Camacho of Comadre Panaderia in Austin Mariela Camacho, Comadre Panaderia. Courtesy photo

The Times also recognized Houston's Koffeteria. Krishna hails the bakery for pastry chef-owner Vanarin Kuch’s creative fare that includes dishes such as beef pho kolaches, Chinese sausage breakfast tacos, and butter mochi.

“Some of Mr. Kuch’s offerings are rooted in his Cambodian American identity — he makes cornbread with the coconutty, scallion-forward flavors of Cambodian street corn — while others are odes to Houston’s multicultural makeup. But most of the fun of Koffeteria is having no idea what Mr. Kuch will do next, and eagerly awaiting his next innovation,” Krishna writes.

Open since 2019, Koffeteria has been riding high this year. It earned a James Beard Award semifinalist nomination for Outstanding Bakery and a CultureMap Houston Tastemaker Award for Pastry Chef of the Year.

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Comadre Panadería and Koffeteria are the only Texas establishments to make the Times’ list. Only California and New York City, which each have three representatives, earn more recognition.

lists media desserts koffeteria new york times