COMING ATTRACTIONS

Pearl farmers' market fave to open first San Antonio bakery

Dough baby brings a Pearl market staple to Olmos Park.

Photo courtesy of Dough Baby.

What started as a weekend side project is now a full-time gig. Dough Baby, the popular Pearl farmers' market staple known for its kolaches and cinnamon rolls, will open its first San Antonio bakery at 4219 McCullough Ave on July 18.

Nancy Fitch founded Dough Baby in 2024, but her CV was already stacked with local culinary bona fides. She’s a past president of Les Dames d’Escoffier, worked at classic restaurants like Biga on the Banks and Rosario’s, and ran two previous cafés of her own. Before opening her stand, she even managed all of Pearl’s markets.

"What started as a fun idea has quickly grown into a dream come true," explained Fitch in a release.

The new storefront will allow Fitch to expand the menu. The Olmos Park bakery will showcase sweet treats such as baby cakes, seasonal pies, zucchini bread, and cookies, along with savory dishes like salads, gluten-free frittatas, and daily quiche.

But the Texas-sized, iced-to-order cinnamon rolls and kolaches will still have pride of place. The latter features fillings that go well beyond sausage and cheese, including creative flavors inspired by sandwiches like ham and brie, Italian muffaletta, and Cubano.

A selection of teas and coffees will keep things percolating.The grand opening will run 9 am-2 pm, but neighbors might want to wake up early to be one of the first 50 guests to nab a free cinnamon roll. Guests can also RSVP through Eventbrite to enter a raffle for a gift card.

Following its debut, Dough Baby will be open Mondays and Wednesdays through Fridays, 7 am-2 pm, and Saturdays and Sundays, 8 am-2 pm. But fans who like to pick up a few tomatoes with their carbs have no cause for worry. The farmers' market stand will continue to operate on weekends.

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HOMETOWN HEAT

San Antonio-area pitmaster headlines new Food Network barbecue show

Photo courtesy of Food Network

Ernest Servantes (in denim jacket) is among the judges of a new Food Network series.

Ernest Servantes already knows what it takes to win $50,000 from Food Network; now the Seguin pitmaster is the one handing it out. The Burnt Bean Co. pitmaster, who won a big check on Chopped Grill Masters in 2012, is one of four judges on Pitmasters, a new series that puts elite barbecue teams through a week of live-fire competition.

The series puts the teams through the wringer with a breakneck schedule of challenges ranging from whole-hog cooking to a four-protein showdown. The premiere episode drops the contestants straight into a "Big Burn" challenge, giving the pitmaster pairs nine hours to build a family-style platter of two meats and a side that defines their style.

But it wouldn’t be a Food Network show without a twist. This time, Servantes and his fellow judges — Andrew Zimmern, competition barbecue great Moe Cason, and Austin-based barbecue personality Jess Pryles — throw the cast a 60-minute "Flash Burn" curveball that asks them to create the perfect barbecue bite.San Antonio talent won’t just be behind the judges' table. Three teams will feature well-known names in the local smoked meat scene.

Grecia and Esaul Ramos, the proprietors of San Antonio’s 2M Smokehouse, might have an advantage. After all, the duo is not only married; they work together in the kitchen every day. But they’ll face stiff competition from two other locals with their own live-fire superpowers.

Boerne’s Al Frugoni, paired with Louisville, Kentucky influencer Jeremy Yoder, is known for his Argentine asado-style cooking and self-named line of seasonings sold at Walmart and H-E-B. Also representing Boerne will be Ruben Santana, paired with Palmira Barbecue pitmaster Hector Garate from Charleston, South Carolina.

That Santana is listed as a hometown pitmaster may raise a few eyebrows. He’s best known as the founder of Brooklyn’s Bark Barbecue, a project that has gained him national recognition for fusing Dominican and Texas styles. We’ll have to wait to see if he is firing something new in Texas.

Pitmasters premieres July 13 on Food Network. Episodes will air on Mondays and be available to stream on HBO Max the following day.

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