CAUSING A STIR

San Antonio bartender shakes up national cocktail competition as finalist

Joan Villanueva of The Palm is heading to the finals of a national cocktail challenge.

The Palm/Instagram, specialty cocktail

Update: Atlanta bartender Ty Nicole won the grand prize in the final round.

San Antonio may not have the whoop-it-up whirl of Nashville nor encourage excess quite like Las Vegas, but there’s no denying that it likes to let loose once in a while. Post pandemic, the city is enjoying a nightlife renaissance with new bars opening monthly and a nascent cocktail conference heading into its second year.

Now, a local bartending pro is getting a moment in the spotlight. On November 1, The Palm’s Joan Villanueva was named a finalist in the national Best In Class Cocktail Competition. The spirited challenge, organized by tequila brand Lobos 1707 and Chilled magazine, comes with a $30,000 contract with the tequila and mezcal producer.

Villanueva’s “A Rose by Any Other Name” propelled him through two rounds of judging. Inspired by Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet, the Manhattan riff melds tequila with raspberry, aloe, and orange liqueurs, chastening the sweet with a few dashes of bitters. Cocktail enthusiasts can build their own by watching a short video.

The finalist nod is a new pinnacle for the local bartender. Starting his hospitality career as a dishwasher at San Diego’s Loews Hotel, Villanueva has worked his way up through the industry. While studying anthropology and economics, he fell in love with bartending. Though now the owner of Happyness Tea Company with wife Catherine, he keeps one foot in the mixology world.

“[I] can’t say how much I appreciate having worked my way up and get a sense of what every position brings to the table,” Villanueva tells CultureMap.

Though winning the contract is no shabby perk, the affable bartender also sees it as a personal accomplishment.

“My family hails from Nayarit and Jalisco on my mother’s side,” he shares. “Being the second generation that’s been able to go to college winning would really bring my experience in the restaurant industry full circle.”

Win or not, he is still an evangelist for San Antonio’s burgeoning cocktail scene. Villanueva is particularly energized by the revitalized interest in tropical and tiki drinks, especially the East Side’s La Ruina. And he is heartened that returning conferences are giving downtown more verve — a shift he sees firsthand at The Palm.

Still, those who want to say hello to him at the steakhouse will have to wait a few days. Villanueva will be in Louisville, Kentucky, giving it his all in the live final round on November 7.

cocktails drinks nightlife downtown bartenders

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.

View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Koffeteria (@koffeteria)

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