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Courtesy of Bakery Lorraine

It has always been a mystery that pastry chefs don’t get more recognition. Making a great dessert requires a knack for precision, an eye for design, and an encyclopedic knowledge of flavors. Sweets are the crescendo of the meal, the final determiner of whether dinner is just food or a sumptuous feast.

The five nominees for the CultureMap Tastemaker Award for Pastry Chef of the Year certainly know the difference. Each can turn sugar, flour, and butter into high art, but only one can take the cake. Read on to learn more, then join us at our annual party on May 18 at the Briscoe Museum to find out who is the smartest cookie. Buy tickets now before they sell out.

Anne Ng and Jeremy Mandrell — Bakery Lorraine
This dynamic duo first gained fame from their multicolored Parisian macarons. But they are just as adept at the other French classics. The kouign amann pairs its buttery heft with a vibrant lemon curd, the canelé is lavished with a bit of rum, and the opera cake jolts with espresso-brandy syrup. The techniques are exacting enough to satisfy any purists. The flavors are pure libertine.

Elise Russ — Clementine
This Castle Hill neighborhood gem calls its desserts “the best parts.” That’s no exaggeration. Russ strikes just the right balance between comfort and innovation. In her hands, a carrot cake keeps the best parts of its church social roots with decadent cream cheese icing. Candied pineapple and coconut ice cream deconstruct the idea without taking away an iota of the hospitality.

Jenn Riesman — Rooster Crow Baking Co.
A veteran of Supper at Hotel Emma and Silo Restaurant Group, Reisman has now struck out on her own. The move has sparked some of the city’s most electrifying desserts. The accomplished chef knows that subtlety isn’t always a virtue when it comes to sweets. Instead, these pies, cookies, and pastries bang, bam, and bap as loudly as a Batman sound effect.

José and David Cáceres — La Panadería
How does a nearly decade-old business still draw weekday lines? By serving some of the most innovative pan dulce in the country. Case in point is the croncha — a flaky croissant dough topped with the crumbly icing of a concha. It’s alchemical, addictive, and just one small trick in these pastry brothers’ hats.

Sofia Tejeda — Hotel Emma
An alum of Mixtli and Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bakery, Tejeda was the first San Antonian to be nominated as “Outstanding Pastry Chef” by the James Beard Foundation. It’s easy to see why. Her dishes combine cultural specificity (see the German and Mexican influences) with a luxury fitting of the boutique hotel. We think Emma Koehler — the property's namesake — would be proud.

Bakery Lorraine
Courtesy of Bakery Lorraine

Best pastry chef: Bakery Lorraine.

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San Antonio neighbor booms as 4th fastest-growing U.S. college town, plus more top stories

Hot Headlines

Editor's note: It’s that time again — time to check in with our top stories. From college towns to good reasons to play hooky, here are five articles that captured our collective attention over the past seven days.

1. San Antonio neighbor booms as 4th fastest-growing U.S. college town, report says. San Marcos' population in 2000 was 36,120; in 2023 the population has nearly doubled to 70,372.

2. Curtains open on San Antonio music school's charming new community space. Sage Music recently finished construction on a beautiful building in Midtown, inserting modern practice spaces and a concert stage.

3. San Antonio International Airport relaxes into rating as the 5th least stressful U.S. airport. Factors that helped determine SAT's rank include the percentage of delayed flights and cancelled flights as of 2022.

4. San Antonio golf course scores title from Texas Monthly as one of the state's best. What sets this course apart, according to editor in chief Dan Goodgame, is its rich history and the challenges it provides for avid golfers.

5. Comedian Adam Sandler chooses San Antonio as only Texas stop on new tour. He played Austin, Houston, and Dallas last February as part of his "Adam Sandler Live" stand-up tour, but they're not getting his new tour.

6 San Antonio spots celebrating the Jewish High Holidays

SHANA TOVA

Like most celebrations, the Jewish High Holidays sneak up on the calendar before anyone can notice the (slight) temperature drop. Rosh Hashanah starts September 15, with Yom Kippur following closely on September 24.

Each has its own food traditions, from the apples and honey meant to bring sweetness into the New Year, to the kreplach breaking the fast after the Day of Atonement. Unfortunately, some beloved dishes are easier to find than others. And not every celebrant has the luxury of living near family.

Fortunately, San Antonio offers a range of spots offering Jewish favorites — from a fine dining sensation innovating Sephardic cuisine to a stylish diner serving Ashkenazi comfort food. Not every place keeps Kosher, but all provide the comforting taste of home.

Chicago Bagel & Deli
Though not a true Jewish restaurant, this North Side shop still makes mean bagels and lox. Other deli standards include a stuffed tuna salad sandwich and an exemplary pastrami on rye. All the breads are made in-house. Visit on Fridays for the freshest challah.

The Hayden
The two locations of this diner riff on traditional Jewish fare throughout the year, serving waffle iron latkes topped with beet-cured lox and herby matzo ball soup. Rosh Hashanah, however, calls for more festivities. The Broadway location is pulling out all the stops on September 17 with a jubilant prix fixe. Guests will enjoy caramelized onion and potato pierogis and honey cakes topped with cinnamon crème anglaise. An optional wine package gives diners unlimited pours of house red or white.

Ladino
Though billed as a “modern Mediterranean grill house,” this pearl stunner is specifically rooted in the Jewish-Balkan cuisine of chef Berty Richter’s youth. Don’t miss the impossibly creamy hummus made with purple hulled peas or the featherlight karpuz y feta showcasing watermelon and sumac. Or, for a full feast, let the kitchen staff make all the decisions. The mezas de alegría, a shared dining experience for the table, showcases the greatest hits from the menu.

Max & Louie’s New York Diner
As close as San Antonio gets to a Brooklyn diner, this long-running favorite still echoes with the vision of its founders — one a Kosher butcher, and one, well, not so much. While an Asian chopped salad may not scream tradition, the outliers are mixed with Ashkenazi standards like Coney Island knishes, kugel, and crispy latkes served with apple sauce and sour cream.

Nibblits & Nosh
This 100-percent Kosher food truck travels about town, most frequently stopping at the Congregation Rodfei Sholom. The menu is an assortment of all-American classics like hot dogs, fried chicken sandwiches, and burgers. Try the loaded brisket fries with a pickle on the side.

Yummy Kosher Grill
A newish Kosher eatery inside the Israeli Chabad Center, Yummy specializes in Mediterranean specialties like shakshuka and falafel, with a few menu items like chicken nuggets thrown in for the kids. Closed weekly for Shabbat, it will dish out plenty of pita on September 1.

Popular Hill Country winery to open tasting room in biggest city yet

Bishop Arts News

A winery from Central Texas' wine country is opening an outlet in Dallas. Baron's Creek Vineyards, dubbed one of the most Instagrammable wineries in Fredericksburg, will open a new tasting room and wine lounge in the Bishop Arts District.

The winery, which posted a help-wanted note on the door to the space at 418 N. Bishop Ave., was founded in Fredericksburg, and has three other locations in Georgetown, Granbury, and McKinney. This will be the fifth.

According to Meghan Delgado, who manages the Fredericksburg location, the vineyard aims to open Bishop Arts in mid-October.

A family-owned venture from a trio of businessmen brothers, Baron's Creek opened its first location in Fredericksburg in 2015.

Baron's Creek Vineyards make wines from Texas grapes — the unofficial litmus test for authenticity — but also use grapes from other districts in the U.S. and Spain, from vineyards owned by their winemaker Russell Smith, formerly of Becker Vineyards.

Baron's Creek is a big tourist attraction not only for their wine-tasting options, but also for their on-site villas where visitors can stay overnight. Two Italian-styled villas with six rooms each accommodate up to 24 guests. The vineyard rents out the property, which has a cool outdoor courtyard defined by an almost Alice-in-Wonderland checkerboard pattern of stone platforms, for weddings, corporate retreats, and other special events.

Its satellite locations, including Georgetown Square, Granbury, and McKinney, which opened in 2022, serve as lounge/tasting rooms with flights, tastings, and tapas.

Delgado says that Bishop Arts will be most similar to the McKinney location. "It'll have two separate bar areas, and will definitely be serving food including charcuterie," she says.

Other menu items include a trio of pizzas that include pepperoni and artichoke & goat cheese. The tasting rooms offer mixed flights of five white and red wines or a flight of five red wines for $21/person, as well as wine by the glass.