aldaco’s news: Passport Magazine Feature
My first taste of culinary San Antonio, on a hot summer afternoon in 2008, was a life-saving prickly pear margarita and the famed tableside-made guacamole at “Texas bistro” Boudro’s on the Paseo del Rio, or River Walk. The visit also included classic Mexican fare at Rosario’s in Southtown, historic Mi Tierra Café (1941) on Market Square, and Aldaco’s, highlighted by a memorable avocado margarita. Once the province of conquistadors and Spanish missionaries, Alamo City (1718) is grounded in Tex-Mex food heritage. Yet this culinary capital of 4,000- plus restaurants is global in scope. German settlement in the mid-1800’s added a Teutonic twist to the cuisine, further accented by area Czech and Irish arrivals. Italian and French fine-dining gems brought international flair to the scene in the 1930’s. The ensuing decades saw continuing expansion and evolution, culminating in 2017 with UNESCO designation as a Creative City of Gastronomy. For gourmands, the confluence of culinary cultures in this welcoming and inclusive city translates into dining discoveries galore.
Edging historic Tobin Hill just north of downtown, St. Mary’s Strip was San Antonio’s go-to entertainment corridor in the early 1980’s. Today, the reenergized Strip rocks anew with youthful energy, vibrant street art, nightclubs, bars, and exceptional eateries like breakfast and brunch beacon Cullum’s Attaboy (111 Kings Court. Tel: 210-688-0506. cullumsattaboy.com). Housed in a converted 1940’s cottage, self-taught chef-owner Christopher Cullum’s transporting diner-meets-bistro is about homages, starting with his late grandfather and father, Jim Cullum, Sr. and Jr., respectively. Both were jazz legends who put San Antonio on the national map.