Is there a grocery retailer price driving three hours for? Completely, and it’s price staying a day or two to completely perceive it.
I’ve recognized the crew at Emmer & Rye Hospitality Group for some time now — chef Kevin Fink, his spouse Ali Fink, and pastry chef Tavel Bristol-Joseph are those I speak to essentially the most — and each time they open one thing new, I’m blown away. It’s not simply the ideas; it’s how they deal with their staff and the power they bring about as human beings. They’re simply good folks doing issues the proper approach.
So when my spouse Lindsey and I deliberate a fast journey to San Antonio, we made it a degree to take a look at their newest undertaking: Pullman Market on the historic Pearl Brewery. I’ve recognized about this factor for a couple of years now, however let me be actual — after they first instructed me about it, I didn’t get it. These are the oldsters behind a few of Austin’s greatest eating places — Emmer & Rye, Hestia, Canje, Ezov — so after they talked about increasing to San Antonio, I assumed, “Cool, one other restaurant.” Then Kevin walked me as much as this large, empty constructing — 40,000 sq. ft — and mentioned, “That is going to be Pullman Market.” And he gave me that look, you understand the one: the lengthy stare the place he’s clearly seeing the long run, and I’m standing there like, “You’ve formally misplaced your thoughts.”
However right here’s the factor — Kevin and the staff had a plan. I didn’t have to know the entire imaginative and prescient; I simply knew it’d be good.
Quick ahead three years, and growth — Pullman Market lastly opened in April 2024. I deliberately stayed away from any press or previews as a result of I like an excellent grocery retailer (you may usually discover me aimlessly wandering H-E-B or Central Market), and I needed to expertise this one recent.
We met up with Kevin, Ali, and their son Hudson exterior the market. From the second I walked in, I knew this wasn’t only a grocery retailer. First cease: produce. My jaw hit the ground. Virtually every little thing is from Texas — peaches, melons, heirloom tomatoes, a rainbow of peppers. It’s a love letter to Texas farms.
Then we hit the ice cream bar, and issues received wild. They use milk from Oro Blanco, an area cow’s milk dairy, which provides the ice cream this wealthy, velvety texture. I attempted a salted cream taste that tasted like cream cheese with only a whisper of salt. Then got here chocolate. Then got here a rooster and waffle ice cream — sure, made with rooster inventory. Then a lime leaf one which was vibrant and punchy. And we’d barely made it 10 ft inside.
Previous the espresso bar and the rotisserie — the place chickens spin over trays of potatoes absorbing each final drop of drippings — you hit the bakery. Breads, cookies, pastries made all day, each day. Then throughout the best way are, and I don’t say this frivolously, a few of the greatest flour tortillas in Texas. Produced from domestically grown Sonoran wheat and the rendered lard from native Berkshire pork and Tallow from Texas beef from the butcher store. Seize a couple of dozen. Thank me later.
The seafood and meat departments are top-tier. The seafood is pristine. The ceviche bar proves that in a single chew. Then, there’s the butcher counter, the place every little thing’s whole-animal and dry-aged in-house. I’ve labored with entire animals earlier than — this place is the actual deal. Wagyu, Angus, pork, lamb, rooster, dry-aged steaks, house-cured meats. It’s a playground. You’ll be able to even seize a burger or bratwurst proper subsequent door at Burgers by the Butcher.
Pantry items? Considerate. From housemade pastas to chips, canned items, and a wine room that’ll make your inside wine geek do cartwheels.
The state of affairs will get even higher when you think about the eating places at Pullman. Having all that produce, meat, seafood, and bread underneath one roof means they’ll rotate elements via each idea. Complete animal butchery simply is smart right here. You see it in motion.
We ate at Mezquite, which highlights Sonoran-style Mexican delicacies. The menu pulls straight from the market — crudos, squash dishes riffing on queso, tacos, and one thing referred to as a caramelo that’s principally one of the best quesadilla you’ve ever had. The tortillas are stars. Corn for chips and tostadas, and that unbelievable flour model for every little thing else. I went again the following day to fill up.
Subsequent up was Fife & Farro — pizza and pasta. The mozzarella’s made in-house from water buffalo milk and served simply heat sufficient to carry collectively. Paired with pesto and sungold tomatoes? Unreal. When the cheese corporations up, it goes on their wood-fired pizzas with completely fermented dough. Pasta’s made steps away within the pasta store. Whether or not you purchase some to take residence or publish up on the bar for a plate of alla vodka with penne and Calabrian chile, it’s all hearth.
Then, we made a alternative. The very best form of alternative. Dinner was a double header: Nicosi, the 20-seat, dessert tasting bar, and Isidore, their reside hearth, steakhouse-style idea.
At Nicosi, they cowl your cellphone with a sticker and ask you to simply be current. No pics, no texts. Simply be right here. The tasting explores candy, savory, bitter, acidic — it’s not simply chocolate and sugar. Tavel’s thoughts is wild, and the staff brings it to life in a approach that makes you pause. I’m not spoiling the menu. You’ve received to stroll that path your self.
Then on to Isidore. The scent of wooden smoke greets you earlier than you sit down. The kitchen’s fueled by no matter’s freshest from the market. Sooner or later it’s tomatoes, the following it’s lamb. Meat will get butchered steps away. It’s this stunning loop — every little thing feeds into every little thing else, and it really works.
Pullman Market isn’t only a market. It’s not simply eating places. It’s a residing, respiration ecosystem run by individuals who truly know what they’re doing. It’s disciplined, it’s considerate, and it’s rattling inspiring. Kevin, Tavel, and the complete staff — what they’ve constructed is like nothing I’ve seen earlier than.
I hope sooner or later Houston will get a Pullman Market. Till then, I’ll pack a cooler, head to San Antonio, and cargo up on tortillas, meats, butter, and pasta. I’ll keep at Resort Emma, as a result of I’ll positively want one other meal — or three — earlier than I head residence.
Congratulations on a really profitable first 12 months of Pullman Market!
—–
Searching for extra San Antonio suggestions? Ask Chris for his favorites by way of e-mail at chris@chrisshepherd.is.
Chris Shepherd received a James Beard Award for Greatest Chef: Southwest in 2014. The Southern Smoke Basis, a nonprofit he co-founded along with his spouse Lindsey Brown, has distributed greater than $11 million to hospitality employees in disaster via its Emergency Reduction Fund. Catch his TV present, Eat Like a Native, each Saturday at 10 am on KPRC Channel 2.
