Readying for a sensational summer?! Don’t break a sweat — this month’s Outside ’09 is here to help you plan your summer in SA and beyond. Check out our scoop on eateries that are opening or on the move. And keep moving to take in local attractions with this season’s GO San Antonio card or glide down the River Walk with award-winning Rio San Antonio Cruises. We also help you cool off with details about the Summer Beer Talk series by Southerleigh Fine Food & Brewery. And if you’re aching for a getaway, Frontier Airlines is providing new service to some fun new destinations. Summer on…
Frontier Launches New Service
Frontier Airlines has started new service in San Antonio to Atlanta (ATL), Denver (DEN) Philadelphia (PHL) and Las Vegas (LAS).
Yummy News
Southerleigh at the Pearl is now open for brunch on Sundays! Napa Flats Wood-Fired Kitchen in Stone Oak recently introduced Bar Napa, an expanded bar and lounge area, along with a happy hour food and cocktail menu. Tony G’s Soul Food restaurant has opened at 119 Heiman St. in St. Paul Square. The Luxury, at 103 E. Jones Ave., has reopened after four months of renovations. Rumble, the newest bar on St. Mary’s strip, is open 5 p.m.-2 a.m. seven nights a week. It’s located on the corner of N. St. Mary’s and Ashby, nestled right next door to SA’s brightest and best new music venue, Paper Tiger. Francis Bogside at 803 S. St. Mary’s St., the sister bar of Brigid, recently started serving late brunch for those who can’t make the 3 p.m. cut-off. Francis Bogside offers late Sunday brunch from 3 to 7 p.m., and items include Brunch Poutine, Bourbon Pecan Pancakes, Shrimp Grits and more.
Developing now: Acclaimed chef Andrew Weissman is underway with his unique vision for La Cantera Resort & Spa’s Signature restaurant featuring South-of-France and South Texas influences. Signature is striving to be a culinary destination unlike anything else in Texas, and perhaps the entire Southwest. Signature will be a freestanding venue/restaurant apart from La Cantera resort, with easy access off La Cantera Parkway, across from the main entrance to The Shops at La Cantera.
Explore San Antonio
See San Antonio your way with the new Go San Antonio Card. A couple of options are available, including the Explorer Pass or the Build Your Own Pass.
The Explorer Pass provides travelers admission to either three or five San Antonio attractions, including one premium attraction, for one low upfront price. Customers can choose from 12 available options and will save up to 40 percent over buying their tickets individually at the gate. For their premium attraction, customers can choose SeaWorld San Antonio, Six Flags Fiesta Texas or a Texas Hill Country and LBJ Tour.
The Build Your Own Pass offers visitors the opportunity to pick and choose exactly what they want to see while receiving guaranteed savings of 20 percent off when they add two or more attractions to their pass. For additional information or to purchase a Go San Antonio Card, visit GoSanAntonioCard.com.
Bakery Lorraine
This local favorite and nationally recognized pastry shop famous for its colorful macarons and exquisite French pastries has opened its second location, at 7338 Louis Pasteur Drive, Suite 201, in the medical center area. Bakery Lorraine’s menu will offer pastries, breakfast and lunch. In addition to the famous Parisian macarons and divine pastries, like the pain au chocolat, the new location features breakfast items, including the breakfast parfait, quiche Lorraine and breakfast sandwiches. Bakery Lorraine will also offer a variety of savory lunch dishes, including chicken potpie, an assortment of salads and soups and artisan sandwiches. The store hours are Monday through Sunday, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information on Bakery Lorraine, visit www.bakerylorraine.com.
Dine and Unwind for the San Antonio Food Bank
The popular Ancira Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram 2016 Live Music Series at The County Line that benefits the San Antonio Food Bank is back. New this year, full seating and dining will be available on the patio beginning each concert night at 6 p.m. through the end of the concert at 9:30 p.m. Happy hour will run inside and outside of the restaurant, from 3 to 9:30 p.m. on concert days. The headliner goes on at 7:30 p.m.on the restaurant’s open-air patio. Concerts are held rain or shine, and bring an item or two for the food bank.
July 7 Matt Kimbrow
July 14 Dawn & Hawkes
July 21 Southern Brothers Tour
featuring Adam Hood and Jason Eady
July 28 Folk Family Revival
The County Line is at 10101 IH-10 West (between the Wurzbach and Huebner Road exits, near the Colonnade). Free parking is available at Hallmark College, less than one block away. Find updates at www.countyline.com/I10Music.
20/20
Celebrate Cactus Pear Music Festival’s 20th anniversary celebration by attending a concert July 5-17. There will be 20 artists collaborating in 20 pieces by such greats as Schubert, Dvorak, Faure and Ravel, and exciting works by living composers Michael Daugherty, Kenji Bunch, Thomas Dougherty and Kevin Puts. Former alums from their Young Artist Program [YAP] who are now professional colleagues are joining in the festivities: Week 1, pianist Ellen Pavliska (2011) and Colin Sorgi (2005); Week 2, pianist Wayne Ching (2009) and clarinetist Sam Almaguer (2008).
Also included is a wonderful mix of former CPMF colleagues as well as San Antonio Symphony stalwarts on stage. You’ll hear pianist Ryo Yanagitani, violist Ara Gregorian and cellist Lachezar Kostov during the first week. Program annotator Jeffrey Sykes is back, along with husband and wife cellists Tony Ross and Beth Rapier, flutist Stephanie Jutt, baritone Timothy Jones, plus oboist Rung-Hui Lie, SAS’s Eric Gratz, Sharon Kuster, John Carroll and Sherry Rubins. It is going to be a season of perfect vision and music on stage. Don’t miss a beat. Go to www.cpmf.us/ for sounds of the season.
Summer Beer Talk Series
Southerleigh Fine Food & Brewery and brewmaster Les Locke have launched their first ever Summer Beer Talk Series in the lush patio right outside of Southerleigh’s main entrance. The series will happen once a month this summer, and will include an informational session about Southerleigh’s beers of the month, how they pair with food, and a small tasting to wrap up the session. The sessions are free and open to the public on a first-come, first-serve basis on the second Wednesday of the month. Coming up: Wed., July 13, 5:30-7p.m, 136 East Grayson, Suite 120. For more information you may visit www.southerleigh.com.
Rio San Antonio Cruises Garners Multiple Awards
Rio San Antonio Cruises – the company that has successfully operated the iconic barges that float the waters of our River Walk for more than 13 years – has recently won multiple high-profile awards for excellence in service.
The company was recognized as the 2016 Charter Company of the Year for San Antonio by Luxury Travel Guide for their consistent record in excellence across all sectors of the affluent travel and tourism industry. The company also received the 2016 Certificate of Excellence from TripAdvisor. It is the second year running that Rio San Antonio has been awarded this distinction by TripAdvisor. Further, USA Today Travel named Rio San Antonio Cruises one of the top 10 boat rides in the United States for 2015. Locally, the river barge company earned the CNG (Compressed Natural Gas Award) Trendsetter Award from CPS Energy for its use of natural gas in barges, widely considered to be environmentally friendly and clean for our River Walk. And in May, Jeff Quinn, a Rio San Antonio Cruises barge driver, was named the 2016 San Antonio Certified Tourism Ambassador (CTA) of the year.
Ronald McDonald House will host annual Chair-ity Gala
Ronald McDonald House will host its sixth annual Chair-ity Gala, Thursday, July 21, at 7 p.m. at Old San Francisco Steakhouse. The event features an eclectic mix of 50-plus unique, hand-embellished chairs, tables and lamps by local artists, designers and art students. Guests will enjoy live and silent auctions of chairs matched with gift certificates, dinners, gift baskets, tickets, getaways and other items. Entertainment, dining, a dessert room, Ronald McDonald and celebrity emcee Kimberly Crawford will keep guests moving from room to room to bid on their favorite chair, dine and support the Ronald McDonald House. Tickets are $125 or tables of 10 for $1,250.
Proceeds benefit the organization’s mission: to provide a home, not just a room, to critically ill children and their families who must travel miles outside their own community to seek medical treatment.
Contact 210-614-2554 for details or visit www.rmhcsanantonio.org.
By Leslie Foley
