The Rise of River North: Watching a block find its flavor

Patrons belly up at the recently opened Merci Jones. Credit: Ron Bechtol

It’s easy to get the summer travel blues.

The dollar is dropping against foreign currencies, airline tickets are soaring, crowds in some European destinations have brought foot and vehicle traffic to a virtual standstill. In others, special fees, visitor limits and even water pistols are used to discourage tourism.

Which explains the popularity of the micro-vacation.

Here’s how it goes: pick a local destination with a variety of options including eating, drinking, shopping and, ideally, cultural exploration. Plan to spend the day. Downtown San Antonio is an example that provides all of the above — though it can get a tad touristy itself. The Pearl is another that works from early breakfast to late-night revelry.

More micro than most, and poised between the two in a neighborhood marketed as River North, stands a single structure at the corner of Jones and Broadway. The repurposed building houses three eateries — NOLA, Pumpers and Hot Joy — and one dedicated bar — Merci Jones — that might be thought of as the hinge (lower case) of the group. All are either new or newly relocated.

The collective has already held some team-building block parties with all tenants participating, and I was late to that party when I suggested to chef Pieter Sypesteyn of NOLA that a choreographed dine-around might also work. Already happened spontaneously, he explained.

Original idea or not, the logical place to commence your crawl should you plan a River North micro-vacation is NOLA, 1101 Broadway, Suite 120. It’s open 8 a.m.-9 p.m. daily.

NOLA’s wall mural makes for a colorful way to start the day. Credit: Ron Bechtol

The New Orleans-themed restaurant, helmed by Sypesteyn and his wife Susan Saars-Sypesteyn, began as a food truck, then made its reputation on breakfast, brunch and beignets in a cottage just off of North St. Mary’s. The duo later opened the Cookhouse, with a more expansive menu, just around the corner.

The new, larger NOLA is a blend of the two with an all-day emphasis.

That breakfast menu is headlined by the irresistible beignets served with a blizzard of powdered sugar, and you should have them regardless — preferably paired with chicory coffee, black and straight up, or au lait. Nobody’s stopping you from having these at night, of course, and the same goes for other traditionally a.m. items such as the blue crab omelet or Seussian Green Eggs and Ham served with spinach cream.

You could have the classic red beans and rice for breakfast too, but I prefer that bowl later in the day. At a recent lunch, the beloved beans and andouille were as good as remembered, and the same goes for the robust smoked duck gumbo.

Fried green tomatoes in a cornmeal coating pleased a friend who had spent college days in the Crescent City. I was less pleased personally by the boudin balls that used to be an automatic order at the Cookhouse. They seemed bland — but maybe I’m the one who’s changed.

For purposes of timing on our tour, after-4 p.m. specials such as charbroiled oysters and barbecue shrimp aren’t on the agenda, though they could be saved for another day. But while at NOLA, it’s worth noticing the bold murals that frame the space, indoors and out. Irises abound.

Appropriately, art immersion comes next.

Good thing it’s a short walk down Jones Avenue to the San Antonio Museum of Art, 200 W. Jones Ave., whichopens at 10 a.m. every day but Monday. Adult tickets are $24, a true bargain when compared to the Louvre in Paris ($75) or the Uffizi in Florence ($82). At those venerable institutions you’re all but required to make timed reservations and then wait in lines to enter. And that’s before you tussle with crowds in front of must-sees such as da Vinci’s Mona Lisa or Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus.

There’s no Mona or Venus at SAMA, but there are world-class collections. One focus is Latin America, and in that wing you’ll find not only ancient and contemporary works, but also my personal favorite room, which has a folk art focus.

Roaming at random is also a possibility in a museum of this scale — it was created from a building complex that once housed the original Lone Star Brewery. Whether Asian, ancient Roman or dynastic Egyptian, you’re bound to find favorites.

But whatever holds your attention, be sure to stop by the gift shop on your way out. It’s especially good for art books, and it also satisfies your Jonesing to shop — on Jones, as it happens.

Pumpers offers up an adult burger experience. Credit: Ron Bechtol

Sated with art and in need of refueling, it’s now on to Pumpers, 1101 Broadway. In contrast to SAMA, it’s loud and hustling — a clear change in tone. Burgers and dogs prevail.

Having played a major role in previous hotspots such as Feast, Battalion, Rebelle and Playland Pizza, Stefan Bowers, the cheeky chef behind Pumpers, is well-known to followers of San Antonio’s culinary scene.

Like many brick-and-mortar restaurants these days, Pumpers began as a pop-up — this one at the equally irreverent Little Death wine bar. And, yes, just as with Little Death, it’s entirely possible a little innuendo is at play.

Out of six burgers on the menu I’ve only had one so far — and it was much better than I had anticipated given that it’s constructed from two, thin patties, smashburger-style. Bound to be overdone was my fear. But considering the Monterey Jack, salsa macha aioli, sweet onion and Magic A$$holes it comes with, that fear proved unfounded.

Even with a wimpy-looking but surprisingly resilient milk bun bracketing beef and all, the whole package — satisfyingly hedonistic with a touch of hellfire — just plain worked. Magic A$$holes, in case you wonder, are candied jalapeños.

I haven’t done the dogs, here called Rippers — more innuendo — but a trusty source claims they are also superlative. Whichever the choice, ordering the addictive, Classic French Fries is a good play. They’re thin, which gives lots of relative surface for crisping, but do tend to cool off quickly. Take a cue from the music being pumped into the small space and eat them energetically before cold.

Bowers has recently opened another pop-up in the ‘hood as well. With a sandwich and seafood theme, it’s called Mayday, and it’s located just next door inside Merci Jones, 1101 Broadway, Suite 101.Which it’s time to visit for a little day-drinking.

You’re on vacation, remember?

The space, modestly decorated in contrast to its more exuberant neighbors, can seem empty during the day. But that just leaves room for inevitable evening crowds.

The main drinks menu isn’t large or particularly inventive, but the bartenders give the impression of being able to pull off almost any drink you might desire. And a selection of seven drinks is available for $7 from opening at noon to 7 p.m. (They’re $12 after that.)

This is the kind of unfussy bar we all need.

From the main list, a straightforward, equal-parts Negroni easily passed muster. My taste in daiquiris skews dry, but the house version is a good stepping-off point. A carefully constructed Gold Rush with whiskey, lemon and honey, and a Salty Dog with vodka, grapefruit and tart-sweet oleo saccharum are other options.

Understandably pricier are the “nerdier” drinks listed as From The Lab. Meant to change, the one I sampled from the current selection is the Mango Marg. I take issue with the fact that it’s clarified of even a trace of mango’s blush, since color is one of the fruit’s seductive appeals. But it was otherwise a promising indicator of things to come.

If I were the designated driver on our little escapade, I think I’d order the Amaretto by Morning from the non-alcoholic cocktail list “that doesn’t suck” just for the name.

If I were a wine snob, I’d be impressed by the selection that comes courtesy of Little Death. Along with Merci Jones, it’s another of the many properties — Double Standard downtown and Barbaro in Monte Vista also among them — owned by the ravenous Empty Stomach Group.

The relocated Hot Joy offers ambitious Asian fusion cuisine. Credit: Ron Bechtol

Empty Stomach also happens to own Hot Joy, 1101 Broadway, Suite 140, our next destination.

Stepping inside immerses you in a setting which, depending on your worldly experiences, may give opium den-meets-Chinese apothecary-meets-tattoo parlor. A flock of red paper lanterns swarms overhead. Stylized tigers adorn walls. The madcap décor — reminiscent of the late, lamented Hot Joy in King William — perfectly fits our escapist agenda.

Any menu would have a hard time keeping up with the decorative over-the-topness at Hot Joy, but the kitchen gives it a good go. The only dish that recently disappointed was the Fiery Gato Noodles, which lacked heat or much of any other flavor.

Surprisingly, then, the lemongrass-chili oil noodles with cooling cucumber didn’t pull punches, while the crispy Sichuan tofu buns might have converted me to a protein I normally shun. As for the wok-fried green beans? I’d gladly order those by the bucketful.

Unexpectedly, the Hong Kong Cornbread with Peruvian chili butter also could become a favorite — in part because of the linked spheres that resemble nothing so much as an abacus. Finally, consider splurging on the simple-sounding beef and broccoli rabe. It’s made utterly luxurious by a bone-marrow oyster sauce with deep tastes of caramel.

You could always transfer to the bar at this point and drink your dessert in the form of a tiki standard such as the Jungle Bird or Singapore Sling. Or you could call it a day and call an Uber.

Regardless, your micro-vacation has been far less stressful and much cheaper than a road trip to Austin. Or a flight someplace further-flung and even pricier.

Tags: