Dishin' With SA Gold Spring Edition

Dishin' With SA Gold

MARCH/APRIL

When 15-year-old Albion Zogaj started working at the restaurant of a family friend, he had no idea that the restaurant business would turn out to be his life's vocation and he especially never thought he would someday own that same restaurant.

The Zogaj family comes from Kosovo. After moving to Germany then Sweden, they finally made their way to make a home in San Antonio when Albi’s father took a job here. Albi attended Health Careers High School. When he turned 15 and wanted to save money to buy a car, he approached a family friend who owned Louie’s Italian Restaurant about a job. Albi was thankful for the opportunity so for Christmas that year he and his mother bought a painting of a grape vine and gave it to Louie, who then hung it on the wall of the restaurant.

Albi worked at Louie’s off and on through high school. After he graduated, he attended The University of Texas at Austin, where he earned a Marketing degree. When his cousin Noli opened his own Italian restaurant, Noli’s Vite in New Braunfels, Albi helped open it and drove from Austin to New Braunfels many weekends to work there. He liked the restaurant business, so he and his family decided to open their own restaurant! They started looking at location

It turns out Albi and his family are pretty good at running restaurants. At his young age I predict Albi will be in the business for a long time. Oh, and the painting of the grape vine that Albi gave his former boss years before, still hangs on the wall. Look for it when you visit the original location!

Albi’s Vite, (Vite means vine in Italian) has quickly become a San Antonio favorite. It is billed as a “family” restaurant offering scratch made Italian food at reasonable prices. Kids eat free at the Loop 410 location, every Thursday night! Meals start with fresh homemade complimentary garlic bread. Signature dishes include lobster ravioli and chicken Florentine! Don’t forget to save room for one of the amazing desserts!

The original location is located at 4979 NW Loop 410, between Callaghan Rd and Evers. A second location opened in January at 24165 IH 10 W. at Leon Springs. Both Albi’s locations are San Antonio Restaurants Gold Approved!

www.albisvite.com

www.facebook.com/AlbisVite

www.facebook.com/AlbisLeonSprings

www.instagram.com/albisvite

Download the free San Antonio Restaurants Mobile App for the latest Foodie Resources and click on 'Gold Club' to join and save money when you go out to eat at local restaurants!

we are all about supporting local! We love the local restaurant community, and we believe that supporting them is crucial for the well-being of San Antonio. You also know that we love the great community of members of our group. This is why we developed the San Antonio Restaurants Gold Club!

That is why we developed the San Antonio Restaurants Gold Club!

The idea of the club is simple. Join the club and have access to a list of prevetted local restaurants. Keep in mind, the restaurants do not pay to be chosen as SA Restaurants Gold Approved. We watch our 127,000+ members and see who people are excited about.

We then personally visit these restaurants and base their Gold Approval off their great food, service and being locally owned. When you visit those restaurants, you receive an exclusive perk or reward (for example free food, $$ off your bill, etc.) just for dining out! Think of it as a digital coupon book.

There are over 65 local restaurants around the city taking part in this program, and more are added daily! As a Gold member, when you go to one of these great local eateries, you get a gift for supporting them.In some cases, you can have a complimentary dessert or appetizer. Others offer a discount or even a free entrée!

There are $1,000’s of dollars’ worth of savings in your digital rewards club. And being a member costs only $8.88 plus tax, per month. In most cases, just using the app once per month will more than pay for your membership!

Joining the San Antonio Restaurants Gold Club is easy. Go to either the Apple Store or Google Play Store and search for our free app, San Antonio Restaurants. Once you have the app you can click on the upper left hand square titled, GOLD CLUB!From there, share your information, including name, email, and credit card information and you are in!

Plus Gold Club members are often invited to special events that regular members are not. So join the club and be special!

This is truly the hottest club in town!

'San

Google Play Search for:

In most cases, using the app once per month will pay for your membership and then some!

Antonio Restaurants App'

Chris Ruble

“Gold Club Membership already paid for itself!! Went to Las Guitarras Cocina Mexicana and we ordered 2 meals worth $18 ea and used my BOGO! Def worth it!!”

Ruthie Dy Wu

“@brazabrava is part of the Gold Diner's Program and with the scratch and win, we got the free salad buying 2 entrées. A $12 freebie!......Everything was delightful!”

Matt Accardi

“Buy 2 rolls, get 2 rolls free at Godai Sushi Bar and Restaurant. We saved over $30 with the perk AND got to chat with one of the coolest singing sushi chefs in town, Goro.”

Frances Jones

“Another win for being a San Antonio Restaurant Gold Member! We ate at Panfila Cantina and Restaurant last night. Through the membership, we found a deal of, spend at least $50, get $20 off your bill!”

Torri Ellingwood

I signed up to be a San Antonio Gold Member, and since Alamo Biscuit Co is a Gold Approved restaurant, I was able to use the program there. I ended up with a scratch off game and won a free concha!

Nancy Davidson

“Sunday we went to Max and Louie's New York Diner. I used my San Antonio Restaurants Gold pass to go to the front of the line. It saved us 1 hour and 45 minutes!!....This alone was worthy of my membership!!!”

By Alan Williams

To Wear or Not to Wear Gloves?

People working in commercial kitchens should always wear gloves, right? Well maybe or maybe not!

Often on the San Antonio Restaurant page a member will write about how disgusting it is to see people working in a restaurant kitchen without wearing gloves. I remember speaking to a chef about this a few years ago and they explained that there is a dispute about how sanitary wearing gloves really can be.

At first glance, you may think that it is obvious that wearing gloves is the way to prevent bacteria from being transferred from hand to food but in reality, there are problems. People with gloves on may have a false sense of safety. Studies show that people wearing gloves wash their hands much less often than those without gloves and often do not change their gloves after doing other things including touching raw meat, handling money, and emptying the garbage.

Not only that but hands tend to sweat while wearing gloves and that bacteria has nowhere to go. Food safety researchers learned in a 2004 study that glove wearers fail to notice small punctures in their gloves 50% of the time so all that bacteria from the hands may be just pouring out. Even without a tear in the glove think about the worker snapping their gloves off near food.

They pull off their gloves and micro bits of sweat are possibly being sprayed all around!

According to a July 31, 2017, article by Constantine Spyrou, in an article on FOODBEAST said, https://www.foodbeast.com/news/glove-prep-cross-cont/ “gloves have a place in food safety but when used properly, gloves should be changed, and hands washed often.” In fact, hands being washed often, with or without gloves, is the key to keeping food contamination to a minimum.

What is Black Garlic?

By Susie LaFredo

As a foodie who loves to try new flavors, I was very intrigued the first time I heard the words 'black garlic' uttered, so I thought I would share with you what I have learned!

Black garlic is garlic that has been fermented.

Once the garlic has turned black, the flavor is entirely different. Many people describe the new flavor to be like molasses.

Others say that it has a distinct umami flavor and adds a nutty flavor if the dish you’re making lacks depth. Behind the umami, there is a mild sweetness that can be used in sauces and to add complexity to meat dishes.

Simply said, black garlic is delicious!

Black Garlic can be tough to find and expensive especially when purchased from specialty stores or over the internet.

But! Kudos to another win for our great city - local Chef Stephen Paprocki has perfected the fermenting process, uses locally sourced produce and has it available at your local H.E.B.!

As a nice side note, Black Garlic has some great health benefits.

Garza about her visit to Mr. Juicy!

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Echavarria about his visit to The Wagon Wheel!

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By Braunda Smith

Hey y’all! When Alan asked me to write something for Dishin’ With SA Gold, I was beyond flattered. While writing isn’t my greatest talent, I took a crack at it. I asked Alan what he wanted me to write about, and he said that I could write about whatever I wanted. So, here’s my story for y’all!

First of all, let me introduce myself to those of you who don’t know me.

Cooper's Ice House

My name is Braunda Smith, and I am the chef/owner of Lucy Cooper’s Ice House. I am a wife to my husband, Jesse, who is my business partner and I’m a mom of six wonderful kiddos. My life is completely busy, crazy, and full of hi-jinx and I wouldn’t have it any other way. So, focus Braunda, what are you going to write about?

Well, let’s start with Lucy Cooper’s Ice House. Lucy’s is a bar that happens to serve some pretty good food! When my husband and I were deciding to make something of our own after working in the service industry for so long, we knew that we wanted to be a bar. We also knew that we wanted our place to have a very feminine forward feel to it, as most bars are extremely male driven. It had to be something that was different and unique that no one was doing in our industry. We wanted COLD BEER, GOOD TIMES & BAR EATS! We also made the decision to be completely 21 and up. So many places have blurred the lines of what’s a bar and that blur was something we wanted to steer away from. I jokingly say that I have 6 kids and I come to work to escape the sound of kids.

Braunda Smith, Chef Owner

Lucy

In all honesty, we are entering a time where people are very vocal with where they spend their discretionary dollar. Social media has given a platform and a voice to people who would never be as vocal or opinionated as they are through the safety of social media. It’s just a common factor of our media-driven society, and we’ve had our fair share of it. That being said, the controversy of allowing kids in bars and restaurants is a hot button issue these days. While, yes, there are plenty of people who love taking their children everywhere they go, there are just as many people who don’t feel that way. Plenty of people want to go out and escape the problems that we face having children in public; children who aren’t on their best behavior, crying babies, couples wanting to enjoy a date night, single people who don’t want to hear or see a bunch of kids running around, the empty nesters enjoying the kid free season of life. Like it or leave it, but thems the facts Jack! Enter our idea of Lucy Cooper’s, sort of like the Chuck E Cheese slogan where a kid can be a kid. Lucy Cooper’s is where an adult can be an adult.

Now let’s talk about the food, my favorite part about what I do. I really wanted a full menu, literally something for everyone who comes into my establishment to enjoy. Wings, Burgers, Pizza and so much more. It’s like dinner and a show with our Boodreaux’s Clothesline Bacon and Tin Can Nachos. The nachos are just a nostalgic style nacho. The smells and tastes remind me of my days as a kid at the ballpark or the skating rink where I spent the majority of my childhood back in Georgia. I think that those smells and tastes resonate with people. They bring back unconscious memories of happy times.

And, because I am a southern girl in the land of the best queso in the world, I knew better to try to compete with that. I just did what worked for that bar setting. I did kick it up a notch with flavor and presentation but it’s still a memory food, not an award-winning San Antonio queso. That being said, it is a damn good nacho and y’all don’t sleep on trying it out!

Contest Alert from Alan, founder of San Antonio Restaurants and co-editor of this magazine. Send a private message on messenger to either Alan Williams or Susie LaFredo, Administrators of San Antonio Restaurants and let us know where you found this secret contest. Look for all of the details on a contest post in the featured section, at the top of the page, of the San Antonio Restaurants Group. We will randomly select one winner from all those that entered to win a $50 gift card to Lucy Cooper’s Ice House. Good luck!

Alongside interesting shareables and the variety of foods, all of the wing sauces on our menu are made in house. I have this thing where I take soda pop and turn it into sauces. It was always a challenge that I loved and now I have a stage to perform this little miracle of mine on. So far on the menu we have a Big Red, Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper, and Orange Crush style sauce for y’all to try. Our Coca-Cola sauce takes on a sweet BBQ flavor that really knocks out the average BBQ. The Big Red sauce is my take on adding a San Antonio classic drink and making a mild, sweet heat that is sure to wow your taste buds. The Dr. Pepper Hot BBQ gives you a heated, smokey chipotle tang that truly compliments the Dr. Pepper taste. Lastly, but certainly not least, Orange Crush is an orange soda glaze with a combination of complimenting spices and a rush of sweet flavor.

I highly enjoyed taking the time to sit and write this for y’all. I hope to continue my

passion of cooking and bringing new flavors to the people of San Antonio. I also hope that, if you haven’t already been, reading this encourages you to check us out at Lucy’s and that you support all small businesses in San Antonio. Be on the lookout for me to announce my latest creations, you never know what I will do next!

There are two locations of Lucy Cooper’s Ice House, 16080 San Pedro Ave., San Antonio and 1515 Kuehler Ave., New Braunfels, Texas. Both restaurants are San Antonio Restaurants Gold Approved.

Join us as we explore the back story to some of the best chefs and restaurants in South Texas!

The More You Know, The Better It Tastes is on all of your favorite streaming platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, IHeart and more!

Chef Claudio’s POMODORO SAUCE In Contrada Vineyard & Kitchen

The Pomodoro sauce is a basic Tomato sauce made with simple ingredients which can be used for many cooking projects. Pomodoro is unique. It is flavorful by itself, but can be used as a foundation to compose several pastas, meats and vegetable dishes. Such as: Spaghetti alla Puttanesca, Penne alla Vodka, Fettuccine alla Boscaiola etc…

½ cup Olive oil

8 – 10 Whole garlic cloves, peeled

1 small White onion, finely diced

2 28oz cans Good quality crushed tomatoes in juice

½ cup Tomato paste

One Chicken bouillon cube

1 pint Water

½ cup packed Fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped

To taste Salt and white pepper

1.Heat oil in a sauce pot add the garlic. Cook the garlic until dark brown and almost black. Carefully discard the garlic but not the oil.

2.Add the onions to oil, stir until translucent.

3.Add the tomatoes and the tomato paste to the onion mix and garlic flavored oil, stir well to blend. Add the chicken buillon.

4.Add the water, adding more if the sauce appears too thick. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 15-20 minutes or until the sauce obtain the right thickness and texture.

5.Add the fresh basil and season with the salt and white pepper.

Pairs well with:

Sangiovese, Valpolicella, Montepulciano, Tempranillo

Schilo’s German / Texas Restaurant

The Oldest Restaurant In San Antonio

By Alan Williams

Sometime in the early 1940s, somewhere in Europe a young soldier jumped into a fox hole to avoid gunfire. Another young soldier was already in the hole, so they started chatting while waiting for American warplanes to take out the shooters. One soldier was from a small town in Indiana and the other from San Antonio. Their chatter took them to their hometowns which led to a discussion about food. The soldier from San Antonio proudly said, “If you ever come to San Antonio, you have to try Schilo’s. They have the best food in the world!”

At least that is how the story was told

told to me by my father’s friend, Colonel Fred Reisz of New Albany, Indiana, who eventually moved to San Antonio and ate regularly at Schilo’s German-Texas Restaurant. As the undisputed oldest restaurant in San Antonio, Schilo’s is still loved by people all over the world.

Schilo’s started as a saloon in Beeville, Texas around 1900 but “Papa” Fritz Schilo moved the operation to San Antonio in 1914. It is rumored that “Mama” Schilo sensed the coming of prohibition so in 1917, they began selling food out of the saloon. That move saved their little business from collapse because prohibition came three years later.

Because beer was suddenly outlawed, Papa Schilo began making the famous root beer that is still served at the restaurant today.His root beer recipe has a bold flavor with a creamy vanilla and hints of spicy sassafras. The original recipe included egg whites. At some point the egg whites were omitted due to egg allergy concerns, but other than that, the recipe is unchanged!

Schilo’s moved to its current location on Commerce St. near the San Antonio River in 1942. Before Schilo’s, the building was home to a bank and the original bank vault is now a walk-in cooler!

Over the next several decades Schilo’s became a popular downtown lunch spot for businesspeople. The most popular items were the split pea soup and Rueben sandwiches, both of which remain popular today.

“The place on Babcock did not do well, and I kind of think that was the reason the family decided to sell,” said Lyons. Mr. Lyons grandfather was the founder of Casa Rio which is found next door to Schilo’s. The Lyons family had owned the building that Schilo’s is in for many years so in 1980, when Schilo’s was offered for sale, the family bought it.

Schilo’s is a rare survivor -- the restaurant has made it through prohibition, the Depression, World War II, and a global pandemic. It had to pivot to make it; however, as the public’s tastes changed over time and some of the menu items such as tongue and goose liver were nixed.

Businesspeople have been replaced by tourists as the restaurant’s primary customers. Breakfast plates have replaced the Rueben sandwich as the most popular menu item.

Schilo’s is now the oldest restaurant in San Antonio, and it is still going strong, and the hearty food is as popular as ever. If you have never been to Schilo’s, I highly recommend a visit. It’s both nostalgic and delicious. Schilo’s German-Texas Restaurant is at 424 E. Commerce St. - https://schilos.com/

Knife Tips from the Experts

Make sure your knives are sharp. Contrary to popular belief among home chefs, dull knives are far more dangerous than sharp because of the extra pressure applied during cutting. Sharp knives also elevate your cooking experience from being a "chore" to something special and dare we say "fun.

Make sure you are using the right knife for the right task. This can make a huge difference! We can guide you to choosing the right knife shape and edge for each of your tasks.

Are you using the right knife for you? There are so many elements to fitting you with the correct knives ... your height, your hand shape, how you cut, what you cut and many more! We do fittings in-store to work all of that out for each customer.

Maintenance between sharpening. This depends on how the knife is used, what cutting surface is used, cleaning and washing history and how it's sourced.

Don't buy a "set". This limits you to one type of edge for all tasks and usually means you paid for far more pieces than you actually use. We help you build your own set.

FernandoSantafe

Restaurant Owner Highlight

By Alan Williams

When I first met Fernando Santafe, owner of Las Guitarras Cocina Mexicana, in Boerne, Texas, he was playing his guitar at Toro Kitchen on 1604. He is a very talented musician, and he mostly plays beautiful Spanish music.I saw him again two weeks later at the Menger Hotel, Mother’s Day Brunch. We chatted briefly. I hadn’t seen him for almost two years when I saw him again at Toro Kitchen. This time, as I got ready to leave, he stopped playing and approached me. He told me that he was planning to open a Mexican restaurant in Boerne, Texas and that when he opened, he wanted me to come. Because I have been around so many restaurant owners, I know that running a restaurant is very difficult. I thought to myself, “what does a guitar player know about running a restaurant?” Well, here is Fernando Santafe’s story.

Fernando Santafe Owner, Las Guitarras Cocina Mexicana

Fernando Santafe was born in Chihuahua, Mexico. He is the youngest of seven children. His parents were both very musically skilled. His father always wanted to be a professional performer but with seven hungry mouths to feed he worked in the community and eventually opened a meat packing plant.

Though all of Fernando’s brothers and sisters went to school, for some reason Fernando’s father had an alternate education plan for him. Fernando never went to school and never had any formal education! Instead, he would either go with his father to work or stay home and help around the house. Fernando particularly liked working in the kitchen!

In his spare time practiced the guita good at playing it. is special because the guitar against is like a hug!

When he was Fernando and a fr delivery service. motorbikes and warmers to them cook steaks along quickly deliver the homes around th was successful, bu more time playing

Around 1998, he started noticing that crime and drug problems were getting bad where he lived in Mexico, so when a New Mexico casino offered him a job playing guitar, he packed his things and moved to the United States. He worked in the casino kitchen during the day and played guitar at night. Within seven months he was able to open his own restaurant. For many years he worked in his restaurant all day and played his guitar at night.

In the 2000’s he noticed a new trend; frozen yogurt. As an entrepreneur he was always on the lookout for a good business deal. Fernando did his research and then contacted a friend. Soon they opened several yogurt shops around Santa Fe and began selling franchises around the country. Life was good until the economy collapsed in 2008. Business with the yogurt shops slowed down, so when his business partner offered to buy out his part of the business, he took it!

Fernando had been to San Antonio when opening one of his yogurt shops and really liked it. Since he no longer had any ties to New Mexico, he moved his family to San Antonio.He had enough money to slow down a little, so for several years he only played guitar. But he played a lot! He has calculated that between 2009 and 2020 he played over 3400 gigs around San Antonio!

Once again, life was good for quite some time, but soon, the kitchen began calling to him. That is about the time that I met him.

Fernando’s restaurant is called Las Guitarras Cocina Mexicana and he offers Mexican food from all stages of his life; traditional Interior Mexico food, New Mexican style food with Blue Corn tortillas and hatch green chilis, and Tex-Mex. The building is a beautiful two-story wooden structure with a bookshelf and fireplace that stretch from the first floor to the second-floor ceiling. Live music is offered every night of the week except Sunday when they offer Sunday Brunch from 10:00 to 2:30! It is an amazing restaurant with delicious food and fantastic Margaritas made with tequila. I pass a whole lot of Mexican restaurants to get to Las Guitarras!

So, what does a guitar player know about running a restaurant? Well in the case of Fernando Santefe, a lot!

Las Guitarras Cocina Mexicana is at 911 S. Main St., Boerne, Texas. https://lasguitarrascocinamexicana.com

foodisessential tolife.therefore, makeitamazing.

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