San Antonio chef Jennifer Dobbertin dishes on forthcoming cocktail bar Jue Let

For Best Quality Daughter chef-owner Jennifer Dobbertin, opening a bar was always part of the plan.

What she didn’t foresee, though, was the unexpected inspiration for its name, Jue Let, which stemmed from research she did after landing her first James Beard Award nomination.

“I never expected to be nominated [for a James Beard Award] in the first place,” Dobbertin recounted to the Current, joking that she’d long imagined the man whose name is associated the Oscars of the culinary industry as a “stuffy chef.”

Last week, Dobbertin revealed plans to launch her new cocktails-and-small bites concept at the Pearl. An homage to the eponymous Canton-born Chinese chef who served Beard’s family over the years, Jue Let will take over the vacant space that housed Blue Box Bar.

Realizing that all she knew about the late Beard was purely on a “surface level,” Dobbertin went on a deep dive into the culinary icon’s life. Chinese immigrants — particularly Jue Let — had a profound influence on Beard during his upbringing in Portland, Oregon, at the turn of the 20th century, she learned. 

That knowledge provided the perfect historic link for Dobbertin’s new concept. Nods to the chef’s own Chinese American heritage are evident throughout Best Quality Daughter, from the art created and curated by Jennifer Ling Datchuk to the eatery’s name — a reference to a line from Amy Tan’s novel The Joy Luck Club.

By serving as a private chef to James Beard’s family while the culinary icon was just a child, Jue Let’s exerted an influence on the youth that changed the course of American culinary history, according to Dobbertin.

“James later acknowledged that Jue was his surrogate father — he also had a Chinese nanny, a Chinese pastry chef and grew up alongside the daughters of a Chinese merchant,” she explained.

Now a three-time James Beard Award nominee, Dobbertin knew she’d found her bar’s name the more she learned about Jue Let.

In another full-circle moment, Dobbertin told the Current she’s brought together a group of her old Hot Joy colleagues to run the new cocktail concept — Filipino American chef Alan Dale Nelson and beverage-and-hospitality specialist Liz Forsythe.

Forsythe curated Hot Joy’s original bar program, and Dobbertin later hired her to do the same for Best Quality Daughter when it opened in 2020.

Jue Let will be the first time Dobbertin and Nelson work together again following his near-decade tenure as chef de cuisine at Rebelle. He will assist with creative and menu development at Best Quality Daughter until he takes over as Jue Let’s chef de cuisine.

Jue Let — which Dobbertin hopes to open before the end of the year — will favor a menu of light bar bites and small plates designed to complement its cocktail program. So, don’t expect Best Quality Daughter’s hearty shareable entrees.

However, patrons can easily walk from one concept to the other once Jue Let opens.

Dobbertin also plans to utilize graphic designer Jamie Stolarski once again for Jue Let. The San Antonio artist was behind the signature graphic design work for both Hot Joy and past Dobbertin project Tenko Ramen.

What’s more, Datchuk is also back on board for Jue Let’s art selection, while longtime Best Quality Daughter general manager Daniel Perez will serve as the bar’s director of operations.

“It feels very serendipitous that my old team is joining me — it’s like my 2011-2014 era has come full-circle in 2025,” Dobbertin said.

What ambiance can guests expect from Jue Let? Something similar in approachability to Best Quality Daughter.

“I want Jue Let to be a spot where you can come by after work for a beer or on an anniversary date, and neither feels out of place,” Dobbertin said. “I try not to be too serious about it. At the end of the day, what’s a place where people want to go? That’s what I always aim for.”

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This article appears in Jan 22 – Feb 4, 2025.