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All you can eat News and notes from the San Antonio food scene
Cementville has a new chef, Rick Frame, who worked as a grill chef during Bruce Auden's watch at Restaurant Biga and as a sous chef under Silo's Mark Bliss. He learned the art of Asian cooking from sushi chef Sammy Wong of the Marriott Rivercenter Hotel. Frame's new menu includes the Cv burger with bacon and cheddar cheese on grilled ciabbata and the Sicilian panini with proscuiutto, fresh mozzarella, and a walnut pesto. The menu also features vegetarian options such as a portabella panini with a kalamata olive spread. The restaurant is at 7310 Jones Maltsberger. Lunch is served from 11am-2pm daily; dinner is served 5-10pm Sunday-Thursday and 5pm-11pm Friday and Saturday. It also has a full-service bar open until 2am. Info: 828-7232. Piatti, an Italian restaurant in the Quarry, has begun cooking some dishes using organic meats and vegetables from around the area. Producers from around Central and South Texas are supplying Piatti with the fresh food, including Blue Bonnet Farms of San Antonio (vegetables); Texas Fresh Seafood (Gulf Coast prawns); SA's Buddy's Natural Chicken (farm-raised chicken); and Texas Exotic Meats. Local Becker Vineyard supplies wine. Info: 832-0300. I scream, you scream, we all scream for Tu Amigo Ice Cream. The new shop at 1942 S.W. Military Drive opened July 24. It features 28 flavors of ice cream, paletas, and aguas frescas. Info: 922-6196. Since the restaurant closed in May 2003, we often peeked in the windows of Broadway 50/50, 5050 Broadway, to find out what was happening in one of the city's greatest burger and pool joints. After what seems like an interminable hiatus, the restaurant reopens on Friday, August 6, after a wholesale renovation. "We jackhammered the whole slab," said co-owner Jimi Ellis of the old checkered floor. "We knocked out walls." The main attraction is a glycol trough, which sounds like a science experiment, but is just a fancy way of describing a frost-covered bar; your beer mug will never get warm again. In addition to gourmet burgers, Broad- way 50/50 will also specialize in martinis. Several years ago, Ellis leased the space to other people, who apparently couldn't stay afloat. Ellis planned to sell it, but a friend convinced him to restart the business. Don Lasseter co-owns the business; Tudy Perez, who also owns the Cypress Café, is in charge of the food side. Pool and shuffleboard, the old 50/50 standbys, will return, as there will be a renewed emphasis on live music. Two Tons of Steel ushers in the new-and-improved 50/50 on Friday; Groovin' High With Amy holds court on Saturday. Hours are 11am-2am. Info: 826-0069. Chef Andrew Weissman only has to take the elevator down from his digs to his renowned French restaurant, Le Rêve, and won't have to walk much further to his new eatery, the Sandbar. Located in the former Pecan Street Deli at the corner of St. Mary's and Pecan - and around the corner from Le Rêve - the Sandbar's theme will be that of a traditional Boston- or San Francisco-style oyster house. It is scheduled to open in mid-October. Weissman said the restaurant will feature more than 20 types of fresh oysters from throughout the world, shrimp, prawns, and lobster. The fish will be caught using the line-and-hook method. Sandbar will feature a few hot items, including bisque and chowder. Drinks will include white wine and beer on tap. The hours aren't yet set, but Weissman said the Sandbar will likely open daily around 10 or 11 a.m. and close when it runs out of fish. "Seafood is my favorite protein to work with, and I have great connections," said Weissman. "There aren't many options like this in San Antonio." As for La Rêve, it will close during August for summer vacation. It will reopen September 1. • By Lisa Sorg
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