{"id":17693,"date":"2013-05-29T13:54:10","date_gmt":"2013-05-29T13:54:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/?p=17693"},"modified":"2021-10-28T16:43:42","modified_gmt":"2021-10-28T16:43:42","slug":"san-antonios-stylish-stops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/san-antonios-stylish-stops\/","title":{"rendered":"San Antonio’s stylish stops"},"content":{"rendered":"

San Antonio<\/a>‘s going through a quiet revolution. Without trying to be the biggest or the boldest – characteristics that define many a Texas endeavor – the Lone Star state’s second most populous city is chasing after quality over quantity in the form of an urban updo. Curious about the culture shift, I moseyed on over to check out what’s turning theAlamo City<\/a> into a styled stay.<\/a><\/p>\n

Keener than Rachel Zoe styling Jennifer Garner on Oscar night, my husband and I arrive at our 1914-built boutique hotel early just to see<\/em> if our room is available. Sometimes this tactic works, this time it doesn\u2019t. The Hotel Havana<\/a>, restored with thoughtful Cuban and Victorian touches, is full and needs more time to prep the room. To get our bearings, we settle on the lobby’s regal red couch and confer with the front desk concierge about directions and districts.<\/p>\n

Fresh off a road trip we opt for two wheels over four, checking out two of San Antonio\u2019s B-cycle city bikes<\/a>\u00a0–\u00a0positioned right beside the Hotel Havana – and pedal north toward Bakery Lorraine<\/a>, opened by two Bouchon Bakery alums in late 2011. Conveniently forgetting about calorie consumption, we order three macarons (butter-honey-rosemary, single-origin chocolate, and salted caramel), a flaky croissant, and a peanut butter-chocolate cookie. Indulging our indulgences in the bakery’s sweet-smelling and white-walled environs, it becomes very clear why the city\u2019s top chefs eat here in their leisure time.<\/p>\n

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Bakery Lorraine<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

All good things must come to an end, so we quit our sugar session while we\u2019re ahead and cycle down the street to Pearl Brewery<\/a>, a 22-acre urban redevelopment. Connected to downtown by bike paths, the River Walk waterway, and plain old roads, the live-work-play project is one of San Antonio\u2019s catalysts of cool, merging a once-abandoned, 1883-built brewery with a bevy of condos, shops, industrial-swish restaurants, and the Southwestern outpost of the Culinary Institute of America. Poking around Pearl\u2019s blend of age-old brick and city-slick, my husband and I both turn to each other with eyes wide open and say, \u201cWe could live here.\u201d<\/p>\n

As much as I want to stick around my new live-work muse, I\u2019d read about a nearby riverside restaurant specializing in cheeky-chic, touted as the long-awaited passion project of James Beard nominee Chef Andrew Weissman. True to form, The Luxury<\/a> doles out dialed-down decadence – think crispy fish banh mi<\/em> or roulade du jour –\u00a0<\/em>out of stacked shipping containers. Eating under the shade of a corrugated tin shelter at one of umpteen picnic tables, I envision a Saturday lunch with friends that effortlessly turns into dinner and drinks.<\/p>\n

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The Luxury<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Spending most of the day in the city\u2019s River North district, we take a water taxi back to our hotel and freshen up before dedicating the evening to Southtown. Amid a string of modern, low-rise townhomes and converted warehouses, we step into The Fruteria<\/a>. Between tapas-sized bites, I snap so many photos of the patio\u2019s bright chairs, wood-slab longtables, and unique plates, that Chef-owner Johnny Hernandez takes notice and comes out for a chat.<\/p>\n

Viewfinder Tip: Get around the River Walk via water taxi.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The renaissance man designs everything in his restaurants, from the menu items to the margarita glasses. As we talk travel and tequila infusions, it occurs to me that I\u2019m with one of the city\u2019s purveyors of progress who started in San Antonio, got whisked away, and came back to create and collaborate. Comfortable in his own skin (and kitchen), he even suggests other nearby restaurants he thinks we\u2019d love; note to self: sit under the stars on The Monterey\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0lush patio – converted from a vintage gas station – later.<\/p>\n

As I drift off to bed, my mind becomes a bouncy castle of ideas, spurred by a casual conversation earlier in the day. Leaving Bakery Lorraine, the shop girl said, \u201cSee you soon,\u201d to which I replied, \u201cThanks, I hope to, but I\u2019m from out of town.\u201d Without even skipping a beat, she asks, \u201cAre you moving here?,\u201d as if that was the obvious question. Taking into account the findings from my \u00e0 la mode<\/em> marathon, I guess it is.<\/p>\n

What cities have you traveled to that you could live in?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Where to find the Alamo City's urban hotspots<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":13237,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1814,1782,1816,1788,2037,1849,1776],"tags":[35,33,563,20],"authors":[2232],"class_list":["post-17693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-city","category-destinations","category-food-and-drink","category-interests","category-san-antonio","category-texas","category-type-of-vacation","tag-coffee","tag-couples","tag-shoulder-season","tag-wine","authors-trip-styler","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSan Antonio's stylish stops | Expedia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/san-antonios-stylish-stops\/\" \/>\n<meta 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