SA Flavor was invited to attend an event at Cured, a restaurant by Chef Steve McHugh that will open at the Pearl Brewery in December. My friend Damontre and I had the chance to stop by on Saturday and we were extremely impressed. The food was great, the people were friendly and the atmosphere of the event was laid back and fun. As usual, I took a lot of pictures, so here are some of my favorite parts of the event.
This is Cured. It will be located in the old administrative building at the Pearl Brewery. The renovations are still taking place which added to the overall appeal of the afternoon.
Chef McHugh and team are looking to preserve much of the character of the building, including:
- There will be original penny tile work in the entryway
- Upon entry, guests will face a glass-enclosed charcuterie of hanging meats with two hand-washing stations flanking it that will be filled with ice to hold glass bottles of water for the tables, carafes of teas and juices and champagne
- Stone from the Pearl Brewery has been re-purposed to create a the wine rack
- The majority of the walls will be left relatively unfinished or exposed
- Hardwood floors come from reclaimed long-lead pine brought in from an old tobacco warehouse in North Carolina, which is known as “Tobacco Pine”
The “Meat & Greet” was picnic-style, so the bandana napkins went perfectly. We also were able to pick up some information with the menu for the soon-to-be open restaurant and the back story of the chef.
The menu for the lunch sounded wonderful. We were excited to try a little of everything!
This is the food spread, but my favorite part of this picture is that you can see the actual restaurant under construction. Chef Steve McHugh showed Damontre and I around. I was so intrigued by his passion for the restaurant that I forgot to take pictures when he was giving us a tour. It is going to be beautiful though!
I thought it was cool that Cured will be using plate-wear made by a local artist, Linda Perez.
We had a lot of food choices…
They served Ranger Creek beer and Leprechaun hard cider. Yes, they taped the menu to a piece of wood and yes, this made me love the event more.
Ranger Creek Smoked Porter went really well with the food selection!
This was my first plate (yes, I went back for seconds!!). I can honestly say I enjoyed everything. I even tried the chix liver mousse, which was definitely new for me!
Damontre enjoyed his plate of food as well (and he went back for seconds too)!
Can someone tell me why I have never had pork butter before? It is amazing.
Everyone we met, from the chef to the partners, had so much enthusiasm and passion for the restaurant and food. I assume this will only lead to something great! One thing to note is that there will be a bit of “gastronomic giving”—Chef McHugh will be donating $1 from every charcuterie board ordered to a different charitable organization every quarter. When Cured opens in December, I will definitely be stopping by. You should too!
Cured, 306 Pearl Parkway, Ste. 101, San Antonio, TX 78215
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