Casa Hernán Cantina. The title matches a rising empire. The 2-story construction on East Cevallos Avenue stands as casa y cantina. Muy grande. The culinarian who as soon as known as it residence has reworked the area right into a time-traveling bar.
Step inside Casa Hernán Cantina and also you get an eyeful of Outdated Mexico. Equipale furnishings. Calaveras above an entryway. Towering papier-mâché figures. Artifacts from Oaxaca and Guadalajara. The whole lot from the colour and decor to wooden floors has a south-of-the-border really feel.
“I needed to create essentially the most Mexican area in San Antonio,” stated Johnny Hernandez, chef, caterer and legendary entrepreneur. “That was my objective. To take you to Mexico. To all of the issues I like about Mexico: the textures, the lighting, the accents, the colour, the artistry. I don’t suppose there’s something like this in America.”
The home/bar is exclusive. It carries the primary six letters of the proprietor’s final title and expands a imaginative and prescient many years within the making.
Beginning with La Gloria at Pearl in 2010, Hernandez has infused the texture and flavors of Mexico into the tradition of San Antonio with a mixture of Mexican-themed ideas and enterprise ventures.
The Hernandez empire contains institutions from Southtown to the San Antonio Worldwide Airport; a weekly occasion known as “Market Days at La Villita,” meals and beverage contracts with the San Antonio Philharmonic and the San Antonio Spurs; and a enterprise, True Flavors Catering, that serves company purchasers and the Henry B. González Conference Heart.
There’s extra. Hernandez based Kitchen Campus, a nonprofit that connects youth to culinary alternatives. He additionally hosts two annual Paella Challenges, one for U.S. and Mexican cooks, the opposite for native highschool groups.
Hernandez on Thursday flew the highest three groups from this yr’s problem to his alma mater, the Culinary Institute of America, in Hyde Park, New York, the place they loved dinner at CIA. The scholars had been to tour the campus on Friday, attend workshops and meet with admissions counselors.
The paella challenges profit Kitchen Campus, which Hernandez makes use of to develop cooks and share his love for all issues Mexico. Diana Barrios-Trevino, a longtime pal and Vice President of Los Barrios Household Eating places, understands what drives the chef’s ardour.
“They are saying San Antonio is the northernmost metropolis of Mexico,” Barrios Trevino stated, “and Johnny is ensuring that by no means goes away.”
Hernandez reclines in a home made equipale chair, lights dim, the cantina closed, and displays. It’s Tuesday morning. He’s carrying his trademark chef’s coat. He recollects travels by way of Mexico, his darkish eyes filling with mild.
Reminiscences from his youth seem, eliciting a heat smile.
The flavors of Mexico sparked an entrepreneurial spirit almost 50 years in the past. As a boy, Hernandez took breakfast tacos from his father’s Westside restaurant, “Johnny’s Cafeteria and Catering,” and offered or traded them at college. He confirmed an inherent ability within the kitchen, cooking usually along with his father on the cafeteria.
Johnny Hernandez, Sr., a one-time Mexican migrant employee with a second-grade schooling, acknowledged a present and prospects. He inspired his son, a San Antonio native, to attend culinary faculty.
Hernandez accomplished an affiliate’s diploma at CIA on the East Coast, however he wasn’t taught in regards to the delicacies sparking his ardour. “As a result of I used to be skilled beneath French cooks and European cooks,” he stated, “I didn’t know Mexican meals.”
After culinary faculty, Hernandez labored at a Las Vegas on line casino and a luxurious lodge chain in Santa Barbara, California. He returned to San Antonio as a company chef at The Outdated San Francisco Steakhouse and launched his catering enterprise in 1994.
Later, he accompanied his mom on journeys to Mexico, the place she did mission work, and that started years of journey by way of the nation’s inside. Hernandez visited pueblos, studied the tradition, explored delicacies and picked up artifacts. He turned one huge piece he collected a decade in the past, a tree trunk from Tonalá Jalisco, into the bar at Casa Hernán Cantina.
“Initially, that was going to be a chef’s desk,” Hernandez stated. “That was going to enter my botanero. Nevertheless it’s too massive. So it sat in my warehouse for eight to 10 years till I lastly stated, ‘It matches completely right here.’”
Casa Hernán served as a hacienda-style residence for eight years within the Lone Star District. Hernandez labored and lived upstairs. Brunches, events and banquets had been held downstairs. The COVID-19 pandemic, nonetheless, crippled enterprise, main him to reimagine the area.
Casa Hernán Cantina opened in March 2023 with agave spirits, handcrafted cocktails and botanas (flautas de pollo, queso fundido, volcanes de asada). Compelling social media posts drew crowds. One reviewer summarized the cantina with an equation: “Agave + Botanas = Date Evening Perfection.”
To make room for the brand new idea, Hernandez moved his Grupo La Gloria workplace to South Alamo. On the identical time, he labored on increasing the footprint of his firm, Host True Flavors, which already contains three of his manufacturers on the airport: La Gloria, The Fruteria and Tremendous Bien Mex Cocina.
Metropolis Council accredited new ideas in November for Terminal A: Chef Johnny’s Mercado, Southerleigh High quality Meals & Brewery, Tre Trattoria, Pharm Desk, Freight Fried Hen and Panda Categorical. In Might, council accredited 4 ideas for Terminal B: 2M Smokehouse, Popeye’s, Bakery Lorraine and The Tasting Room.
“That is going to vary the vacationers’ expertise,” Hernandez instructed the San Antonio Report after the council vote. “When La Gloria opened on the airport 12 years in the past, folks stated, ‘Let’s get there early to have breakfast.’ Or ‘Let’s get there early to have lunch.’ That was by no means the objective to start with. It was ‘Hurry up and get to the gate.’ However now, I believe that’s an thought we’re going to construct on and promote with the brand new ideas.”
The imaginative and prescient expands.
Blink and Mexico-themed burger spot Burgerteca vanishes and reappears as Blue Moon in Southtown. The brand new three way partnership with Blue Moon Mexican Restaurant house owners Alejandra and Silvano Garcia options one of the best of the unique Blue Moon (menudo con pata, cheese enchiladas) and one of the best of Burgerteca (al pastor burgers, bacon-wrapped hotdogs) beneath one roof.
Blink once more and Hernandez is getting ready to launch “Chef Johnny’s Mercado” on the College of the Incarnate Phrase. He already has campus eating, The Eatery, on the College of Texas at San Antonio’s College of Information Science.
Blink as soon as extra and he’s finalizing plans to launch Southtown Meals Corridor, a 15,000-square-foot area at 1725 S. Alamo St. that includes The Fruteria, Burgerteca, Southtown Espresso, Margarita Backyard, a bakery and a butcher store.
“I do know it’s a variety of issues,” Hernandez stated. “A lot in order that even I overlook what I’m doing at occasions.”
Life is a whirlwind. Hernandez collaborates, juggles tasks, hosts occasions, throws events and plans new ventures. He manages an empire with out seeming to interrupt a sweat.
“It’s mind-blowing,” stated Louis Barrios, president of Los Barrios Household Eating places, which incorporates Viola’s Ventanas and La Hacienda de los Barrios. “Johnny is a really spectacular particular person. He’s an entrepreneur. He’s a chef. He’s very gregarious and beloved. And he’s obtained so many instruments at his disposal. He can elevate cash for his endeavors. Individuals imagine in him. He’s nice at creating ideas. He’s an superior chef. He’s obtained an exquisite story. He’s tremendous partaking and all people loves him.
“I imply, he’s a phenomenon.”
Mexico drives Hernandez. Artistic expressions gas the mission. 9 years in the past on Cinco de Mayo, he cooked for President Barack Obama within the White Home Rose Backyard. The menu included chiles en nogada, rooster tinga in tomato-chipotle sauce, fruit gazpacho and tres leches cake. In 2019, he competed towards superstar chef Bobby Flay on the Meals Community, cooking a shrimp taco with a crispy rice flour batter and chipotle mayonnaise. Flay received.
“What I like about Johnny is he retains that historical past alive,” stated Barrios-Trevino, who cooked puffy tacos for Obama in 2010. “He teaches your entire group in regards to the custom, the elements, the cooking strategies, the flavors and the hospitality that’s our Mexican heritage.”
San Antonio sits 150 miles from the Mexico border. Hernandez bridges the gap with inventive ideas. Seated in a home made chair of leather-based, he admires his environment: Wooden carvings. Handcrafted artwork. A menu of spirits and botanas.
It’s in that area that every thing appears like Outdated Mexico and conjures up a imaginative and prescient for extra.
