Funky New Bar Honors the Chinese Immigrant Who Taught James Beard How to Cook | Eater Austin

"Supposed to be fun, this Pearl bar leans hard into “funky”: a 4-foot chicken foot disco “ball” with a jade bracelet dangles from the ceiling, boozy and zero-proof cocktails mingle with two karaoke rooms and a Chinese divination machine, and homages to the Chinese-American immigrant Jue Let and to James Beard appear throughout, from a Mint Jue Let to a copy of John Birdsall’s biography upstairs. Chef-owner Jennifer Hwa Dobbertin—the three-time James Beard Award semifinalist behind Best Quality Daughter—opens the two-floor, 2,500-square-foot space at the Pearl in San Antonio on November 22, catty-corner from Hotel Emma in the former Blue Box, with designer-artist Jennifer Ling Datchuk and architect Grace Boudewyns shaping warm, intimate rooms and San Diego artist Lina Shamoon creating that disco chicken foot. Cocktail veteran Lis Forsyth’s menu spans tea-forward drinks and martinis to the aromatic gin-and–pine needle Mythical Beast, the Divine Intervention (served with a small surprise to enjoy with the divination machine), and the Taipei Personality—a revived Best Quality Daughter favorite with scotch, schoenauer Appel, chrysanthemum syrup, and lemon juice that Forsyth calls “a forever cocktail”; Dobbertin keeps a long list of cheeky names. Chef de cuisine Alan Dale Nelson aims for food that sits “somewhere in between a dive bar and a cocktail lounge,” with a months-in-the-making baozone and a Crab Louie onigiri nodding to one of Beard’s favorite salads, plus an $8 “For the Pals” section with playful “Shift Erasers” like “Crying in the Walk-In” and “I Need an Adult.” During preview night, guests called it “the most beautiful bar” and buzzed about the karaoke rooms—exactly the kind of fun Dobbertin says the world needs more of." - Kat Stinson