Texas Restaurant Operator Opens Specialty Food Market
Emmer & Rye Hospitality Group, which operates several restaurants in Austin and San Antonio, Texas, has opened a new specialty market in San Antonio that “celebrates food” with a wide assortment of local products and multiple foodservice concepts.
Tom Schnuck, the son of retired Schnuck Markets CEO Scott Schnuck, is also a partner in the project.
The 40,000-square-foot Pullman Market carries fresh produce, meat, cheese, wine, beer, and other products supplied by Texas-based vendors. It features a tortilleria, a sourdough bakery, a whole-animal butcher, and a grab-and-go prepared-meals case. Offerings also include five casual, prepared-foods areas offering items including burgers, tacos, ceviche, sandwiches, coffee, and ice cream, the latter of which includes flavors created by award-winning pastry chef Tavel Bristol-Joseph.
In addition, Pullman Market opened with two full-service restaurants concepts: Fife & Farro and Mezquite. Fife & Farro is a family-friendly restaurant specializing in wood-fired sourdough pizza and handmade, heritage-grain pasta, and Mezquite focuses on the cuisine of Sonora, Mexico, with a dedicated mezcal bar called Mezcaleria.
Two additional restaurants, Isidore and Nicosi, are slated to open later this spring. Isidore will feature a seasonal menu and an elevated dining experience. Nicosi, created by Bristol-Joseph, will be a 20-seat “intimate dessert bar” with a no-phone policy.
“Pullman Market is the first project of its kind in San Antonio and the region,” said Kevin Fink, a partner in Emmer & Rye Hospitality. “There’s something for everyone at Pullman Market. You can grab a quick bite, stay a while at one of our restaurants, discover fresh local ingredients or grab something premade to make mealtime easy–knowing it’s all been sourced with a commitment to quality and sustainability in an effort to offer the best we can for our community.”
Emmer & Rye Hospitality manages several restaurant concepts, including Emmer & Rye, Hestia, Kalimotxo, Canje, and Ezov in Austin, and Ladino in San Antonio, in the same development that houses Pullman Market. The restaurants all bake their own bread and focus on quality ingredients, sustainability, and supporting local farmers and producers. For the Pullman Market project, Emmer & Rye Hospitality Group partnered with Schnuck, who worked briefly at his family’s supermarket chain as an intern, according to his LinkedIn page, but later co-founded and managed the acclaimed Crenn Dining Group in San Francisco.
Pullman Market is located in the former Samuels Glass Co. headquarters at Pearl, a former brewery that is being converted into the centerpiece of a residential, culinary and cultural destination just north of downtown San Antonio. Pullman Market was designed by Texas architecture firms Clayton Korte and Burton Baldridge and interior design firm Joel Mozersky Design.
“Collaboration with bakers, butchers, baristas, chefs, and fishmongers was at the heart of the design process,” said Sam Manning, partner at Clayton Korte. “Each artisan had a hand in shaping the space, with the owner's chefs, department managers and bar managers working closely with the design team to display, front and center, the process each artisan undergoes for their craft.”