Sam Panchevre understands the business of restoration.
He turned an old warehouse into Sam’s Burger Joint. He converted a dead movie palace into a live music venue.
Now he’s transforming the upper floors of the Aztec Theatre into a 77-room hotel with an open-air rooftop restaurant, Zenita, above the River Walk.
“It’s a full outdoor dining experience on the 7th floor of the Aztec, overlooking downtown,” Panchevre said. “We’re looking to open in late August or early September.”
Zenita will feature a Latin-Asian fusion menu created by executive chef Jaime Hernandez. Known for acclaimed food trucks La Fonda de Jaime 2.0 and Aroma, Hernandez also brings experience from kitchens at Hotel Emma’s Supper, The Argyle in Alamo Heights, and most recently at Boeing Center at Tech Port.
“I like the way Sam presented the vision,” Hernandez said of the planned rooftop restaurant. “We both want the same thing.”
On Zenita’s menu
The vision includes a menu that rotates by season.
The opening menu will feature several appetizers — nigiri sushi (shrimp Aguachile, cured snapper and charred octopus), a ceviche tower, potato croquettes, shishito peppers — along with an array of entrees. They include an Akaushi hamburger, stir-fry paella, tortilla Espanola, double-fried chicken wings with gochujan glaze, a New York Akaushi Strip and Korean-style esquites, a fusion dish that blends Mexican street corn salad with sweet, gooey Korean cheese.
Then there’s the Hernandez specialty, the “tacomakese.”
He calls it “a multi-course tasting menu where you place your trust entirely in the chef to design, curate and serve a sequence of unique tacos.” The plate comes with five regular-sized tacos and costs $25. The rest of the menu items range from $17 to $70.
“I think we’ll have a menu that will be competitive with everyone on the River Walk,” Hernandez said.
The chef is known for cuisine that erupts with flavor and color. He won an Austin-San Antonio taco competition in 2021 and received a splashy spread in Texas Monthly. The headline: “A Wildly Innovative San Antonio Taco Truck Proves That Food Trailers Can Do Anything.”
Texas Monthly’s José R. Ralat stopped by for a memorable visit. “In a refreshing change from the trendy birria de res on offer at most Texas taquerias these days, Jaime Hernandez instead cooks birria de chivo (goat),” he wrote. “The dish, which has become one of the truck’s best-sellers, takes three hours to prepare in an earthenware pot wrapped in pencas, or agave leaves.”
View from above
The taco truck is gone. A new adventure begins.
Zenita will feature a 90-seat outdoor patio for dining under the stars. The patio sits adjacent to a covered restaurant with seating for 60 and a full-length bar.
“From the roof, you have a view of the River Walk,” Panchevre said. “And you can see down Crockett Street all the way to Alamo Plaza.”
Panchevre is a French entrepreneur and restaurateur, the son of a chef who came to the U.S. at age 14. He joined the Air Force and retired in San Antonio, where he met his wife of 43 years.
In 1987, he turned a small food court into the Rendez-vous Cafe, a bustling spot on the River Walk. More business ventures followed, among them: Acapulco Sam’s, Polly Esters and Casa Catrina on the Riverwalk, Sam’s Burger Joint on Grayson Street and Powerplant Grill in Seguin.
Now he’s got another restoration project: converting the roof of a historic building — the Aztec Theatre opened 100 years ago on June 4, 1926 — into a restaurant. The concept begins in the basement, where guests don coats and hats and drink in the Alamo Ice Bar, a room chilled to 12 degrees, and enjoy a 1920s and 1930s-era vibe.
From the Alamo Ice Bar, which is built out of ice, history winds its way up, past the first floor Mayan-themed sculptures and carvings, all the way to the roof. The enclosed portion of the restaurant features a full-service bar. The patio offers a breathtaking view of modern San Antonio.
“I’ve always wanted to do something fun and engaging on the River Walk,” Panchevre said. “We started the hotel project seven years ago. It’s finally coming to fruition.”
