From small tables topped with drinks and scallops, patrons watch the music swing to life. A Sinatra classic pulses with drums, stand-up bass, piano and horns. A gentleman in a suit croons. “A Fly Me To The Moon” vibe fills the dimly-lit venue in the basement of the Bottling Department at Pearl.
This is Jazz, TX, a trendy destination offering a rare slice of local entertainment.
The dinner show.
On this evening, Andrew Walesch and the Doc Watkins Orchestra perform to a packed house dining on blackened snapper and center cut filets, mushroom ravioli and pan-seared scallops.
Tables in the back celebrate a 98th birthday with cocktails. Patrons up front nibble on a seafood medley in a creamy dip with grilled ciabatta.
“We take our food and drink program just as seriously as we do the music, which is unusual,” said Brent “Doc” Watkins, the venue’s founder and bandleader. “Most music clubs and comedy clubs are not known for their food. It’s hard for a music program to fit in a good food program.”
After years of trial and error, Jazz, TX has emerged with a menu that pleases the palate. Brisket tacos and pecan pie are the only two items that remain from the first menu nine years ago. The reason is simple: Watkins made lots of mistakes when he opened the venue in 2016.
His first mistake was building a small kitchen. Watkins thought patrons would come after dinner for music, drinks and small bites. A second mistake was featuring rattlesnake.
“It was one of my worst ideas,” Watkins said. “I’m not a food guy. I’m not a chef. I thought people would want to come to Jazz, TX, listen to blues, drink a beer and eat fried rattlesnake. But no one wants to eat rattlesnake. My ideas in the kitchen are not always the best.”
One idea that worked was hiring Nik Ortega, a kid from the South Side who learned to cook from his grandmother. Ortega did not attend culinary school. After graduating from Burbank High School, he washed dishes at Rio Rio on the Riverwalk.
Ortega joined a Jazz, TX kitchen staff of three as a line cook in 2018. After closing during the COVID-19 pandemic, the venue re-opened in 2021 as a supper club. At age 23, Ortega became executive chef under Watkins and general manager Jake Corney.
“I can’t say it was all me,” Ortega said. “There were some blessings and luck twisted in there. Jake and Doc gave me a lot of confidence and put faith in me. I have a lot of passion and love for food and guests.”
The passion came from his grandmother, Alice Ortega. She invited Nik into her kitchen when he was about 9 years old and taught him what she knew. He first learned to make bacon and eggs. Over time, she taught him to make fideo, fideo loco and arroz con pollo.
“A bunch of Mexican soul food, if you will,” the grandson said.
Ortega arrived at Jazz, TX in its infancy. He washed dishes and mopped floors. He helped prepare food. He grew with the venue and menu and developed his culinary chops.
Three years after he became executive chef, Texas Monthly published a favorable review.
“This jazz venue at the Pearl shopping and dining destination has a surprisingly sophisticated menu for a club,” the magazine wrote. “The menu offerings run from mainstream (shrimp cocktail, steak Diane, apple pie) to slightly global (jerk chicken, mushroom ravioli) and we haven’t been disappointed with anything we’ve tried.”
Alice Ortega’s influence remains, the grandson channeling her instruction in the kitchen. It shows up in the pesto airline chicken breast, served with lemongrass risotto, pine nut crumble and parmesan crisp.
“It’s just a little nod to my grandma,” Ortega said. “She used to make arroz con pollo, which is chicken and rice. I tried to elevate it. The pesto chicken is our best item.”
Under Ortega’s leadership, the kitchen staff has grown from a staff of three to eight, the menu from 17 items to almost 30.
“The first steak we offered on the menu was a flank steak for 20 bucks,” Watkins said.
The current menu includes an eight oz. center cut fillet for $60.
“We’re open five nights a week, 250 nights a year,” Watkins said. “If something doesn’t work, we take it off the menu. If it does, we do more.”
At the front of the speakeasy-style club, Andrew Escalona, the maȋtre d’, greets patrons and leads them to their table. Even at a sold out show, Escalona knows each person by name, all 100 of them.
A neon Jazz TX sign blazes red beside the stage. The orchestra swings from Frank Sinatra to Duke Ellington to Tony Bennett. Beneath chandeliers and ceiling pencil lights, servers set cocktails and entrees on candlelit tables.
The crooner lowers his voice and invites the audience to sing the last number.
Walesch turns a lyric from a Bennett classic — “I left my heart in San Antonio” — and the people respond, singing along until the final note sounds, the dinner show complete.
