From the Gunter Hotel kitchen, a server emerges with a luscious-looking entrée: a vibrant pink fillet of fish swimming in a bed of a delicate French sauce with green vegetables.
Heads turn.
“What is that?”
The pan-seared Alaskan salmon is the most popular dish of the Lenten season at Jots, the historic hotel’s signature restaurant. Served with velvety caviar velouté, a crispy herb crust and shaved garlic Brussels sprouts, the entrée sells for $34.
“When people see the salmon exiting the kitchen,” says Executive Chef Hayley Unruh, “It ends up selling itself. Fish Friday is a big deal here.”
Three weeks into the Lenten season, Jots has tailored its menu for customers seeking meatless options Saturday through Thursday and fish selections on Friday.
Jots also has crafted a pre-theater dinner menu — with two Lenten options — for patrons attending performances across the street at the Majestic Theatre.
“We’ve got a bigger crowd on Fridays,” Unruh said. “People come in before the show.”
The pre-theater menu on East Houston Street offers three main course options: the Alaskan salmon, Bordeaux braised short ribs and mushroom gnocchi — pan-seared potato dumplings with thyme and wild mushroom cream.
“The gnocchi is very rich, very creamy,” Unruh said. “We do it in-house. Everything is completely homemade. Every time I put a vegetarian option on the menu, I want to make sure it’s not just for vegetarians. It’s something that everyone’s gonna love.”
From Ash Wednesday, Feb. 18, through Holy Thursday, April 2, many Catholics and Protestants abstain from red meat on Friday in observance of the day Jesus was crucified. They do not, however, abstain from fish.
Not surprisingly, Fish Fridays and meatless entrees are surging in popularity across San Antonio as the Lenten season approaches mid-March.
Dean’s Steak & Seafood at the Kimpton Santo hotel offers a 10% discount on all seafood dinner main courses. Selections include broiled cold water lobster tail; seared day boat scallops; wild Alaskan halibut; pan roasted baja bass; Ora King salmon and branzino served with heirloom tomatoes, fennel and lemon.
“The salmon is the most popular,” said Chef Jose Arturo Trevino. “We’ve also been selling a lot of the Grand Plateau. That’s a tower of two platters with shrimp, oysters, lobster and king crab.”
For small seafood plates, Dean’s offers crab cakes, Oysters Rockefeller, grilled Madagascar shrimp and a crudo trio: ahi tuna, King salmon and Alaskan halibut served with yuzu koshō, smoked roe and olive oil.
“We also have a full raw bar,” Trevino said.
In the Lone Star District, Dos Sirenos Brewery offers a special Lent menu. Chef and owner Jared Cottoni says his popular brewery draws customers ordering meatless and fish options.
“The tuna gyro has been the most popular item so far with the nature boy grilled cheese a close second,” Cottoni said. “The nature boy is a new item that has gotten such great feedback that I’m considering adding it to our daily offerings the next time I print menus.
“Our fish tacos from our dinner menu have also been extra popular the last few weeks,” he said.
A full house at Jots
Fish tacos do not appear on the menu at Jots. In addition to Alaskan salmon, Unruh and her staff serve blackened red snapper with corn maque choux, haricot verts and poached gulf shrimp. Lighter seafood options include shrimp cocktail, Gulf Coast oysters and caviar a la mode.
Unruh, 32, has a history with seafood. A native of unincorporated Fred, Texas (population 859) near Beaumont, Unruh grew up cooking for her younger siblings and cousins. At 12, she was serving linguini and clams. By 14, she was preparing crawfish étouffée.
“I watched my grandmother,” said Unruh, a former sous chef at the SweetFire kitchen at the La Cantera Resort and Spa. “I wanted to learn from her. And then I was creating all these crazy dishes.”
Unruh did not attend culinary school. She went to Texas State University to study therapeutic recreation. In college, she began working as a beverage cart attendant at a New Braunfels country club. With an itch to cook, Unruh volunteered to help the chef. She started with a hamburger and worked her way up.
“By the end of my fifth year there, I was head of banquets at 21 years old,” she said. “I guess the kitchen life chose me.”
The Gunter Hotel chose Unruh. After a $57 million renovation, the hotel re-opened in October with Unruh helming the Jots kitchen. Jots draws much of its business from diners heading to the Majestic Theater.
On Thursday, Unruh was bracing for a Diana Ross concert crowd and those observing Lent. Chefs and servers, she said, were ready. They had to be.
The Majestic was sold out — and Jots was expecting a full house.
