Day: April 29, 2021

Pearl announces the launch of Pearl Cowork

Pearl launches newly renovated office space for creatives, established businesses, startups, and more. Photo: Pearl, used with permission.

San Antonio’s popular Pearl district is excited to announce the launch of Pearl Cowork, a community-oriented workspace located in Pearl’s Full Goods Building located at 200 East Grayson, Suite 210, San Antonio, Texas 78215. The new 10,416 square foot office space is ideal for professionals of all levels. The new office space offers short term rentals for the modern professional with a variety of membership options available.  (Pearl Cowork, 2021)

As workers have adapted over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, many are not returning to traditional office settings. To meet the demand of modern professionals, Pearl has created a community-centered workspace. Pearl Cowork is designed for flexibility and is well-suited for start-ups and small businesses, as well as visiting executives.

Pearl Cowork membership offerings range from day pass to private offices, with access to a variety of amenities including high-speed Wi-Fi, shared kitchen, high-tech meeting rooms, private phone booths, cleaning service, and more. Pearl Cowork’s flexible model meets the dynamic demands of professionals and their workspace requirements.

Pearl Cowork offers everything from the Day Pass, which is perfect for travelers or anyone who just needs a place to work for a short period of time, to private offices, to a virtual membership for professionals who work remotely, but need a physical address for business purposes and want to be part of a community. Memberships start as low as $300 and details on memberships and amenities are available online. The space features original artwork, memorabilia from Pearl’s archives, live plants, and well-lit open spaces to facilitate comfort, connectivity, and inspiration. Pearl Cowork is Pearl’s latest commitment to promoting an environment where ideas and creativity can thrive. The new office space has already received support from notable professionals in the industry, including that of local businessman and CEO of Geekdom, Charles Woodin.

“Pearl is thrilled to debut San Antonio’s newest cowork space, which is ideal for those seeking human connectivity and purposeful work. The space builds on Pearl’s history as a place where ideas are brought to life–through ingenuity, creativity, and collaboration.” – Pearl’s Chief Marketing Officer Elizabeth Fauerso.

Pearl, located north of downtown San Antonio, provides a unique experience as a top culinary and cultural destination. The mixed-use space features retail, dining, picturesque green spaces, paseos, riverside amphitheater, and the third campus of The Culinary Institute of America. As a former brewery operating from 1883 to 2001, Pearl reflects a vivid past while embracing the future with environmentally sustainable buildings mixed with historic architecture.

House of Má and Hugman’s Oasis to begin opening this week

New downtown restaurant and bar, House of Má and Hugman’s Oasis will begin opening this week. Photo: House of Má/Hugman’s Oasis, used with permission.

The highly anticipated bar and restaurant concepts by restaurateur Chris Hill, Hugman’s Oasis and House of Má, will begin opening this week. House of Má will open first this Friday, April 30 and Hugman’s Oasis will open Friday, May 7, 2021.  (House of Má, Hugman’s Oasis, 2021)

Hugman’s Oasis is a tiki bar concept that will feature drinks like the Bermuda Triangle, a tropical rum-based drink, a Piñagroni, a pineapple take on a traditional negroni, and more under the supervision of Beverage Director and Boulevardier Group Owner Jeret Peña.

House of Má is a concept by Louis Singh and Eric Treviño, the same team behind the popular Singh’s Vietnamese restaurant in San Antonio. Guests will be able to order items from the menu like Hủ Tiếu (Cambodian Noodle Soup), Phở Gà (Chicken Pho) and more from House of Má, while dishes like Candied-Jalapeño Rangoons, Seasonal Yakitori Skewers and more, will be featured on the bar menu at Hugman’s Oasis.

Jeret Peña will also lead the bar program at House of Má, where guests can order cocktails with names like Old Siam, Soi Cowboy and more. House of Má is located on the first floor of the building, with private dining available on the second floor. Hugman’s Oasis is located on the river level directly on the River Walk on 135 E Commerce St.

House of Má opening Friday, April 30
Tuesday – Thursday: 11a.m. – 9p.m.
Friday & Saturday: 11a.m. – 11p.m.
Sunday: 11a.m. – 9p.m.
Monday: Closed

Hugman’s Oasis opening Friday, May 7
Tuesday – Thursday: 11a.m. – 10p.m.
Friday & Saturday: 11a.m. – Midnight
Sunday: 11a.m. – 9p.m.
Monday: Closed

Hugman’s Oasis is a tiki bar concept in San Antonio from Restaurateur Chris Hill. The interior for Hugman’s Oasis was designed by Giles Design Bureau and world-renowned tiki expert, Bamboo Ben. The beverage program is led by Beverage Director and Boulevardier Group Owner Jeret Peña, who has led several successful bar programs in the city. The cocktail menu at Hugman’s Oasis features fun, but sophisticated cocktails that pay homage to the bar’s tiki atmosphere. Hugman’s Oasis’ bar menu follows an Izakaya tavern mindset: a menu of small dishes for snacking while drinking so you can linger with good friends, good food, and good drinks. The bar is located on East Commerce Street in downtown San Antonio along the San Antonio River Walk.

House of Má in San Antonio is aptly named for the origins of its recipes – beloved Vietnamese mothers and grandmothers, and the humble traditions of homestyle family cooking. House of Má features traditional, but accessible Vietnamese dishes like Hủ Tiếu (Cambodian Noodle Soup), Phở Gà (Chicken Pho) and more. The team behind House of Má follows the food philosophy of resourceful, restorative, and respectful cuisine.

2021-04-30T11:28:00

  days

  hours  minutes  seconds

until

House of Ma opening day

Banjoist and songwriter Justin Hiltner releases Dolly covers

The openly gay banjo player and songwriter’s two-song single release features popular arrangements of two Dolly Parton classics. Photo: google

Justin Hiltner is a queer, disabled, IBMA Award-nominated banjo player, songwriter, and music writer most recently heard on the Peabody Award-winning podcast Dolly Parton’s America. His debut record, Watch It Burn, made with longtime co-writer Jon Weisberger, was released in 2018. Hiltner is Associate Editor for The Bluegrass Situation, where he co-founded and produces Shout & Shine, a showcase, column, and video series celebrating representation in bluegrass and beyond. He also currently serves as chair of the board for Bluegrass Pride, a non-profit with a mission of uplifting LGBTQ+ folks in roots music. Hiltner’s solo debut, 1992, will be self-released in the fall of 2021. (IV-PR, 2021)

He will release an A side/B side single on April 30, 2021, featuring two Dolly Parton covers, as heard on WNYC Studios’ Dolly Parton’s America in November of 2019. Country Queer premiered the second track on the Silver Dagger release, “Wildflowers,” which features folk, bluegrass, and children’s music legends Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer on harmony vocals. Stream “Wildflowers” on Country Queer here. Both tracks will be available to stream everywhere on Friday, April 30, 2021.

The two songs not only hearken back to the extremely popular sixth episode of Dolly Parton’s America, “The Only One for Me, Jolene,” which highlighted the queer narratives and homoerotic themes present in Parton’s body of work, they also preview Hiltner’s upcoming debut solo album, 1992, which was tracked during the same recording sessions at Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer’s mountaintop studio in Western North Carolina. 

As he pointed out on Dolly Parton’s America, Hiltner sees “Wildflowers” as oozing with queerness, a story about migration and relocation, living one’s truth, and trying to find a sense of belonging – all themes so easily related to queerness. “Silver Dagger,” the first and titular track of the single release, is less directly connected to Hiltner’s experiences as an openly queer person in the more traditional spaces of American roots music, and speaks more to his own coming out journey and the barriers he and his family experienced during that journey.

Hiltner signals that these songs are merely the beginning, his first forays as a true solo artist – and his first ever recordings backed by solo banjo, alone – with more singles and his debut full-length solo LP due in the Fall 2021. “Dolly Parton’s America was such a wonderful introduction to the world, in a way,” Hiltner continues. “I’m so excited to reconnect with fans of the podcast and with new fans, listeners, and queer family members, too, as we all go on this new journey together – the journey of Justin the solo artist!” 

“Working with Cathy & Marcy was a dream on so many levels. But getting to add their harmonies to this queer reimagining of ‘Wildflowers’ was especially poignant to me, as we strive for a more equitable present and future in bluegrass, country, and roots music, we have to be looking to the folks who went before us and blazed the trail!” – Justin Hiltner