![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/clementine26.jpg\")
A tropical pavlova with mango sorbet at Clementine. Credit: Albert Villasana for the San Antonio Report<\/p>\n
John is a two-time James Beard Award<\/a> nominee for Best Chef: Texas, Elise a distinguished pastry chef from Georgia and an alumna of the James Beard Women\u2019s Entrepreneurial Leadership Program<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Four months after opening in 2018, Clementine drew a favorable review<\/a> from Texas Monthly \u2014 \u201cA Bright New Spot in San Antonio\u201d \u2014 and a compelling lede: \u201cThey had me at \u2018quick saut\u00e9ed with gobs of garlic and black pepper.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n More recently, John earned Chef of the Year honors at the CultureMap San Antonio Tastemaker Awards<\/a> in April. Elise received a finalist nod for Pastry Chef of the Year while Clementine was a finalist for Restaurant of the Year.<\/p>\n Lots of love for an eatery that serves dinner five days a week. Lunch? It became a casualty of COVID-19. \u201cLunch was a financial break even,\u201d John said. \u201cIt was a lot more stressful. The numbers didn\u2019t add up.\u201d<\/p>\n John couldn\u2019t let go of lunch completely so he serves it once a month. June\u2019s special focused on vegetarian fare. July featured seafood. August presented a taste of New Orleans \u2014 gulf oysters and blackened gulf bycatch snapper.<\/p>\n The lunch menu this month was a homage to John\u2019s roots. He grew up in New Orleans on fried oyster po\u2019boys and his grandmother\u2019s quenelles de brochet.\u00a0<\/p>\n Like fellow James Beard-nominated chef Andrew Weissman<\/a>, John once aspired to a career in journalism. <\/p>\n The goal: report for National Public Radio<\/a>. One year as a communications major at the University of Alabama changed his mind. A job as a steamboat porter steered him into the world of food.\u00a0<\/p>\n He secured a culinary arts degree in 2001 from Delgado College in New Orleans, became chef de partie at the Ritz-Carlton<\/a> and a sous chef at Restaurant August<\/a> under celebrity chef John Besh<\/a>.<\/p>\n Years later, John became executive sous chef at a luxury resort in Maryland, where he met Elise Broz, the daughter of the hotel manager. A pastry chef in Chicago, Elise had come for a tasting.\u00a0<\/p>\n Her father wanted to hire her. John objected, citing nepotism. Elise got the job and John was not pleased.<\/p>\n \u201cJohn and I did not get along for the first six months,\u201d said Elise, who has a degree in Baking and Pastry Arts from Johnson & Wales University<\/a>. \u201cAnd then, I don\u2019t know, he started growing on me.\u201d<\/p>\n They hung out as friends, bonded over their dislike of a new executive chef and fell in love. On quiet evenings overlooking Chesapeake Bay, John and Elise dreamed about opening their own place.<\/p>\n In 2012, Besh hired John to run L\u00fcke on the River Walk, the celebrity chef\u2019s first restaurant outside of New Orleans. The couple embraced San Antonio, married in 2015 and prepared to launch their own dining spot.<\/p>\n They hired a public relations firm, hoping to place John on the radar of James Beard Award judges.<\/p>\n \u201cWe felt it would help solidify our business,\u201d said Elise, who, at the time, was pastry chef at Biga on the Banks<\/a>. \u201cAnd really help fill those slower weeknights.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n A James Beard nod, John believed, would draw customers to a new concept \u2014 instead of opening \u201cand saying, \u2018Hey, I\u2019ve got a restaurant.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/clementine4.jpg\")
John and Elise Russ at their business, Clementine, on Tuesday. Credit: Albert Villasana for the San Antonio Report<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/clementine11.jpg\")
Elise Russ prepares a dessert in the kitchen at Clementine on Tuesday. Credit: Albert Villasana for the San Antonio Report<\/p>\n