{"id":393187,"date":"2025-11-20T22:15:36","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T22:15:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/393187\/"},"modified":"2025-11-20T22:15:36","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T22:15:36","slug":"san-antonios-funky-new-bar-honoring-the-chinese-immigrant-who-taught-james-beard-how-to-cook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/393187\/","title":{"rendered":"San Antonio\u2019s Funky New Bar Honoring the Chinese Immigrant Who Taught James Beard How to Cook"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jue Let is supposed to be fun. The 4-foot chicken foot disco \u201cball\u201d sporting a jade bracelet that dangles from the ceiling tells you as much. The bar\u2019s boozy cocktails, two karaoke rooms, and Chinese divination machine, really dig into the theme too, which chef-owner Jennifer Hwa Dobbertin sums up in one word: \u201cfunky.\u201d<\/p>\n

The three-time James Beard Award semifinalist and woman behind San Antonio\u2019s Asian-Texas restaurant Best Quality Daughter<\/a> opens Jue Let on Saturday, November 22 at the Pearl in San Antonio. The bar sits catty-corner from Hotel Emma, taking over the former Blue Box space.<\/p>\n

For Jue Let, Dobbertin tapped several longtime collaborators \u2014 cocktail veteran Lis Forsyth, chef de cuisine Alan Dale Nelson, and designer-artist Jennifer Ling Datchuk. Grace Boudewyns of Lake|Flato architects, one of the original architects on Best Quality Daughter, returned to design the two-floor, 2,500-square-foot space. The crew reunited to pay homage to a historical figure whose story Dobbertin has been eager to share.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

John-Paul Garrigues<\/p>\n

The real Jue Let<\/a> was a Chinese-American immigrant cook who played a formative role in the early life of the real James Beard<\/a>. Through research Dobbertin was struck by how deeply Beard\u2019s early life was shaped by Chinese culture. Let worked at the family boarding house, but ultimately served as Beard\u2019s primary caretaker.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Beard was sick, Jue Let cooked for him and looked after him, and he was the one who introduced Beard to a real working kitchen,\u201d Dobbertin says. \u201cHe became this father figure presence during a time when Beard\u2019s own father was pretty absent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Homages to both men appear throughout the bar. There\u2019s a Mint Jue Let on the cocktail menu (a cheeky nod to a mint julep). John Birdsall\u2019s biography The Man Who Ate Too Much: The Life of James Beard decorates the shelf of an upstairs karaoke room. While the name honors two men, the shape behind Jue Let is largely drawn by women.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Paola Miano<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Paola Miano<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Jue Let\u2019s disco chicken foot. Paola Miano<\/p>\n

Much of the artwork reflects Datchuk\u2019s signature style, with warm pieces that make spaces feel intimate and lived-in. It\u2019s the same approach that shaped Best Quality Daughter, with nods to Dobbertin\u2019s \u201cthird culture\u201d background \u2014 Chinese heritage, time spent abroad in Thailand, and Texas roots. That disco chicken foot, however, comes from San Diego artist Lina Shamoon, whose shark- and horse-shaped disco balls already hang in downtown San Antonio bars Pink Shark and Howdy Sore Loser.<\/p>\n

Forsyth, who created Best Quality Daughter\u2019s drinks menu, is also at the helm of Jue Let\u2019s cocktails which are a mix of zero-proof drinks and boozy pours like the Divine Intervention, which comes with a small surprise meant to be enjoyed alongside the bar\u2019s divination machine. The menu spans several tea-forward drinks, martinis, an aromatic gin-and\u2013pine needle cocktail called the Mythical Beast, and the Taipei Personality, the revival of a favorite from Best Quality Daughter with scotch, schoenauer Appel, chrysanthemum syrup, and lemon juice. \u201cShe\u2019s a keeper,\u201d Forsyth says. \u201cShe\u2019s a forever cocktail now.\u201d<\/p>\n

The process is collaborative, but loose. Forsyth develops freely while Dobbertin occasionally sends inspiration from bars she visits in other cities. Dobbertin names most of the cocktails \u2014 keeping a list of more than a hundred potentials, often sparked by an offhand comment or joke. \u201cMost places want more control over the menu itself, but not the naming,\u201d Forsyth says.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Paola Miano<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

John-Paul Garrigues<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Paola Miano<\/p>\n

Jue Let\u2019s chef de cuisine Alan Dale Nelson used to work with Dobbertin years ago, and they reconnected when she stopped by his former workplace, Rebelle, craving its signature crab legs. The dish was 86\u2019ed that night, \u201cbut I told her I\u2019d find a way to get her some,\u201d he says, it was Dobbertin\u2019s birthday after all. That reunion eventually led him to take over as chef de cuisine at both Jue Let and Best Quality Daughter.<\/p>\n

The goal is to create food that reflects what Dobbertin considers the spirit of Jue Let. \u201cSomewhere in between a dive bar and a cocktail lounge,\u201d Nelson says. He\u2019s particularly excited for guests to try the baozone, a dish that took months of research and development to get right. There\u2019s also a Crab Louie onigiri on, a nod to one of James Beard\u2019s favorite salads.<\/p>\n

It would only be right, for a bar that leans into irreverence and restaurant culture to have an entire section of its drinks menu dedicated to service-industry vets. Under the banner \u201cFor the Pals,\u201d everything is just $8, including a playful subsection of \u201cShift Erasers\u201d with names like \u201cCrying in the Walk-In\u201d and \u201cI Need an Adult.\u201d<\/p>\n

During Jue Let\u2019s preview night, Dobbertin recalls people fully embracing what she\u2019s trying to convey. One guest called it \u201cthe most beautiful bar\u201d they\u2019d ever seen, and she heard others buzzing over the karaoke rooms. \u201cOur main goal above all else was to create a fun bar,\u201d Dobbertin says. \u201cI think the world needs more fun these days.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Paola Miano<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jue Let is supposed to be fun. The 4-foot chicken foot disco \u201cball\u201d sporting a jade bracelet that…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":393188,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5133],"tags":[5229,186807,186808,3990,7202,7203,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-393187","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-austin-restaurant-news","10":"tag-austin-restaurant-openings","11":"tag-bars","12":"tag-san-antonio","13":"tag-sanantonio","14":"tag-texas","15":"tag-tx","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-united-states-of-america","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115584338365335637","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=393187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393187\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/393188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}