{"id":408200,"date":"2025-11-27T11:25:24","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T11:25:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/408200\/"},"modified":"2025-11-27T11:25:24","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T11:25:24","slug":"chef-christopher-cullum-wants-to-make-san-antonio-proud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/408200\/","title":{"rendered":"Chef Christopher Cullum wants to make San Antonio proud"},"content":{"rendered":"

A light November mist is falling outside of Cullum\u2019s Attaboy<\/a> on the Monday before Thanksgiving. The restaurant is closed, its wooden floors swept clean. The owner-chef sits on a stool at the bar, reflecting.<\/p>\n

Christopher Cullum never intended to run a business out of this old Tobin Hill house. It once belonged to a barber. A barber who called it home. A barber who ran his barber shop two houses down at Cullum\u2019s Attagirl<\/a>, a self-described \u201crun down chicken shack\u201d with an alleged customer quote on its website:<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Olivia Newton and Dolly P. had a lovechild born in the concession stand of an old roller rink with free wifi, you\u2019d have Cullum\u2019s Attagirl.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two spaces in a historic neighborhood reveal a lot about Cullum. He\u2019s a character cut from a different era whose skills cover a broad culinary spectrum: fried chicken at one joint, caviar tin and blini at the other.<\/p>\n

Joint is probably not an accurate descriptor for Attaboy. Texas Monthly calls it <\/a>\u201cMore Paris Bistro Than San Antonio Diner.\u201d Cullum calls it a childhood dream. Back when he cleaned the kitchen at The Landing, his father\u2019s River Walk jazz club, Cullum aspired to cook the perfect burger. He was 15. Around 1992, he broke the news to his father, Jim Cullum, the legendary cornetist.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to go into the restaurant business,\u201d the son said.<\/p>\n

The father took the news well. He suggested they each write down 14 possible restaurant names and discuss them the following week.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we met, he said, \u2018I know you worked really hard on your list but throw it away,\u2019\u201d the son recalled. \u201cHe said, \u2018I found the name. It\u2019s Attaboy.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"A sign from Chef Chris Cullum\u2019s father, Jim Cullum Jr., and his River Walk jazz club hangs at the entrance of Cullum\u2019s Attaboy. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

The eyes close and the head tilts back. Memories flow. Attaboy first opened as an Airstream trailer in 2010. An improbable series of events led him to buy the home of a barber in 2023 and turn it into a restaurant with a fuller name: Cullum\u2019s Attaboy. The father never lived to see the Michelin recognition (Bib Gourmand in 2024 and 2025). But he got to eat his son\u2019s cheeseburger at the trailer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was nothing he enjoyed more than an Alamo beer and an Attaboy burger,\u201d the chef said.<\/p>\n

The San Antonio Report sat down with Cullum to discuss a range of topics, from his start in the business and journey as a self-taught chef to his James Beard Award nomination and the growth of the local culinary scene. <\/p>\n

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.<\/p>\n

You got your start in the restaurant industry at The Landing in the late 1980s. What did you do and how did your career develop?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I started at age 11, working every weekend, washing dishes by hand. I did that for about five years. Eventually we expanded the kitchen and got a real dishwasher. And then I was in hog heaven.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And you worked your way up?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, I did every position possible. I was a host. I ran the numbers and did the books. I served as a waiter for many years. I became an assistant manager and then the manager.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When did you begin to cook at The Landing?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Around 15. I was like, \u2018This is awesome.\u2019 I fell in love and I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to make hamburgers and I wanted to do them very well. I wanted to do everything \u2014 grind the meat, make the bread and just knock it out of the park.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What was the dining scene like in San Antonio when you were growing up? Where did you and your family go out to eat?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, man, I just had the greatest childhood. My father would send me on dates to La Louisiane (a French restaurant). He\u2019d call ahead and say, \u2018Let him have a glass of wine. They can have one glass of champagne or two. It\u2019s fine.\u2019 And I\u2019m 13 years old.<\/p>\n

You were 13? Did your father drop you off at La Louisiane?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t actually remember being dropped off. But I\u2019m sure it was my mother or father dropping me off. Who knows?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Chef Chris Cullum of Cullum\u2019s Attaboy outside of his Michelin Bib Gourmand eatery in the St. Mary\u2019s Strip neighborhood on Monday. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

Where else did you dine in those days?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019d go to Chez Ardid and the original Paesanos and of course to Mi Tierra and dad would play with the mariachis. It was almost a nightly date. That was a gas.<\/p>\n

Unlike a lot of chefs here, you are homegrown. You\u2019ve seen San Antonio evolve into a culinary destination. What has that been like for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the 80s and 90s, we had two really great restaurants: La Louisiane and Paesanos and maybe Naples. It was those three and just delicious Mexican food everywhere. There wasn\u2019t much pushing the boundary culinary-wise until they opened The Monterey (an imaginative retro diner<\/a>).<\/p>\n

What was special about The Monterey?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Charlie Biedenharn, Chad Carey and Quealy Watson opened this awesome project with some off-the-wall cooking in Southtown around 2010. The Monterey gave us great wine and adventures in food to where food became fun. And it just broke boundaries. It was beyond fusion. And it introduced us to some new wines and different styles of service. Out of Monterey, Hot Joy was born, which led to a million other amazing restaurants that exist today.<\/p>\n

San Antonio is now home to three one star Michelin restaurants. What was a turning point in the city\u2019s culinary development?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Becoming a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy (in 2017) was the first really big deal. That was a huge win for San Antonio. I remember growing up and hearing, \u2018Oh, Austin is better.\u2019 Or \u2018Dallas is better.\u2019 I felt the opposite. I was like, \u2018You don\u2019t know what you\u2019re talking about.\u2019 This made me upset. And that\u2019s why Attaboy exists. It\u2019s highlighting all the amazing restaurants that we did have to show everyone that San Antonio has been amazing all along. I\u2019m slowly losing that chip on my shoulder because now we\u2019re a city of gastronomy and we have Michelin recognition and everyone sees us now.<\/p>\n

How did Attaboy start?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Initially it was a 1977 Airstream land yacht that I found on Craigslist. I pulled it from Houston. I didn\u2019t know what I was doing. The doors were flying open. The windows were flapping. I had to pull over and\u00a0 figure it out. I took it to the South Side and built the most modest kitchen you could ever build.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Owner and chef Chris Cullum in the indoor dining area at Cullum\u2019s Attaboy on Nov. 24, 2025. A 1980 map of San Antonio that belonged to Texas architect O\u2019Neil Ford hangs on the wall behind him. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

Five months after you opened the brick-and-mortar, Texas Monthly gave Cullum\u2019s Attaboy a glowing review. How did it feel and what did that piece do for business?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Opening Attaboy was the biggest win of my life. But being recognized by Texas Monthly was a huge deal. It did impact business. We got busy on the weekends. I wish my father had been around to celebrate with me.<\/p>\n

You were a James Beard Award finalist for Best Chef: Texas in 2024. What did that recognition do for Attaboy?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It helped. You\u2019re never shooting for James Beard or Michelin. But when someone recognizes you for it, that\u2019s special and it feels really great. But that doesn\u2019t change anything for me personally. I\u2019m gonna dust. I\u2019m gonna clean. I\u2019m gonna scrub. Because if you love the work, you\u2019re willing to do it all. I love all the problems that come with it. I\u2019ve grown up here. I\u2019ve never left. I\u2019m in love with San Antonio and everything it\u2019s given me. And I just want to make it proud.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A light November mist is falling outside of Cullum\u2019s Attaboy on the Monday before Thanksgiving. The restaurant is…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":408201,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5133],"tags":[5229,192325,192326,192327,103608,33581,192328,192329,192330,52625,192331,32921,7202,7203,358,7453,3187,7593,4086,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,7594],"class_list":{"0":"post-408200","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-bib-gourmand","10":"tag-christopher-cullum","11":"tag-cullums-attagirl","12":"tag-cullums-attaboy","13":"tag-james-beard-award","14":"tag-jim-cullum","15":"tag-la-louisiane","16":"tag-mia-tierra","17":"tag-michelin","18":"tag-paesanos","19":"tag-qa","20":"tag-san-antonio","21":"tag-sanantonio","22":"tag-texas","23":"tag-top-story","24":"tag-tx","25":"tag-typefeature","26":"tag-unesco","27":"tag-united-states","28":"tag-united-states-of-america","29":"tag-unitedstates","30":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","31":"tag-us","32":"tag-usa","33":"tag-wc-1000-1500"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408200","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=408200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408200\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/408201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=408200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=408200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=408200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}