 The Grill at
Leon Springs
Casual food speaks
with a French accent
By RON BECHTOL
Photography JANET ROGERS
Front-of-the-house force Armand
Abadia and creative kitchen “capo” Thierry Burkle seem to
have found their calling in The
Grill at Leon Springs (not that long-laureled
L’Etoile, their flagship operation, can be
considered second-rate. Far from it.)
But there’s something seductive about
The Grill’s rustic/refined atmosphere and
its casual/classy menu that makes the
place seem a destination even for accustomed
Alamo Heights habitués of the
haute and raffiné. The lighting is sexy,
the acoustics (if you subtract the occasional
annoyance of rug rats run rampant)
under control, and the transformation
from the old Macaroni Grill complete
and total.
Since I had to look at it all evening, I’d
only tone down the lighting on the
gleaming copper hood in the kitchen.
Dining Companion (dazzling in white
knit and freshwater pearls) and I didn’t
spend any time in the ZBar that greets
one upon entry, but it, too, had a larger than-
Leon-Springs look. Pile into your
Porsche and head on out. Not to worry;
pickups are also permitted.
Though it has taken the duo time to
promote it, Chef Thierry’s Culinary
Corner menu is the one to look at first; it
will take advantage of any fresh seasonal
produce. Tomatoes, for instance. We
began our evening’s odyssey with a local
tomato tartlet topped with both a sort of
tomato confit and sliced fresh tomatoes.
Oh, and goat cheese plus assorted (and
appreciated) garnishes. The phyllo tart
base did get a little soggy with time, so
the obvious solution is to eat quickly,
preferably with a relatively restrained
chardonnay, such as the Glen Carlou
from South Africa.
From the regular menu, appetizer
No. 2 was a platter sufficient unto the
day by itself: The Grill Trio with housemade
sausages, garlicky white bean
puree, a vinegary onion concoction and
cool, grilled vegetables with olives — all
served with flatbread. The Simi rosé on
The Grill’s eclectic and appealing wine
list would be a perfect pair to the
sausages, one of which packed a
jalapeño punch, and any of a number
of other offerings.
Such as the halved, de-boned
achiote chicken from the wood-fired
grill section of the standard menu,
overseen by peripatetic chef Tomme
Johnson. Yes, I will quibble about the
apparent lack of achiote, that sultry
Caribbean seed that adds both color
and an earthy note to many dishes from
the Yucatan. But this was one of those
times when a simple chicken, moist and
crisp at once, simply stole the show.
The herbed chicken jus that comes
alongside is appreciated for its straightforward
goodness, and so are the credible
fries. Nevertheless, achiote, please.
 Thierry has always had a way with
seafood, so we couldn’t resist another
offering from his corner, the braised
shellfish with bacon, herbs and sweet
roasted peppers. Oh, and potato gnocchi.
Well, in theory, potato gnocchi. We
were halfway through this enjoyable, but
somehow not quite complete, dish when
we clicked on their absence.
To be honest, gnocchi are not an
altogether obvious component of a
plate prepared in quite this way —
something like a classic moules a la
marniére with the addition of clams
and shrimp. But when they arrived later
for adding in, there was a glimmer of
something very promising in the way
they sopped up the braising liquid and
added substance to an idea that needed
fleshing out.
On the standard menu, entrées run
the price gamut from $12.95 (a rotisserie
chicken) to $26.95 (an 8-ounce tenderloin).
In The Grill’s setting I’d be most
tempted by the “Country Stew” (a lamb
Navarin) and by redfish with lump crab.
Brick-oven pizzas include a classic
margherita and a prosciutto with sweet
onions and roasted tomatoes. And
among the pastas, Thierry’s agnelotti
with veal, mortadella, ricotta and onions
has always been irresistible.
I’m boycotting fried calamari in
protest at their ubiquity these days, but
other appetizers of interest include a
spring roll with pork, shrimp
and crab and an uncommonly
opulent antipasto plate
perfect for more of that Simi
rosé. Or perhaps a glass of
the house viognier now
being bottled for The Grill by
Becker Vineyards in nearby
Fredericksburg.
 But let ’s be honest: This is all
just warm-up to dessert, a category
in which Thierry and
crew have always excelled.
Accordingly, we had three.
Attempting, at first, to be at
least somewhat virtuous, we
had seized on another seasonal
offering from le coin culinaire
de Thierry: sliced Fredricksburg
peaches in a lightly spiced syrup
with strawberries and cinnamon-dusted apple slices. This is the
essence of a simple, yet sublime dessert, one that satisfies without
resorting to piped creams and preserved cherries.
Virtue thus out of the way, we could next concentrate on
the chocolate fondant, one of those disarmingly direct pudding/
cakes that simply melts in your mouth, conveying the
essence of chocolate as it does so.
But Armand had apparently decided that we had not consumed
our designated allocation of chocolate for the day, or the
month, as it turns out. We simply had to try the new and
improved chocolate soufflé, he insisted, and who were we to
resist? As explained by chef Tomme, this is a soufflé that employs
a greater proportion of chocolate to egg white, allowing the
kitchen to half-bake it, hold it and then complete to order. I’m
pleased to report that it suffers
not the least from this pre-prep,
is profoundly chocolatey, and
tolerates the addition of either
(or both) chocolate sauce and
crème anglaise admirably. If
you were to want a discreet
glass of Grand Marnier to ease
it all down, the orange flavor
would pair the soufflé with
Ginger-and-Fred finesse.
Yes, folks, there’s more
than barbecue and defunct
dance halls in Leon Springs.
(We also happen to like
Fralo’s Art of Pizza just down
the road a piece.) And if a
trip out I-10 is thought of
less like a pleasant spot of
motoring and more like an
evening ordeal, at least in early evening, let me recommend
Sunday. An early supper here still seems like a civilized custom
from days gone by, and with a menu that mates civilized
classics to chef-driven flights of fancy, the food can easily
match the mood. Twice-monthly Thursday wine tastings are
another enticement, should you need one.
THE GRILL AT
LEON SPRINGS
24116 I-10W, (210) 698-8797
Lunch daily at 11:30 a.m.
Dinner, M-Th, 5-10 p.m.;
F-Sat, 5-11 p.m.; Sun, 5-9:30 p.m.
leonspringsgrill.com
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