Family Service Neighborhood Place
Family Service Neighborhood Place is a community center on the Westside of San Antonio that brings together resources and services to empower families and address the social determinants of health.
Family Service established the Neighborhood Place in 2006 as a local community center designed to address the specific needs of the surrounding neighborhood.
Tanji Patton
Tanji is an Emmy award winning journalist pursuing her passion for wine and food. Tanji explores the inviting worlds of chefs, wine makers and culinary newsmakers. Her snappy, fun videos entice even the most novice of chefs to get into the kitchen and create…with a glass of wine nearby, of course.
Johnny Hernandez
Chef Johnny Hernandez is a celebrated chef, entrepreneur, and founder and President of Grupo La Gloria and True Flavors Inc.. He is one of the premier Mexican cuisine chefs in the United States and a recognized authority on Mexican cuisine and culture.
Marcus Baskerville – Weathered Souls
The brewer and co-founder of Weathered Souls Brewing Company in San Antonio, Texas, was the impetus behind Black Is Beautiful, a worldwide collaboration to raise funds for police brutality reform.
But even before Baskerville’s name hit Forbes and Food & Wine for Black Is Beautiful, he was making waves as a homebrewer. After a local tap takeover featuring his home-brew, he landed his first job as a professional brewer, setting the stage for the collaboration that would change craft beer culture.
Kristina Zhao – DASHI Sichuan Kitchen + Bar
Kristina Zhao, began her takeover of the San Antonio culinary scene in 2015.
She was the resident artist at Sichuan House and worked her way up through the restaurant’s ranks to eventually became General Manager. The Guizhou-born University of Texas graduate helped make the restaurant a standard-bearer for Sichuan cuisine in the Alamo City.
She also represented San Antonio as an ambassador at the Chengdu International Food Festival in 2018 and currently serves on the Visit San Antonio Food & Beverage Committee. Zhao and Sichuan House executive chef Jian Li opened another restaurant, DASHI Sichuan Kitchen + Bar, with the ambition of featuring Sichuanese culinary traditions through a modern American dining experience.
She encourages everyone to nourish their souls through the environment and food they create at DASHI. She hopes that the essence of the experience they create inspires thirst for creation and a pursuit of excellence.
Cristina Noriega
Cristina Noriega was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, a sunny, cultura-rich land where la gente are the majority. As a child she spent her days doodling unicorns and puppies and people and anything that caught her fancy. Drawing was her life, and she dreamed of one day being an artist.
After high school, she left town for a bit to attend Yale University, but ran back to Texas as soon she tossed my graduation cap in the air. She got a “real” job in advertising, where she met my wonderful husband Victor. In 2005 she decided to step into art full time, for the first time. She spent a year re-creating the Mexican Loteria, updating it to reflect the symbols and culture she knew – the “Tex Mex” version. The My Loteria game and corresponding line of kitchenware appeared in H-E-B grocery stores and boutiques around the country.
Fast forward to today and she is the proud mom to two awesome girls, and a professional muralist, sign painter and portrait artist.
Dr. Frederick Preston
Dr. Frederick Preston, author of the well-loved Historic Doorways of San Antonio, is a nationally recognized educator and long-time photographer. Over his 35 years as faculty and administrative leader in higher education, he has been the recipient of numerous education and community service awards, including recognition by the US Congress. His world-wide travels have provided extensive photographic gems and cultivated his passionate interest in historic architecture and public art. Dr. Preston holds a doctorate degree from the University of Massachusetts, and he served on the faculty and as vice president for student affairs at Stony Brook University in New York.
Dr. Carmen Tafolla
Named State Poet Laureate of Texas in 2015, Dr. Carmen Tafolla is an award-winning poet and children’s author, storyteller, performance artist, motivational speaker, scholar and university professor.
The author of more than 30 books and a Professor of Transformative Children’s Literature at UT San Antonio, she holds a Ph.D. in Bilingual Education from the University of Texas and a B.A. , M.A. , and a Doctorate Honoris Causa in Humane Letters from Austin College. Tafolla has performed her one-woman show throughout the Americas, Europe, and New Zealand, and her work appears internationally in textbooks, newspapers, journals, magazines, elementary school Big Books & posters on city buses, and engraved on sidewalks and museum walls. Tafolla credits the community around her with her inspiration and her training, and says her works are inspired by “ancestors whispering over my shoulder.”
A native of the West-Side barrio schools of San Antonio, Texas, where teachers’ stereotypes of Mexican students as hoods resulted in daily frisking, Tafolla was told by her junior high principal that she had potential to make it all the way to high school. Instead, she completed high school, a B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. In 1973, she became Director of the Mexican-American Studies Center at Texas Lutheran College, formed part of the Chicano Literary Movement of the 70s and 80s, and in 1978, Head Writer for Sonrisas, a bilingual children’s television series. Tafolla went on to work at universities and educational research centers throughout the Southwest.
Tafolla has received numerous distinctions, including the prestigious Americas Award, presented to her at the Library of Congress in 2010; first Poet Laureate of the City of San Antonio 2012-2014; five International Latino Book Awards; two Tomas Rivera Book Awards; two ALA Notable Books; the Art of Peace Award; the Texas 2 by 2 Award; and Top Ten Books for Babies. Called by Rigoberto Gonzales “the Zora Neale Hurston of the Chicano Community” and by Alex Haley “a world-class writer”, Tafolla has been recognized by the National Association for Chican@ Studies for work which “gives voice to the peoples and cultures of this land.”
The current President of the Texas Institute of Letters, Tafolla is at work on the biography of noted 1930s civil rights organizer Emma Tenayuca.
Robert Wilkins
Born in El Paso, Texas as Roberto Dorantes Alonzo, he has become a prolific artist working in San Antonio, Texas. He was given the name Wilkens at age 11 when adopted by his stepfather, and has since persevered as a Mexican-American with an Anglo last name. Though he enjoys all artistic mediums including drawing, sculpting, and welding, he is an oil painter at heart. His subject matter ranges broadly from abstracts to westerns, still-lives to portraits, landscapes to surrealism, and more. He is well known for his Day of the Dead paintings and Live Art events in various galleries and businesses in and surrounding San Antonio, but also travels for competitions and commissions– his most notable one being the Theater Room in The White House by former First Lady Laura Bush.
Kirk’s Jerk
Kirk’s Jerk is all about bringing you authentic Jamaican jerk cuisines, with love from the roots of Jamaica. They have perfected and captured the essence of authentic Jamaican jerk seasoning and spices.
Smashin Crab
It’s been a long standing Cajun tradition to connect with land and sea and to appreciate its’ delicious bounty. Smashin Crab continues this tradition every day.
Fat Tummy
Fat Tummy brings artisan Argentinian style empanadas to San Antonio. Their dough and fillings are made from scratch and with fresh ingredients. They started with very small orders and deliveries, but the uniqueness of their empanadas and the word of mouth have made them grow. They are proud to have been rated as the best empanadas in San Antonio.
HTeaO
HTeaO offers freshly brewed tea hourly featuring 25 flavors of the best 100% broadleaf iced tea. All of their tea is brewed with double-pass reverse osmosis water and is available by bottle, gallon, & 5 gallons sizes. In addition to their world class tea, they offer the best bagged ice both crushed and cubed!