San Antonio’s most secretive dining experience is set to make its debut Wednesday.
Nicosi, a multicourse dessert bar helmed by Tavel Bristol-Joseph and chef de cuisine Karla Espinosa, is the third of four distinct restaurant concepts to open at Pullman Market. Guests can expect eight courses — a quartet of smaller nibbles and four more substantial plates — with optional beverage pairings for the $100 ($120 with booze) ticket price.
And expect a performance. Nicosi is more black-box theater than restaurant. The intimate space features a bar with seating for 20 wrapped around a central kitchen area where Bristol-Joseph, Espinosa and their staff will hold court. The entire space is swaddled in heavy green curtains, shutting out any daylight that might try to sneak inside. An elaborate lighting system changes the mood for each stage of the experience.
The Nicosi team invited us in for a first look at the new space — with some caveats. A driving principle behind Nicosi is surprise, whimsy and communication, both with the staff and fellow diners. To achieve that, there’s a strict prohibition against taking photos of food or fidgeting with phones during service, and Nicosi won’t give any visual previews of its seasonal menu items online or elsewhere. We were permitted to show off elements of the space but had to keep our lenses off any food or general sweeping images of the room.
TO MARKET, TO MARKET: Pullman Market impresses in Pearl debut
The Spartan room still had plenty of charm, even if it was sans sweets during our visit. The dramatic drapery provides an excellent sound buffer from the bustle inside Pullman Market and around Pearl. Small pockets of sculptures, floral arrangements and other artwork delicately pepper corners of the room. And behind one curtained section in a corner — walk this way, folks — is an ornate restroom with towering mirrors, modernist light fixtures and a vase in Venus form holding a dried bouquet of earthy color.
