FSR September 2022

OntheRise

itan pizza, which is akin to a handheld fried calzone. e com pany says few restaurants in the U.S. serve this specific dish, and none do in San Antonio. e idea is for the first store to serve as a template for future expansion across the country. “We always have been inter ested in entering fast casual the right way with something of our own,” says Sérot, whose grand mother is Italian. “Again, this was being challenged and slowed by planning the right type of food, the right moment, the right way to eat that type of food.” Southerleigh Brewery wi l l open so the company can send supply to grocery stores and

FRIED CHICKEN MEETS GULF SEAFOOD AT SOUTHERLEIGH HAUTE SOUTH, WHICH OPENED AT THE HEIGHT OF COVID. SOUTHERLEIGH HOSPITALITY GROUP (2)

news that people were waiting for,” says Sérot, remembering the store’s opening in December 2020. “People were start ing to get out a little bit more. It was in between the vaccine starting to come a little bit. So all of that contributed to, ‘Ohmy gosh, finally something to do and something new.’” A few months prior to opening the French restaurant, the team debuted Southerleigh Haute South at e RIM, another large mixed-use development based in northwest San Antonio. “Haute” translates to “high” in English, or in this context, a higher quality menu. e word is pronounced as if it rhymes with “coat,” but for Southerners who grew up saying “hot,” that works too, Balfour says. One pronunciation is an ode to Southerleigh’s French leadership, while the other is a double meaning alluding to the warmer temperatures of Texas. Serving breakfast, lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch, Southerleigh Haute South is labeled as a pressure fried chicken and Gulf Coast seafood location. e menu includes fried and rotisserie chicken, sandwiches, po-boys, pork chops, fish filets, meatloaf pie, and more. e restaurant is likely to be the first Southerleigh brand to add a second unit. ere are plans to open a pop-up in New York City and experiment with the concept’s affinity in a different market.

other retailers throughout Texas. Balfour explains that through being creative, pushing limits, and being approach able to consumers, Southerleigh Fine Food found large demand for beer in its 128-year-old building. But the multi-use nature of the facility prohibits expansion of brewing operations, and that’s where Southerleigh Brewery fills in. Balfour believes the company is capa ble of becoming a leader in San Anto nio’s craft beer market, if not Texas— just like the original location was back in the early 1900s. “Right now, we produce about enough beer for our restaurants only,” Balfour says. “We are going to get off the ground very quickly and expose more people to our beer, which is exciting for us.” Over the years, each of Southerleigh’s concepts has received its share of recog nition: Southerleigh Fine Food (Best Res taurant in San Antonio, San AntonioMag azine ); Southerleigh Haute South (Best NewRestaurant, Best Fried Chicken, and Best Brewery, San Antonio Express-News ); Brasserie Mon Chou Chou (Best Restau rant, San Antonio Express-News; Best French Restaurant, My San Antonio ). Sérot has little trouble explaining the reason for those accomplishments. To him, it’s not complicated. “I mean, at the end of the day, service, hospitality, it’s in our blood,” Sérot says.

Brasserie Mon Chou Chou and South erleigh Haute South both debuted dur ing some of the worst stages of the pan demic. e unpredictable future gave Southerleigh pause, but ultimately, lead ership decided to power through. at’s the ethos of the company, Balfour says. “We operate with this internal con fidence that we’re really our best when we’re faced with different scenarios and different odds of being successful,” he says. “And that was one of the things we just carried over. We’re not going to stop. We can adapt and we can, with what we’re given, try to put forth a good product. I think so far we’ve been suc cessful in that.” e New York pop-up is scheduled to launch in the first quarter of next year. Around that same time, Souther leigh plans to debut its first fast casual, Pizza Fritta, and Southerleigh Brewery, a 12,000-square-foot facility and tasting roommeant to increase its beer produc tion capacity. Pizza Fritta will offer fried Neapol

66

FSRMAGAZINE .COM

SEPTEMBER 2022