No asterisk, just a gold star

Still-healthful restaurant moves, re-emerges as a worldly dining destination

From the time chef Elizabeth Johnson opened Pharm Table across from the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts in 2015, its rainbow of greens and juices and Ayurvedic-this and detoxifyingthat tagged the restaurant with a health-food asterisk.

As in, Pharm Table’s pretty good.*

*For a health-food place.

While Pharm Table’s certainly a place for gluten-free, dairy-free food with health, sustainability and balance in mind, it’s also a place for food with spice, personality and satisfaction for the holistic and hedonistic alike.

By September 2020, during the worst of the pandemic, Johnson decided Pharm Table had outgrown the Radius Center lobby, and plans were announced for a move to Southtown, next door to another San Antonio restaurant powerhouse, the modernist Mexican star Mixtli.

The new space isn’t just bigger; it’s a sweeping restaurant landscape with a broad covered porch, a patio with umbrellas like a field of flowers, a modern studio-style dining room, a kitchen with the capacity for lunch, brunch and dinner, and a long tiled bar pouring cocktails curated by San Antonio bar authority Houston Eaves.

There’s room for everything, it seems — everything but the asterisk.

The gravlax board was a painter’s palette of color and texture, anchored by sweet and salty salmon curled like a rosebud, surrounded by sharp dashes of brilliance from fermented carrots, beets and red cabbage, with creamy pecan nut cheese for character.

A plate of Israeli hummus worked a more earthy swath of the color wheel, conveying the blushy beige of velvety hummus along with the shawarma-spiced flush of cauliflower, the scarlet radiance of beets and the more subdued sunrise hues of roasted red peppers spiked with pepitas for Mediterranean muhammara dip.

The waiter, reading the table’s enthusiasm for cocktails like the exotic herbal bouquet of a Gin Tonica and the frothy astringency of an Equinox Sour with pisco and ruby port, suggested a round of lusty Manzanilla sherry with the hummus. That simple European-style midmeal pairing of sweetness and earthiness felt like a leap forward in Pharm Table’s evolution from sunny lunch spot to worldly dinner destination.

The evolution’s more than that, of course. While Pharm Table never positioned itself as a strict vegetarian or vegan restaurant, its menu always favored plants over proteins. It still does, but the new Pharm Table embraces

a more omnivorous ethos, with entrees unafraid to put meat front and center.

A daily special featured Scottish salmon dusted with za’atar seasoning as aromatic as a tea shop lobby, seared to a perfect coral blush over red pepper muhammara. Now a brunch fixture as well as an occasional dinner special, beef short rib brought complex Eastern European flavors to the table in a fork-tender braise of Georgian tomato ragout perfumed with

fenugreek and tarragon, and crowned with pungent sauerkraut and red cabbage slaw.

Fish made cameo appearances at Pharm Table’s original home, but it’s part of the full-time cast now. Salmon ceviche spotlighted Johnson’s skill with South American leche de tigre, its bracing citric acidity tempered by sweet potato puree and the salmon’s lush neutrality.

Because this is San Antonio, Pharm Table scored with seared fish tacos dressed with guacamole

and cabbage-fennel slaw. And because this is Pharm Table, those tacos can come wrapped in wide collard leaves in place of tortillas if you prefer.

Mole verde collard enchiladas reminded me of my few early misgivings about Pharm Table, a dish that set up enchilada expectations and then dashed them with leathery collard leaves that defy cutting; the effort reduced the pan to a nondescript mass of brown and green. At brunch, a stack of gluten-free vegan pancakes

sacrificed the fluffy joy of pancakes to the inevitable rubbery stubbornness of their dietary considerations.

For customers who liked Pharm Table just fine the way it was, there are plenty of positive callbacks to the formative days. Johnson said the kitchari, that Impressionist bowl of color layered with squash, greens, chutney, lentils and all the things that make you do the health-food happy dance, will never go away. Same with the cilantro-coconut guacamole, one of the city’s creamiest basic guacs, armored with a crush of super-food seeds.

I was happy to revisit Pharm Table’s lithe and lively Thai zucchini noodle salad and a tamarind curry bowl with a sidecar of beef kofta that’s ground, shaped and spiced like Middle Eastern kebabs. At dessert, a brownie made with dates and sweet potatoes took the old location’s brownie bites and turned them into a fully realized slice decked out with a swirl of chocolate avocado mousse.

If the old Pharm Table was in its Impressionist period, the new spot comfortably embraces a Postmodern vibe. Comfortable enough to offer a simple finish like seared pineapple with star anise and cinnamon. Comfortable enough to turn a bloody mary into a super-juice celebration of tomatillo, apple, fennel and celery. Comfortable enough to remake itself into a nightspot with great service and a smart soundtrack.

And comfortable enough to ditch the asterisk.

Photos by Mike Sutter / Staff Fermented carrots, beets and red cabbage surround the gravlax board’s sweet and salty salmon with creamy pecan nut cheese.

A starter of Israeli-style hummus is accented with shawarma-spiced cauliflower, beets and roasted red peppers and pepita muhamarra.

A recent special featured seared salmon with za’atar spice and pepita muhammara. Fish and meat are taking on a bigger role at the eatery.

Fish tacos with cabbage-fennel slaw, guacamole, pickled carrots and hemp-seed salsa can be ordered with collard green leaves.

Gluten-free vegan pancakes with berries and Asian pear golden milk chutney lack the fluffiness expected in such a dish.

Some things haven’t changed, including the excellent cilantro coconut guacamole with collard green leaves and super-food seeds.