"WHAT: The crown jewel of San Antonio’s restaurant-rich Pearl District. WHY: Cured’s name refers both to chef-owner Steve McHugh’s victory as a survivor of lymphoma, and also to the restaurant’s extraordinary charcuterie program. A glassed-in locker at the restaurant’s entrance displays beauties like culatello (ham made from the loin of a pig’s hind leg) aged for one year, and the kitchen assembles smart novelties such as hot goat sausage and catfish mortadella. Mexican flavors also murmur through McHugh’s modern American menu — masa-fried oysters over sopes with black beans and avocado mousse, bison tartare with huitlacoche puree, braised lamb neck with hominy stew. Look for the po’ boy specials at lunch: They hearken impressively to McHugh’s years of cooking in New Orleans. — B.A." - Bill Addison
