For more than a decade at the Pearl, Geronimo Lopez has been shaping the local culinary scene one young chef at a time.
From the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) to Botika to Hotel Emma, Lopez has taken students and kitchen workers and fashioned them into promising chefs.
In some cases, he’s helped turn raw aspirants into award-winning culinarians.
Consider: One former student at CIA is Nicola Blaque, a James Beard nominee and two-time San Antonio Chef of the Year. Another is Jesse Kuykendall, a former UNESCO chef ambassador who has won two cooking competitions on The Food Network. A third is Aaron Juvera, San Antonio’s first chef certified through the Oyster Master Guild.
Juvera perfected his culinary skills at NAO, a student-run restaurant Lopez started at CIA, which has since closed.
“Geronimo took the time to explain, show and teach each of us the minutiae in our daily routine at NAO,” said Juvera, now a chef at Southerleigh Fine Food & Brewery. “His firm, yet hands-on approach to teaching has stayed with me my entire career.
A native of Caracas, Venezuela, Lopez worked at luxury hotel restaurants around the world before moving here to teach at CIA San Antonio in 2012. The first full-degree graduating class in 2013 included Juvera, who earned an associate degree in culinary arts.
“He was the final door to graduation,” Juvera said, “and arguably, the hardest teacher my class had.”
The support of several local chefs, Lopez says, enabled him to find his culinary footing in the city. He cites Andrew Weissman, Bruce Auden, Johnny Hernandez and Elizabeth Johnson, a former CIA instructor, as major influences.
Lopez taught at CIA for 3 ½ years before opening Botika, a Peruvian-fusion eatery at Pearl. Some CIA graduates followed him to Botika before launching their own careers.
“The impact Geronimo Lopez has had on San Antonio’s culinary scene, it’s quite profound,” said Hinnerk von Bargen, a CIA professor since 2009. “When he was teaching at CIA, he was known to be a very talented instructor. Once he opened Botika, he introduced San Antonio to the Chinese and Japanese influenced cuisine of Peru.”
One former CIA student, David Arciniega, served under Lopez as beverage director at Botika. Today, he’s executive chef at Thompson San Antonio-Riverwalk, by Hyatt.
“I was lucky enough to see 10 to 12 CIA classes graduate,” Lopez said. “A lot of these students remain in San Antonio and around Texas and they stay in touch with me.”
After Botika closed in 2024, Lopez did not go far. He became executive chef at Pearl’s Hotel Emma, which received Michelin Guide’s prestigious two keys rating last year.
“I like to call myself old furniture, I get moved around,” Lopez said. “When I was at the CIA and this hotel opened, I really wanted to be part of it. I thought it was beautiful. I never thought I was going to end up working here. But when the opportunity came about, I just couldn’t believe it.”
At Emma, Lopez oversees Supper restaurant, Larder Fine Groceries & Prepared Foods and Sternewirth, the tavern and club room.
“What’s important to me is that when people come here, they feel that it is the lobby of San Antonio, a unique space and place,” Lopez said. “And what they’re getting here is something that they cannot get anywhere else.”
Lopez’s culinary chops at Botika impressed the James Beard Foundation. The foundation selected him as host chef for the Taste America: San Antonio series dinner on March 6 at Emma.
Wagstaff Media & Marketing, an agency that represents the James Beard Foundation, said Lopez was chosen for his innovative fusion of South American and Southeast Asian flavors.
“He also has a background in mentoring the next generation of culinary talent through his work at NAO’s educational kitchen,” said Cara Zizzo, the agency’s account supervisor.
Blaque, chef and owner of The Jerk Shack, is a next generation talent. The James Beard Foundation paired her with her former CIA professor at the Taste America dinner.
“As someone who has admired chef Geronimo’s creativity at Botika and his excellence in education at CIA, it was an honor to be featured alongside him,” said Blaque, a native of Jamaica. “His team was exceptional and it was one of the best partnership dinners I’ve ever done.”
Roughly a dozen kitchen workers supported Lopez and Blaque, who cooked for 150 guests. The four-course dinner included braised oxtail, which required considerable time to prepare.
“One of my guys clocked in 24 hours of work in two days,” Lopez said, “just to get that dish.”
The host chef and former student produced a memorable mix of South American- and Jamaican-inspired flavors. Local chefs were impressed, Blanca Aldaco among them.
“Geronimo and Nicola had their countries in their heart as they created the menu for the evening,” said Aldaco, owner of Aldaco’s Mexican Cuisine in Stone Oak. “Their passion flowed from the introduction of the program to the flavor and beauty of the presentation.”
San Antonio counted not many chefs and restaurants of distinction when Lopez first arrived 13 years ago. The culinary landscape, today, however, is expanding its influence and reach and is marked with national recognition and acclaim.
“One could say I have helped transform the culinary scene in San Antonio,” Lopez said. “But that would be backwards. The culinary scene in San Antonio has helped transform me into a better chef, a better person, into someone who has really found his purpose.”
