Eating Slow in Central Texas

Slow Food members Mary and David Stanley have brought big city cuisine with a slow twist to central Texas with their Turtle Restaurant in Brownwood, Texas.

The restaurant offers slow, fresh, locally grown foods, fresh baked breads and desserts and homemade gelato from The Turtle Gelateria, a recent addition next door to the restaurant. The Gelateria features classic Italian flavors like Lemon Sorbetto and Chocolate Hazelnut, but carries out the local theme with flavors such as jalapeno peanut brittle and Brennan Vineyard Muscat - cantaloupe sorbetto

The Stanleys, who also have a business making a line of naturally shaped children’s shoes called Bear Feet (cause bare feet are best), originally came to Brownwood to be closer to Cathey Enterprises, a holster manufacturer who handles the leather cutting for the shoes.

“George Cathy had grown up in Brownwood,” Mary explained. “The Chamber of Commerce recruited him to move his factory from Austin to Brownwood, which he did because the cost of his factory building was equal to four years’ rent in Austin.”

The move meant that the Stanleys had to drive to Brownwood from Austin to get their cutting done. The drive, coupled with the lower cost of living in Brownwood, made the decision to move there easy.

Mary and David have owned the building that houses the restaurant since 2000. After watching several tenants fail at that location, and deciding that they couldn’t remain in Brownwood without good fresh food, they opened their own restaurant.

“We called it The Turtle because the turtle symbolizes longevity and persistence,” Mary explained. “It shows that completion is more important to a journey than haste, especially on the road of life.”

They recently recruited Eric Aldis, who had been the Chef de Cuisine at The Ritz Carlton in New Orleans, as their Executive Chef. Eric, who had also worked at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, is a native of Katy. Taking on the Executive Chef duties at The Turtle allowed him to return to Texas and, as he puts it, “live a slower life style.”

The lunch menu caters to locals with seasonal soups such as curried pumpkin made from the varietal pumpkins Fairy Tale and Apple Dumpling and topped with cilantro infused yogurt, (the pumpkins are grown in De Leon) or Nouvella's grass fed beef hamburger on house-made black sesame buns topped with cheeses made by Stuart & Connie Veldhuizen in Dublin.

Dinner is more formal and may feature roasted beet salad, Texas Bar-B-que shrimp with Veldhuizen blue cheese coleslaw as an appetizer, venison flank steak with broccoli rabe and mushroom macaroni and cheese.

The restaurant is located in historic downtown Brownwood, which is the geographic center of the state and a two to three hour drive from Austin, San Antonio and the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex-- a perfect stop on a weekend getaway.

The Navarro County Farmer – Rancher Network

Jackie and Don King have farming and ranching in their blood. Don’s father has a cattle ranch near Huntsville, Texas, and Jackie is a Texan who boasts six generations of farmers. But until she and Don started P.O.P. Acres in Corsicana, she was making history as the first generation of her family that wasn’t living on a farm.

P.O.P. Acres has changed all of that. Almost six years ago, she and Don purchased from a retiring rancher 80 acres of grazing land about 15 miles south of Corsicana and west of the Richland Chambers Reservoir. That year they started raising grass-fed cattle of mixed beef heritage (Angus, Limousin and Dexter with a little bit of Holstein thrown in for “good luck”).

Three and a half years ago, she and Don left their urban home in Farmers Branch and moved 15 minutes away from their 80 acres into a 75-year old prairie cottage on 43 acres of ground they purchased from a Pursley quarter-horse breeder who needed more space.

They also settled in to a commute to their jobs at the Texas Office of the State Comptroller and the Texas Office of the Attorney General in Dallas, spending about four hours every day driving back and forth. Jackie admits it’s a long haul, but it does give her and Don time to talk about new ways to market their beef and help their neighbors market their products as well.

In fact one of those conversations earlier this year, led to the formation of the Farmer – Rancher Network, a group that has grown to about 16 members from Navarro County including a poultry and egg producer, a goat’s milk soap producer, several vegetable growers and even a home made bread and cake maker.

“I had talked to a lot of local farmers and ranchers who wanted to be able to sell more of their products, but didn’t quite know how to do it,” Jackie explained. “I thought it would be good if a bunch of us got together to see how we could support each other.”

Apparently once Jackie decides to do something, she moves fast. “We talked about setting up a meeting on a Monday night during our drive home,” Don said. “We had our first meeting the next Saturday. About 16 people showed up.”

The group was able to help some of its members open up booths at the Corsicana Farmer’s Market. “Some produce growers were reluctant to take that step,” Jackie explained, “so we helped them get started there.”

For other members—especially those who sell meat, which can’t be sold at the Corsicana Farmer’s Market—the group has organized “Market Days” where they all gather at a central location to sell their products.

Currently, they are holding their Market Days twice monthly on Saturday morning at Eden’s Organic Garden and Nursery in Balch Springs and plan to continue through the winter. Upcoming Market dates include December 1 and after that monthly meat and bread orders will be taken for pick-up at Eden’s until spring.