Farm Tour Features Three Local Farms (and Lunch)

If you’re interested in getting better connected with local farmers, you might be interested ins a day-tour of three local farms on Saturday July 11, sponsored by EatGreenDFW.com and Food Roots both owned by Slow Food members. The culinary bus tour will take you (in air conditioned splendor) to JuHaRanch, Oak Grove Farms and Garden Harvests where you'll discover how three farmers bring sustainably grown produce, meat and dairy products to our community using organic and natural methods. And bring the kids. It’s a great way for them to learn where their food comes from.

The trip, which includes lunch at the Brown Street Cafe and Kolache Depot in Ennis, is $89 but there's a discount for Slow Food members. Just drop a line to brian@eatgreendfw and I'll send you the coupon code that's good for 10% off.

Mary Kimbrough of Food Roots has lined up three great places to visit and learn about local agriculture. And it even looks like there will be a wine tasting with wines from Calais Winery during our stop at Oak Grove Farms. You can find out more and sign up here.

You don't want to miss it. You will have an opportunity to buy pick of the season at all of our stops.

DMN Notes SF "Woodstock of Food "Gathering

Our own Dallas Morning News has taken note of the Labor Day weekend gathering of the nation's super-foodies (that would be us) in San Francisco.

Joyce Saenz Harris, writes in Sunday's edition: "Some 50,000 people are expected to participate in this country's first Slow Food Nation event, a gigantic 'Woodstock of food' to be held over the long Labor Day weekend in San Francisco."

Her article traces the roots of Slow Food Dallas from Timothy Mullner's kitchen in 2003 to our convivium-soon-to-be-chapter's 160 members today.

Current leadership team member Mark Monfrey notes that many Dallas members are "more interested in the social networking that Slow Food provides," but says that the political side also plays an important part in the movement's mission. "If we don't take an active role in government and politics," he says, "these small farmers won't have a chance."

Here, here.

Anyone out there interested in adding to our 160-strong membership roll should mark two dates on their calendar:

Tuesday, Sept. 9, 6:30 pm when there will be a new member "Meet and Greet" at the Veritas Wine Bar at 2323 N Henderson Ave. (between 75 and Greenville).

Sunday, Sept. 28 - Annual Meeting at a time and place to be determined.

Also if you're planning to attend the gathering in San Francisco let our current leader Jennifer Uygur know at juygur at sbcglobal.net. She'll connect you with other Dallas Slow Foodies who plan on going.

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.