The Turtle Enoteca Opens
Mary and David Stanley opened The Turtle Enoteca with a gala benefiting The Corine T. Smith Animal Center and the Brownwood Humane Society on March 26, 2009. The Humane Society event chair, Leona Barry, said that this year's event was better than ever. "We sold more tickets, our auction raised more money than last year, and the wine and food was better than ever. We fell in love with the Arancini and Pizza Diavolo. It felt like being in Italy."
The yellow brick 1929 commercial building in the Uptown District had seen more prosperous days. Once slated for demolition, the Stanleys bought the property in 2004 and began renovating it. The first bay is The Turtle Restaurant, opened in 2005. The second bay is The Turtle Gelateria going into it's third summer of gelato production. The third bay is now The Turtle Enoteca.
David is an architect and craftsman. He did most of the work himself including building the mahogany and copper bar, laying the silver washed porcelain floor, upholstering leather banquettes and hanging the mahogany bladed Mathews fans. The back bar features an Oz wine dispensing system that enable The Turtle to serve 20 wine by the glass or pour. David pointed out that The Turtle is able to sell a higher quality of wine by the taste and glass than what one might expect in a rural community. It helps that The Turtle is located in the middle of the Way Out Wineries tour and at the northern gateway to the Texas Hill Country. "It may sound silly but the part of Texas is becoming a little Napa Valley. Ten years from now, you won't recognize this area. We already have small groups of tourists visiting."
Fifty percent of the Turtle's wine holdings are Texan while the other fifty percent are mainly Italian. Mary Stanley said that the rational behind this is that Texas and Italy have similar climates and Texas grows a lot of Italian grapes. "We invite our customers to compare and contrast wines from the two 'countries'." The Turtle Enoteca offers Roman style pizzas baked on a cement hearth and small plates with a tex-mediterranean influence. The menu was design by Mary Stanley after having studied in Bologna with Mario Scalera. The turtle searches out artisan meats and cheeses, uses greens from Windy Hill Organics CSA and the local farmers markets.
The Enoteca is located at 510 Center Avenue, Brownwood, Texas, across the street from City Hall. Hours are Tuesday - Saturday 5:00 pm - 10:00 pm
The Stanleys are members of Slow Food USA, Go Texan, and the Chefs Collaberative - the leading culinary organization that provides its members with tools for running economically healthy, sustainable food service businesses.
Mary Stanley 325-646-8200