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The yummiest Sunday brunch board, wines, and mimosas are just a short drive and so very worth it!! You’ll love the food, ambiance, and hospitality at Deschain Cellars, Winery & Lounge in Gainesville…open Sundays from 11:30am-5pm. Tell them we made you go!!! 🥰😎😋 North Texas Wine Country #eatdrinkshoplocal #edibledfw #drinknorthtexas #brunchboard #forestwinery ... See MoreSee Less
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How did we miss #NationalCoffeeDay? We were certainly drinking plenty of it, lol!!You could continue celebrating like we are and check out this “Cultured Coffee” story from winter 2021 by Eric Swayne! Experience a coffee-crawl through 3 awesome local shops, and download a list of 17 coffee destinations and roasters with a local flair: www.edibledfw.com/winter-2021/cultured-coffee/🤠☕️💖#eatdrinklocal #dfwcoffee #edibledfw #supportlocal #localbuzz Pax & Beneficia Coffee Black Coffee Golden Boy Coffee Co. ... See MoreSee Less
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Get ready for a Meat Fight on November 12th!! This always fun, annual BBQ competition actually started in a backyard in Lake Highlands, and has evolved into a meaty chef-competition with a very worthy cause.This year's event features 20 local chefs who will make you eat as they compete for trophies for best brisket, best sausage, etc. -- and you'll also eat samples in the Sweet Fight competition! Oh and there's a casserole competition, and beer from Community Beer Co. Yes, just saying that you'll be very full of meaty, sweetie, and beery goodness. The festivities include more than simply gorging yourself. You'll enjoy a meat-themed midway with games, and the BEST PART: this fun-lanthropy event benefits people living with Multiple Sclerosis. Tickets go on sale October 3rd at 10am. See link below to snag yours!! 21 AND UP ONLY.Meat Fight is back! November 12th, we will smoke meats and happyscream together as we fight for a cure for MS.If you’ve never been to a Meat Fight, you can expect a ton of killer barbecue, all the beers, a midway with meat-themed games, an auction with barbecue-celebrity-packed items and the most fun you’ve ever had at a charity event.100% of ticket price goes directly to helping someone living with MS. We hope you’ll join us!Bookmark the link now, and don’t be late. Tickets go on sale Tuesday, October 3rd at 10 a.m. (and in the past, they’ve gone fast: www.prekindle.com/event/56297-meat-fight-2023-dallas ... See MoreSee Less
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Edible Dallas Fort Worth
Always appreciate being invited to the annual GO TEXAN Pavilion Preview Night at the State Fair of Texas! Lots of #localgoodness and saw plenty of friends, both old and new. When you’re at the State Fair, be sure you spend time at the GO TEXAN Pavilion and pick up lots of new local products!!!Texas Department of Agriculture #supportlocal #StateFairofTX #edibledfw #gotexan ... See MoreSee Less
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Class Act: Brownwood’s Turtle Restaurant and Enoteca Wins Prestigious Wine List Award

The Turtle Restaurant and Enoteca team, Mary Stanley at center.
PHOTOGRAPHY LAUREN ESPINOZA

A tiny wine establishment, The Turtle Restaurant and Enoteca in Brownwood, Texas has landed the distinguished position of World’s Best Value Wine List 2022 among the World of Fine Wine’s annual awards, where global categories can include Michelin- starred laureates from London, Sydney, or Macau.

Mary Stanley, who opened the cozy Enoteca with her husband David in 2009, had entered their small haven’s wine list for assessment for seven years, starting in 2017, consistently earning two of three stars on an international stage, but had taken a submission hiatus the last two years, “because everything is so tenuous on account of COVID-19.” Nevertheless, came the unexpected news with this year’s addition of a new, judge-selected category.

“They called me and told me I was on the shortlist,” she says—triggering a still-lingering disbelief. “I didn’t have a budget for flying to London for a day” for an award ceremony that felt like a distant mirage. “And then I found out we won. I felt a little like Cinderella with no dress.” To be selected for a category for which she hadn’t entered was a powerful accolade and affirmation.

While fashions shape wine—celebrities bottling brands or varietals catapulting to ubiquitous darling status—“My thing has always been highlighting grapes that weren’t really well known, regions of the world that weren’t well known,” Mary says. “Sometimes my sales rep makes fun of me. He thinks I’m being too esoteric.”

“I have wine from the Canary Islands,” she notes. “They grow some fantastic wines on volcanic soil using basket-shaped vines in these pits” that resemble scenes from a Dune sequel but were historically referenced by William Shakespeare, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson. Recently, she sampled wines made from a rare white grape found only in Liguria, made by a winemaker who has rescued several indigenous varietals threatened with extinction. “They create a truly unique white wine that is delicate, lively and satisfying, filled with vibrant minerality. It’s easy to be enchanted by the wines of Liguria,” she says. A Mexican wine from Baja might side a wine from Austria or Australia.

The wine list, curated by Mary, offers fascinating finds at fabulous prices, earning Best Value Wine List 2022 internationally.

“There are hundreds of grapes; they have so many stories to tell.”

Most importantly, she wants to be a place where you can get a stunning bottle of wine under $60 and nearly all under $100. The value lies in the curation of the list and the cost versus quality.

Having moved from Austin 20 years ago and grown up in a dry family, she remembers when Brownwood, in a country that was dry until 2008, was an unlikely wine enclave. But she and David bought a segment of a block in a practically derelict downtown, restoring it and opening The Turtle Restaurant in 2004, then a gelateria before the Enoteca.“ In those early days, “My husband and I and our young chef packed ourselves off and went to TEXSOM [international wine conference] to learn, as we knew nothing about wine.”

They brought organic, biodynamic wine—and a nitrogen dispenser that enabled them to offer tastings and excellent options by the glass—to this town that now has travel traffic. “We have annual regulars coming from Houston or Austin, going to Santa Fe. Or going to Lubbock, dropping off a kid to school. We really depend on that traffic,” she says.

Despite their quality, she has to lure distributor reps to her. There’s ”only one that reliably takes care of us. Others I have to beg them to come.” She pulls strings.

To make Brownwood a place where people stop would be impactful: “To get more publicity for the restaurant nationally or statewide. If we increase the tourism, it’ll help everybody.”

So, “now, I wanna keep that award,” she says. “You can see everybody who won. And that list is really intimidating, from Hong Kong and New York and everywhere. It’s kind of breathtaking. I’d like to try to get it again next year,” she adds, impishly, “—and be able to go!”

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EVE HILL-AGNUS teaches English and journalism and is a freelance writer based in Dallas. She earned degrees in English and Education from Stanford University. Her work has appeared in the Dallas Morning News, D Magazine, and the journal Food, Culture & Society. She remains a contributing Food & Wine columnist for the Los Altos Town Crier, the Bay-Area newspaper where she stumbled into journalism by writing food articles during grad school. Her French-American background and childhood spent in France fuel her enduring love for French food and its history. She is also obsessed with goats and cheese.

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