Archive for March, 2008

Well, allow me to back track even more.

When we were hired by Travel Channel to do photography for them. Castroville, Texas was on their list. The town is referred to as “The Little Alsace of Texas.”

There are a couple of very unique and quaint restaurants and shops in this charming Texas village. The one I am going to share with you is the La Normandie Restaurant. Unfortunately they do not have a website. But this traditional French restaurant will win your heart just reading some of the raving reviews from the diners who had experienced the romantic settings and wonderful food that they serve there.

We went on a Sunday late morning. I always wanted to try traditional French Cuisine. Not the fancy French Restaurants that serve only tiny portions which not only lack of flavor, but also digs deep in your wallet. I love French Country cuisine and I found it here.

They were actually serving Sunday Champagne Brunch Buffet that day. The owners, Suzanne and Edwin Lewalski, were there to greet us and service us. Suzanne was originally from France and has been here in the states for over forty years.

We were the first ones there and had the whole restaurant and buffet to ourselves. They said that normally the restaurant would be packed by then, but because it was the last day of Rodeo in San Antonio, everyone was somewhere else that morning. Read the rest of this entry »

A little back tracking with our trip to Livingston, TX. The camp host at Escapees Rainbow’s End RV Park gave us a good tip to eat at a local restaurant – Shrimp Boat Manny’s.

This is a Cajun style restaurant that has cute atmosphere. Since I wasn’t too hungry and wanted to try everything, I have just ordered the appetizers. We were told that the locals love their Crawfish Etouffée, so I ordered to give that a try. I also ordered the spiced, battered and fried Crawfish Tails with their house Pink Sauce and 1/2 dozen raw oysters. I loved everything I ordered. The Etouffée is supper creamy and served over rice. The Crawfish Tails are light and fun to munch on with a dip of the Pink Sauce. The already shucked Raw Oysters were big and fresh! Too bad that the oysters did not make it in the photo. I pretty much inhaled them as soon as they were put in front of me. The oysters were so fresh you can still smell the ocean!

Jeremy ordered a cup of their Chicken and Sausage Gumbo to share with me and the Grilled Catfish Fillet Dinner. The Chicken and Sausage Gumbo was not impressive like the Etouffée. It was watery and the broth was ok. It was more like watery chicken stock with a few pieces of shredded chicken and few pieces of sausages with rice. The Grill Catfish Dinner was ok too, though Jeremy upgraded his side potato to the Cajun Stuffed Potato. It was pretty good!