Gristmill River Restaurant & Bar – New Braunfels, Texas
My mom was born in 1929, the last year of the Great Depression. She still recalls that during her childhood, her family would take grist ( grain) and separate it from its chaff (seed coverings and other debris) in preparation for being ground into flour. They would then take the family’s horse and buggy over the precipitous mountain roads to Cleveland (the one in New Mexico). In Cleveland, they would have the grain ground into flour in “el molino,” the Cleveland Roller Mill. The Mill is a three story adobe edifice with a water-powered mill used for grinding. Today, that mill has been turned into a local museum where its original machinery remains intact and has been restored significantly to the point that it can be operated for demonstration purposes. When I asked my dear friend and trusted guide Melinda Martinez to pick where our next culinary adventure would be, she selected The Gristmill River Restaurant, located on the banks of the Guadalupe River in Gruene Historic District, in New Braunfels, Texas. Gruene is located in the Texas Hill Country, 30 minutes north of San Antonio, and 45 minutes south of Austin, on IH-35. The setting was spectacular, my delightful…