I attempted a new Italian Restaurant in Austin . . .

I tried a new Italian Restaurant on the recommendation of a coworker who is also a foodie. I am very picky about my Italian food, and I'm wary of new Italian places because of that. But he promised it was fresh pasta, and that's something I won't turn down.

So I went and tried Cedro's Italian scratch kitchen in Cedar Park. Turns out I forgot to take a few food pictures too. Oh well.

  

They did offer bread. They said it was a focaccia bread, but it wasn't focaccia bread. It had no olive oil, was soft and fluffy, and was served with a bean spread similar to hummus. It wasn't bad tasting, but it was weird to have that at an Italian restaurant.

We ordered meatballs as an appetizer. They came in a marinara sauce. They were fine. There wasn't really any flavor or seasoning to it, so they were a bit bland and flavorless. But they were cooked.

Then came my pasta carbonara. This was very good. It was definitely homemade pasta, however you don't normally see pasta carbonara with fettuccini sized noodles. I didn't mind that so much as the flavor was good. They asked if I wanted some parmesan cheese on top, and I said yes. I expected them to bring out a fresh brick of cheese and then grate some over my pasta. Nope. She came back with a shaker full of fake cheese - the kind you shake on your fast food pizza. And then I found a curly little black hair in my pasta.

Yeah. It was a bit gross. I sent it back, and they gave me a new dish. Still, gross. My partner in crime at this tasting got a seafood risotto. It was good at first, but by the last few bites it was tasting really fishy and not so great as the first few bites.

Then came dessert. I an not a huge tiramisu person, but my partner is. So we ordered it. It was drowning in alcohol. All you could taste was the alcohol. Not the best tasting thing for either of us.

I took a good chunk of my pasta home as I couldn't eat it all. It didn't keep well. When I ate the leftovers I got really sick to my stomach immediately afterwards. I didn't feel sick the first time I ate it.

So in a nut shell, it wasn't the best first impression of a restaurant. The homemade pasta was fantastic (minus the hair in it), but everything else on the menu was a bit underwhelming. I'd go again for the pasta, but I couldn't take home any leftovers as they apparently don't keep very well.

Sigh. Being a food snob is a pain. But I can't undo what I know things should taste like.

Parc National de la Jaques Cartier

 

This park is absolutely stunning. I desperately want to go back here. And see such a beautiful place made me want to move here. It is just so pretty I can't say it enough. It's about a 30 minute drive outside the city of Quebec, and once again we hit it on a really great weather day. It was cool, overcast, and so pleasant to be outside. A few weeks later and I can only imagine how stunning this area would be with incredible fall colors.

We spent a few hours here hiking around. We stayed on the main trail, which was very well maintained and easy to navigate. I did hike a little bit along stream, which was much more rocky, uneven, and a bit more treacherous for someone who doesn't have the best balance. As always I wish we could have stayed longer. Some day I want to come back and camp here. Or I could stay in a hotel and drive here ever day to hike. Either option would be good for me. I will let the pictures do the rest of the talking.

 

Montmorency Falls

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 This is a beautiful little restaurant and tourist shop that sits just at the top of the falls. It's surrounded by a beautiful park as well which we wandered through a bit. It was a gorgeous September day to come see the falls. Not too many people, the sun was warm but not hot, and we spent a pleasant few hours just wandering through the area.

The Montmorency falls are a large waterfall on the Montmorency River in Quebec, Canada. The falls are at the mouth of the Montmorency River where it drops over the cliff shore into the Saint Lawrence River, opposite the western end of the Île d'Orleans. The waterfalls are 272' tall, a full 99' higher than Niagara Falls.
There are staircases that allow visitors to view the falls from several different perspectives. A suspension bridge over the crest of the falls provides access to both sides of the park. We were not daring enough to cross the suspension bridge to the other side.



 There was also an option to zipline from one side of the bridge to the other. Honestly, had I not been in marathon recovery mode and struggling to walk up steps, I totally would have done the zipline.

 
 There is also an aerial tram (Funitel) that carries passengers between the base and the top of the falls. Because both my dad and I did not have the energy to take the massive staircase to the bottom of the falls, and then have to walk back up that long staircase, we used the tram. I don't regret it either. It is certainly a beautiful place and definitely worth seeing.