June 21, 2014. Canyon Lake, Texas. Gennaro's Trattorio.

Gennaro's Trattoria is the best restaurant on the lake by far. Suzanne told me about this new restaurant on Thursday so yesterday, as we had no food at the lake, Ken and I went there for lunch. We had many surprises. The first surprise was the parking lot. It was full. It was about 1:15 but we were forced to park on the grass at the end of the lot. "This is a good sign, for a new restaurant to have a full parking lot", said Ken. Fortunately, just as we were arriving, one couple left, commenting to us as they they left that we could take their table as it was full. This is Texas after all. Everyone speaks to you. We decided to order our main meal of the day and as we were inspecting the menu at length, I ordered an antipasto. Before it arrived, the waitress brought us hot bread. Delicious hot seasoned bread. This was our second surprise. We could have eaten a whole meal with the bread and olive oil with herbs. The antipasto was served on a beautiful wooden platter. It looked beautiful and tasted even better, made up of olives, mushrooms, artichokes, salami, cheese, thin ham and greens. A perfectly acceptable lunch would have been antipasto and bread as this next surprise was terrific. Our main course was delicious, salmon for me and mixed seafood for Ken. The excellent main course I expected would be good and we will enjoy our leftovers soon along with the Tirimisu for dessert. The old fashioned style was wonderful. We will enjoy it for lunch today. The last surprise was when I asked the waitress when they had opened. This is a spot that has seen several restaurants come and go. "Two year:", she said. We just laughed. Where have we been that this fine restaurant is brand new to us? That was the biggest surprise of all, to realize how out of touch we are at Canyon Lake!!