The Half Century Club
I just got back from a quick few days in BC. The excuse for the journey to “Lotus Land” or the “Left Coast” was to celebrate a very good friend’s inauguration into the ‘Half Century’ club. Plans for this weekend were made via e-mail between “moi” and the “gang o’girls” in Vancouver. After much debate we decided to forego a more elaborate (and expensive) weekend destination for well…home turf. Beautiful British Columbia – more specifically, Vancouver where our birthday girl entered this world and partied her brains out for the better part of three decades!
View from Point No Point
If you are going to travel in Canada in April, nothing is better for the soul than BC where spring arrives as it should and lingers in its glory for weeks on end. This year, Spring arrived in Vancouver in time for the Olympics in February, stalled for a few weeks and made a grand reappearance last week. Our celebratory weekend started in Vancouver under sunny skies that continued to shine as we made our way to Vancouver Island and ultimately to Sooke Harbour and the CowichanValley.
For those of you who are “foodies”, Sooke Harbour House is a MUST visit when on the island. A wee bit of a pilgrimage. Proprietor Sinclair Philips is a legend among the Slow Food crowd and somewhat of a celebrity. Sooke Harbour House has been written up more times than probably any other venue in Canada. The accolades are well deserved. Under Sinclair and his wife Frederique’s guidance, his team of chefs take on the challenge of cooking with only local products to a high art. The venue itself is magical. Situated as it is on the water, replete with resident otters that delight diners as they frolic and drink from the garden fountain and gardens that go on forever, it is a totally magical spot. The menu changes daily and takes its cue from what is caught that day in the ocean or brought to the back door from the neighbouring Cowichan Valley or plucked from the potagers on the property itself. This is “100 mile” dining at it’s best!
Otter sculpture in the Sooke Harbour House gardens
As a gaggle of women off for some fun, we opted to stay a stone’s throw from Sooke Harbour House itself. Sooke Harbour House is where you go for a languid weekend with a lover…not with your 5 BFFs! Becky, our Vancouver based and intrepid weekend planner found us a wonderful spot – fittingly named “Point No Point” resort. A delightful series of wooden cabins – all with fireplaces, vistas of the ocean and the soaring eagles – became our home base for the weekend. Although Michelle came armed with enough cheese, crackers, fruit and nibbles to feed an army, we quickly discovered that “Point no Point” had a wonderful dining room as well. While not quite as grand and serious as Sooke Harbour House, their menu was replete with a series of wonderful temptations staying true to the “100 mile” diet philosophy.
As most of you know, I am not totally enthralled with the “100 mile” dogma and its limitations. I can’t imagine denying myself the joys of a Nova Scotia lobster or PEI oyster or wild salmon or chanterelles from BC! Like a lapsed Catholic, I choose to follow the “100 mile” rules when I can, when convenient, when I have the energy to be creative and most of all in the spring, summer and early fall when it’s not difficult to do! There is no doubt that when you live in BC, particularly within 100 miles of the Cowichan Valley you have a true advantage. The ocean teems with fresh oysters and fish, the temperate pacific climate allows for greens almost year round and the “culture” of the place offers a wonderful stage for real artisanal food production.
I’m home now again in Beamsville and enjoying the arrival of spring. When I got up this morning, I spied my first asparagus spears in the garden (a frightening month earlier than normal, I might add!). I have to say I became inspired. Off I went to Freeman Herbs to place my herb order, soil has been turned in our potager, seed packets from William Dam Seeds have been sorted and…well it’s Spring and time to start that “100 mile” thing at The Good Earth. Ah, the joy of being in a BC state of mind…