It starts in the yard with drink stations set up around The Altar. Scott had g & t with PEI gin, I had a Caesar with PEI vodka, and the girls had some ginger beer. Local beer and select wines (one from the Okanagan, I believe) were also available.
G & t station on the right, Altar on the left, serving yummy beef and pickled onion appetizers.
My favourite part of the pre-dinner ambling was meeting Patrick, the Inn's dishwasher. Without him, it all falls apart.
Drink in hand, you wander the property to various tasting stations. Out back, by the impressive and vast herb garden, were the sausages, made in-house and cooked on a fire. DELICIOUS.
The young girl is Olivia, the farmer couple's daughter, thus a junior farmer. She named every herb for us. They have 8 different basils growing!
Come back inside to the kitchen where Chef Michael Smith began his culinary career and then his first TV show, The Inn Chef.
It's oyster city, to Scott's delight, and I even had two, persuaded by the enthusiastic team shucking like mad. I recommend raw oysters on Bloody Mary Ice. The tall lad with glasses is Michael's son Gabe, now 14 and a member of the Junior Fire Brigade. He was working every night we were there.
Restaurant kitchens have strict routines to keep everything moving. I got a demo from Patrick, and he even let me turn on the dishwasher. IT TAKES ONLY 1 MINUTE TO WASH AND SANITIZE A TRAY OF DISHES. Even though the soap costs $150 and is used up within two days, I STILL WANT ONE OF THESE. It may even have surpassed my desire for one of those huge institutional clamping irons to make pressing sheets a breeze.
Time to sit down and eat. Scott and I had the tasting wines, so we enjoyed 5 different pairings for each course. And water water water. Guests staying at the Inn get plum seats right in front of the prep hub. That was an exciting show in itself, but we also really loved meeting others at our table.
That's Norm in the pink shirt, and his wife Marion was beside me. My teacher radar never fails -- I just knew they were educators. Yes, indeed, they're retired principals who live in Ontario and have a cottage on PEI, where they spend summer. They also have a daughter who teaches Grade 3 and is a Type 1 diabetic. The invisible hand was at work, I tell you.
Every course was divine. My favourite was the halibut. I ate mine before I remembered to photograph it. Here's the dessert, which had perfectly glorious homemade mint ice cream.
This was truly a peak experience.
The jealousy of your trip has now really kicked in.
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