A True Food Experience. If you can only eat at a single establishment in the Maritimes, make it this one!
Kristina and I decided to extend our PEI vacation by one night in order to experience the Inn at Bay Fortune so we could try celebrity chef Michael Smiths fare. Though the experience had a tinge of sadness to it, due to some very visual effects of the Covid 19 pandemic, this was by far the best foodsperience in the Maritimes.
A True Food Experience
Under normal circumstances dinner is served family style, shoulder to shoulder with strangers in many courses. It is preceded by an oyster and cocktail hour.
As you can see in the opening photo, the oyster hour was still open for business. We had local Fortune Bay oysters with a Bloody Mary Slush in place of a mignonette. The frozen treat, full of vegetable flavours, was a nice change from the classic tart oyster accompaniments. A short walk to the back of the Inn, where the fresh produce is grown, told a story of how the pandemic has affected business.
The Inn has piles of oyster shells from previous years. The mounts for 2018 and 2019 were huge, the pile for 2020 was barely started. As much fun as we were having, it was a sobering reminder that the pandemic hurts.
Meeting a Star
Though I do not have a picture, this was my first time meeting a celebrity chef. Throughout the Summer, Chef Smith was selling BBQ picnics with smoked meats and local produce. He was set up at a central location in the yard handing the picnics out in person and taking oyster orders. While I ordered our oysters We chatted about his homemade smokers, and the salmon he was making this summer. If I go again, I will certainly carry on more of a conversation.
The Main event
A change in plans, still amazing
We had originally been planning on dropping by the Inn as a retirement celebration for my mother. We wanted to the full farmhouse fireworks dinner. The Fireworks dinner is an experience that includes multiple courses cooked on open fires, served family-style. Though due to covid restrictions the Inn decided to only open their dining room to overnight guests. They also decided that the dinner would have to change drastically. The quality, I am sure, stayed the same.
Getting started
Waiting at our table was a gigantic sourdough loaf, with a side of chive and garlic butter. Both incredible, though I can easily be seduced by fresh bread and compound butter. Shortly after annihilating half of the bread, we were served the soup course. We, of course, ordered both options to share. I had the Maritime Chowder filed with amazing shellfish including lobster, scallops, and mussels. Though heavy like a chowder should be, this was on the lighter side, and there was certainly no floury taste like you find in many establishments.
The other was a yellow zucchini and dill soup. I usually hate zucchini, but this was a delight. The full flavour of the zucchini was on display, without the watery taste that comes with undercooked summer squash. The dill was strong and delicious.
The classic Maritime Main Course, Better
If you have followed the blog at all, you know I like creative dishes. I like weirdness and the unexpected. This was not one of those dinners. This was the expected, the comfortable, the familiar. I also like these things. I love it actually. I just need it to be done in an amazing way. And this was perfect. An extraordinary Surf and Turf.
We had a skilled of herb and butter glazed vegetables. These were fresh from the backyard farm. Beans, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, onions and more, all in varied colours cooked to perfection. The meats were pan-seared Island Beef and pan-roasted NS arctic char. Both were set atop a bet of smashed Yukon gold potatoes.
The beef was tender with a crisp charred bark, topped with an inion gremolata. The beef jus was cascaded over the potatoes for a heavenly combination of butter, cream, starch, and beef.
The char was paired with smoked thyme beur blanc, which was again cascaded on the potatoes for a completely different experience. Sent to bed with dessert
We were then served a brown paper bag. They said we could eat our dessert at the table or carry it back to our room for later. Since we had demolished an entire, family-sized, loaf of bread, and a bucket load of potatoes we opted to take it to the room. After our tum-tums had time to settle we discovered that our Chocolate Pot de Creme included a brownie, blueberry sauce and a sunflower seed crumble. We slept like overstuffed royalty.
Waking up to more
The next morning we awakened to a knock on the door, which signalled our in-room breakfast delivery. Housemade yoghurt, granola and berries. Fresh cinnamon rolls, and an egg sandwich to die for.
The sandwich contained smoked beef brisket from the previous day's picnic smooshed inside a fresh-baked milk bun. There was also Glasgow Glen Gouda, caramelized onions, and salsa verde aioli inside.
We washed it all down with local apple cider.
A fitting end to one of the best food experiences we have ever had.
TL;DR
Overall rating: 10/10 Amazing, multi-hour dinner. Oysters, cocktails, organic farm tour, fire-roasted everything. Celebrity chef sighting.
Why you should go there: Foodie Paradise. Go here if you are serious about amazing flavour, sustainable agriculture, local products. Also, a celebratory weekend away
Price Point: $$$$ This was not a normal year so we spent $350 for a one night stay that included dinner and breakfast for 2. Drinks and oysters were extra. I believe in a normal year you can eat here without staying overnight. Dinner is over $100 per person, I don't know what that normally includes.
Atmosphere: Farm Party. The oyster hour was a giant picnic with families playing, and fancy people sipping cocktails. The dinner was more intimate, but this was not a normal year. I believe the dinner may be as Farm Party-ish as the cocktail hour in a normal year.
Food Style: Maritime fare cooked on various open flames.
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