Photo courtesy of Fishers’ Loft Inn
Restaurants that grow their own
A garden traveller’s guide to the country’s best restaurants that grow their own
After an exhilarating day touring gardens, don’t settle for an average meal in an average restaurant. End the day on a botanical high note by dining in a restaurant that features a kitchen garden. When a chef is dedicated to cooking with fresh, homegrown ingredients, the culinary creations are beyond compare. From coast to coast, here are our favourite kitchen gardens to delight and satiate your wanderlust—and your appetite.
##FLORAL & ORGANIC##
**Sooke Harbour House**
Blessed with a year-round growing season and a stunning seaside location on southern Vancouver Island, the kitchen garden at Sooke Harbour House is beautiful and bountiful. Last year, the
inn’s 2 1/2-acre, all-edible garden received official organic certification.
Everything that head gardener Byron Cook grows has an edible component whether it’s leaf, root, tuber, stem, bulb, fruit or flower, including such culinary esoterica as bee balm, ox eye daisies, purple sage and lemon verbena. The garden looks natural because plants are arranged by optimum planting location, rather than by category.
Renowned for using edible flowers, the kitchen offers more than 100 varieties. Hotel guests can enjoy the daily Edible Garden tour, which offers the opportunity to taste such delicacies as climbing kiwi, vine figs, passion flowers and herbs.
**Garden-fresh menu picks**
* Spartan apple salad drizzled with nasturtium petal oil and floral garnish.
* Steamed sole with apricot-lavender purée and lovage emulsion, garnished with braised pumpkin and baby bok choy.
1528 Whiffen Spit Road, Sooke, BC
(250) 642-3421, Sooke Harbour House
##URBAN & ECLECTIC##
**Rouge**
Situated in Cross House, a provincial heritage building in downtown Calgary, Rouge occupies six city lots encompassing ancient cedars and nearly an acre of lilies, poppies and wild roses. Since 2003, its French-inspired menu and regional ingredients have made it a favourite with locals and visitors alike.
In the warm months, guests can dine on a stone patio in the middle of the romantic garden. The vegetable plot (about 10 by 20 feet) provides much of the kitchen’s produce including carrots, zucchini, green beans, raspberries and gooseberries. Fresh herbs are also important to chef and co-owner Paul Rogalski’s eclectic menu, and he supplements the outdoor herb garden with an indoor version in the off-season.
**Garden-fresh menu picks**
* Mâche lettuce and baby frisée with balsamic macerated strawberries.
* Seafood chowder with homemade bacon and fresh herbs.
1240 8th Avenue SE, Calgary
(403) 531-2767, Rouge Calgary ##RUSTIC & UNIQUE## **Eigensinn Farm** Set on 100 acres of rural land outside Singhampton, Ont., Eigensinn Farm was ranked the ninth best restaurant in the world by Britain’s *Restaurant* magazine in 2002. When you arrive, you may be surprised by its humble appearance. (To get to the dining room, you must pass through the laundry room.) In the warmer months, guests can savour events like the Spring Feast, which allow them to wander through the forest and sample dishes at specially designated areas. Chef Michael Stadtländer along with his wife and co-owner Nobuyo always have several gardens going at any given time: one for Jerusalem artichokes, another for tomato plants and kohlrabi, one with four kinds of potatoes, an herb garden and a patch for their huge collection of blackcurrant bushes. The inn’s garden extends into the forest. In mid-May, the spruce shoots are harvested to be reduced with maple syrup; wild leeks and ginger arrive in the spring; strawberries in the summer; and mushrooms in the fall. To keep things fresh (in every sense), Stadtländer changes the menu daily. **Garden-fresh menu picks** * Grilled Eigensinn Farm chicken with wild leek glaze and wild rice polenta. * Barbecued squab with celery root purée, lovage, morels and celery root chips. 449357 10th Concession, R.R. #2, Singhampton, ON
(519) 922-3128 ##PEACE & QUIET## **Les Fougères** Just 14 minutes outside Ottawa in Quebec, Les Fougères—with its elegant country-formal dining room—feels rural, tranquil and far from the city. In 2005, co-owners and chefs Charles Part and Jennifer Warren-Part re-landscaped the garden, creating gorgeous paths that wind through the surrounding maple and birch forests. They lead to an amphitheatre-like hollow of land where the overarching branches provide an inspiring natural cathedral (very popular for weddings). Gardener Jennifer Crawley grows perennials, wildflowers, edible flowers, herbs and vegetables for use in the diverse menu that changes seasonally. **Garden-fresh menu picks** * Wild pickerel with gooseberries, red onion, pancetta and tarragon, garnished with bachelor’s button petals. * Red Bro chicken with wild chanterelles, raspberries and Mi-Carême (artisanal cheese), garnished with calendula petals, nasturtium and lemon thyme. 783 Route 105, Chelsea, QC
(819) 827-8942, Les Fougères ##SIMPLE & ELEGANT## **Fishers’ Loft Inn** While the ocean view from Fishers’ Loft Inn is nothing short of spectacular, it’s the simplicity of the food that draws a crowd. Maintaining a viable garden in the challenging Newfoundland climate requires dedication. Co-owners John and Peggy Fisher built a greenhouse this year to give the kitchen a head start on the season (now they can begin harvesting in July). Radicchio, oak leaf lettuce, arugula and herbs do particularly well in the cool climate. The restaurant is renowned for its fresh salads and delicately seasoned seafood, using the best local ingredients. Harvesting continues into fall with carrots, parsnips, potatoes, cabbage and leeks. **Garden-fresh menu picks** * Cauliflower and blue cheese soup. * Roasted Atlantic salmon, mushroom risotto and seasonal vegetables. Mill Road, Port Rexton, NL
(877) 464-3240, Fishers’ Loft Inn
(250) 642-3421, Sooke Harbour House
(continued below)
(403) 531-2767, Rouge Calgary ##RUSTIC & UNIQUE## **Eigensinn Farm** Set on 100 acres of rural land outside Singhampton, Ont., Eigensinn Farm was ranked the ninth best restaurant in the world by Britain’s *Restaurant* magazine in 2002. When you arrive, you may be surprised by its humble appearance. (To get to the dining room, you must pass through the laundry room.) In the warmer months, guests can savour events like the Spring Feast, which allow them to wander through the forest and sample dishes at specially designated areas. Chef Michael Stadtländer along with his wife and co-owner Nobuyo always have several gardens going at any given time: one for Jerusalem artichokes, another for tomato plants and kohlrabi, one with four kinds of potatoes, an herb garden and a patch for their huge collection of blackcurrant bushes. The inn’s garden extends into the forest. In mid-May, the spruce shoots are harvested to be reduced with maple syrup; wild leeks and ginger arrive in the spring; strawberries in the summer; and mushrooms in the fall. To keep things fresh (in every sense), Stadtländer changes the menu daily. **Garden-fresh menu picks** * Grilled Eigensinn Farm chicken with wild leek glaze and wild rice polenta. * Barbecued squab with celery root purée, lovage, morels and celery root chips. 449357 10th Concession, R.R. #2, Singhampton, ON
(519) 922-3128 ##PEACE & QUIET## **Les Fougères** Just 14 minutes outside Ottawa in Quebec, Les Fougères—with its elegant country-formal dining room—feels rural, tranquil and far from the city. In 2005, co-owners and chefs Charles Part and Jennifer Warren-Part re-landscaped the garden, creating gorgeous paths that wind through the surrounding maple and birch forests. They lead to an amphitheatre-like hollow of land where the overarching branches provide an inspiring natural cathedral (very popular for weddings). Gardener Jennifer Crawley grows perennials, wildflowers, edible flowers, herbs and vegetables for use in the diverse menu that changes seasonally. **Garden-fresh menu picks** * Wild pickerel with gooseberries, red onion, pancetta and tarragon, garnished with bachelor’s button petals. * Red Bro chicken with wild chanterelles, raspberries and Mi-Carême (artisanal cheese), garnished with calendula petals, nasturtium and lemon thyme. 783 Route 105, Chelsea, QC
(819) 827-8942, Les Fougères ##SIMPLE & ELEGANT## **Fishers’ Loft Inn** While the ocean view from Fishers’ Loft Inn is nothing short of spectacular, it’s the simplicity of the food that draws a crowd. Maintaining a viable garden in the challenging Newfoundland climate requires dedication. Co-owners John and Peggy Fisher built a greenhouse this year to give the kitchen a head start on the season (now they can begin harvesting in July). Radicchio, oak leaf lettuce, arugula and herbs do particularly well in the cool climate. The restaurant is renowned for its fresh salads and delicately seasoned seafood, using the best local ingredients. Harvesting continues into fall with carrots, parsnips, potatoes, cabbage and leeks. **Garden-fresh menu picks** * Cauliflower and blue cheese soup. * Roasted Atlantic salmon, mushroom risotto and seasonal vegetables. Mill Road, Port Rexton, NL
(877) 464-3240, Fishers’ Loft Inn
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