Tag: chef-driven restaurants

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L’Auberge Provencale

Be careful of the wishes on your bucket list since sometimes it turns out better than you anticipated! Such was the case at L’Auberge Provencale in Boyce, Virginia. It was Lynn’s birthday, and I hadn’t mentioned this particular inn to him before and I thought it would be a nice surprise. So, I booked a room and made dinner reservations. However, one small pet peeve that I noticed other inns are doing these days is making you choose what you want for breakfast right when you check in. I know this makes their life easier, but I found it annoying. Can we just live in the moment and not rush the event?

That said, we had a lovely room. We also had ice in the room that was waiting for us (a nice surprise unlike our hotel in D.C), so we made ourselves a cocktail, and went to sit outside in the garden. The inn is very pretty and so is the garden. Not so lovely is the sound of traffic – trucks, motorcycles, and cars all whizzing by. Why did I think L’Auberge would be in the country? And isolated? And hence, quiet? It wasn’t. Actually, it reminded me of being at home because our street is noisy too. Still, isn’t the main building charming? I think so.

Dinner

It was a warm evening, and everyone (minus one table) was eating outside. It was a little bit more casual sitting outside than I would have liked (we had both dressed up), but whatever. We were there to eat, and our server(s) were extremely friendly and guided me through the menu. When I asked if the chef could make me something that was on the tasting menu but not on the regular menu (which I never do but there was a lamb special on the tasting menu that sounded delicious), he was able to accommodate my request.

But first, cocktails and an amuse bouche of salmon tartare. Then oysters and a lovely, decorated duck liver pate. And wine, too! All brought out in the correct order. I mean, it wasn’t that difficult to do, right?

Then the lamb (Lynn had steak) sorry, mine was better and a curious green thing that I couldn’t quite figure out what it was. It looked like a green button until I finally asked at the end of the meal. Sorry, I knew it was a vegetable, but it just didn’t taste like ZUCCHINI! And since we’ve been inundated with zucchini from the Red House garden, I think I know what zucchini tastes like.

Finally, we had dessert – a just-okay apricot tart with some vanilla ice cream and we finished our wine.

And here’s the birthday boy. Doesn’t he look good? I think so.

Southern Charm?

When we went back to our room after dinner, I looked up and saw this. A pineapple light fixture? Yep. And then I remembered I never mentioned where the ice machine was in the hotel in D.C. (I don’t know why this ugly thing made me think of the ice in D.C., but it did.) Apparently, the ice was in the same cabinet right by the elevator, except I hadn’t pulled the cabinet door hard enough to open it. Once open, it revealed that there wasn’t an ice machine at all, but bags of ice that had simply been placed on shelves. I’m not sure who thought of that idea but my reaction to that was – this is really stupid.

Anyway, we had a lovely time at L’Auberge and I would recommend it even though it’s very expensive.

P.S. Breakfast the next morning was delicious even if we did have to order it before we had even checked in. I wondered if they made the omelet I ate in this pan. Probably not. What kind of pan is that anyway with such a long handle?????

Until our next “Let’s Go” Adventure.

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Campobello Island – But First A Stop In Saint Andrews, New Brunswick

Visiting Campobello Island to see Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt’s summer “cottage” (it has 34 rooms!) had been on my do-list for a while. I love visiting old houses and am fascinated by stories of how people lived during the 1930’s and 1940’s. This probably has something to do with growing up in Munich and being constantly surrounded by reminders of World War II. But first we needed a place to stay.

So, after we had visited PEI, we drove to Saint Andrews (also referred to as Saint Andrews By-The-Sea) which is a very romantic sounding name for this town in an area called the Maritime Provinces of Canada.

We were to stay one night at Rossmount Inn, a hotel I had read about that had travelers raving about the on-site restaurant. But first we decided to pay a visit to Kingsbrae Gardens. If you are interested in garden design and flowers and plants like I am, this is a must-see stop. Set on over 25+ acres in a residential area of Saint Andrews, they not only have lovely flower gardens but an interesting sculpture garden and miniature exotic pet farm, too.

To give you an idea of how much they love gardens (and gardening!) this was the first thing I saw walking onto their beautiful estate.

We walked around the gardens admiring all the flowers and the neatly trimmed hedges.

Plus they even made rows and rows of daylilies and assorted other wildflowers look civilized.

And then we saw the peacock! I mean, I had seen a peacock spread its feathers before but this bird decided it was going to give us a little fashion show. Look how it spread its feathers and strutted a bit so we could see both the front and back of this gorgeous bird – a member of the pheasant family I believe.

I actually thought the back of this beautiful beast was even more interesting than the front.

After more sculpture (see the food theme prevalent here with an apple core and an avocado), we went to the hotel.

A Night at the Rossmount

Chef Chris Aerni and his lovely wife Graziella are probably one of the nicest couples we’ve encountered on our many travels here and abroad. They are totally hands on with this lovely retreat they have created and love to talk to their guests not only about food but places they, too, have visited. (I’m now very curious about Hobart, Tasmania, because of my conversation with them that night.)

This is a shot of their hotel and the lovely pool area. Unfortunately, it was too late in the day for us to hang out by the pool, but this hotel is definitely on my “return for a visit list” so we’ll have to check it out the next time we go.

Dinner that night was exceptional. A multi-course tasting menu featured fresh Malpeque oysters (I will talk more about these beauties in an upcoming Prince Edward Island story) paired with a scallop ceviche.

Mushroom soup and bib lettuce and beets from the garden topped with edible daylilies (who knew you could eat those).

Followed by a roasted quail and potato salad. And then old school surf and turf kicked up a notch with succulent butter-poached lobster with garden fresh veggies and a killer Bearnaise sauce. The dollops of green pesto that were added to this dish just brought the whole thing together. It was tasty and absolutely brilliant!

And then there was dessert. Pea semi-freddo? You betcha. And it was delicious – sweet and savory all in the same bite. But then since it was my birthday (really, the actual day not the day before or after), I asked if they could bring me out something chocolate. And that’s exactly what they did. (I know it was so unlike me to order a second dessert, but I split the chocolate mousse with Lynn.)

On To Campobello Island

We started off the morning (after a lovely breakfast at the Rossmount) by listening to “Siri” tell us how we should “drive” to Campobello Island. Usually I at least take a glimpse at an old road map to make sure she’s heading us in the correct direction, but this time I didn’t. That’s why about an hour later we ended up somewhere along the coast near Passamaquoddy Bay (yes, that is exactly how you spell it). We were in the town of L’Etete and saw signs for a ferry that we thought was going to Campobello. Since there was no reason not to trust “Siri,” we drove the car onto the ferry. Who knew the ferry was free, too? (Thank you Canada!)

When the ferry docked, we realized we were on another island, “Deer Island” to be precise. There’s got to be a bridge, I thought that would get us over to Campobello, right? There is a bridge, but not where we were! We also discovered that we needed to take another ferry and had just missed the one that would eventually take us over to Campobello. See there it is pulling away!

So we joined a growing line of cars and waited for the next boat. Since we were basically stuck on Deer Island, it’s not like we could turn around and go back. Nearly an hour and a half later (not the hour intervals as shown below), we drove the car onto ferry #2 and finally ended up where we wanted to be. And this time we had to pay about $27.00 for the crossing.

The Roosevelts

Once we finally got to Campobello we managed to finagle our way onto a tour of the house that had just started. I was impressed with the home and simple furnishings and the great lengths the Roosevelts took to spend summers there! (If it took us that long to get there from our morning start which was a mere 117 kilometers away, imagine what it was like for them to get to their summer home from New York or even Washington in the 1920’s via train and automobile!)

And since I love to cook and eat (as you all know), I particularly focused in on the kitchen. The stove Eleanor’s staff would cook meals on was still in the house. This is a thing of beauty. And looking at it, it actually has more burners and “counter space” than my current stove.

I also loved the bullhorn that was out on display. Apparently, Eleanor used it to call the children in for meals when they were out and about.

And with a view like this from the house, who wouldn’t want to be outdoors every single second of the day?

Until our next “Let’s Go” adventure.