Old Vines Restaurant

Friday morning already? I'm getting behind on this blogging thing. Ack!

Hopping in the wayback machine, taking a ride all the way back to... Monday night. Dinner in Westbank at the Old Vines Restaurant, Quail's Gate winery. Four years ago we had dinner there with Megan and Paul at the end of a summer day of wine tasting,and as Quail's Gate is a winery we particularly like, we were (of course) glad to go back. Did I mention that it's an Opentable.com establishment?

;-)

Mum and Roy in tow, we settled in to a quiet dining room.

On to the food, and Mum and Roy each started with a bowl of the soup of the day, a roasted tomato puree with creme fraiche. Yes, I'm too lazy to add in the diacritics.

Conrad's bitter greens: Little Creek arugula, frisee, radicchio, roasted local pumpkin, Carmelis Farm goatgonzola, spiced pecans, pear and star anise dressing

My pan seared wild diver scallops with white beans and bacon, Stoney Paradise Farm cipolini marmalade, warm bacon vinaigrette

Roy's free run chicken “Coq a u Vin”: Pinot Noir braised north Okanagan chicken leg, lardons, pearl onions, button mushrooms, Yukon potato purée, and some Brussels sprouts that were so lightly cooked that Roy would not stop going on about how raw they were. To hear it once, fair enough. To hear it all through the main course and on into dessert? A little much, sorry to say.

Dining with the parents proved challenging with Mum's dinner choice as well, for she opted to have the duck Napoleon appetizer as her meal. Before she ordered, she said to Roy she wasn't sure about ordering it because she feared the duck would be rare since that's how it's done nowadays. Still, she ordered it, and rare it was. Cold, smoked, rare. She gave it all to me, ate the greenery, and refused any offer of my fish. I love my parents, but the main course was a little trying for all of us, i think. The duck was delicious, by the way.

Conrad's grilled wild Pacific spring salmon with roasted Second Wind Farm beets with fennel, Pinot Noir reduction. I should mention that Mum drank no wine, while I had only one glass because I was driving. Roy's taste veers to off-dry whites (which I can totally appreciate), and that left Conrad to have his beloved Pinot Noir. The wine list mentioned the Family Reserve, but not by the glass. Still, no harm asking, right? Happily, the waiter had noted an opened bottle, so he brought us the remains. It made for a generous glass for Conrad - more than a full pour) and enough for me as well. Better still, he charged us for one glass only. By the time of Conrad's meal, he had downgraded to the "regular" Pinot Noir that was more readily available, and as the wine pairs so well with salmon, which he loves, his dinner choice was simple.

My BC sablefish: roasted fillet, smoked black cod potato brandade, cauliflower fondue. I'm really into cauliflower lately, it seems, and add in salt cod, and I was quite delighted.

None of us took dessert wines, though I had a latte (and Conrad was fascinated by the spoon design).

Mum, Conrad, and I shared a plate of five local cheeses. No, I can't name them all save to recall that the blue was from Poplar Grove, a winery/cheesery (fromagerie?) on the Naramata Bench.

Roy forgot the Brussels sprouts as we mowed through three creme brulees: pistachio, honey vanilla, and chocolate espresso. The middle of the three was his favourite.

And that was our "gourmet" meal for the trip. We've dined more simply since, though well enough, definitely. Anyway, it's only Friday at breakfast time - we'll see what more we dine on before we leave for home tomorrow.