At the end of August, I had the good fortune to travel to Prince Edward Island. You can read more about that trip here. While on PEI, our hosts had booked us into The Table Culinary Studio for a very special evening (extra special because it was also one of our hosts’ birthdays!).
The Table is in a re-purposed church.A lot of smiling faces around our table, already anticipating a wonderful evening (and we were not disappointed!). The open kitchen is in the background. The owner took our picture.A somewhat daunting array of cutlery greeted us, surrounding the night’s menu. At The Table, a menu is created each week based on consultation with local farmers on what is at its peak right now. The menu is retired at the end of the week and those creations are never repeated again (no matter how piteously the patrons beg!).Like the menu says, the meal is going to be a love letter to Canadian food and wine. Everything we ate was grown in Canada. For example: since black pepper does not grow in Canada, roasted and ground alder cones were used instead; in place of vanilla, an extract made from sweet clover was used to flavour the night’s dessert. All of the restaurant’s food-providing partners are listed on the back, and even a link to the music coming through the sound system!Chef Hunter created a special playlist, featuring artists from PEI (an island blessed with an abundance of musical talent!).Chef Hunter Guindon – who told us the story behind every morsel we were going to enjoy, as the evening progressed. There’s birthday boy Ted, on the left.He knows it’s gonna be a good night, as he’s been here before!The interior of the menu tells the story of the venue, and lists the nights offerings, including the optional flight of Canadian wines (which I selected, naturally 😁).The delicious first course: striped bass caught the previous night by the Chefs Hunter Guindon and Alex Bevan-Baker. Alex also creates beautiful pottery and the bass is resting in one of his stunning bowls.Second course: the best damn tomatoes I have ever eaten.Third course: gorgeous on the eyes, and even better in the mouth!Fourth course: mouth-watering scallops with tiny turnips – amazingly delicious.To accommodate Brenda’s shellfish allergy, the chefs provided a gorgeous salad for her fourth course.Fifth course: (probably my favourite of the night) mushrooms, bacon and ricotta on toasted bread with a bone marrow aioli. Divine.Sixth course: the pork loin – my least favourite, sadly. I found the herbs a bit overpowering. But then the bar was set amazingly high. I still ate almost every bite, though 😉.The dessert course: in another one of Chef Alex’s beautiful bowls. I love apple desserts and this one was absolutely delicious, no surprise there! In the background you can see more of Alex’s pottery being displayed plus a board holding all of the previous weeks’ menus.The Table was featured in an episode of the Amazing Race Canada. I haven’t watched this show (don’t have cable). Have you seen this episode?
This concluded a most special evening and a unique dining experience! It was made even better by sharing it with our hosts and two other lovely women (who I met for the first time that night). If ever on PEI, I recommend getting a seat at The Table!
Please let my co-host Donna and/or myself know what was on your plate lately, in the Comments or by using the Link Party, if the spirit moves you!
P. S. For those of you who might be concerned that I went to PEI and didn’t mention eating lobster (cough*Bernie*cough 😉), a lobster roll was What’s On My Plate for my very first meal on the island! Lobster is not my favourite sea food I think its over rated TBH, but I did partake regardless, as one does. It was pretty good – I ate all the lobster meat and most of the fries. No room for the roll, though.
