Sooke Harbour House

[Mr. Toast]

In the "eating in Victoria" thread there was mention of Sooke Harbour House. My girlfriend and I went up there last month and I wrote up a rather lengthy description, mostly of the cooking class we took there. Here it is:

We spent two days at Sooke Harbour House recently. It’s located 10 or 20 miles west of Victoria on Vancouver Island; you can visit their website at www.sookeharbourhouse.com. The first evening we ate in the restaurant as part of our “Gourmet Getaway Package,” which includes meals and lodging. It also includes a tour of their award-winning wine cellar. It doesn’t include drinks with the meal; we paid extra for that.

The restaurant prepares Pacific Northwest Cuisine, using local ingredients where possible and for the most part avoiding ingredients that can’t be grown in the region – lemons, for example. They grow most of their own herbs and salad greens. The menu changes daily, reflecting both the whim of the cooking staff and the availability of ingredients. The menu is published shortly before dinner starts each evening. During most of the year the choices are reasonably extensive (given the restrictions listed above) but during the dead of winter the menu is relatively limited. Since the first time we dined there we have always chosen the “Gastronomic Dining Adventure,” which is a five or six course tasting menu. Don’t come here unless you have a reasonably adventurous palate – dishes like “Cilantro and sweet marjoram butter baked Port Renfrew Lingcod in a Dungeness crab, goose neck barnacle, pea, smoked sablefish, sweet cicely broth, crispy Halibut wonton, bok choy spears and snap peas” are the norm. They aren’t always spot-on (we once had a disappointingly ordinary baked cod) but they’re great often enough to get the restaurant rated as among the very best in Canada. Our meal Sunday lived up to expectations. Every course was excellent, service was friendly, never stuffy, and the wine pairings worked for every course. Dinner took around four or five hours. We saw other customers cycle through in much less time but we came there to relax and really enjoy the food, and that’s just what we got to do.

The second afternoon we took a cooking class with Chef Edward Tuson, long-time head chef at Sooke Harbour House. One more person had signed up for the course but cancelled shortly beforehand so it was just the two of us and Chef Edward for the afternoon. He started us out in the gardens. Despite the time of year (mid January) a few herbs were growing and even blooming outside (this has been an unusually warm winter) and more were available in small greenhouses and cold frames. We tasted a dozen or more plants, many of which we knew just as ornamentals – like begonias – or weeds – like chickweed. Edward (I’ll drop the “chef” appellation from now on, as he’s quite informal in person) already had a menu in mind for the afternoon, and he harvested leaves from six or eight different plants for the meal as we went along.

After a half hour or more in the gardens, we went inside and changed into cooking whites provided by Sooke Harbour House for the class. Edward showed us the menu he planned. Earlier he’d asked if we had any particular allergies or dislikes – we said no – and replaced cod with tuna when he learned we’d eaten cod the previous evening in the restaurant. Then we started right in with the prep work. Edward doesn’t work from recipes; everything is in his head and he seems to always know what needs to be prepared next. We did pretty much all the work, from peeling the garlic and cutting the onions to timing the cooking (Edward doesn’t use a timer). Generally he would do something once to show us how to do it, then step back and ask us to finish up. This is exactly what we wanted, so everyone was happy. There were just a few exceptions to this rule:

Edward cut the tuna steaks. Perhaps he was worried about wastage, or consistency in the thickness of cuts.

Edward did most of the clean-up work himself, telling us that he felt bad about asking paying customers to wash the dishes. This was OK with me, but Ms. Toast chose to help him out in some of this work.

Edward roasted the vegetables for one course while the rest of us sat in the dining room and drank wine. Again, this was mostly a matter of being a polite host on his part. We could have followed him into the kitchen and helped out here, but we were happy to sit and talk with the sommelier. J

Over the space of the afternoon we did the prep work for what I would consider a fairly complicated four-course dinner, but at no point were we rushed. We took two or three short breaks, including one mid-afternoon where Edward fed us a simple but satisfying pasta dish made with his own cured bacon and a few vegetables.

Around 6 PM we were through with the prep work and Benjamin Philip, son of the owners and one of several sommeliers for the restaurant, showed up to discuss wines and join us for dinner. He was also prepared to give us a tour of the wine cellars but since we got that the previous evening we declined. Benjamin proposed to pour four different white wines from the Okanogan Valley region of B.C. to taste with the first two courses of our meal. The idea was that we would do an experiment to decide for ourselves which wines best matched the dishes. We agreed, so this is what we did. First, though, we started with a sparkling wine. While we were drinking that we quickly finished preparing the first course. The final step was plating, and we did this at the plating station in the kitchen. Then the four of us each took a plate of food and we marched single-file into the empty dining room and sat at a choice table. Edward and Benjamin had given us the option of eating alone or with them, and of course we chose to eat as a group. So we had a leisurely course, trying all four wines with the soup and pretty quickly coming to agreement on which wine worked best. When we were ready for the next course we bused our own dishes back into the kitchen and spent a few minutes finishing and plating it. Then single-file back into the dining room, and so on. Not long after the dessert course Edward excused himself to go back into the kitchen, where he did the final clean-up. In all, we got around 11 hours of instruction and companionship – and a fabulous meal. I had been somewhat hesitant about signing up for the cooking class initially. It’s not inexpensive, and from the Sooke Harbour House website it’s not entirely clear what you’re getting into. Now having taken the class I’m wildly enthusiastic about it. From a purely financial perspective, it was really a bargain. Edward provided all the instruction we could ask for, in an always friendly fashion. And we both agreed that it was just a heck of a lot of fun. There’s no question that we’ll be wanting to go again next year.

For the record, here’s our complete menu:

Butternut squash soup with Grand Fir oil, walnut crusted goats cheese and chickweed

Couscous crusted Albacore Tuna, squash flan with a Portobello mushroom green cabbage dumpling, Japanese plum glaze and a nasturtium leaf emulsion

Braised lamb shanks in tomato and rosemary with a potato sour cream leek cake and roasted carrots, parsnips, celery root and Brussels sprouts

Pumpkin seed praline phyllo crisps with roasted strawberry fool, scented geranium crème Anglaise and maple syrup granita

[Beachfan]

Our stay and meal there was the highlight of a highlight studded trip through the Pacific Northwest a few years ago. The view, the food, the grounds, did I mention the food? Mmmmmmm!

[seawakim]

Thank you for your review. It sounds like that was an interesting package deal you got.

I love going to Sooke. Last time I went I stayed at the Hartmann House and enjoyed a great breakfast with plenty of German influence. The Innkeepers were a unique couple with very strong opinions and memories of living in Germany.

The drive from Victoria to Sooke Harbor is scenic but there are not a lot of options for food other than fast food. If one can't quite make it into Victoria for dinner and just chooses to stay near Sooke for an evening a noteworthy place is the roadside pub just outside of Sooke (going towards Victoria) called "the 12th(?) mile pub".

My husband had a delicious bouillabaisse and my dish was served with an incredible herbed mushroom gravy. It is a very casual venue, but that gravy will have me returning for more.

[Jinmyo]

Mr. Toast, an excellent account. Thank you.

[Fat Guy]

They aren’t always spot-on (we once had a disappointingly ordinary baked cod) but they’re great often enough to get the restaurant rated as among the very best in Canada.

A correct assessment of Sooke in its context, in my opinion. So many great things; but not much of a guarantee you'll actually have a great meal from start to finish. Sooke has access to some of the best ingredients I've tasted in my life -- this is the upside of such a restrictive selection process: arguably the best Pacific oysters I've ever had, the best wild mushrooms I've ever had, the best blackberries I've ever had, etc. -- how many restaurants give you three of the best things you've ever had, all in one meal? In some cases, the restaurant takes those great ingredients and turns them into even better dishes. In other cases, it executes poorly. I haven't been in a few years but I remember a wildly varied meal in terms of its quality. I also found the staff attitude annoying -- major big-fish-small-pond syndrome. Perhaps they found me annoying too!

[mikeczyz]

thanks for the write up. i've been looking for reviews ever since i read steingarten's the man who ate everything...

mike

[Mr. Toast]

Brief follow-up to my original post:

I got to eat at Sooke Harbour House again last weekend. Edward (the chef) invited me to sit in the kitchen next to his station this time, instead of eating in the dining room. The idea was that we could chat between courses, and I’d get a chance to see the kitchen in operation. He also promised to fix me a few extra courses through the course of the evening. What’s not to like with this arrangement? Of course I accepted. I don’t know how this would have worked out on a really busy night, but the night I was there it was pretty slow and the staff were all relaxed.

When I got there he had a tray prepared with a dozen or so ingredients ready for my extra courses. My dinner took three hours, and I got around 11 courses (we lost track). I had everything on the regular menu, including both full entrees and both desserts, plus around five extras. It was a fabulous meal! Edward asked me what my favorite course was. I could have picked the sea scallop topped with Edward’s bacon, a bit of blue cheese, and a sauce which I’ve forgotten. But one other dish and part of a third were what I still really remember as stand-outs: first, a little piece of sautéed sablefish topped with a blend of Edward’s own canned spicy ketchup and a commercial (Muir-glen?) ketchup. Very simple, but perfectly done. Second, a potato pancake made with salt cod and an artisanal cheese from Montana. This was a revelation to me. I’ve tried preparing salt cod at home, and I’ve eaten it at good restaurants a couple of times. To me, it always just tastes like old, poorly handled cod, very fishy and basically unpleasant. Edward’s wasn’t like this at all – it was light and mild, almost ethereal in flavor. Really nice!

[Hest88]

We got back from our anniversary trip to SHH this past weekend and had a great time.

The first night we ordered off the menu and I wasn't too terribly thrilled. I made the mistake of ordering Dungeness crab hot (even though my husband kept telling me to get it cold) and it was awfully overcooked. My excuse is that I usually have Dungeness stir-fried with ginger and scallions and have no idea how I'm supposed to order it in a non-Chinese restaurant!

After a few nights of eating cheese and crackers and the like, we re-entered the dining room for our anniversary and their "Gastronomic Adventure." The sweet, pretty front desk people kept calling it "the Gastro" so I perversely just referred to it as the tasting menu. (There's something just a bit too breathless about the term "Gastronomic Adventure.") Although I wasn't expecting much, both of us were completely blown away.

We have the menus at home, if anyone really wants me to type out what we had, but I remember a glorious mixture of tastes and colors--the equal of many of the finest meals we've had in San Francisco. (Samples: Smokey porphyra seaweed broth with Weathervane scallops, sage stuffed crepe, fresh beans, nasturtium flower oil, and crispy shallots; Spiced grilled Giant Neon flying squid with sweet and sour, root vegetable, cilantro, and buckwheat noodles wrapped in marinated cucumber, and arugula emulsion, fenucreek cracker, and baby arugula.)

It was also the most incredible duck I'd ever had and we discovered my newest cheese obsession: Hilary's goat cheese cheddar---this coming from someone who's not a huge goat cheese or cheddar fan. The food was so good, my husband insisted we eat at the restaurant the following night and have the tasting menu again. I was really impressed at how the menu completely changed the next night, considering how complex the preparations were, and thought the 2nd meal was easily the equal of the first.

Service was okay. Certainly better than most other Pacific Northwest restaurants, though they seemed to be uneasy balancing that Van Island casualness with the restaurant's inherent formality. The cute young server also pronounced crème fraîche "creme fre-shay" and I was nice enough not to correct him. (Yep, lots of cute young things of both sexes running around SHH.)

Let me know if you want me to elaborate on any aspect of the menu or our stay at the hotel.

[malarkey]

Spent this past weekend at Sooke, indulging in the "gastronomic adventure."

Here's the menu:

Parsley Root and Pear Cream Soup: warm smoked salmon and lemon thyme potato salad wrapped in borage leaf, a grainy mustard tuile, pepper cress, rose petal and a toasted walnut oil drizzle.

2000 Brut Rosé Venturi-Schulze

Smoked Albacore Tuna with a red currant tuberous begonia flower sauce and a sea lettuce, feta and sunflower seed pesto (this was killer) served with a daikon wrapped corn, chickpea, daikon pod and balsamic vinegar salad, pickled red onion and alaria seaweed.

2002 Ehrenfelser by Lake Breeze Winery. I've never had ehrenfelser before, its a riesling cross. Fairly sweet.

Chile Crusted Crispy Squid with a green onion emulsion and a sweet and sour beet sauce accompanied by a buckwheat noodle, manila clam, wilted chard, tamari salad and lily petals (stargazers!! I had NO idea stargazer lilies were edible. They are not as sweet tasting as they smell, nor are they strong tasting. mild, with a slight flavor that is like the aroma) This was one of the most amazing dishes. The flavor combinations were hugely varied but nothing clashed.

2003 Schünberger by Kettle Valley, this is also a new grape to me: its a pinot noir crossed with muscat, I liked this wine a lot.

Steamed Port Renfrew Lingcod in a Salt Spring Island honey mussel corn broth with a day lily cumin oil and dungeness crab with a lobster mushroom lemon verbena bread pudding, green beans, a salad of oxalis cucumber and yellow beet. Another amazing dish with a plethora of flavors, and another lily variety to taste!

2002 Quail's Gate Family Reserve Gamay. I loved this wine, YUMYUM, I'll try to find some, but it might be difficult.

Lemon Verbena Buttermilk Braised Cedar Glen Farm Suckling Kid Shoulder served in its own braising liquid with a basil pumpkinseed Montana cheese pesto, a braised lamb lemon hyssop ravioli, red cabbage and wilted greens. goat!! this was so rich and luscious, the sauce was a sort of au jus and the flavor was just outstanding.

2001 Rock Oven Red by Kettle Valley, a blend of cab & shiraz. Very dark and rich, great with the dish.

Cheeses:

Cow's milk:

Moonstruck's Organic Jersey sheeses from Salt Spring Island: White Moon and Baby Blue

Hilary's in the Cowichan Valley: Belle Ann (this one kicked ass)

Goat's milk:

David Wood's (from Salt Spring Island) Blue Juliette

Hilary's in the Cowichan Valley: Waxed Cheddar

2003 Brandenburg No. 3, by Venturi-Schulze: fabulous dessert wine, also very unique flavors, appley, almost sherry-like. Varietal is Madeleine Sylvaner.

Lavender Infused Alpine Strawberry Custard Tart with a chocolate mint field strawberry skewer, strawberry puree, pineapple sage sauce and rose petal glacé. Fabulous dessert. Usually by this point I'm too full to enjoy dessert, or more often than not, the dessert isn't nearly as fabulous as the other dishes. Not so with this one, it was really great. The 'skewer' was a chocolate coated mint stem. Very interesting and the glacé with rose petals in it was beautiful.

1999 Gewurztraminer Ice Wine from Poplar Grove

We did have mignardises come, and I can't say exactly what they were :-/ but I did taste them all and they were yummy.

One of the things that I really liked about this dinner was the use of herbs and flowers. Quite frankly, it struck me that a lot of the flavors (don't shoot me for saying this) reminded me of Jerry Traunfeld's cooking (yes, the Herbfarm!) But I think this guy's stuff is a bit more daring with the flavor combinations. Everything worked really well, and some of the dishes were outstanding-- Very unique flavors. And the ambiance of the place is just so cool. Very relaxing, very sensual.

Breakfasts:

Saturday breakfast: a puffed pancake ala dutch baby style, with strawberries, butter, fennel and maple syrup. Great combo of flavors. Killer cappaccinos too!

Sunday breakfast: Baked eggs with parmagiano reggiano, bacon and greens with a thyme scone, & 2 capps ;-)

Sunday picnic lunch: A sort of "borek-spanokopita" thing, but I'm guessing not with the usual ingredients. There was feta, and greens and maybe seeds of some kind, all wrapped in philo pastry, then wrapped in fresh nasturium leaves. This also came with a KILLER good dessert-fruit bar type of thing with cranberries and blueberries and I highly suspect dessert wine in the mix or in the glazey frosting. major yum. We had this while on the ferry returning home.. *sigh*

Edited August 16, 2005 by malarkey (log)

[Maison Rustique]

I've only had the opportunity to eat there once (2 years ago I think) and have raved about it here and other places every chance I've had.

I can't wait to return--and would dearly love to take a class!

edited for spelling

Edited August 17, 2005 by Maison Rustique (log)

[treve]

thank you mr. toast - sinclair and his team at s.h.h. are amazing - a true gem. i'm glad you were able to enjoy a true, honest slice of west coast's finest.

[seanw]

Hi,

Ate at SHH around 3 years ago, for my wife's birthday. Really bad, but could have been an off day, but wine dude with ponytail was particularly offensive. Anyway also did a stage at Herbfarm, i see the similarities as far as pacific NW cuisine is concerned but the service & preparation are alot different imho.