Food! Sunshine Coast Food, to be Exact

by Laurie McConnell
September 1, 2006

West Coast Wilderness Lodge dinner
West Coast Wilderness Lodge - Duck, delicious duck!

One thing I am not a wuss about: food! I have met very few foods I didn't like, though I don't subscribe to the Fear Factor School of Gastronomy... no worms for me. I do enjoy a good eel from time to time, however!

For a foodie like me, there is always a fork in the road I will never take; the tine that skewers me in a wilderness without good restaurants or specialty ingredients. Give me condiments, or give me death! My husband knows this much: I will not move where I can't eat well. And that doesn't mean toney restaurants with over-inflated prices or platters of food big enough for a logger. I just want creative, fresh, inspiring food. Whether it costs $5 or $15 is not relevant. It just has to be good.

Luckily for me - and you! - the Coast is a feast for the senses, whether you're wanting a meal on the hoof, a lingering escapade tableside, or want to roll up your sleeves and have at it yourself.

This time we'll start out at the other end of the Coast and work our way backwards.

After finishing a recent and strenuous hike out to the Skookumchuck (see related article) - actually, Roland Point at the Skook, to be exact, applause please - our family emerged from the trail suitably famished and ready for a good meal and a chance to really, really relax. Yes, two reallys, we were that tired.

We toodled out the road towards the Egmont Marina, turning off just beforehand to switch back and up to the West Coast Wilderness Lodge. Don't let the entrance to the resort fool you. It sits on the edge of the hillside and once you enter the resort proper and make your way to the outdoor decks or inside to the restaurant you will stop dead to stare at the gorgeous views before you. Of course, being thrashed from a hike helps one to stop dead, but I digress.

Floor to ceiling windows in the lofted, vaulted great room show off the ocean entrance to the Skookumchuck, Jervis Inlet sprawls away to the north, and float planes and boats swing past the resort.

We sat outside under large, classical umbrellas with clematis trailing over the walls and railings and beautiful pots of gorgeously blooming flowers surrounding us. Lovely linens and tableware was the first hint of the glories to come.

Vassili, the resort's chef, has a long and storied history before taking over the kitchen at WCWL. Formerly of the Presidential Palace in Kazakhstan, Vassili has worked at such notable restaurants as Fairmont's Queen Elisabeth Hotel, Chateau Lake Louise, and the Wickaninnish Inn. His classical training and Central Asian background makes for a unique approach to West Coast cuisine - one we were more than happy to enjoy.

tenderloin

Tenderloin, West Coast Wilderness Lodge

I am a big fan of duck, and whenever I see it on the menu I have to try it. My criteria for duck dishes is a crispy skin, not overdone, and presentation. WCWL did not disappoint. My duck arrived in a deliciously crunchy and tender spiral above a beautiful handmade ravioli stuffed with vegetables and cheeses, encircled with lovely asian vegetables and a pineapple reduction. To die for! My husband's tenderloin was an equally exquisite choice, with a sauce that owner Paul Hanson told us takes a week to mature into the delectable concoction we savored with the expertly cooked meat.

Having a bit of exposure now to Vassili's talents, I could not resist dessert; the goat cheese and fresh Okanagan peach cheesecake was spectacular... like cheesecake for adults! Between the dinner and the view we were deliciously satisfied.

view
View from the West Coast Wilderness Lodge

SECHELT:

In Sechelt one of my favorite places to go these days for any meal - breakfast, lunch or dinner - is Pebbles at the Driftwood Inn. Pebbles has been a fixture so long in Sechelt that I think people sort of get an idea in their mind about what good food is... they equate it to new restaurants or ethnic offerings, and make a big mistake in the process.

The menu at Pebbles is diverse. For breakfast, the Eggs Benedict (and coastal variations) never fail to impress, and for those liking a standard Canadian breakfast - eggs, sausage, bacon, hash browns, toast, flapjacks - no one does it better. Everything is always cooked to the way you order it. If you like your sausages crispy and your toast just barely warmed, that's how you will get it. The waffles are not to be missed - fresh real whipped cream makes a huge difference and the waffles are fluffy and wonderful.

Lunch is fast and delicious. Linger if you like, but if you're looking for a good meal in a reasonable amount of time and an affordable price, Pebbles is excellent. There is a thai chicken stir fry, curried seafood crepe, standard burgers and fish and chips that taste anything but, large and delicious salads. Serving staff are friendly and helpful and something I appreciate, paying up and getting out is handled smoothly, with no bottlenecks. I find it most annoying to fill up on a good meal and then have to hang around in a mob with wait staff hustling around with new food and dirty dishes right through the mayhem.

Trail Islands

Dinner offers the trademark pebble beach views of the Trail Islands and Vancouver Island, and gorgeous sunsets. Everyone has views of the ocean, even those without window seats. The southwestern exposure makes for lovely evening lighting perfect for your dinner, alone, with friends or partner, or in a group. An expanded menu from midday offers seafood specialties, and signature dishes along with the salads and regular entrees. Dessert is wonderful... ask if they have anything else not on the menu, and say Bigpacific sent you. I won't give up what it is, only that it is a local secret about the dessert not on the menu at the Driftwood, and it is lip-smacking good.

Another recent discovery for me is the Lotus Tea House. Now the Teahouse has a nostalgic place in my heart as the building used to be mine when I had commercial space for Bigpacific a number of years ago. When I walk in I don't see just a wall of teas and neat seating area. I see me, 8 months pregnant with my second child, pulling down the overhead ladder and climbing up into the loft for a midday nap. Or running meetings out of the side dining room. Or visiting with out of town guests or Bigpacific listing owners in the front foyer. Sweet memories, all.

And so now I go there for tea, also a recent discovery. I gave up coffee a few months ago, preferring no headaches and irritability (crazy, huh?) and have been trying out teas ever since. My favorite is anything out of the Rooibus - red bush, South Africa - family. Honeyed, vanilla, strawberry, lemon... it's all good. Lisa Williams (Bigpacific's newsletter editor/writer these days) and I went for lunch a week or so ago and had the most delightful time enjoying curried ginger carrot soup, shrimp sandwiches and lovely honey rooibus tea out of proper china tea cups. Lawrence, the Lotus Tea House host, is quirky and loveable, and well, if you ever wanted to know anything about teas, he is the fellow to ask. Owner Gloria quietly makes the delicious strawberry and lemon iced teas and does all of the cooking/preparing. She is also a tea expert, but it's hard to get her out of the back to talk :) It's a great stop and beats coffee any day of the week.

Fong's
Lee Fong, Fong's Market

GIBSONS:

You see this woman? This is Lee Fong, whom I adore, even though I hardly know her. I almost kissed her the first time I went in to Fong's Market looking for specialty ingredients. I had hunted far and wide for a number of Asian ingredients (I'm talking Thai, Malaysian, Vietnamese, Indonesian) and was despairing that I'd ever find them locally and would need to make frequent and inconvenient trips to Vancouver to get them, paying top dollar and losing my time to boot. Despair, I tell you.

Then Sandy at the Vietnamese place in Sechelt (that's another story) told me about Lee. The next Saturday I hauled my family out for a road trip - on the coast a trip to the other end of the coast is a road trip, how sad is that? that's what we get for having only one 86km stretch of road - and I slipped into Fong's in Gibsons Landing hoping for the best and expecting, as usual, to have my hopes dashed.

I looked around for a while, but honestly, the store is so chock-a-block full of art supplies, basketry, dishes, etc. and shelf after high shelf of condiments and ingredients, many in non-English labels that it was overwhelming. I went up front and brought out my much thumbed and displayed and worn out little list and started at the top.

"Excuse me, do you have dried shrimp paste?"

"One minute. You come with me." Over we went. "Dry, wafer; wet in oil; paste. You take what you like."

Eureka. My prospects had brightened considerably. "Mung beans?" I inquired with a small catch in my voice, "for Vietnamese coconut rice breakfast?"

"Yellow. Green. Take what you like."

Wow! Two for two. My eyes narrowed. "Galangal?" This is an Indonesian root essential for many of the sauces and dishes. There it was, in a jar. Sometimes fresh, but not today. Who was I to quibble?

I cocked my head to one side, giving Lee a challenging smile. "Kaffir lime leaves." The gauntlet was down. "Yes, box right here," she said, "sometimes fresh, always have box dry." I could have cried. I have been looking for these dried up little things for over a year. It was like finding the Holy Grail!

As I paid for my purchases up front, Lee let me know that she makes regular trips to Chinatown (North America's second largest) and can pick up anything she doesn't have that I might need. I promptly said, "Oh, I would LOVE to get a Peking Duck next time you go."

"One minute!" Lee said, holding up her index finger for emphasis. One minute later she was back, a frozen Peking Duck in hand.

The woman is a magic act. I have yet to ask her for anything and get any different response than "one minute." For a cook who loves to experiment she is my dream grocery date. Stop in for yourself and see why. But for goodness sake, don't stand on ceremony - say hello, tell her I sent you, and ask for what you want. I bet she'll have it.

Till next month,
Laurie McConnell, Webmaster, Bigpacific.com

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

WEST COAST WILDERNESS LODGE
PEBBLES RESTAURANT
LOTUS TEA HOUSE
FONG'S MARKET & GIFTS

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Food! Sunshine Coast Food, to be Exact

WHERE TO STAY

WHAT TO DO

DINING

ABOUT THE COAST

TRAVEL EXTRAS

CONVENTIONS/ GROUP TRAVEL

CONTACT US

SEARCH/HELP

ADVERTISE ON THIS SITE

Food! Sunshine Coast Food, to be Exact

ABOUT THE
COAST

CONVENTIONS/
GROUP TRAVEL