Holt's Birthday!

Thursday 20 November

Barbara took Holt out for a slap-up supper with all the fixin's at Strewn Winery.
We had had their "Terroir" Cabernet Franc at Stone Road Grille and Barbara decided to head for more at the source. So after a tasting and the purchase of a case (note - not just a convenient but a sharable birthday present!), we settled down to dinner at their restaurant, La Cachette.

We started with a bison pâté (no liver, we were assured) wrapped in bacon, which went beautifully with toast rounds, dots of a very thick balsamic vinegar, a salad featuring fresh white beans, eentsy cornichons, and fruit chutney. There was also a big bowl of mussels from PEI, the little island that could. We were intrigued (alright, a tad dubious) about the combo of pernod with chili sauce, but it really worked: a fine fiery bite, a hint of sweet fennel, and big salty capers all around the muscly tidbits.
They had a special of duck breast, quite a lot really, with a splendid raisinized sour cherry sauce. Plus a tender bone-nibblable rack of lamb, with a coating of crumbly crumbs, tomatoes, and rosemary.
We often skip dessert, but, of course, you can't on your birthday, and by luck the restaurant had a winter deal of adding a starter and dessert to the main course for $10 more (a quasi prix fixe). The "pear clafouti" was in fact a rather elegant little pear-and-cream-filled tart shell, and the "whiskey tart" was the subtle apotheosis of one of Canada's main contributions to world cuisine (and cookin'): the butter tart. It was warm, tender, and slightly alcoholic. Which so were we - or is it, we so were?