We have two restaurants almost equidistant from us when we are at the beach house. This past summer has been an unusual one. I have been so pleased with our reno and expanded kitchen space that I did not eat a meal outside of our place. That is not entirely correct, as I did dine with siblings at their homes. Although I visited Benjamin’s Bistro just as they opened, I had not sampled their fare until this past weekend.

I was with one of my Besties and had purchased supplies for French Toast but while visiting good friends who live permanently at Lester Beach we were encourage to give Benjamin’s a try.

We had spent a leisurely morning, sipping tea and coffee around the fire place to keep warm when all of a sudden the power went out.

Candles were already lit.

This typically happens during a windy storm but we could not discover any reason for this outage. Without skipping a beat, we changed our plans to head to Traverse Bay corner.

The improvements to the space create a positive first impression. The grungy carpet had been torn out and replaced with an attractive laminate. The walls were no longer full of ding marks from people pulling their chairs in and out. The addition of white trim made the space look contemporary and fresh.

The menu retained a couple of my favourites like the pickerel but there were a whole lot of new options too. I wanted to order a sandwich to ensure that I could sample the side of hand cut French fries. We saw the Breakfast Skillet and Traditional Breakfast go by to other tables and the laden plates looked delicious and great value.

My Denver was plump with meat and green onions and I dunked it liberally into ketchup as I enjoy at home. But the fries, oohh the fries, were my favourite part of our brunch. They were appropriately crispy and limp at the same time, just the way I like them. Only a splash of vinegar and a glistening of salt is needed for a quality fry, and these certainly made the mark.

Speaking of chips and vinegar, my Bestie is from Great Britain and so was Benjamin. In fact, so were our friends who recommended we stop in! This necessitated the discussion about football (so called there but not to be confused with North American football), favourite teams and recent scores.

When extended our time out and about with visits to the Lakehouse and Carol’s on Leon but when we arrived back at the beach house, the power was still out. It did not stop us from continuing our conversation where we left off and snuggling up in front of the fire.

Kath’s quote: