And so it was that we were finally at this inauspicious but surprizing little place.  I loved everything about it from the moment we pulled up.  There were a plethora of white varieties of flowers in the window boxes (that Chef was just remembering to water) and when we stepped inside I was dazzled by one of my favourite colours of blue (in fact I have painted our Victorian screen door of our house, exactly the same colour).  So too, my favourite colour coupling is blue with a rich chocolate brown and this is precisely the colour scheme of Horfrost.  Our table was waiting for us: set with two place settings and a chilled glass bottle of water at the ready.

We started with a cocktail-D choosing the Blue Cucumber Gin and Tonic and I the White Wine flight.  D, who is crazy about traditional G&Ts thought that the refreshing infusion of cucumber was the perfect enhancement. I have had beer flights previously, but never a wine flight.  The tastes of a German Riesling, a Californian Chardonnay and an Australian something or other (three wines are hard to remember!) were a delicious way to stimulate the taste buds.

I chose the Pig Cheek to start.  From taste and appearances I would say that half of the bounty had been smoked while the other half marinated.  Both portions were quickly sauteed to bring out a salty surface.  The marinated half was tender and succulent and the smoked half was firmer but equally tasty, in its own right.  They were laid upon a bed of arugula and then topped with a drizzle of maple syrup.  Sweet and salty-I was in heaven!

D selected the bison, mango spring rolls.  The ground bison was beautifully enhanced by the tropical fruit and the tiny, crispy wrappers.  He was well pleased.

Then came an amuse bouche-Cajun, honey chicken wings.  I was needing to pace myself by this time but did enjoy a meaty bite.

Thank heaven we had decided to split an entree because when the Hemp Tempura Pickerel arrived, I could not get enough!  When pickerel is perfectly cooked (and this was) the fish actually sparkles in your mouth.  The three sauce of garlic aioli, hoisin and chipotle were not crucial but still very much appreciated.

When asked by the attentive servers (who had some trouble keeping ingredients and pronunciations straight) to choose a side for our fish, we could not decide and so opted for both!  D loved the interesting take on an arborio rice which included roasted corn and a touch of cinnamon.  I was over the moon with the potato croquette and a new baby potato that was a kissed with a dollop of pesto.  But even the broccoli spear was perfect: it was firm and had  been drizzled with just a breath of butter, or so we suspected.  There was nary a salt shaker in sight, and none needed, as every item was sublimely seasoned.

We knew that there was homemade ice cream for dessert but we were absolutely satiated.  We were looking forward to get out to walk the dog as we had over indulged and needed an excuse to walk it off but we still had the drive home ahead of us.  This went quickly enough and it had been worth the effort.  If you have any excuse to head west, make sure that Horfrost is on your itinerary.  Better yet, just make the trip for no other reason than to experience one of Manitoba’s finest restaurants. 

D summed our dinner up in this manner: superb attention to detail; imaginative and inventive.

Kath’s quote: “The preparation of good food is merely another expression of art, one of the joys of civilized living” -Dione Lucas

Love-that is all.

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