Our annual sojourn with our friends, The Grizzlies, commenced right after Labour Day. We had been on a several year hiatus because of the pandemic, but in early September we visited Gros Morne Newfoundland. On the West coast of the province, it is home to some of the most breathtaking fjords and coastal landscapes in Canada. It has been on my husband’s bucket list for quite a while now.
The Grizzlies is not their real name. It’s our nickname for them, to protect their identity. They are such fabulous travelling companions, I worry that if I reveal their identity, others will want to travel with them and they will never be free to travel with us. I mean, Mr. Grizzly travels with a Costco sized bag of twizzlers, 3 different flavours of potato chips and Monkey 47 gin. Who wouldn’t want to be his travel companion?
This was our second trip to Newfoundland with the Grizzlies. If you’re curious, you can read more about our adventures together in St Johns and Fogo Island.
Through our travel agent, we worked with Kathryn of Gros Morne Adventures to plan an action packed 3 day trip filled with hiking, kayaking and touring.
Neddies Harbour Inn is home to The Black Spruce Restaurant, where Chef Jason Lynch is cooking up some of the most delicious food I have eaten in a long while. While he is a wizard with cod and all nature of seafood, his breakfast scones just blew me away.
Can we chat for a few minutes about the anatomy of a perfect scone? If your eyes are beginning to glaze over, feel free to jump straight the recipe.
A perfect scone should be tall, light and flaky.
The interior should have a soft and tender texture. It should not be doughy or stodgy or claggy.
The exterior should have crisp, crumbly edges.
Luckily for us, Chef Jason shared his recipe and method for making perfect scones. Here is how they come together:
Tips for success:
Using frozen butter in the dough is key to flaky tall scones. The easiest way is to grate the frozen butter into the dry ingredients, using the large holes of a box grater. When mixing the dough, use your forefinger and thumb to flatten out the grated butter into thin slivers. When the dough hits the hot oven, these slivers of butter will melt, releasing water which creates steam. That steam causes the dough to rise, forming air pockets, which then result in majestic flaky layers.
Don’t knead the dough. You will see in the video that the dough is quite shaggy. That is what we want. I have used the process of “lamination” to get flaky layers. Essentially I folded the dough over onto itself, like a letter before stuffing it into an envelope. This builds layers. Repeat this folding 2-3 times.
Don’t spread the scones too far apart when arranging them on the baking sheet. About 3/4″ space apart is perfect. This encourages them to rise nice and tall. They essentially support each other during baking.
Pop the scones into the freezer for about 10 minutes before baking. This will firm up the butter and prevent the scones from slumping.
Brush scones with a bit of heavy cream and sprinkle with coarse white sugar or turbinado sugar, for a crunchy exterior.
I flavoured my scones with lemon zest and poppyseeds. Feel free to get creative with your flavours.
A few days ago I posted about the first part of our trip to Newfoundland. The saga continues. We checked out of our St. John’s hotel at the ungodly hour of 5:00 am. When Siobhan, the sweet front desk clerk, heard we were headed to Fogo Island, she squealed. That’s home for her. Her parents are still living there, in the village of Tilting. We jokingly said we’d say hi for her.
We hopped onto the Trans Canada Highway (TCH) at Mile Zero. The world’s longest national highway, the TCH stretches across Canada from St. John’s Newfoundland on the East Coast, to Victoria B.C. on the West Coast, a whopping 7,821 km (4,860 miles) long. Mrs. Grizzly and I napped in the back seat while Mr. Grizzly expertly navigated my husband through a dense early morning fog. We were startled awake by this sound
followed quickly by this
as Mr Grizzly ripped into the bag of All-Dressed Potato Chips at 7:45 am. It was going to be a fun ride.
We arrived in Farewell Newfoundland about 11:00 am and patiently waited to take the ferry across to Fogo Island. As we were buying our tickets, they asked if anyone in our group qualified for the senior’s discount – age 60 here. My husband, who reached this magic age the day before, was thrilled to receive his first senior benefit!
I had done a little reading before coming to Fogo Island, but nothing really prepared me for my experience here. Although I had seen a few photos online, driving up the winding gravel lane, rounding the corner and finally seeing The Fogo Island Inn come into view was surreal.This contemporary building, all angles and lines, was such a stark contrast to the raw rocky coastal setting. One end of the building is balanced on what on what looks like stilts, rising almost three storeys up into the air, supporting the inn’s dining room. I later learned that these stilts were modelled after pilotis, the wooden stilts that support the traditional stages set up by fishermen to lay out the salted and drying cod.
Fogo Island Inn is the brainchild of Zita Cobb. Ms. Cobb, one of seven children, was born and raised on Fogo in a home with no electricity or running water. Those amenities didn’t arrive on the island until 1972. She left Fogo at age 16 to study business at Carleton University in Ottawa. Within 20 years, she made a name and quite a fortune for herself in the high-tech industry (fibre optics at JDS Uniphase). In 2001 she exercised her stock options and cashed out with close to $70 million dollars. She took off to sail around the world, but the pull of Fogo Island was very strong and brought her back there in 2005.
Cod fishing has been critical to the economy of Newfoundland for centuries. However, due to greed and overfishing, stocks of cod became depleted and in 1993 the Federal Government declared a moratorium on cod fishing. This caused a collapse of the fishing industry in the province and Fogo Island was especially hit hard.
Zita returned with the goal of giving back to her declining community. Initially she set up scholarships for the youth of Fogo Island, but during a town hall meeting one resident approached her and said that while she appreciated everything Zita was trying to do, scholarships would just encourage people leave rather than building a better place for them to stay. As Oprah would say, Zita had an “aha” moment.
Rethinking her strategy, together with her brother Anthony, Zita established the Shorefast Foundation with the mandate of revitalizing the island by preserving local culture and making it a geotourism destination. Zita calls this “entrepreneurial philanthropy”.
The foundation’s main initiative was the building of Fogo Island Inn, which opened for business in 2013. Inn employees receive 15% of gross revenues in addition to their salary. Any profits from the Inn are reinvested by the Foundation, via micro-finance loans to local small businesses.
Fogo Island Inn is truly a love letter to the island. The Foundation hired award winning Norway architect Todd Saunders to design and oversee the building of the inn. Originally from Gander Newfoundland, Todd had an innate understanding of Zita’s vision and worked tirelessly to bring it to fruition.Local love continues on the inside as well. Island carpenters and artisans used native spruce, birch and fir trees to craft all the furnishings for the inn. The beautiful quilts on all the beds were handcrafted by the women on the island. Even the light fixtures in the dining room, designed to suggest white fishing nets, were crafted by local artists.While there’s no denying the beauty of Fogo Island and the Inn, for me it was the people that made the place extraordinary. Fogo Island Inn has created a “community host” program with the intention of getting guests to spend some one-on-one time with locals. On our first afternoon, we were introduced to Fergus, who took us hiking. Formerly employed by the Canadian Ministry of Fisheries and Oceans, hearing his perspective on the cod industry was enlightening. We were schooled on the local topography (mostly granite), native livestock, and learned a little about the history of the the local colourful “saltbox” houses. The trail we hiked ended in the village of Tilting. Fergus led us to “Da Shed” for a drink. Strangely, for a population that has such strong Irish roots, there are no pubs in Tilting. The local custom is to invite friends and neighbours (and clearly complete strangers as well), into your shed (which houses mostly fishing gear and tools) for a drink and chat. Because of a lack of liquor licence you don’t buy your drink, but rather, “make a contribution.”
We visited Phil and Maureen Foley’s shed. Reminiscent of my first student apartment, the shed was brimming with overstuffed couches and chairs that had seen better days. The walls were plastered with posters. We started chatting with Phil and discovered that he is the dad of the hotel clerk we met that morning in St. John’s! Small world. We were introduced to Phil’s brother and sister-in-law (Gerry and Darlene) as well as several other locals. After about 15 minutes of small talk Phil asked us if we had a song to share. WHAT??? Apparently shed culture involves singsongs as well. Gerry whipped out his guitar and started in on a beautiful haunting Irish melody. Phil, and then his wife Maureen also entertained us with some traditional Celtic tunes.
My initial instinct was to whip out my camera and record the performances. But an inner voice told me to sit still, be present in the moment and savour it. Somehow we have started to believe that every moment of our lives needs to be documented, and in doing so, we miss the being part of the moment.
I will admit to coming home and Googling Maureen, to see if anyone else had recorded her, so I could share it with you guys, and sure enough, there she was. Click here to check her out.
Chef Murray MacDonald is at the helm in the Fogo Island kitchen. A fellow native Newfoundlander, he left the island at age 18 to attend culinary school in P.E.I. He then honed his skills, travelling and cooking in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, New Zealand, China, and Mexico. Just like Zita, he travelled around the world, only to find his way back home. And, just like Zita, he believes in honouring and preserving the traditions of the past.
At heart Chef Murray is a locavore with a strong survivalist spirit. “We are doing what our ancestors did a hundred years ago, using our ingenuity to forage, gather and cook. Back then they worked with what they had to survive…Our menu is focused on wild things from the North Atlantic and local seasonal produce.” He talks about the importance of having one foot in the past while looking to the future, in order to stay relevant. His kitchen motto is “Find new ways with old things.”
Foraging for ingredients is one of his favourite pastimes. While we were there we had a chance to taste pasta created with sea urchin, found on the rocks by the shore, just beyond the kitchen door. And, as a side note, can I just say how happy it made me to discover that his guilty pleasure food is bologna!He gathers springy caribou moss by the shore and candies it to serve with yogurt and berries!Everything in the kitchen is made from scratch and the inn’s very talented pastry chef, Kara Lackie, has an incredibly light touch with biscuits and scones. They almost floated off the plate.Fogo Island also happens to be one big berry patch. We discovered this as we were hiking and I kept stepping all over these red berries and squishing them. I later learned that they are called “partrige berries” and the island is literally covered in them. They found their way into scones as well as my morning fruit bowl.It’s possible that some cod flavoured kook-aid was slipped into my morning latte, because the next thing I knew, I was agreeing to go on a Cod Fishing expedition. I typically avoid all forms of watercraft, due to a proclivity toward motion sickness.
The unflappable housekeeping supervisor, Rosemarie, outfitted us in bright orange rain slickers, mittens and hats. As we were leaving, she slipped a bottle of Non-Drowsy Gravol into my pocket. Nine of us set out on the M/V Ketanja with Captain Emberley for a three hour tour. We’re all smiles as we board the boat. Once we moved out into deeper waters Captain Emberley cut the motor and gave us all a chance to try our hand at cod jigging. Jigging basically involves the use of lures attached to a line which is “jigged” or moved up and down in a series of short movements. The jigging motion attracts the fish, which are hooked as they move close to the lure. The line is then hauled onboard and the fish removed. I passed on my turn to try my hand at jigging. Non drowsy Gravol did not work too well for me Luckily everyone caught their fish quite quickly and we were soon moving again towards our next destination, Little Fogo Island. Once a vibrant fishing village, the only full-time residents on this tiny archipelago are puffins and razorbills. The steep cliffs on the island meant that the fish stages (platforms for drying salted cod) had to be be built on posts. You can still see several of them dotted around the shore of the island.Little Fogo Island is home to summer cottages now. We had a chance to visit Captain Emberley’s grandfather’s cottage, and check on the progress of the new cottage he is building for his family. There is a charming church on the island, and once each summer a priest comes out to hold mass to honour all of Fogo island’s departed residents. We arrived back at Fogo Island Inn, a little nauseous, but happy to have checked cod fishing off my life’s “To Do” list.
On our last night at the Inn, we began chatting with our young waitress. When we asked her what changes she has noticed since the opening of the Inn, her answer surprised us. She said that of course the Island has begun to prosper financially, but what she noticed even more was a change within her.
No different than most kids living in a small town, she said she wanted nothing more than to leave the Island when she became an adult. She headed off to Halifax when she turned 18 but became quite homesick. She moved a little closer, to St. John’s and then when the Inn opened in 2013 she came home. All of the sudden she began to see Fogo Island through the eyes of all the guests coming to visit. They gushed about the raw beauty and unspoiled terrain. She had taken it for granted all her life, and seeing it through a different lens made her really appreciate what she had all along. I guess there’s no place like home after all!
You know it’s been an awesome holiday when you leave thinking about how soon you can return again. We usually go to New York City each fall with our friends “The Grizzlies.” I have written about our previous sojourns to Manhattan with them in this space, here and here. This fall, Mrs. Grizzly suggested we stay in our own country and visit Newfoundland instead.For some reason I have always attributed the quality of quirkiness to Newfoundland and it’s citizens. This most likely stems from hearing promotional ads on TV announcing upcoming stories on that night’s news. “That’s 10:00 tonight on The National, 10:30 in Newfoundland.”Newfoundland’s time zone is just one of those unique things that makes it special. It veers from the regular standard time zone system by a half-hour. No other state or province in North America deviates from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) on the half-hour. Curious to see if my perception of “quirky” Newfoundland met reality, I told Mrs. Grizzly I was up for it!
I have never visited any other place where the locals are so friendly. Everyone we met was eager to share with us his or her opinion of what we needed to do, see, eat and drink. Upon arrival at our hotel in St John’s, the receptionist at our hotel sent us off to a great lunch at The Merchant’s Tavern. Owned and operated by the team behind Raymonds restaurant, the talented duo of Jeremys, (Charles and Bonia) have done it again!
Newfoundland is blessed with amazing access to fresh seafood, wild game and produce. The Merchant Tavern has taken advantage of this and adopted a sustainable approach to dining, foraging and sourcing locally grown ingredients.
For my main course, I scarfed down possibly one of the best pasta dishes I have ever eaten: Ricotta Cavatelli with Braised Lamb and Merguez Sausage. Savory, a bit spicy and salty in the very best way possible, with fresh peas and mint to add a perfect verdant freshness, I will be thinking about this dish for a very long time. The nuggets of toasted breadcrumbs that topped the pasta stayed perfectly crunchy as they tumbled down to the bottom of the bowl and soaked up all the rich sauce.
Our waitress heard that we were hiking to Signal Hill that afternoon. She suggested we take the trail that ends in the historic fishing village of Quidi Vidi. (Pronounced “Kiddy Viddy“, as much fun to visit as it is to say!) Her boyfriend works at The Quidi Vidi Brewery, where they make lager brewed with water from 25,000-year-old icebergs. Every Friday at 5:30 they host a kitchen party featuring a live band and fresh seafood chowder. The place was packed when we arrived and The Brew Crew band was in full swing.
Somehow, even with our bellies full of cod chowder and Iceberg beer, we still
managed to be hungry for dinner and headed off to The Reluctant Chef. They serve a five-course set tasting menu with optional wine pairings, carefully selected to go with each dish. No surprise here that we opted for the wine pairings, but truthfully, by the fourth course (and glass of wine), we were no longer able to discern whether or not the wines were oaky, flinty or earthy, nor did we really care. They all tasted good though! The Thai soup and the lamb were truly outstanding. The dessert was beauiful to look at but a little too bitter for me.
The next morning, after fortifying ourselves with a hearty breakfast, we headed off to the St. John’s Farmer’s Market, where I had a chocolate dipped oat cookie, finished with a sprinkling of fleur de sel, that had my name all over it! I am still daydreaming about it. I plan to recreate it as soon as possible. We headed back to Quidi Vidi for lunch at Chef Todd Perrin’s “Mallard Cottage“. Chef Perrin captured my attention on the first season of Top Chef Canada when he bravely cooked a “seal flipper slider” (on a chive biscuit) for the judges. (Spoiler alert, it didn’t go down too well!)
He has restored one of the oldest buildings in Newfoundland and created a charming rustic spot, featuring an impressive brick and stone fireplace in the center of the dining room, that my husband, a card carrying pyromaniac, greatly admired. Chef Perrin is cooking Newfoundland comfort food taken to the next level.Pulled pork on cornbread was sweet and tangy and served with fresh lettuces from Lester’s Farm, just across town.Mrs Grizzly had scallops pulled fresh from the ocean.Chef Perrin reimagines traditional Newfoundland dishes, like the salt cod cakes that my husband immensely enjoyed. We asked our waiter about the “Cake plate” on the dessert menu. He informed us that you can fill a small plate with as much pastry as you can manage, all for $10. We send Mr. Grizzly to the dessert table and he accomplished the task admirably. Our favourite was the caramel apple coffee cake. After lunch we waddled off to hike up to the Cape Spear Lighthouse National Historic Site.Set high on a rocky cliff, on the most easterly point of land in North America, the Cape Spear Lighthouse provided an important approach light to St. John’s harbour for more than a century. Kind of cool to think we were standing where Canada begins (or ends, depending on if you are facing the ocean or the land!). Watching the waves crashing on the rocky shore, you can appreciate how terrifying it would have been to be approaching by boat at night.
For our last night in St John’s we had a wonderful dinner at Saltwater Restaurant. We really had no idea that Newfoundland is in the midst of an incredible restaurant renaissance. Meal after meal we were served rustic East Coast food, elevated from it’s humble roots. Comforting and familiar, yet completely new.
You really get to know your friends intimately when you travel with them. We had a 5 hour drive, early the next morning, from St. John’s to Farewell, where we were catching the ferry to Fogo Island. After dinner we stopped at the corner store to stock up on Mr. Grizzly’s road trip essentials. Twizzlers, All- Dressed Chips, Classic Cheetos, Jalapeño Cheetos, Peanut M&M’s, Beef Jerky, Peanut Butter Cups and a large bag of Sour Gummi Worms completed his shopping spree.
Stay tuned for the next instalment of Being Present in Newfoundland and find out how we survived our road trip.
