Today was our full day here at the Inn of Bay Fortune. I overindulged in the Fireworks Feast last night so I decided to go and see what was cooking for breakfast to see if there were any light options. This where they had set up for us to have breakfast. Those big windows are the ones on the front of the building that you see from the road and the sun was shining in... It was beautiful.
In the kitchen one of the chefs was cooking up fried potatoes and this would be served individually with a fried egg if you desired.
And Chef Rachel was prepping bread for tonight's supper.
...and this was the finished product (photo taken later in the day). These were done in the wood fired oven... Everything is cooked with wood fire - no natural gas, no knobs, no dials, nothing but wood and fire, period.
I did settle for a fresh baked cinnamon bun, coffee, fresh squeezed orange juice, blueberry smoothie, and yogurt for my "light" breakfast. All of it was amazing!
After breakfast, Judie, Eva, and I decided to go for as walk for some exercise. We walked down the street, turned the corner and went to the local wharf:
After taking in the views of Bay Fortune, we went back to the Main Street and walked further up the road to the old church and Fortune Bay Cemetery:
My wife Katherine would have loved to be here to experience this; she loves cemeteries!
We got back from our walk with just enough time to freshen up before Chef Michael Smith arrived.
He gave our group a great welcome and the story of the Inn at Bay Fortune. It was originally built in 1910 and he first worked here in 1992 for a period of time. You may remember the first cooking show with Chef Michael Smith called The Inn Chef - it was filmed right here in the kitchen of the Inn at Bay Fortune. He and his wife bought the property just last year and have earned a 5-star designation for this incredible property.
He was a lot of fun:
This is him with one of our guests, Flo. All of our guests are doing the exclusive Chef Dez Scavenger Hunt that will earn them a chance at winning a large Big Green Egg (complete with stand and shelves valued at over $1600). One of the items on the scavenger hunt is a selfie with Chef Michael Smith and they get a bonus point if, in the selfie, Chef Michael is holding an oyster shell and the tour guest is holding a beverage (you can just see the top of Flo's water bottle at the bottom of the picture). Chef Michael decided to use the oyster half shell as a nose! He was a hoot and the guests loved his sense of humour.
Then he took us all on a guided tour of the farm. They have a complete garden and working farm on the property of the Inn:
After our property tour, we went back to for a demonstration by Chef Michael on how to smoke oysters on the Big Green Egg with BGE Charcoal and some applewood we took from one of the apple trees from his orchard.
He also showed us how to shuck oysters and let most of the group try it for themselves.
We had some raw with fresh citrus juice & zest with a little hot sauce and also the applewood smoked ones - yes, these are Fortune Bay oysters harvest from directly across from the Inn, and yes, they are better than canned smoked oysters! No comparison, but I know somebody out there would be wondering that.
Then we went inside to the kitchen for a demonstration on how to make a Bacon, Potato, & Cheese Tart:
He used over 3 pounds of bacon!
Almost done...
Served up to us by his head chef Coby - who was also on Chopped Canada, and he also came in second place - we're almost twins! ;)
It was absolutely delicious and Chef Michael warned us that if we didn't eat the greens with it, there would be no dessert for us!
A Chef Michael selfie (I did mention he was a lot of fun, right?)...
...and then he sat down with us for a group table shot.
Then he took us back outside for dessert (yes, we all ate our greens!)...
To make s'mores! Of course with homemade graham crackers, homemade marshmallows and chocolate sauce.
These were amazing!
Then we posed for one last photo with Chef Michael before he had to leave. He's scheduled for a 6am flight tomorrow to travel west for Eat Vancouver where he'll be performing at if you want to go see him for yourself. He is the real deal folks; the genuine article. We were all so impressed with his kindhearted nature and generous hospitality. Thank you again Michael from all of us!
The day was far from over though at this point. Knowing that we would be facing another big feast tonight, we all decided to go on another walk but this time to the local beach:
And we dipped our feet in the waters from the Atlantic Ocean.
The tide was just starting to go out.
When we got back to the Inn we were treated by their Sommolier Erin to a demonstration of sabering champagne (sparkling wine to be exact).
She then taught me how to do it and I have posted a video on my Facebook page (www.chefdez.com/chefdez) of her showing me and my attempt at it - you will have to watch it to find out how I did, although here's a hint:
Then at 6pm we started on our Oyster Happy Hour that was slightly different from the night before:
...and you can see by their tally that last night we did get them to over 34,000 oysters shucked so far this year!
Then it was time for our second Fireworks Feast. Some menu items were basically the same as last night (but trust me I am not complaining as it was all incredibly delicious), so I am only posting photos of the items that are not duplicates:
Don and Flo came on our trip with us to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary so we celebrated with them!
And then we all sang a couple songs by the campfire, and some indulging in scotch, before retiring for the evening. What a fantastic day!
Until next time... Happy Cooking!
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