Sooke River Cottage, Vancouver Island: Oct 6+7

We're here at Sooke River Cottage here on Vancouver Island in part because I need a quiet space and technology access to do some biz. The cottage delivers both in multiples...along with a hot tub on the deck. See it through the window below? It's a beautiful place--take a little visual tour.

There's also a gurgling river to explore just down from the deck, with salmon spawning in the chilly rapids. We saw them.

We read about a couple-year-old restaurant in town called EdGe, cheffed by the acclaimed Edward Tuson of Sooke Harbor House, a high-end white-tablecloth place with awards out the linen closet. Here's a piece on his artistry and the new resto in Sooke.

On our way to it, we stop near the harbor on a brilliant topaz day.

EdGe itself is challenging to ID--a humble strip mall spot neat a petrol station.

The food sounds magnificent. Here's the menu (double click). What would you choose?

Before our server can bring water, we both ask for the chanterelle soup with basil oil drizzle. I could  bath in it.

Next, the two pastas, which look kind of beige in this photos, but are brimming with flavors. Art's creamy rigatoni studded with mustard seeds has a subtle cheese underlay. My spicy corkscrew brings just enough heat to make it interesting along with the freshest shrimp possible. They pop when I bite into them, just like the spring peas.

Both have deep flavorful broths at the bottom, to be continually stirred over the pasta.

Dessert is a flourless chocolate brownie with pear sour cream ice cream (sublime) and hazelnut praline/mint/caramel sauces.  Everything's made with local ingredients, including some from the chef and his wife's farm.

Thanks, Chef! I ask him if he's having fun with The EdGe and he says: most of the time.

Time to change some money and pay for lunch. Although the US/Canadian dollars are virtually 1:1, they won't take US dollars here. No problem--there's a bank across the street.  Then it's off to Stick in the Mud coffee house for a little wi-fi and some very good vibes. We like this place, and we close it at 4:30 pm.

Has a sweet outdoor patio too.

Then back to the cottage for an easy-start fire. (No chopping.)

...and a little more work.

Proprietors Gary and Meredith have an extraordinary eye for interiors and landscaping. A few more pix of this beautiful, comfortable cottage.