Last night one of North America's perhaps quietest chefs in the Relais et Chateaux realm bowled over a bunch of us at the famous James Beard House in New York City. Chef BERNARD IBANEZ may be French born of Spanish descent, be he now calls Canada home, and is home is at the deluxe INN AT MANITOU in Ontario (at Manitouwabing Lake) where I will obviously have to get myself to have more of his natural Canadian cuisine. Equal to Chef Bernard were the wonderful top notch wines made by winemaker Jean-Pierre Colas (also of France) of the PENINSULA RIDGE ESTATES WINERY in Niagara, Ontario. It was a treat to be seated with the winemaker and the owners of the inn, but this could not have influenced my opinion of what a wonderful dining night it was.

As always we had wine SAUVIGNON BLANC 2006 on arrival served with several hor's d'oevres:

ATLANTIC SALMON Two ways:Marinated & Gravlax, with the former having a small fresh cooked beet atop with a small dab of cream, the latter less impressive. The MALPEQUE OYSTERS with LEMON JELLY were irresistible and I must have eaten half a dozen as we were called in to sit down for dinner.

The Amuse of rich creamy BUTTERNUT SQUASH soup came served in a small adorable pumpkin (it took them a while to get us small enough spoons though!) and I was told that every ingredient was farm raised and brought from Canada including these little pumkins.

The first wine was a refreshing CHARDONNAY INOX RESERVE 2006 which paired beautifully with the AMAZING Nova Scotia LOBSTER MILLEFEUILLE with Tomato, Avocado & Mango. With today's close to 80 degree temps, this was a perfect dish--well, it is perfect all the time. I could have eaten several of these and been happy, but I then realized that I said this with EVERY COURSE!

What was called QUEBEC FOIE GRAS TRIO was really a QUARTET with a shot glass of foie gras mousse in the center, roasted fig on the side, warm seared foie gras in fig and wine sauce, roasted foie gras served cold and a torchon of foie gras with sel gros to boot; could there be anything more indulgent? The wine was a miracle on earth that I have never tasted the likes of before called RATAFIA 2005. It had a huge brandy-like nose but was an intensely sweet wine with a huge alcohol base. Jean-Pierre explained that Ratafia is a local traditional wine in Burgundy (where he hails from) and Champagne made from wine and spirits. He uses Chardonnay with Plum Grappa or Marc and balances it beautifully giving an 18% alcohol level but sweetness that is perfection with this dish as well.

I tasted the next wine a SHIRAZ 2006 and while it was light and more akin to a Pinot or Zweigelt than Shiraz, the meat was not too intense to overpower it: a perfectly RARE SEARED RACK of VENISON with SHIRAZ & BLUEBERRY JUS some WILD BLUEBERRIES and "Pissaladiere' Vegetable Tart. Apparently the late autumn heat has even kept the blueberries going in Canada.

The next course entitled CANADIAN FARMHOUSE CHEESE offered (excuse the spelling) Pied de Vent Cheese Ice Cream, a mild blue and Riopelle with its own chantilly. While these were novel and enjoyable, I was not bowled over save for the Riopelle. The wine was an EQUINOX 2002 oaked blend of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc & Viognier that I thought would make a smashing aperitif.

Dessert was a masterpiece of construction but poorly entitled CHOCOLATE RAVIOLI & PARFAIT with Maple Syrup Foam. This was an amazing ravioli stuffed with sweet potato and the parfait had a crunchy cookie bas, layers of different types of chocolate and bridges of chocolate slivers all over. It was rich and I could not eat it all, but it was wonderful, if badly named. It was accompanied by my always favorite Canadian Icewine, here the Peninsula Ridge Riesling Icewine 2006 which may be young, but was sure tasty and rich. I'd love to have some in 5-10 years and see how wonderfully it ages.