September 2002 – Toronto Life

Inn at Manitou          * * * *

The consummate resort alternates gourmet and bistro nights in the elegantly airy dining room, with its view of gardens, patios, and pool slowly dimming to a romantic nocturne. A smooth, very professional staff has pampering down to an art, and there is serious wine matching for those who wish it, with selections drawn from a cellar deep in ranked French growths and Ontario's cult producers. Parisian chef Bernard Ibanez is in his second year and has sussed out Canada's primo suppliers. The amuse might be succulent lobster meant in a teeny ravioli over a near raw macedoine of carrot and zucchini, moistened with deeply flavoured lobster foam. Foie gras appears in an ethereal state, poised between sautéed slice and terrine, sandwiching warm crushed hazelnuts and poached grapes with think brioche toasts. A Southeast Asian sensibility offers the option of baby spring vegetables, their flavour enhanced by a subtle coriander oil and a spoonful of tart tomato sorbet; or spice-dusted shrimp with a sweet vanilla vinegar and minced crab salad in a crimped phyllo cup. Fish is a strength: sea bream en papillote on a bistro evening, the dense flesh irresistibly fresh, cooked medium rare and touched with lemon, salt and rosemary; buttery spinach providing a rich, earthy note. Crisp-skinned fillet of Mediterranean sea bass is the gourmet night equivalent, paired with a tiny perfect pissaladière, or else pickerel with asparagus, sweet-potato purée and a subtle, curry spiked jus. Squab is cooked like Peking duck, with ginger and honey, the sweet heat not masking the taste of the bird. Duck itself is grilled rare, a juicy, sapid magret elevated by lime and maple infused beneath the skin; superbly tender steamed duck leg is a welcome change from conflict as the plate's second element, which is a buttery, crisp-surfaced patty of celeriac and potato provides refined carbs. Sauces reduced almost to savoury caramel seem to be a signature, but they are handled judiciously. Desserts maintain standards. The crumb on an apple crumble is as light and crisp as meringue; fresh raspberries hide beneath a tissue of fresh pineapple; morello cherry sorbet cools everything down. Warm chocolate tart eschews the molten-centred cliché in favour of a firm, nutty, deliciously bitter disc. And tomorrow there is recuperative tennis, golf of le petit mort of the spa. $230. McKellar, Hwy. 124 from Parry Sound, 1-800-571-8818.