Naked LunchDining on Vancouver Islandby Marianne JonesDining with a strange man in our housecoats was a new experience for me, but then, the Grotto Spa at Tigh-na-Mara Resort on Vancouver Island is not quite like any other spa. With 16 treatment rooms and its magically beautiful 2500 square foot cave-like mineral bath, complete with waterfall and 2-storey waterwall, the Grotto Spa is the largest spa in B.C., and one of the largest in Canada. The addition of the Treetop Tapas & Grill restaurant adds a whole new dimension to the spa experience. Now, instead of donning street clothes and returning to harsh reality after a treatment, guests can wrap themselves in soft chenille robes and enjoy the treetop view while sampling from the 29-dish selection of tapas created by sous chef Rick Davidson. It’s a perfect way to pamper the inside and out at the same time. Enjoying five-star cuisine in a spa is an extension of the “social spa-ing” concept introduced to Canada first at the Grotto Spa with the launch of “Guilty Pleasures for Desperate Housewives” in 2005. This package invited women to spend a “girlfriends weekend” at the resort, complete with dessert, manicures, and a bottle of Mad Housewife Wine. Possibly the only thing more fun than being pampered is being pampered with friends. The Endless Tapas concept was the brainchild of Dant Hirsch, General Manager of the Tigh Na Mara, who derived his inspiration from an endless sushi restaurant in New York. Davidson uses west coast ingredients from local producers to design an array of unique delights that include West Coast seafood ceviche with orange, citrus infusion, and tequila lime vinaigrette, chipotle laced halibut with fingerling and vegetable saute and chive yogurt, and Yakitori chicken skewers with orange fennel salad and lemon citrus emulsion, to name a few. While the Treetop Tapas Grill is open to the public, not just spa guests, the dress code for all is the spa’s fluffy white robes, to ensure the complete comfort of spa guests. Even employees of the Tigh Na Mara are not exempt. After floating in the grotto’s mineral water and enjoying the decadent pleasure of a seaweed wrap, facial and massage, I was greeted by Shane Robilliard, the resort’s director of food and beverage, dressed in the requisite white robe, who escorted me to the Treetop Tapas Grill for an “endless tapas” lunch. If there is anything more indulgent than a morning under the grotto’s man-made waterfall and being spoiled in one of the spa’s many treatment rooms, it is enjoying the tapas dishes created by Rick Davidson. While I sipped a glass of excellent pinot grigio, Chef Davidson plied us with beautifully presented mini-portions of gazpacho, Iman Bayidi, roasted shallot with Portobello mushroom, red wine braised bison with maple glazed parsnip puree and Saskatoon berry, pesto and pistachio crusted salmon, Mediterranean flat breads with 3 olives, roasted garlic and sundried tomato, and miso basted breast of duck. Being a carnivore, my favourites were the bison, the salmon and the duck, although the flatbread with sundried tomato, and the Portobello mushroom dishes were pretty incredible. Being massaged and wrapped in seaweed had given me an appetite. I happily sampled the offerings, feeling as spoiled as Cleopatra, while Shane explained the Turkish origin of the dish “Iman Bayidi” (Translated: “The Holy Man fainted), and we shared our takes on bison versus caribou. Rick kept the dishes coming: one tiny, exquisite treat after another, until I had to say, regretfully, that I was getting full. “You are going to try dessert, though?” he said, so charmingly that it would have been rude of me to refuse. He brought out a sampler of a miniature tiramisu that made my mouth dance, a frozen chocolate espresso parfait that complemented it perfectly, champagne macerated berries, and chocolate lattice. Cleopatra never had it this good. |
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