Who’d a thunk it? A crazily great place to eat on Ile Bizzard. I mean – I thought ile Bizzard was just about the golf courses – not about food.

But there I was – guests of a friend of ours who positively loves great food – and bring your own wine places. He’s clearly an ‘oeniphile’ – that’s someone who knows a ton about wine – with over 1000 bottles in his cellar – and he knows his food too.

So joining him somewhere new to you – but not to him – is definitely going to be good. And this was very very good.

The owners/chef are a bright young – completely bi-lingual couple – who just 6 months ago had their first child. The wife (Sara-Ann) is the hostess, waitress, and general friendly soul, while the husband (Karik) does the cooking – and great cooking it is. Meanwhile the baby is upstairs – with her night-nanny. Turns out the 2nd floor of the historic homestead turned gourmet restaurant is where they live. Talk about a seriously easy comute.

The restaurant has been open for 4.5 years – which just says that sometimes I’m incredibly slow at learning about new places. Our friends have eaten there dozens of times – and were greeted warmly by the hostess – who in addition to providing outstanding service – gifted us with an extra dessert. Given that our meal extended over 3 hours – and she locked up behind us – I’m pretty sure that extra dessert was our reward for last of the night!

Rumor has it that you must make reservations a month in advance – and our friends admit to thinking they have scored if they can get a reserveration with just a week’s notice – yes it’s that good, and that popular.

But I know you are waiting to hear about the food.

The menu is quite limited – as would be expected of a place with just 30 seats, and one chef in the kitchen. The Table d’hote – which just means off the menu – all the meals come with a soup or sald and dessert – had 3 offerings – of which 2 were outstanding. My friends adored their steak – one served with a bernaise sauce – made up to order since it wasn’t supposed to be served that way, and the other had the steak with the reduction of bacon and maple. Yummy. I positivied adored my meal – a completely yummy piece of cod served with figs. My husband’s lamb offering wasn’t quite as good as ours – so sorry dear.

The soup d’jour was a sweet potato ginger concuction that was a tad heavy on the giner – but not so heavy that my husband didn’t lick the bowl.

For entrees, following our friend’s suggestion – we ordered the scallops in curry. Oh my – that was easily the best dish of the evening.

Desserts were also excellent – well presented, and elegant. I tried the walnut tart – packed with walnuts and served with home-made ice cream. My husband had a blueberry upside down cake which he finished with joy. The free dessert i mentioned earlier was the flourless chocolate cake – heavy on cocolate and served with a maple ice cream that I loved.

So – good food, good wine, good friends – comfortable chairs, pleasant surroundings – and the feeling of being in a home – not a high turn over restaurant.

Great meals are made of this.