First thing’s first: BOOK THIS PLACE NOW. Do not hesitate. Do not miss out. This is an experience of a lifetime.
Here’s why.
Tom is quite possibly *the* most gifted chef I’ve ever encountered, and I do not say that lightly. My fiancé and I are foodies - we’ve had excellent meals at top Michelin-starred restaurants in NYC, London, etc. Tom’s food is better than all of them. Every single thing we tasted was the best example of that thing we’d ever encountered. The best squash, the best lamb, the best sourdough, the best cheese.
And here’s the thing. Almost every single thing Tom serves was not just made by him, but *grown* by him, or foraged. The vegetables were all fresh from the farm, picked by him. The cheese, made by him from fresh milk ‘from the cow’. Duck-egg meringue? Made with eggs from the ducks on the property. Grand fir ice cream? The fir tree in the yard. Blackberry balsamic? Made from blackberries he foraged, made into wine, and then made into vinegar. He even free-dives for sea urchins! This isn’t just 100-mile cuisine, this is 8-acre cuisine.
And it’s not just a gimmick. Everything is DELICIOUS. The combinations of flavours, the perfection of technique, the sheer creativity of preparation and presentation… this is truly, truly world-class food.
And the tipi! It is beautiful and comfortable and the bed is cozy, and it’s constructed in such a way that it’s safe to have a wood-fire burning all night. There is a composting outhouse for the brave, and the modern restroom in the house is a 30-second walk from the tipi at most. Tom provides two different light sources so you never feel alone in the dark.
We stayed two nights, and during the full day we were there, Tom took us foraging for mushrooms and forest food at our request. We found some early chanterelles and he taught us about salal berries, so we gathered those too… and he packed us a gorgeous lunch of vegetable and sprouted-lentil soup (all grown on the farm), plus venison sausage, cheese and focaccia, all homemade. And he served it to us at a secret lookout on top of a mountain that was the best view in Sooke. It was magical. And then Tom incorporated the chanterelles and salad berries into our dinner!
Speaking of Tom… he is just absolutely lovely. He had an assistant, Mike, who was also very sweet, and for the second night and the last morning Tom’s partner Kaitlin joined us (with our express enthusiastic permission). By the end of the weekend it felt like we were hanging out with old friends, in the best possible way. One thing I loved was that Tom made each meal for everyone, not just us - he was serving us the food he would feed himself. My understanding is that Tom gives each guest or guests as much space and private time as they want; I want to be clear that this was not an encroachment on ‘our’ time, but rather, we welcomed the company. We learned so much about wild foods and the land and it was just spectacular.
This has been one of the most spectacular experiences of my life. I’ve already told Tom I am pre-booking him for next summer. You absolutely must give yourself the gift of this magical place.