A Fogo Island-inspired meal of Newfoundland classicsPeter Olson/The Globe and Mail
It was a long journey getting to the Fogo Island Inn from Toronto, but the power of Newfoundland hospitality and the beauty and pleasures of the space made us all relax immediately. It is a magical place.
Zita Cobb, the inn's founder, was born on Fogo Island. After a storied career with a startup company, she invested her profit in the island, which fell on very tough times when the cod industry closed. The inn, which she built with her own money and some government support, is non-profit and her foundation plows everything back into making the island a place that islanders want to return to.
Inn guests are truly pampered, beginning with an early-morning coffee delivery and a sweet something before breakfast. Community tour organizers act as guides and the inn provides fishing and foraging trips, and even cars to drive around the island. There are lectures, movies and hiking. The food is inventive, local and delectable.
I went foraging for berries and mushrooms with chef Tim Charles, one of the four chefs who run the restaurant. Afterward, we took our partridge berries and made them into a tart, sweet jam to take home.
Here are three outstanding recipes adapted from the inn.