Pampered in Parksville
Resort’s proximity to agri-destination sweetens the deal
Hardly half-an-hour after driving off the B.C. ferry at Nanaimo we are soaking in the Grotto at Tigh-Na-Mara Seaside Spa Resort. I can’t decide if it’s the mineral waters or just getting away that has me instantly relaxed, but no need to overthink anything for the next few days because we’re in the Parksville-Qualicum comfort zone, and I don’t mean comfort as in seniors, even though the median age of Qualicum is almost 64 and Parksville is close behind. This area is also a vibrant agri-food destination with passionate, young entrepreneurs settling down.
To enhance relaxation even further after the Grotto’s aquatic bliss, I had an exceptional facial that included a massage — Raylin’s expert hands put me into a trance. Glowing, I swanned upstairs to endless tapas in their bathrobe and slippers (no street clothes allowed).
Four women were drinking martinis, and a couple next to us were sipping Champagne. Our charming server, Aaron Curry suggested wine pairings with the set menu of 16 small courses that tasted as sumptuous as they looked. “Endless” means just that, and all you need do is loosen your bathrobe tie. We couldn’t be more relaxed and comfortable, and our log cottage, with fireplaces in the living room and bedroom, was a stone’s throw away.
Getting around is a breeze: no traffic jams and always plenty of parking for retail therapy. Many galleries and studios around these parts are listed in the Nanoose Bay Studio Tour, including Pyromania Pottery and good thing we had plenty of room in the car for purchases, including cheese from family-owned and operated Little Qualicum Cheeseworks.
We toured Morningstar Farm and gawked at the robotic milker for the herd of dairy cows, whose milk is pumped over to Cheeseworks. “Because our cows are milked when they want, they are more relaxed and healthier, and we are motivated to keep them happy,” says Raymond Gourley as he shows us the automatic back scratcher and a robot shovelling hay so the cows can also eat when they want.
Just north of Qualicum Beach is Island Sodaworks, that’s not your typical soda shop. Owner and chef and somewhat alchemist Mandolyn Jonasson gushes about her probiotic, naturally fermented and carbonated fizzy drinks. As we sipped lemon with bergamot and purple yam with violet sodas, Jonasson explained how these naturally carbonated drinks (no sugar) will pretty much save your life. She is fanatic — in a good way — about food, and almost everything served in her restaurant is grown on her organic farm nearby.
We met other wildly passionate chefs and farmers. At Bread and Honey, Michael and Angela Sproul make everything in-house except bread, including croissants and ketchup. I had perfect eggs Benedict made with free-range eggs with a lush and light Hollandaise. The house-cured back bacon and smoked pork comes from Port Alberni pigs, and hash browns the size of a hockey puck, also delightfully light, are made from potatoes grown in Qualicum.
My dinner-size plate barely contained the wondrous waffle made with Red Fife wheat topped with blueberries — all grown on Jodie and Will Gemmell’s farm sur- rounding their Rusted Rake Eatery in Nanoose Bay.
Over at Love Shack Libations, Dave Paul contemplated whether to “go big or go home” for a few minutes. “Would you like the guided tour of my pico-brewery? No need to get up,” he says, laughing. (Pico could be micro-micro.) We perched on stools around the tasting bar — a cedar plank on wheels in his 12’ x 16’ shack.
“I want to keep it small and make easy-drinking, clean beer, and if there’s a lineup people don’t mind waiting or they can take-away,” said Paul. Or they can drink his outstanding Killer Kolsch, D.P.A. (Dave Paul Ale) and more at Tigh-Na-Mara, Bread and Honey, Sodaworks and Rusted Rake.
Paul’s beer is also served at Pacific Prime Restaurant at the Beach Club Resort, whose doors open onto Parksville’s boardwalk and its windows overlook the ocean. (Paul is a server here when he isn’t at Love Shack.)
Executive chef Rick Davidson tells us all their steaks are from three B.C. farms where the cattle are grass fed. They are seared in a specially-designed broiler at over 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit so that no juices or flavours escape. And an excellent selection of Ocean Wise-certified seafood makes for difficult choices, so Davidson decided for us. Nothing disappointed.
The writer travelled courtesy of Parksville Qualicum Beach Tourism Association