Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1989-10-11, Page 6Page 6 Tunes -Advocate, October 11, 1989 A unique dining experience By Yvonne Reynolds GODERICH TOWNSHIP - Tom and Nicky Blanchard-Hublet have up to 25 dinner guests almost eve- ry night except Mondays and Tues- days.. And those guests could each be served a different enti e. Tom and Nicky are the propriet- ors of La Brassine, a large, gra- cious old farm house on Kitchtga- mi Road that offers farm vacations, bed and breakfast, and superb even- ing dinners served in the dining room or the sun parlor off the kitchen. Nicky prepares all the meals. She cooks by instinct, creating a dish with the same artistry and skill that a musician devotes to a composition, or an artist to a painting. "If I take a few days off, I can hardly wait to get back into my kitchen," she confesses with an in- fectious laugh. Tom serves the guests quickly, efficiently and unobtrusively. "If you notice me, someone's in trouble," he says with a smile. The choice of continental cui- sine ranges from such appetizers as Snails Reisling, Shrimp dp Jonghe and sliced smoked salmon, through Consomme Madrilene or Mushroom and Clam Veloute to a choice of seafood, beef, pork, lamb, veal or poultry dishes. De- lectable desserts that may be spe- cially ordered include Black Forest cake, Gateaux St. Honore, Crepes Suzette and Mount Vesuvius (chilled lemon mousse with, brandy, topped with mocha choco- late and glace nuts). Patrons have their choice of garlic, Austrian brown or La Brassine's justly fa- mous tarragon bread. The most expensive entree, Lob- ster Retour d'Egypt, is $24. Ad- venturous souls who like a surprise may order the meal of the day, for $16 plus tax. (The prices for the next year will be set this month.) All main course prices include salad, soup, dessert of the.day and coffee or tea. As only one sitting is booked each evening, patrons are free to linger at the table as long as they wish. • The tables are set with Tom and Nicky's •china, silverware and crys- tal, and silver teapot and carafe. Some pieces are family heirlooms. For festive occasions, the linen cloth is put away and out comes the Madeira. La `Brassine has no liquour li- cence. Club soda and tonic water freshen the palate and complement the excellent food. Reservations and menu choices must be made before 10:00 a.m. or, preferably, the day before, so Nicky can make up her grocery list. Noth- ing is cooked in advance; every- thing except some items like frozen-= pastry is prepared the day it is eat- en. All produce and meat is bought locally. The herbs come from La Brassine's garden. Nicky has been cooking since childhood. She grew up in the French-speaking sector of Belgium. Her father had been an army offi- cer, and her grandfather a judge. She was schooled at home (the original La Brassine) by governess- es until being sent to finishing school as a teenager. Out of bore- dom, she began spending time in the kitchen, where a life-long fond- ness and facility for the chefs art was first nourished. - After World War Two, Nicky married a RAF officer, and accom- panied him on postings to Germa- • ny, Holland, and back to England. Here she. cooked for pleasure, for friends - and for a charity that sold tickets for set menu or smorgasbord dinners. After being widowed, she ran an Elizabeth Arden salon in Car- diff, Wales for awhile before meet- ing and marrying Tom, who at that time was an oil company executive. Tom "left the rat race" after Bur- ma Oil with its 500 employees ac- quired Castrol, and grew so large the thousands of employees were only names on a computer. Store Location Hwy. 83, just west of Dashwood 237-3561 Hours Monday - Friday 9:00 - 5:30 Saturday 9:00 - 5:00 HAYTER'S TURKEYS Featuring • Drumsticks • Ground Turkey • Smoked Turkey • Sausage • Cutlets • Turkey Burgers • Filets • Breast Roast SPECIAL THIS WEEK WINGS 4 9c LB. (While quantities last) Fresh turkeys available ECLIPSE Unisex Hairstyling • Styles • Highlight • Perms Open Weekdays 9 9 Appointments not always necessary 235-1880 50 Thames Rd. E., Exeter Valu -mart Plaza 1 RUMOR'S Unisex Hair Design • Complete Hair Core Sorv1rA • Open six days a week • Appointments not always necessary CoII: Janet, or Sandy 235-0202 Centre Mali, Exeter 9 N CA11 Joyce Maver 235-2320 7 James St., Exeter, Ont. once e' UNISEX HAIR DESIG CONCEPT DC.i. II D •Unisex styling • Waxing • 235=2455 • 53 Main St., Exeter (Beside Tad Concept Fitness Centre) Klip 'N Kurt . H IR DESIGN /Karen Kinsman Family Hairstyling 262-3048 Appointments not always necessary Main St., Hensall ANN BAYNHAM Esthetician Facials Eyebrows Electrolysis Lash & Brow Tints Manicures Suntanning Waxing Cosmetics 235-0421 346 Main St. Exeter YOUR GUIDE TO PROFESSIONAL PERSONAL SERVICES EXPRESSIOPIS Fa appointment call Carol Gilmour Kim Hem Dolly Creces - - 235-1700 431 Main Street. Exeter. Ontato He and his wife decided to emi- grate to Canada. All they knew about their chosen homeland was from what they had read about this land on the other side of the Atlan- tic. In 1957 they bought a tourist resort in Quebec, 58 miles.north of North Bay and accessible only by boat, and flew across the Atlantic to take possession. "After we landed at Dorval and saw the plane take off, we looked at each other and said 'What have we done?'," Nicky recalls. As the couple's reputation grew, people came from miles around just to have dinner at the lodge. Tom and Nicky were attracted to Huron County by friends in London, and bought the former Kelly's Corners farm south of Goderich a skip and a jump off Highway 21 two years ago. Word is spreading about the ele- gant dining at La Brassine. Paying guests from London to Kincardine are booking for weddings, anniver- saries, birthdays, or an extra -special evening out. Some people bring friends without telling them where they are headed, then escort them into La Brassine as a surprise. La Brassine will be closed for three weeks, beginning October 15. Tom and Nicky will be back on the job on November 3, refreshed and ready for another year of serving fine food to appreciative customers. Nicky's cucumber soup 3 8 -inch cucumbers, peeled 4 inedium onions handful fresh mint leaves Boil all together until soft. Put through blender. Add a chicken bouillon cube and enough cream or milk to bring the entire liq- uid content to 7 cups. Season to taste. Serves 6. Tom's zesty dressing 1/2 c white vinegar 1/2 cup oil (half olive, half corn) 1/2 c chili sauce 3 T white sugar 1 112 T Worcestershire sauce 1 1/2 T celery seed A whacking good chunk of crushed garlic Lucan Scouts LUCAN - An "Apple a Day" helps support our youth in the com- munity. Friday, October 20, the Beavers hand polish the apples; and the Scouts and Venturers will be selling on Main Street. On Sat- urday, October 21, the Cubs will be selling door to door from 9 a.m. to noon. We now have two Beaver packs, due to an enthusiastic turnout at registration, one meets Wednesday and one Thursday. An extra leader for Wednesday would be most helpful. Anyone interested could contact Sue Rees at 227-4105. Mark Sunday, November 26 on your calendar for our funfair cele- brating the fifth anniversary of our new building. More info to come! Anyone interested is welcome to attend the Scout/Guide Hall Group 'Committee Meetings, next one will be Tues., Nov. 7 at 8:30 p.m. Looks like a great year! • .14 •• 0.0•46••.+.IP••• Hosts of La Brassine - Tom and Nicky Blanchard-Hublet, are busy in the kitchen of their bed and breakfast and dining establishment. Nicky peels a cucumber to be made into soup, while Tom pre- pares tarragon that will be used to flavour bread, vinegar, and other dishes served in their dining room. - Huron County WI Rally in Ethel ETHEL - The Huron County W.I. Rally was held in the Ethel Community Centre October 2. Greetings from the three districts were given by Mrs. James T. McMahon Huron East, Mrs. James Hunter, Huron West and Mrs. Hang Dougall, Huron South with 70 members in attendance. Jane Muegge the R.O.S.. told of the growing 4H program and inter- est in the clubs - Looking Out for #1, Energy Conservation, Good Foods Fast. She also mentioned that this is Agri -Food Week. The senior pro- grams are to be Holiday Entertain- ing in November and a craft class in the spring. Fordwich entertained with a read- ing "Let Me Call You Sweetheart". John Penn of the Huron County Social Services reported that no child required the W.I. Bursary this year and suggested we use some or all the money for another project. After much discussion it was decid- Bart DeVries PHOTOGRAPHY Portrait, Wedding and Commercial NEW LOCATION r ed to give $500.00 to a new pro- gram called Child Abuse Preven- tion. Two girls Cindy Stewart and Charlene Stephenson received 4-H trays for completing 24 4-H pro- jects. Lanna Jones received the 4-H Scholarship to continue her studies at University. After the pot luck dinner Lois El- liott our Board Director of F.W.1.O. introduced the new W.I. Posters and had the cookbook for sale. During lunch hour the craft table was cleared so it was decided to con- tinue with this project. Huron County Warden Dave Johnston was introduced by Leona Armstrong and gave us an up to date report on Huronview, Pat Equi- ty Legislation, Automated Library Service, County Gov't Review, Study on the Uses of County Build- ings and urged everyone to get a copy of the Legislation on the Pro- cedural Bylaws from our Reeve and if not in agreement with what it says "Get busy and write to Toron- to about it". Johnston was thanked by Margaret Shortreed. The interest on our funds is to go to Kids on the Block -and we are to continue with the 750 per member for the Bursary. Mileage is to be paid to the rally secretary and our new Secretary is Mrs. Helen McKenzie of Seaforth as Sharon Agla of Fordwich is retir- ing. The rally next year has been in- vited to Belgrave with Huron West as hostess. Engagement Mr. Mervin Jones of Exeter is pleased to announce the forthcoming mar- riage of his daughter, Michelle Carolyn, to Michael John, son of Mr. and Mrs. Alex Maziarz of Guelph. The wedding will take place October 28, 1989 at St. John's Parish, Guelph. Choose from our many samples 'of bed and bath accessories - create a total look by letting us help you select co-ordinating wallpaper and authentic "OLD VILLAGE" paint colours to give you years of satisfaction and OLD VILLAGE PAINT 15% OFF the regular price Feeney- Ducharme Deborah Ducharme, daughter of Ray and Grace Drummond, RR1 Dashwood, and Dave Feeney, son of Lorraine Feeney. St. Marys, were married in Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, Mount Carmel on September 9, 1989 with Father Peter Hayes officiating. Attending the bride were matron of honor Mary Mer- kel, friend of the bride. Brifjes- maids were Janice Ducharme, sister of the bride, Pauline Brannon, friend of the bride and Mary -Ellen McBride, sister of the bride. Best man was Don Feeney. brother of the groom. Ushers were Brian Feen- ey, brother of the groom, Bob Harris and Brian Witteveen, friends of the groom. After a honeymoon trip to Northern On- tario, the couple is residing at St. Marys. Thankyou to every- one who made our day a spe- cial one to remember. TOWELS, BATH MATS AND SEAT COVERS 20% OFF SHOWER CURTAINS • Placematiins z •Seat Pads •Rocker Sets •Tablecloths *Runners White goose down by Northern Feather Co-ordinate a new look for your kitchen .or dining room for the Holiday Season. J If we do not have the colour, pattern or style you want in stock SPECIAL ORDER AND SAVE...A DEPOSIT is required with special orders - PAY IN ADVANCE and we will deliver or ship FREE OF CHARGE.