the creamery

The only thing I love more than a great dining experience in good company is an unexpectedly great dining experience in good company. This happened on Thursday. My parents took me to the Red Cedar Bike Trail with the promise of a delicious dinner at The Creamery afterwards. I had never heard of it and always temper my parents' dining critiques with the knowledge that nothing makes mom happier than a whopper with cheese. That being said, mom and dad's greatest dining moments align closely with mine. We have shared most of them. They have funded most of them.

The Creamery boasts the most local menu I have ever seen. Gracing the margins of the menu are a list of local purveyors of every ingredient from dairy to berries to rabbits to grass-fed beef. I was overjoyed to see fiddlehead ferns incorporated into several dishes. I have never tried them. They are elusive and much talked about in certain circles. Esoteric circles, but still. When I inquired about their source of fiddlehead ferns, I was told that the owners went to a nearby location and picked them by hand. Our meal included smoked trout cakes, sushi with pea tendrils, miso glazed halibut, seared scallops with fiddlehead ferns, bison sliders, pea risotto and a complimentary side of fiddlehead ferns on account of my inquiry. For dessert, a flourless chocolate cake and schaum torte. All delicious and accompanied by a sparkling Californian wine. For the record, fiddlehead ferns taste like a cross between green beans and asparagus with a delicate crunch. The essence of spring. But, as a friend pointed out, not recommended for people who tend to see vague resemblances to centipedes in foodstuffs. We ate outside on a bug-proof porch overlooking beautiful gardens. Everything about The Creamery is charming. There is an adjoining bed and breakfast that has recently undergone an eco-friendly makeover. It was recently lauded by CityPages as the Best Weekend Getaway 2009.