My husband treated me to a golf package at the Fairmont Algonquin for my birthday this year. My father-in-law also happened to be in St. Andrews at the same time bringing a travel writer for a tour of the area, so he and his wife decided to take us all out for dinner at this fabulous restaurant, which comes in as my second 5 star rated spot. This inn was formerly a family home that burnt down and was rebuilt as a 3-storey manor house hotel, using moldings and other key pieces from the St. John Hotel that was being torn down at the time. The hotel wasn't very nice and didn't do very well until the new owners Chris and Graziella Aerni took over and changed it to an inn and restaurant. Their focus was the restaurant and they did so well that they were able to use the profits to improve the rooms. It's now a wonderful place to eat and stay. As usual, I had a terrible time deciding what to order. Everything looked absolutely amazing. My father-in-law fixed that for me by requesting a chefs tasting. I LOVE doing that! I was so excited I could barely sit still. We started off with a bottle of white wine and an amuse-bouche of lobster ceviche, then they brought us a salad of candied baby beets and shaved fennel figs with toasted pecans and warm chèvre fritter. Our next plate was the Wolfhead (local smokers) smoked salmon with chive-potato pillows, horseradish-caper mousse and pickled shallot. Then came the sweet potato crab cakes with beet-shallot salad and celery root-apple remoulade. Then we had a mouth watering pork belly dish with summer squash purée and basil-arugula drizzle, followed by the seared tuna loin and “corriander crunch” roasted corn-zucchini fritter and watercress-pickled red onion salad. Our final dish for dessert was a bee balm-vanilla poached peach and homemade blueberry ice cream. I also had a glass of port. A lot of their ingredients are local and seasonal so the menu changes regularly. Now if the descriptions above aren't enough to have you running to St. Andrews to eat there then you are just weird. The prices are insanely reasonable, starters range from $3 to $15 and mains from $17 to $28, the ambiance is relaxing and the service is great. We even got to meet Chris, the chef/owner after our meal was done because my father-in-law knows him well and brings many people through there on his tours. I'm not sure when i'll be in St. Andrews again, but i'll probably build another trip around it just so I can eat at this restaurant again.
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