Tucked behind a wooden gate amidst flowers and bushes is the Garden’s Gate Restaurant in Tehkummah, near the south shore of Manitoulin Island.
The restaurant on Highway 542 features a farm-to-table-style menu with the garnishes and dishes inspired by what is growing locally in the gardens and around the freshwater island.
Kevin Hemstreet moved from Sarnia four years ago with his wife, Sheina, and their two boys to take over the restaurant.
A culinary instructor for 15 years at London’s Fanshawe College, Hemstreet said the move was needed for a change of pace and scenery.
“We live at the restaurant and our gardens on the property grow corn, beans and squash,” he said. “We have herbs like parsley, summer savoury, fennel, tarragon and basil.”
It doesn’t end there. The gardens also produce pretty edible flowers like nasturtium, with its pepper and radish flavour combination, along with flox and bee balm flowers that taste like Earl Grey tea.
A lot of the edible flowers, including the rosehips, are used to make simple syrups that formulate homemade botanical sodas and bottles of kombucha.
“It’s a slice of heaven right down to the water,” Hemstreet said. “We even have an artesian well that puts the water through a reverse osmosis and UV process so it tastes like real water. The water flows by the nearby Blue Jay Creek, which is a trout sanctuary.”
On top of that, Hemstreet works with several Manitoulin-based businesses, sourcing fish from Purvis Fisheries from Burnt Island in the south, and produce from northern farms like Pike Lake, Nic’s Farm, Heartwood Mushrooms and Three Forks. A lot of the meat comes from Grandview Farms, westward on the island.
Hemstreet said Garden’s Gate relies on tourism for its base customer base, with about 25 per cent of the business serving locals.
“One family that was camping nearby ate at Garden’s Gate four times in one week this summer because they couldn’t get enough,” he said.
Hemstreet said some of the more popular dishes are the duck confit, fresh and not smoked lake trout and creme brulee with a lemon curd and whip cream topping instead of burnt sugar.
Hemstreet decided against acquiring a liquor license for his establishment, citing its distance from other locales.
“I cannot in good conscience permit people to drink here and drive away,” he said.
And while Hemstreet said that deters some customers, he banks on the fact the quality of the dishes outweighs the lack of alcohol to accompany the food.
The hours at the Garden’s Gate fluctuate now in the fall as traffic on the island slows down. Hemstreet plans to have table service Thursday to Saturday, from 12-8 p.m.
With his free time, Hemstreet said he will act as a tourist and build contacts and a client base over the cooler months.
To learn more about Garden’s Gate, visit the restaurant’s website, GardensGate.ca, or Facebook page.
Anastasia Rioux is a writer in Greater Sudbury. Let’s Eat! is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.
