Port Isaac dining!
(A few days ago)
We have moved to another beautifully restored barn in a secluded spot — this time in the hamlet of Virganstow near Launceton in Devon. This one is owned by a young woman who moved here from London two years ago with her partner and mother, got some sheep and rescue chickens, does some gardening and DIY stuff and somehow mananges to drive a Mercedes (at least two of them are parked out front.) It’s a peaceful lovely spot, pitch dark at night but somehow we managed to find it after a late night dining at Coombeshead Farm, another out of the way spot about a half hour south near the Cornwall town of Lewwanik.
The place is run by a young chef from London who bought an old stone country manor and cooks completely original food using primarily things foraged from the garden and woods. We sat at a table with about 7 other guests, several American, several staying over night at the restaurant/inn. I can’t begin to describe the food — many of the ingredients were unfamiliar, not to mention the combinations that made up the food but it was all interesting and delicious.
Cornwall Coastal Path
We began the day with another glorious walk along the coastal path, this time walking east to Port Isaac from Port Quin.
We were surprised at how few people we encountered as we walked along the edge of the high jagged coastline. Loved it. We were sad to say goodbye to the lovely couple at our farm Airbnb but lucked out here, where we are staying in grander digs than expected becuz the room we were supposed to stay in had a hot water problem. So here we are with a whole,two,bedroom cottage for the night. Such a fun trip.
FRom the Port Isaac car park (where we left our car with help from our kind host Michael), we drove to the amusingly named village of Pityme to pick up some tshirts for the kids at the brewery that makes the popular local beer, Doom Bar (another great name…named after a treacherous sandbank in the local Camel estuary.) Then onto the town of Rock (where we were told the young royals vacation) to take a sweet little ferry across the river, winding through several sandbars to the tourist town of Padstow. Quite a change — pretty place but far more touristy. We had excellent Fish and Chips from the town’s major food entrepreneur Rick Stein, plus ice cream at his deli.
Our one misstep was trying to drive to the Lizard, way down in the south, which we realized was too far so we turned back and drove to tiny Port Quinn where we bumped into our host Michael drinking wine with two friends while sitting on a little rocky landing in front of the tiny undeveloped harbor where a few kayakers were finishing for the night. We ended up joining them for some wine and kibitzing. A perfect end to a perfect day.
We met a fellow Iowan, Val, who co-owns the popular Pickle & Rye “American sandwich shop” near Mortlake station. Great to see the business she runs with her husband Alex (from Philly) doing so well. Since my last visit four years ago, they have moved to a bigger space and it was full of people eating Saturday morning breakfast (English and American varieties). Val had just returned from a visit home to Grinnell and Des Moines. She kindly gave us a complementary order of light, fluffy pancakes, which were new to our English pals who eat at the restaurant regularly.
TakeBetsywithyou 