Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Blue Heron Bed and Breakfast

If I could pick a place I would like to eat at every single night, I would pick the Blue Heron Bed and Breakfast in Ely. Kevin and I went there this weekend and I felt like Jillian on the "Bachelorette" when she takes a guy to a restaurant and they magically have the place all to themselves. There was no one in the tiny, quaint place except for us, the server and the chef for most of our meal.The restaurant is small, it only has about five tables in it. Kevin had said I would like this place; he had come here for his cousin Chris' grooms dinner about eight years ago. He was right, I loved it and the food was to die for. You order your main dish ahead of time when you make reservations and it is a five course meal. The first thing was an appetizer of walleye ragoons that I need to figure out to make myself. They are a spoonful of warm cream cheese, walleye and spices baked in phyllo dough and topped with sweet chili jelly. My favorite thing in the whole meal! The next course consisted of huge, fluffy popovers, spring greens and homemade buttermilk ranch dressing. Then the next course was this cute little scoop of lemon sorbet. Sweet and tangy, it cleaned the palate perfectly.
Just in time for the showstopper of the meal, a tournado steak with a twice-baked potato and broccoli. The steak was juicy and could have been cut with a butter knife. It was so tender. Each perfectly seasoned piece melted with a couple of chews in your mouth. I wanted to go on eating steak forevvvvvver.
However, that wouldn't have been fair to the blueberry creme brulee that I was almost too stuffed to eat. Notice I said almost. It was an ingenius idea to use a teacup for the creme brulee instead of a ramiken. And it was the perfect amount. Not much and not too little. The sugar was carmelized nicely without a bit of burnt flavor.
I asked if I could take a picture of the man who created all this and this is Chef Fred. I didn't find out much about him on the internet but I have a sneaky suspicion he is a foodie.

The food is only half the reason to make a reservation at this wonderful place. The atmosphere is homey and with the birds and the lake closeby, it is a beautiful setting. You also feel like you are being given special treatment since there are only a few tables in the dining room. Check out their website at http://www.blueheronbnb.com/ for reservations and the menu.