Wayne Boatwright wrote:
>

> > When my wife and I were first married I used to take her to the Oban Inn
> > for dinner at least once a month. It was quite reasonable back in the
> > 70s, and I could afford it on my student budget, but prices seemed to be
> > climbing up about 25 cents every month or two. That added up after a
> > while. Luckily, we have an excellent restaurant in our town that has
> > great food, a lovely setting, and is affordable.
>
> I loved the Oban Inn. We stayed there a few times, and had quite a few
> meals there, but that was years ago. Didn't it burn down some years ago?
> Did they rebuild and restore it? It had a lot of charm.


By golly, you're right. I had forgotten about that fire. That was on
Christmas day 15 years ago. Below is a home video of the blaze. It was
pretty well gutted.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcD_qyfHLxA


It has been rebuilt and upgraded. They always had a reputation for good
food, though their old menu was basically a step or two above really good
home cooking. It is a bit more exotic now.

http://www.obaninn.ca/inn.html



> It's probably whatever the traffic will bear. It's true of so many places
> these days.

It used to be quite affordable for American tourists when there the US
dollar was worth about $1.50 Canadian. Now that the US dollar is tanking I
am looking forward to them dropping their prices.

>
> > It is also nice cycling upriver from the falls to Fort Erie. It is a
> > little tamer, but there always seems to be a head wind.
>
> I've only been to Fort Erie a couple of times.

It's only worth it for the drive and the cheap Chinese food, though I
recently discovered the excitement of horse racing. It's odd that I worked
around the corned from that race track for close to 20 years and never went
to a race. I promised to take myself to a race after I retired, and for
some reason it took me three years to do it.



> > There are lots of bicycle wine tours going on in the nice weather. But
> > it is getting cold here now. I made the mistake of planing a walk along
> > that trail one day last winter. They don't clear the snow off it.
>
> Ow, that would be a cold and messy walk!

Slippery and sloggy.

Oh pshaw, on Thu 06 Dec 2007 02:24:11p, Dave Smith meant to say...

> Wayne Boatwright wrote:

>> I loved the Oban Inn. We stayed there a few times, and had quite a few
>> meals there, but that was years ago. Didn't it burn down some years
>> ago? Did they rebuild and restore it? It had a lot of charm.
>
>
> By golly, you're right. I had forgotten about that fire. That was on
> Christmas day 15 years ago. Below is a home video of the blaze. It was
> pretty well gutted.

> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcD_qyfHLxA

That was horrifying! Actually, I did know that it had burned, but did not
knowit had been rebuilt. We were in NotL near the end of January, staying
at the Prince of Wales, but had wanted to have my birthday dinner at the
Oban Inn. Got a recording when we rang up ahead of time from Cleveland to
make a reservation. Then later drove by and saw the ruins.

> It has been rebuilt and upgraded. They always had a reputation for good
> food, though their old menu was basically a step or two above really
> good home cooking. It is a bit more exotic now.
>
> http://www.obaninn.ca/inn.html

It looks like they did a bang up rebuild job, but I would probably be
disappointed. I liked the age of the place, and even the old menu, which
seemed to fit the place. "Exotic" may fit the new one, but it could never
be the same feeling.

I loved sitting in the big leather chairs by the fireplace in the lobby.

>> It's probably whatever the traffic will bear. It's true of so many
>> places these days.
>
> It used to be quite affordable for American tourists when there the US
> dollar was worth about $1.50 Canadian. Now that the US dollar is tanking
> I am looking forward to them dropping their prices.
>
>>
>> > It is also nice cycling upriver from the falls to Fort Erie. It is a
>> > little tamer, but there always seems to be a head wind.
>>
>> I've only been to Fort Erie a couple of times.
>
> It's only worth it for the drive and the cheap Chinese food, though I
> recently discovered the excitement of horse racing. It's odd that I
> worked around the corned from that race track for close to 20 years and
> never went to a race. I promised to take myself to a race after I
> retired, and for some reason it took me three years to do it.

Sounds fun!

IIRC, there is or used to be some sort of observation tower structure
there. We wanted to go up, but it was closed and locked up.

>> > There are lots of bicycle wine tours going on in the nice weather.
>> > But it is getting cold here now. I made the mistake of planing a walk
>> > along that trail one day last winter. They don't clear the snow off
>> > it.
>>
>> Ow, that would be a cold and messy walk!
>
> Slippery and sloggy.
>

I can just imagine.

--
Wayne Boatwright

Date: Thursday, Dec 6,2007

*******************************************
Countdown 'til Christmas
2wks 2dys 9hrs 15mins
*******************************************
A man needs a good memory after he has
lied.
*******************************************

Wayne Boatwright wrote:

> It looks like they did a bang up rebuild job, but I would probably be
> disappointed. I liked the age of the place, and even the old menu, which
> seemed to fit the place. "Exotic" may fit the new one, but it could never
> be the same feeling.

Not the same experience, but having eaten there many times in the old place
and having been to the rebuilt version I would say that it is much nicer
than the old one.

It used to have a nice piano bar. We used to live in St.Catharines, so it
was only 20 minute drive to NotL and we used to there frequently.

BTW, a good friend of mine was the guy who rebuilt the Prince of Wales. It
used to be an old run of the mill Ontario type of hotel/ tavern. He went
broke renovating it to what it is now. He later went on to open the first
New York style stand up bar here and introduced Buffalo wings to
St.Catharines. I was saddened when I came back from vacation back in
August and heard that he had died, dropped dead of a massive coronary at
the age of 60.

Oh pshaw, on Thu 06 Dec 2007 03:50:46p, Dave Smith meant to say...

> Wayne Boatwright wrote:
>
>> It looks like they did a bang up rebuild job, but I would probably be
>> disappointed. I liked the age of the place, and even the old menu,
>> which seemed to fit the place. "Exotic" may fit the new one, but it
>> could never be the same feeling.
>
> Not the same experience, but having eaten there many times in the old
> place and having been to the rebuilt version I would say that it is much
> nicer than the old one.

I'm sure you're right, but I'm a nostalia freak.

> It used to have a nice piano bar. We used to live in St.Catharines, so
> it was only 20 minute drive to NotL and we used to there frequently.
>
> BTW, a good friend of mine was the guy who rebuilt the Prince of Wales.
> It used to be an old run of the mill Ontario type of hotel/ tavern.

This is how I remember it. We've not been back to NotL since we moved to
Arizona.

> went broke renovating it to what it is now. He later went on to open the
> first New York style stand up bar here and introduced Buffalo wings to
> St.Catharines. I was saddened when I came back from vacation back in
> August and heard that he had died, dropped dead of a massive coronary at
> the age of 60.

That is sad to hear. I'm sorry for the loss of your friend. I can imagine
it was quite a shock, especially at his age.

--
Wayne Boatwright

Date: Thursday, December 6th,2007

*******************************************
Countdown 'til Christmas
2wks 2dys 8hrs 15mins
*******************************************
The 'poor cat in the rain' look.It
never fails.
*******************************************

On Dec 6, 9:53 am, Dave Smith > wrote:
> wrote:
>
> > > It does indeed have some nice wines. I have never tried any of the Laily
> > > Vineyards wines. It is a new one. Konzelman has some nice wines too. The
> > > next time you come this way you should try some of the bench wineries
> > > around Vineland and Beamsville area.
>
> > Been to the bench wineries. More fond of those in NOL. Especially
> > Strewn (I'm a Barrel Member) , Coyote's Run, Flatrock. Lailey has some
> > great Pinots, and a 2006 Niagara River Chardonnay that's worth every
> > penny. We do the Taste of the Season every November, like a dozen of
> > us, so we're well stocked for the holidays.
>
> Have you tried Lakeview Cellars and Malivoire? Both make excellent wines.
> The winery business down this way has grown a lot over the last 30 years or
> so, and in the last few years there seems to be an incredible number of
> cottage wineries opening up. Every time I go out I see more and more new
> ones.
>
> > Nice to chat with someone from the 'hood so to speak.
>
> Likewise.

Have tried Malivoire. really liked it but they have become very pricey
these past few years and I think there are better wines out there for
the money. We also really liked Marynissan, but they haven't produced
anything stellar in the last couple of years, so we skipped them on
this past tour.

In article >,
Sqwertz > wrote:

> On Thu, 06 Dec 2007 02:43:50 GMT, Sarah Gray wrote:
>
> > Sqwertz > wrote in news:12wmyauvp9ld1
> > :
> >
> >> On Wed, 5 Dec 2007 15:10:33 -0800 (PST),
> >> wrote:
> >>
> >>> I'm having a few girlfriends for dinner tomorrow night.
> >>
> >> Why not just go down to the Y and eat?
> >
> > is that supposed to be some kind of double entendre?
>
> You never heard the phrase "Eat at the Y"?


No. What does it mean?

--
Dan Abel
Petaluma, California USA

On Dec 6, 9:10 am, wrote:
> I'm having a few girlfriends for dinner tomorrow night. Having just
> returned from a wine tour at Niagara-on-the-Lake with some fabulous
> whites and sparklings, I was planning at menu ofsaffronlobsterrisottofor the main (great recipe have made before) with a mixed
> green salad (rocket, cress, radicchio, frisee) and simple white
> balsamic vinaigrette. I have some nice cheeses, La Tur and Rochetta
> for apps. And dessert will come from the local gourmet shop as I have
> no time to prepare one from scratch. My question is, should I skip one
> or both of the cheeses because I'd really like to include caviar with
> the first course (apps) with champagne. Too rich?
>
> TIA,
>
> Anita

I tried to google the recipe for saffron lobster risotto but to no
avail what about the recipe???
Terry

On Dec 7, 10:25 pm, tersyl > wrote:
> On Dec 6, 9:10 am, wrote:
>
> > I'm having a few girlfriends for dinner tomorrow night. Having just
> > returned from a wine tour at Niagara-on-the-Lake with some fabulous
> > whites and sparklings, I was planning at menu ofsaffronlobsterrisottofor the main (great recipe have made before) with a mixed
> > green salad (rocket, cress, radicchio, frisee) and simple white
> > balsamic vinaigrette. I have some nice cheeses, La Tur and Rochetta
> > for apps. And dessert will come from the local gourmet shop as I have
> > no time to prepare one from scratch. My question is, should I skip one
> > or both of the cheeses because I'd really like to include caviar with
> > the first course (apps) with champagne. Too rich?
>
> > TIA,
>
> > Anita
>
> I tried to google the recipe for saffron lobster risotto but to no
> avail what about the recipe???
> Terry

Sorry for late reply. Been a busy weekend.

From: Recipes from Wine Country by Tony DeLuca, former executive chef
at Hillebrand Estates Winery

Saffron Lobster Risotto

4 cups lobster, fish or chicken stock, more as needed
3/4 cup olive oil (I used less)
1 live lobster - 1 kg
1 onion peeled & finely chopped (I subbed in some shallot)
3/4 cup arborio rice
Generous pinch saffron
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup dry white wine

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons grated parmesan
2 tablespoons minced chives

Kosher salt & white pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

Pour stock into large stockpot & bring to simmer. Keep at low simmer
until required.

Heat 1/2 cup olive oil in a roasting pan. Kill & season the lobster
adding it to the roasting pan and roast it in the oven for 20 minutes
basting frequently. Remove from oven & let cool. When cool enough to
handle, remove meat from shell.

Heat remianing olive oil in medium saute pan and add onion. Stir in
the rice, saffron, butter and wine and stir until the oil has coated
the rice kernels and the rice is beginning to crackle. Add the hot
stock in small increments until the rice has absorbed it all and is
cooked al dente. Season with salt and pepper and foild in the butter
and parmesan. Stir to incorporate and serve, topped with reserved
lobster meat and chives.

Notes: Most of the time I just boil the lobster. I also add the
lobster meat during the last addition of stock so it can warm. But I
have also followed the recipe as it is written and it is very good.