Love Letter to The Bonavista Social Club

Published in The Packet

This week’s column is a love letter to my favorite place in Newfoundland. There are very few experiences in my life that make me feel poetic, but every time we visit the Bonavista Social Club in Upper Amherst Cove, I feel positively bard-like. The entire dining experience is sensorial bliss.  Last year, we ate lunch there five weekends in a row despite the fact that the restaurant is over an hour away.

It is no easy feat driving over the bumpy road for that long with a baby who hates the car seat. We leave Clarenville desperate for fresh, flavorful, fried-free food that we didn’t cook ourselves. Forty-five minutes into the trip, we’re hungry and wondering if the trip is really worth the gas and time.

The answer is always YES. Everything we’ve eaten there is consistently tasty.

I rally when we see the tiny hand-painted arrow sign directing you down the hill to the restaurant. We park and feast on the view of lush gardens, the gorgeous bay with playful whales, the happy goats that seem to take their spectacular vantage point for granted. We haven’t even entered the small restaurant and my heart is singing every cliché of pastoral poetry.

The restaurant is beautiful in its simplicity. The carved wooden beams, mismatched handmade napkins, green glass bottles of cold water, and baskets of crusty bread complement the flavorful food. My husband always orders a crispy, garlicky pizza that he devours in minutes and then reminisces about as he waits for me to finish my meal. Last time, I was there I had the most delicious lamb and fresh papperdelle dish. I felt like crying when it was finished- it was that delicious. The baby gums basket after basket of the bread, still warm from the amazing wood-burning oven. We are fans of the bread, too. When they were closed for the season, we enjoyed five of their loaves, which we stowed in the freezer and warmed up when we needed some comfort food.

We speak highly of our dining experience at Bonavista Social Club to anyone who hasn’t gone. This backfired on us one weekend, when we arrived and found three of my husband’s coworkers there out for quiet lunches with their wives. My husband’s enthusiastic recommendation inspired them to check the restaurant out, but since the dining area is small, we were all within hearing distance of each other, leading to a slightly awkward meal of sometimes talking across tables to his colleagues and then self-consciously talking quietly to each other. Nonetheless, the food was divine.

The menu and ingredients vary depending on what is in the garden. On their web site, the restaurant credits the hard work of their volunteers from World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOFers), for allowing them to serve the freshest produce available from their gardens. WWOOF is an educational and cultural exchange where volunteers from around the world spend time working with organic farmers and growers to learn more about sustainable stewardship of food. Volunteers come to Upper Amherst Cove from April to October.

I love the rural authenticity, the commitment to local fresh food, the attention to detail, and the overall vision of this restaurant. It is unlike anywhere else I have eaten in Newfoundland, and we’ll continue to trek out to Upper Amherst Cove on weekends to experience the beauty and revitalization that comes from surrounding yourself with nature while eating something wholesome and sustaining. Thanks Bonavista Social Club for being my happy place in Newfoundland!