Just 4 Min. off Highway 69
One Hour North of Parry Sound |
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HARVEY CURRELL Special to The Sun WHEN I first wrote about Britt in 1999, I called it "the hidden Pearl of Georgian Bay." Located on a deep fiord five km off Hwy. 69 and 70km north of Parry Sound, Britt is still a pearl but no longer quite so hidden, largely due to the increasing popularity of the Little Britt Inn. Anne Hardy has included the inn in her book, Where to Eat in Canada, and has given it a star. Travellers on cross-Canada car trips have been discovering the inn and detouring there for lunch, dinner or a night. Yacht cruisers on Georgian Bay have been making it a port of call. A sign on the wall of innkeeeper Jim Sorrenti's Lower Deck restaurant sets the tone of the place, describing the Little Britt as "a little bit off the high-way, a little bit off the Bay, a little bit off the wall." Gossipy hand-written menus for the inn's two restaurants, Upper Deck and Lower Deck, reflect the relaxed, friendly attitude of Jim Sorrenti and his partner, chef Teri McLean. The kids menu says: "Kids? We try to serve them first and fast - please find out what they want and let us know. We have chicken fingers, of course, macaroni and cheese, pogos, grilled cheese, small soup, fish and chips with french fried or mash and a drink-$8. "Noisy kids - fried liver, fried onions, broccoli with a side of olives - no ketchup - priced according to noise level. "Polite kids - free ice cream." Sorrenti has been at Britt about 14 years. Born to a restaurant family in Port Stanley, he grew up there, in London and in Windsor, and spent childhood summers at Tobermory. He devoted much of his adult life to starting and managing restaurants and inns, including the Kettle Creek at Port Stanley and the Westover at St.Marys. McLean learned cooking from her family and trained at the Stratford Chef School. You'll find the Upper Deck at Little Britt a wide, screened area for lunch with a great view of Byng Inlet where the tiny Still River and the big Magnetawan merge to flow into Georgian Bay. Oil tankers still call at this once-huge sawmill community. The Lower Deck is a cozy ship-like area for dinner and late-afternoon snacks. On both decks you can get specialties such as Georgian Bay Chowder made with pickerel, trout and whitefish, fresh oysters all year, yesterday's soup "it's always better the second day," perchburgers, fish of the day, bacon-wrapped elk tenderloin and grilled crown loin pork chops. I had the fish chowder and a perch burger. They were superb. Prices go from $8 for pork tenderloin schnitzel on a bun to $23 for a six -ounce well-aged beef tenderloin. Also available at the inn are four suites at $125 per couple per night in summer or $105 in off-seasons. From March 15-May 15 and October 15-Dec.15, if you call the same day, make dinner reservations and promise to leave $20 for the housekeeping staff, your suite is free. In summer, be sure to call 1-888-383-4555 for lunch or dinner reservations TO GET TO the inn, take Hwy. 69 north from Parry Sound for about 65 km to Hwy. 526. Go right here, following signs to Britt. Loop back west under Hwy. 69 and go about 5 km to Britt and the inn. Toronto Sun says "Little Britt a big bit of fun" Globe & Mail says "Food to Die For" Where to eat in Canada 2005-2006 Lonely Planet says "Standout Inn" Jim & Teri say "We Think it's O.K." Your Innkeepers: Jim & Teri 1-888-383-4555 lilbritt@zeuter.com |
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Box 225, Parry Sound, Ontario, CANADA P2A 2X3 Tel/FAX (705)746-4625 Copyright (C) Zeuter Development Corporation, 2002-05. All rights reserved. |