We hadn't been in downtown Yarmouth for 5 or 6 years, only skirting the eastern outskirts on the way to the Digby ferry occasionally and I had been down twice to look for stuff at Wal-Mart or Canadian Tire (again on the outskirts) while Wayne was back in Ottawa.
We found everything we were looking for (a rare occurrence on these trips) at W-M, Canadian Tire and Staples. By this time it was starting to rain a bit so we decided to bypass all the traditional chain restaurants like TH, McD's, KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Delight (we were tempted by Boston Pizza mind you), and head downtown to find a "real" restaurant. We headed south along Main Street as the rain intensified and pulled into the parking lot by the Visitors' Information Centre planning to walk back to a somewhat interesting looking deli we had just passed. As we got out of the car, Wayne noticed a sign saying "Bruno's Bistro" on the side of the building beside the parking lot. That seemed like a good choice since it was so close and we wouldn't get too wet.
The exterior of the building was very unprepossessing but we went in anyway. Immediately it was obvious that the interior of the building had undergone an extensive renovation, producing a lovely intimate bistro. There were 2 dining areas - the front one was small, seating about 16 in tables for 2 or 4, with a dark wood bar area along one side. Real plants here and there and a specials board. We continued on into the larger back room which had several large windows and a nice assortment of table sizes and furniture. The walls were painted a dark dijon mustard colour, lots of dark wood (servers, tables, chairs, a screen). A large wrought iron chandelier hung centred in the room from about a 12+ foot ceiling. Linen tablecloths (but paper napkins). Each table had an intricate metal tree sculpture (about 12" high) with glass leaves and 3 calla lilies as the candle holders - very pretty. This room would hold about 40 people and even on a rainy November Thursday it was about 3/4 full.
The menu was small with choices of salads and sandwiches plus a few full dinners liked pan-fried haddock, scallops, chicken. They seemed to specialize in simplicity and freshness. Wayne ordered a Greek salad with shrimp. It came with a home-made bread and huge slices of feta cheese. My choice was a wrap special of chicken, ham, spinach and swiss cheese - the wrap turned out to be phyllo and the whole thing was toasted in a panini press. It was served with sweet potato fries. Wayne had a merlot and I had a Stella. For dessert, Wayne had carrot cake (with caramel sauce and whipped cream) and I had an oreo ice-cream pie drizzled with Belgian chocolate sauce and whipped cream. There were 6 or 7 other choices like blueberry bread pudding, creme caramel, white chocolate cheese cake with berry sauce. Excellent coffee. The bill was $52.
I would say that the meal rated up there with Charlotte Lane at lunch time - I don't know if the bistro has a more extensiv evening menu but it certainly was a great find, totally by accident. It must be new this year since it's not in the current phone book. The diners certainly looked like some of the more affluent population of Yarmouth.
After lunch we headed out to Cape Forchu lighthouse. We had passed it on the Maine ferry but never driven around to it. As you can see, it was wrapped in plastic while some work is being done. The road out to the light is a very scenic drive along the west side of Yarmouth Harbour and Yarmouth Sound passing through areas of beautiful homes and intensely working lobster wharves - we must go back on a brighter day to enjoy the spectacular scenery again.
Our return to Lockeport was made along the old highway 3 along the shore as far as Barrington - much better vistas this time of year with the leaves off the trees. A good drive.
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