2 - The Rosemeade Dining Room

You could cut the tension in here with a knife. That’s not to say the restaurant is uncomfortable – on the contrary, it is highly invigorating. The tension derives from a vibrant design scheme in which Samuel McLure's famous Tudor-style architecture meets contemporary design elements like an Ingo Maurer lamp and a cantilevered fireplace. The five acres of manicured gardens that surround the inn housing the res­taurant only add to the dichotomy. It nearly gives you the bends.

In this stimulating atmosphere, the polished staff deftly attends to children and the elderly, couples reuniting with friends and local Victorians in their element. A Japanese pop music cover of Joe Jackson’s “Steppin’ Out” seems just right alongside a dish of rare seared Alaskan scallops with bone marrow and veal jus, dandelion greens and a fennel puree. Sharp white-anchovy dressing licks an artichoke salad. Gorgeous local sole finds companionship with pancetta and soybeans before meeting a mottled tomato and browned butter “vinaigrette.” Veal cheeks are melting after having been braised for six hours. Yes, there are many techniques at work here, but the kitchen imbues each dish with clean, bright and harmonious flavours.

Dessert “tasters” offer an affordable way to sample numerous sweets, including a rose petal cake with a sauce of white port, cherry and buttermilk; a peppermint crème caramel with a white chocolate s’more; and raspberry chocolate fudge with a cookie dough ice cream cone and vodka-chilled raspberries.

Chef Richard Luttman most recently worked at the Four Seasons in Las Vegas. The more pastoral and relaxed setting in which he now works shows in his cooking, which is polished but still adventurous.

429 Lampson St. (English Inn and Resort), Victoria, 250-412-7673

www.englishinnresort.com