Nina's garden

What a treat I had today! A friend wanted to take me out to lunch (that's a treat all in itself!) and she said we were going to Nina's Garden in Kimberley, a small town about 20 minjutes from here. I had never heard of this place before, but Kimberley is full of little boutique-y and trendy type places, and I enjoy them all, so I figured it would be fine.

Well, we drove up to Kimberley (the highest city in Canada I might add) and through the town and up into an older section. She pulled in front of a house, an older looking nice home, nothing special, very 50's style and said: "The restaurant is in her backyard, it's all outdoors, only open in the summer."

I'm thinking:"This is sort of odd." and followed her through a small arch into what can only be described as a Secret Garden, a little fantasy Wonderland. There are probably 10 or 12 tables, all tucked away in tiny, shaded nooks, with statues and flowers, waterfalls and ponds. It was INCREDIBLE! You need to enlarge these pictures to get the full effect. The yard is terraced and you can follow the trail as it switch-backs down to the bottom, and every step has little hidden houses, gnomes, and an entire Swiss village in miniature.

How come I have never heard of this place? Why isn't it written up in every guide book?

She is open from the end of April, weather permitting, until the end of September, also weather permitting, daily from 11-3. There is no menu, just a daily special of soup and a bun...but WHAT a soup, and WHAT a bun! Today we had potato-leek soup, and 2 bun halves, one with the creamiest bree I have ever tasted, and the other with procuitto and melon. The buns themselves melted in your mouth. Some little radish roses and a bit of friut completed the lunch. And homemade lemonade. Roland, her husband is a pastry chef and you can choose from 4 different tortes for dessert. I had hazelnut...mmmmm.