It’s Saturday afternoon in late August. It’s raining cats and dogs, foggy, and cool outside. We’re in the car with the wipers on overdrive headed to the beach in Southampton. Kind of. About a half block east of the white sand shoreline lies the Beach Motel’s Sandbar Restaurant. The waves are crashing, the iconic Canada flag that marks the Southampton shore is rippling in the wind. We park the car and run to the entrance, soaked.
Inside we meet Chef Carey McLellan, who I’ve been texting with over the past few weeks. She invited Rrampt to experience the Sandbar’s late summer menu and we couldn’t say no. Cheery and working the front desk herself, she tells us she’s all set for us and has General Manager Amanda Deer lead us upstairs to the restaurant.
The space is incredible and feels like a homey living room of a curated Great Lakes cottage. Prince’s Purple Rain is propped up against the record player – a nice touch given the weather – and the fireplace is rocking. A small bar is set up in the corner, like maybe you’d have in your home, unassuming and quaint. We’re immediately comfortable in the space and order some drinks – a rum and citrus-infused Iced Tea and a cucumber mint mojito to keep the Irish-esque weather feeling distant as we dry off.
Carey joins us for a chat as we await the first course.
“When covid hit I was doing stuff through Eat Local Grey Bruce and actually cooking mostly over a campfire because they didn’t want you inside houses,” says Carey. “I was living in a tiny home actually and I applied for this job. The people [at the Beach Motel] really aligned with my values of eco-friendly and sustainable living – and I was pretty well allowed to do whatever I wanted with the menu – which was bringing in seasonal, local food. So I sold the tiny home and moved to Southampton.”
The food arrives. First, a baked brie with homemade beet and strawberry ‘leather,’ a dehydrated fruit roll-up style crisp, complete with a seasonal fruit compote spread, and homemade flatbread. Then, a platter of West Grey Premium Beef braising ribs tossed in a honey-garlic chili sauce using Grey County’s own Donald’s Honey, accented by horseradish and chevre potato quenelle and basil oil. Yes, please. Next, an incredibly flakey and flavourful Lake Huron whitefish.
That dedication to using local food whenever possible is becoming a staple of the food scene wherever you go, but the level Chef Carey takes it is something special, working on farms early in her career and getting her hands dirty learning where her product comes from.
“I’m really excited about working with Starseed Acres. They’re a regenerative, organic farm in Walkerton, amazing family – like the whole family joins in and everything that they do, which is really cool,” says Carey. “My features are usually based on what they have available. I’ve had the privilege of working on local farms like Glencolton Farms, where I did one year [apprenticeship] in a cheese house learning how to make and process all the dairy, it was really exciting. I also worked at Saugeen River CSA. I just wanted to learn. I had come from the city, and was wondering why organic food was so expensive and the difference between it. So I thought I’ll just do it – I’ll work on the farm and figure it out and learn. It really opened my eyes up to the way that I eat at home, you know what I mean? I’ve had the honour of learning from amazing farmers.”
The Sandbar Restaurant changes its menu every three weeks in the offseason with Chef taking a week to hone in on the next iteration of what’s available, and let me tell you – you need to book a table. “After Thanksgiving, we’ll be open Friday, Saturday, Sunday,” explains Carey. We’ll be open three weeks every month in the off season. And yeah, the menu will go for those three weeks and then I’ll keep flipping it. I usually come in on a Thursday and spend the whole day here, prepping my stuff, but I usually have it planned out a little bit before just so we can let people know what we’re doing.”
In October look for a special opportunity to enjoy the Sandbar’s menu paired with a special tasting courtesy of The Rum Rats, Bruce County-based premium Panamanian rum distiller.
We fill up on an incredible lemon curd cheesecake dessert and waddle back to the car in the wet. We’re warm from the fire and the conversation, already pondering when we can come back for a drink or two and an app. The Sandbar is that kind of place, an upscale neighbourhood spot where you feel like you could pop in for a bite and a chat with some friends. It’s approachable, comfortable, and familiar, coupled with a very apparent dedication to sustainable local food and community – that’s something we can get on board with.
“My whole philosophy is just like community and community sustainability,” says Carey. “I want this to be a place where like-minded people can just sit together and get to know each other. Yeah, do fun things.”
You can book yourself a table at https://thebeachmotel.ca/our-space/sandbar-restaurant/ and find them on socials at @thebeachmotel
Words and photos by Nelson Phillips
