Oxalis Restaurant was opened in Nov. 2021 by Sophia Gruber and her husband Chef Andy Preuss in a 2-story building that was a residential home. The interior can only accommodate 37 people so in June 2023 they opened an outdoor dining area that added 45 more seats when weather allows. It’s a farm-to-table concept trying to highlight local products. They offer an a la carte menu as well as a Chef’s tasting, with wine pairings available. The menu and food reflect his roots in Germany and hers from Austria. They met working at a resort in Austria but had an opportunity to move to Nova Scotia and work at Trout Point Lodge which afforded them more time to travel. We sat on the first floor which had only 4 tables that are across from the large window to the kitchen. Bench seating was on the long wall opposite the kitchen and and lights were lowered. The walls had some well placed mirrors but otherwise there were few decorations but music was in the background. Most seemed to want to sit outside but we wanted to be able to see all the dishes coming out of the kitchen. Service was good and it was overall a fine meal. The kitchen has creativity and is worth a visit if you are in the area.
Set-up
Food
We added a half dozen fresh shucked Maritime (New Brunswick) oysters to the Chef’s Experience menu. They were served with lemon and dill mignonette, plain lemon and hot sauce on small stones rather than ice. The hot sauce was good, especially when mixed with a bit of the mignonette on the briny oysters. We enjoyed a Negroni with them.
Brotzeit (German for bread time) included some artisanal bread, flavored butter, cream cheese, house marinated olives and crudités. The sourdough bread was from a local bakery and toasted on both sides. It had a lovely crisp crust and dense interior. The butter was inside the faux tomato. The small vegetables were fresh and young and there was an assortment of olives. All of this was very good.
An amuse bouche was a salmon dumpling with seasoned mayo. It was crisp and good. Along with it was a poached quail egg with truffle foam and spinach. It was excellent.
Hamilton Farms Rainbow Trout was plated with cucumber, Granny Smith apples, crispy potato, and buttermilk and dill emulsion. The trout was nicely seasoned and great with the dill sauce while the apples, potatoes and cucumbers added a good crunch to the dish. A nice plate.
Ricotta and Wild ramp cappelletti were with vegetable ragout and parmesan foam and chips. The parm crisps had good flavor but were not at all crisp. The pasta folds were a bit thick but cooked enough so they weren’t gummy. The sauce was lovely but overall this was a good not great dish.
Striped Bass was plated with asparagus and sauce hollandaise with sea truffle seasoning. The asparagus were just the heads and cooked perfectly. This was the last week of the season for the Striped Bass and it was perfect. A good flake and excellent flavor to the plate.
A palate cleanser was a pear sorbet with sparkling rosé. It was refreshing and tasty but odd to have it before the savory dishes were finished.
P.E.I. Blue Dot top sirloin was plated with spring onion, maple carrot, morels, braised beef croquette and a peppercorn sauce. This is the top category of local beef but still so-so in flavor. It was nicely seasoned but had little depth of beef flavor. The onion was made into a mash and next to the beef croquette which had a fairly tough coating and a mostly tasteless filling. The carrots were raw or too quickly blanched. Not a success.
Rhubarb with sweet clover, meringue, iced yuzu and rhubarb broth was dessert. The rhubarb and yuzu combined to make the not too sweet sauce. There was a lot of texture in the dish with other parts being sweeter like the clover mousse. The “cake” bottom was good.
A closing sweet was housemade marshmallows cooked over fire at the table and chocolate cookies to put them between. The idea was great but it did get a bit messy as s’mores are known to do. Even so it was tasty.
