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bcbusiness.ca dECEMBER/JAnuARy 2018 BCBusiness 67 houses to 18th-century French cannons to the local wireless station (now a museum) that got the Titanic's distress signal. Foley points out the trail- head for Brimstone, a rock formation that juts out like a sphinx. I see the handful of arch-modern studios (including that radical white wedge you've seen in the Apple ads) that host writers and artists from around the world. We say "hey" to Patrick, proprietor of a popular "shed"—an ultra-local pub, with a cottage-like interior covered in maritime memorabilia, band and hockey parapher- nalia, and Irish ‹ags. I wonder aloud if tourists ever stop by this local clubhouse: "Everyone's welcome," Patrick declares. If the idea of taking a plane, a ferry and a drive to get to a luxe hotel in an extraor- dinary wild place on the outlying edge of a continent brings to mind a certain former logging community on Vancouver Island, it will make sense that chef Timothy Charles worked at the Wickaninnish Inn in To†no before coming to Fogo four years ago. As we walk the rugged shoreline, still dot- ted with snow in early summer, Charles points out Labrador tea, seaside plantain and juniper that the kitchen forages. Whenever possible, he sources from island or Newfoundland suppliers. "Every year we've been able to increase the amount of Newfoundland products," Charles says. "Over time, this is growing into something really special." Room and board are included in a stay at the inn (with the exception of liquor, but the Nova Scotia Benjamin Bridge Nova 7 rosé is totally worth the $16 a glass). Tipping-fatigued travellers will be pleased that that's included, too: all staŸ share in a tip pool created by 15 per cent of the pro†ts. Each meal is special—from the early-morning basket of coŸee and pastry left outside your door to thick breakfast pancakes with island crowberry jam, oceanside cookouts at lunch and extraordi- nary dinners. One night I order a theatrical pre-dinner cocktail, its heavy crystal tumbler smoked by a wisp of burning birch bark before rosemary-muddled bourbon is added. My starter is crispy breaded cod tongues on braised fennel and celery that looks like delicate sea ‹ora, a poached duck egg ‹ooding the plate like a tidal pool. It tastes as remarkable as it appears. The meal looks like something you'd get at Noma in Copenhagen and feels like the start of a unique Newfoundland Nordic cuisine. Sometimes tourism ends up destroy- ing what it's meant to celebrate, when too many people rush to enjoy unique experi- ences that quickly become common and commercial. The inn feels just-right-sized, bringing new life to this remote speck of rock in the Atlantic, but not enough to change it from the †shing community it has been for more than 250 years. If this is what social enterprise looks like, book me for a repeat visit. Want to Go to Fogo? nobody said getting there would be easy. From YVR, count on an approximately 19-hour travel day—or stay overnight in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto or Halifax to break up the trip. You can set your own small pri- vate plane down on Fogo's airstrip, charter a heli- copter or simply have the hotel send a car to ferry you across from Gander. Coordinate ‹ight-arrival times at YQX, the closest airport, with the charm- ing ferry that leaves from Farewell, Newfoundland (just over an hour's drive from Gander). It's a 45- to 75-minute sail to Fogo, depending on the route. If you have layover time in Gander, the eastern Newfoundland outpost has a proud avia- tion history that's worth exploring. The North Atlantic Aviation Museum has a DeHavilland Tiger Moth and other vintage aircraft, plus tales of the town's strategic role in the Second World War and, more recently, in housing stranded passengers on 9/11. Through May 2018, Fogo Island Inn double- occupancy rooms with full board (excluding alcohol) start at $1,675 a night, including a half-day orien- tation tour of the island. The writer received travel assistance from Tourism Newfoundland, Adventure Central Newfoundland and the Fogo Island Inn, none of which reviewed or approved this article before publication IsLaND HOspITaLITy (Clockwise from left) Fogo Island Inn; the ocean-view dining room; one of the guest rooms; the inn's distinctive architec- ture makes a bold statement; businesswoman Zita Cobb, who created the property

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