Eddington's Restaurant In Exeter Won Two Very Prestigious Awards Last Week

by Bob Montgomery

Eddington's owner and chef James Eddington says last week was an amazing week.

The first of two awards they won was Huron County's Award of Merit Accessibility Award. That accomplishment presented some serious challenges because the restaurant is the original Carling Homestead, which was built in the 1870's. Putting in washrooms that would meet the current codes wasn't possible so they added an addition to the front of the building, and the contractor did a great job in making sure that the brick and the trim all matched the original building, and then they installed an elevator lift and two accessible bathrooms and attached it all to the main house. That also involved bringing in new water lines from the road, new electrical service, and changes to the parking lot that included adding two more accessible parking spaces and widening the sidewalks.

Eddington says even people who don't have permanent accessibility issues appreciate not having to go up twenty-two steps to use the washrooms, because in the 1870's the washrooms were put on the second floor. So someone with a bad hip or a bad knee doesn't have to struggle to get up the stairs.

The second award of the week was for being one of the top one hundred restaurants in Canada and that was presented by Open Table, the worlds biggest booking system, and they represent over 60-thousand restaurants all over the world. And Eddington says the awards are based on customer reviews so it was quite an honour to win that award. He says they have won awards in the past, including recognition as one of Ontario's Most Romantic Restaurants several times, but to be recognized as one of Canada's Top One Hundred Restaurants is pretty special.

Eddington is very quick to add the credit goes to the great team and staff they have at their restaurant and the best patrons who visit the restaurant and he says that's just one of the advantages of living and working in a small town.