The Dark Tickle Company, Cafe Nymph & Dark Tickle Expeditions

The Dark Tickle Company

The Dark Tickle Company will soon be celebrating its centennial anniversary. In 1919, Kier Knudsen's grandfather, Ford Elms opened a general store in Dark Tickle at the end of Lower Griquet where the tickle meets with Camel's Island. (A “tickle” is a narrow channel of saltwater between two points of land.) Eventually, his parents (Gwen and Steve Knudsen) took over the family business, and years later began operating a small craft store at the back of the general store. 

As the L'Anse aux Meadows UNESCO site brought increasing numbers of tourists to the area, they would often ask the Knudsens for products made from local berries, such as bakeapples and partridgeberries. The Knudsens then sought a supplier for these products, and eventually began to purchase the local berries from surrounding communities and Southern Labrador. 

Eventually, the store moved to the main road in St. Lunaire and transitioned from being a general store to a manufacturer of jams, spreads, tea, coffee, and chocolate, all made from the sourced local berries. Today, the business is run by Kier and his wife Stacey, with Kier’s parents still involved in the day-to-day operation of the business.

The Dark Tickle Company is also an economusée, referring to an organization that started in Quebec. As Kier explained, “the premise is to showcase traditional craft skills to the public. So, it’s a network of businesses that do that, so you kind of open up your production so the public can see what you’re doing and it’s an experiential knowledge-based tourism operation.” This unique opportunity allows visitors to see the products being made, an educational experience they likely won’t find in other places that sell these types of products. 

Excitingly, this was the first full season for Café Nymph. Although the Dark Tickle Company had a tea room in the downstairs portion of the business, this year it was expanded to a bistro-style restaurant in the upstairs portion. For about ten years prior to this, the Company had the Granchain Exhibit upstairs. Grandchain was a famous French naval officer. Thanks to the research of a man named Richard Neil in Normandy, he discovered an old 1700s manor house, learning it belonged to Granchain.

Cafe Nymph (Dark Tickle Company photo)

As Kier explained, “Granchain was sent over here to protect the French fishing rights in this area because the British were moving in. So back to Richard for a second, through the course of his research he found out this naval officer was given land in the New World by the King, so he decided to come over and see where the land was,and it was in St. Lunaire Bay.” The Granchain exhibit at the Dark Tickle Shoppe is a collaborative effort with a sister one in Normandy. The Knudsens have since enhanced the exhibit with artifacts and multimedia and now, patrons of Café Nymphe can peruse the exhibit while enjoying homemade desserts and main courses. 

Finally, the Dark Tickle Company has begun offering boat tours, called Dark Tickle Expeditions. I was lucky enough to take part in one in July. The two hour tours are very detailed, and vary depending on the day-to-day conditions and what is in the area. The day I took my tour, there was a fair-sized iceberg near the White Islands that the tour guide took time to explain how the ice made its way here. For most of this season, the expeditions saw icebergs, whales, and seabirds. The tours also show the resettled community of Fortune, explaining the history of the resettlement movements in Newfoundland. Some tours also use an ROV to show patrons underwater features of the land. 

Overall, the Dark Tickle Company is an important business in St. Lunaire - Griquet. They employ nine to ten people and as such, are an excellent business to support. I highly recommend checking them out!