With Canada’s sesquicentennial upon us (and the rest of the year to keep celebrating), restaurants all over the country are rampizng up the Canadiana factor in their cuisine.
The result is a massive edible celebration that should see more than a few full stomachs and giddy heads over the next few months.
In Whistler, the grandest affair is taking place at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler, where executive chef Isabel Chung and her team have brought their “eh” game to craft a tasting menu that covers ocean, mountain, prairie and every topography in between.
The planning started months ago.
“We compiled a list of all the things that made us feel Canadian, including those things that made us nostalgic or brought us back to our childhoods,” explains Chung.
The list grew to include more than 100 items, which were eventually whittled down to less than 40.
“It really was a team effort,” continues Chung. “As a group, we decided which items were in and which were out. We started to pair them together and see where they took us.”
Chung’s team included her executive sous chef Derek Bendig, as well as staff whose childhood tastes were reflective of their immigrant experience. It all ended up being part of the menu.
“I want people to feel a sense of wonder, a sense of understanding about what we have here [in Canada],” says Chung. “We truly feel this is an homage for everything we have here, from the aquaculture to the amazing grains raised on the prairies to what we have in the wild.”
That sense of childlike wonder is delivered in the first course of the Fairmont Chateau’s Canada 150 menu.
Maple-cured arctic char is wrapped, scroll-like, in a slightly smouldering sheet of cedar. The sheet is paper-thin and emits the most aromatic, woodsy and enticing scent.
Unwrap the scroll and the scented steam hits the nose at the same time that the fish is revealed, served over a wild vegetable salad and dotted with a watercress aioli.
Each dish is paired with a glass from Quail’s Gate, which is highly apropos as this winery boasts some of the oldest vines in Canada.
The second course, a poutine featuring salmon smoked in-house, fresh cream cheese, canola sabayon, chives and BC’s Northern Divine sturgeon caviar over fried yellow-flesh potatoes, is paired with the 2015 Chardonnay, whose well balanced acidity and floral notes cut nicely through the richness of the fish and cream.
Bison tartare with fried bannock is served with a glass of the rosé, which is sturdy enough to hold up the lovely gaminess of the meat.
The eight-course menu is an experience best prepared for by lunching lightly and working up an appetite by taking in the Peak to Peak 360° Experience and a hike along one of the 50-plus kilometres of trails around the town.
The Canada 150 menu is available for the month of July in the Grill Room for $150 per person (including wine pairings).
More 150 foodie fun in Whistler
Looking for more places in Whistler to celebrate Canada’s 150th? Check out these spots:
Bar Oso has crafted an Oso Sour featuring maple-candied bacon. baroso.ca
Araxi will be hosting a special brunch on Canada Day with specials from executive chef James Walt. araxi.com
Four Seasons Resort and Residence Whistler has launched a “Hunt, Gather, Fish” three-course menu at Sidecut. The $39 menu is available with optional wine pairings (additional $49) from Orofino Vineyards. sidecutwhistler.com
Anya Levykh is a food, drink and travel writer who covers all things ingestible. Find her on Twitter and Instagram: @foodgirlfriday.
