BOWING OUT IN BANFF, UNCORKED IN CANMORE
Restaurant scene bids adieu to an icon, gears up for feasts galore this spring
Back in 1980, Albert Moser and his family made a bold restaurant move. At the time, Banff’s highend dining scene was largely handled by the Banff Springs Hotel while downtown eateries catered to a more casual market with the likes of The Balkan and The Paris Restaurant. Moser felt the town needed a top-notch, high-quality, non-hotel dining room. So, backed by years of experience in the hospitality industry, he took over the top floor of a building on the corner of Banff Avenue and Buffalo Street and opened Le Beaujolais. The elegant setting, the incredible view, the classic French cuisine and the professional service drew fans from around the globe and Le Beaujolais became known as one of Canada’s finest restaurants. But this weekend, after Moser pours his last glass of Bordeaux and caramelizes his final tarte Tatin, Le Beaujolais will close its doors.
Moser recently received an offer from Mike Mandelman, the owner of other Banff restaurants including the Maple Leaf and Park Distillery, and decided to sell. His children have all gone off to other careers and he felt it was a good time to move on himself. Moser is happy that his beloved restaurant will be taken over by Mandelman’s Banff-based restaurant group.
Mandelman, who credits Moser and Le Beaujolais for his first fine-dining experience, will shortly initiate renovations that will convert Le Beaujolais into Chuck’s Steakhouse, named after his father. It will be an upscale steak house, featuring an all-Alberta beef experience. Look for it to open this summer.
As for Moser, he has kept the name Le Beaujolais and plans to remain in the Banff area. And he’s not talking retirement. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him pop up again with some new hospitality venture after a well-deserved break.
Dining outside in the mountains is always a pleasure — fresh air, lovely views, the occasional wildlife encounter. When the weather is good, that is.
So planning an outdoor dinner on April 7 seems like a dodgy affair. Could be a touch chilly, maybe even snowy.
But the thought of inclement weather doesn’t bother the folks in Canmore. When 150 of them sit down outdoors at Canmore Uncorked’s Long Table Dinner on April 7, they’ll be ready for whatever weather hits them. They’ll chow down on food and drink from 13 Canmore restaurants and food outlets at a long line of tables spanning two blocks of downtown Canmore.
The long table dinner is part of Canmore Uncorked, an annual food and drink festival that last year won Event of the Year at the Canadian Tourism Awards. Other events include progressive dinners, wine, whisky and craft beer tastings, bistro tours with music from Quartetto Gelato, a pubcrawl, a Big Brunch featuring a wealth of Canmore restaurants and a long list of prix fixe menus.
One of the most unique events is a progressive dinner called the Olympian Cycle Tour. This dinner visits four restaurants by bicycle. But this is no gentle toodle through Canmore’s downtown; it’s a 17-kilometre trek with some serious elevation, taking participants to the Iron Goat high up in the Cougar Creek bench- lands and then to the Market Bistro in the Three Sisters area. And just to take it up a notch, the tour is led by Olympic athletes Sara Renner and Thomas Grandi. (More Olympians are slated to join as well.)
For more information and tickets for Canmore Uncorked, April 6 to 17, check out www. tourismcanmore.com.
Also doing a big food event is Bragg Creek, with their fourth annual Taste of Bragg Creek filling the evening of Friday, April 1, with food and beverages. The first three events were held in Bragg Creek Centre but that facility was damaged by water in January so this year’s event will be different. Each participating merchant will team up with a liquor vendor to offer in-house specials from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. that evening. So have a bite and sip and then head on to the next location. (Maps of participating businesses will be available.)
Included in this year’s event are The Bavarian Inn, Italian Farmhouse, Spirits West, The Powderhorn, River Spirit Golf Club and more. For more info, check out www.tasteofbraggcreek.ca.
The hotel lounge used to be the place to meet for smart drinks, snappy conversation and business meetings. But in recent years cocktail culture has been taken over by independent lounges and restaurants, places with creative mixed drink ideas and energetic settings.
Fairmont Hotels & Resorts has decided it’s time to bring back the hotel lounge and the cocktails that made them popular. It’s launched an initiative called Classics. Perfected., and has redefined the Manhattan, the Moscow Mule, the Old-Fashioned and many more. So whether you’re in the Jasper Park Lodge, The Chateau Lake Louise, The Banff Springs, The Palliser or even Singapore’s Raffles or London’s Savoy, you should be able to find your favourite drink in its best form.
And you can expect to find a great Caesar at our local Fairmonts too.
This is no gentle toodle through Canmore’s downtown; it’s a 17-kilometre trek with some serious elevation.