Event serves up Big Taste of Banff’s burgeoning food scene
As across the rest of Alberta, Banff’s culinary scene is booming, with new restaurants and eateries popping up and old favourites consistently filled with locals and visitors looking for a Canadian food experience.
The Eden in the Rimrock Hotel is one of only a handful of 5-Diamond restaurants in Canada — and the only 5-Diamond dining room west of Ottawa, with over 17,000 bottles of wine in its inventory.
Visitors from all over the world come to experience Alberta beef at the 1888 Chop House in the Fairmont Banff Springs and the new Chuck’s Steakhouse recently took over the space that was Le Beaujolais. There’s the new Park Distillery, serving up campfire-inspired cuisine and distilling spirits with Alberta grains and glacier water, and a bowling lane with New Yorkstyle pizza and 48 craft beers on tap, to name just a few.
From Jan. 18 to 22, Banff’s Big Taste will draw even more appetites. What started two years ago as a small food and wine sampling event at the Maple Leaf Grill, the culinary component of the annual SnowDays Festival is expanding to include 23 restaurants, filling five days with dinners, programs and events. With a goal of raising the culinary profile of the town, the main draw of the extra-long weekend of feasting will be the Grand Tasting Hall at the Fairmont Banff Springs, which on Thursday and Friday nights will feature bites and sips from eight different restaurants. Between Wednesday and Sunday, the schedule of events is packed — you could hit the slopes at Lake Louise and enjoy a four- course lunch (with wine pairings) or join a private, family-style dinner with Chuck of Chuck’s Steakhouse in the restaurant’s almost famous Hat Room. There are opportunities to join master distiller Matt Hendriks for a behind-the-scenes tour of Park Distillery. And at Nourish Bistro, known as one of Alberta’s best vegetarian and vegan eateries, three of Banff’s top bartenders will offer a three-course cocktail class, led by their own mixologist, Caleb Olney.
Back at the Maple Leaf, renowned Canadian artist Les Thomas has created three pieces of artwork to pair with and discuss throughout three courses of Canadian food and wine. And at Juniper Bistro, chef Chris Irving will collaborate with local elders and chef Nick Nutting of Tofino’s Wolf In The Fog to produce an Indigenous Winter — an interpretive culinary journey from the West Coast to the Rockies.
All great reasons to hop in the car and take a drive, or book a night and take a semi-staycation.
Visit banffsbigtaste.com for more information.