CULINARY HIGHS IN THE ROCKIES
Bow Valley chefs upping their game
It wasn’t too long ago that a trip to an attraction in the Rocky Mountains likely meant a meal comprised of “tourist trap” food.
Yes, there’s always been high-end cuisine at the various restaurants within hotels like the Fairmont Banff Springs or The Rimrock, but when it came to travelling to the top of a mountain by gondola or stopping at a small lodge after a day of hiking, cafeteria or pub food was usually the most that one could expect. But as both tourists and local day-trippers get savvier and expect something distinctively Canadian in the most iconic of Canadian settings, chefs in the Bow Valley are upping their game and attempting to offer the same kinds of culinary experience that diners get in the best restaurants in the city.
Take, for example, the recently renovated Pomeroy Kananaskis Mountain Lodge, formerly known as the Delta Lodge at Kananaskis (403-591-7711). The hotel has seen a recent surge in local traffic, thanks to its newly opened Nordic Spa.
Hotel chef Eric Beaupre has taken pains to create experiences in the property’s restaurants that will coax spa-goers to stay for dinner, rather than seeking a meal back in Calgary or down the road in Canmore or Banff.
Beaupre, who worked at the hotel a decade ago but then departed to gigs at the Fairmont Winnipeg and the Fairmont Tremblant, returned to Kananaskis early this year to oversee the menus at the Lodge’s Forte Restaurant, Cedar Room, Blacktail Bar and other eateries (and yes, before anyone asks, Woody’s Pub is still there and it looks and feels exactly the same).
With all of the on-site restaurants, Beaupre takes an approach rooted in local and from-scratch food movements. Everything from the pasta to the ricotta in Forte’s signature Lodge Lasagne ($22) is made from scratch. Cedar Room’s bison rib eye and elk strip loin (each $59) are sourced from Rangeland Farms in Lacombe. While Beaupre admits it’s a challenge to get local meat and produce out to the mountains, it’s worth the effort.
“The guests want to hear a story,” Beaupre says. “When you can talk about the pork and that it’s local, from a farm in Alberta, it’s easy to sell.”
It’s not just hotels that are taking farm-to-table to new heights. Chef Scott Hergott (another Fairmont alumnus who spent 18 years in the kitchens of the Banff Springs Hotel) took over the food program at the top of the newly renovated Banff Gondola at Sulphur Mountain (403-7627475) this February. While he also takes care of the gondola’s more casual Northern Lights restaurant, his baby is the Sky Bistro. Sitting at 2,281 metres, Sky Bistro’s menu is decidedly Canadiana, decidedly seasonal and decidedly local. The Gondola people like to call it “farm-to-summit.”
“We’ve got people coming in from all over the world who may only ever come to Canada once,” Hergott says. “Why wouldn’t we give people the experience of something that’s local and something that’s close to our hearts?”
With that in mind, Sky Bistro features an all-Canadian wine and beer list and dishes like a twice-baked pork belly made with pork from Alberta’s Bear and the Flower Farm ($38), an ancient grain risotto studded with wild B.C. mushrooms ($27) and Oceanwise steamed mussels made with Banff Ave. Brewing Company’s black Pilsner ($18).
Note that Hergott is changing his menu in late October to make use of seasonal ingredients and give snow season visitors a dose of winter comfort food.
This trend is catching on with other Banff chefs who want to draw in Calgarians for a special meal, as well as tourists.
The refurbished Cliffhouse Bistro (on Mount Norquay Scenic Dr., 403-762-4421), at the top of the Mount Norquay sightseeing chairlift, also makes a point of serving comfort food created with local ingredients.
It’s only open for the season through to Oct. 10, but chef Morne Burger plans on hosting special ticketed dinners in the space throughout the winter season.
In other Banff restaurant news, chef watchers may know that the Fairmont Banff Springs’ executive chef J.W. Foster moved on to the Fairmont Royal York in Toronto this spring. Chef Robert Ash was just appointed as the Banff Springs’ new executive chef, presiding over all of the hotel’s 12 restaurants, ranging from the popular Rundle Lounge to the luxurious 1888 Chophouse and the new French-themed Vermillion Room.
Ash comes from the Omni Hotel in Orlando and, before that, the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee.
Back here in Calgary, for beer lovers who can’t wait until May for the Calgary International Beerfest, Alberta Beer Festivals will be hosting an event on Sept. 21-22 called The Mashing.
Festivalgoers will convene at the Stampede Grandstand to sample craft beer, cider, spirits and food while listening to music courtesy of the BassBus, watching performances from Cirque de la Nuit, and enjoying movies presented by Fresh Air Cinema. The Mashing is an 18+ event.
Visit albertabeerfestivals.com for tickets.