Food Day Canada - Celebrating Canadian Food

The Terrace Restaurant, Kelowna, British Columbia

Perched on a majestic hill overlooking the valley, Mission Hill Family Estate Winery is one of the most beautiful wineries in Canada. From its iconic bell tower, the bells, one for each member of the von Mandl family, peal at noon echoing over Lake Okanagan. No visit to the Okanagan is complete without enjoying at least one glass of wine at Mission Hill Family Estate, taking a tour of the underground cellars and having lunch or dinner at The Terrace Restaurant; officially named as one of the top five winery restaurants in the world by Travel + Leisure magazine. The winery reached an international milestone in 1994 when Mission Hill Grand Reserve Chardonnay 1992 won the Avery Trophy for Best Chardonnay Worldwide at the International Wine and Spirit Competition in London. This first major award ushered in the new era of B .C. wine-making. This was recently followed another major milestone when the 2011 Martin’s Lane Pinot Noir was names Best Pinot Noir in the world by the Decanter World Wine Awards in 2013. With Chef Patrick Gayler holding the culinary reins, the world renowned wines are matched exquisitely with menus that could hold their own with any. With summer breezes cooling the open Terrace, diners overlook now-mature rows of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines and have a panoramic view of the valley. Chef Gayler is constantly challenging himself to stretch the boundaries of creativity, fermenting ingredients like soy sauce and miso and making buttermilk and an array of charcuterie on site. He’s had sea buckthorn planted to press for ponzu sauce, the classic Japanese flavouring. This year his goal is to entirely delete citrus from the kitchens so off to the vineyards they went to harvest green grapes for about 200 litres of verjus. There’s artisan honey and annually thousands of jars of local stone fruit are canned and stored. The entire culinary programme uses OceanWise fish and shellfish. There is a psychology that permeates all the menus. There is a reason for every dish and every wine! Chef Gayler explained; “We look at seasonality/proximity of product and then look to the best suited varietal.” The vineyard garden vegetables are served with the estate-made miso then paired with a Viogner because the floral aroma is heightened by the lightly fermented flavor and aroma of the miso. Our rosé is mostly shiraz and has a great red fruit quality of strawberry and rhubarb. In the foie gras tart the Crimson rhubarb’s acidity is beautiful with the rosé’s crisp style.” The dry-aged Yarrow Meadows duck is served with Terrace-fermented kimchi some sprouted and then fried rye and hearts from the same ducks. Chef Gayler admits that it’s “not the easiest pairing” but he’s made it work. “The sweet earthiness of the sprouted rye matches with a pinot noir well and even though the hearts have lots of flavor, they are lean and not too rich for the pinot.” As the summer heat abates and the harvest begins in earnest, the demonstration kitchen becomes home to dozens of cooking evenings, among which one of the themes is matching the fine wines produced by all the winery’s vineyards with local foods. From charcoal cookery to the foods of an Italian Christmas over 60 evenings are dedicated to sharing the Chef Gayler’s cache of culinary knowledge. MHFE_FoodDay_Terrace Lunch Menu MHFE_FoodDay_Terrace Dinner Menu MHFE_FoodDay_Terrace Dessert Menu Contact The Terrace at the number below to reserve a Food Day Canada table. Contactez The Terrace Restaurant directement, au numéro ci-dessous, afin de faire votre réservation pour Journée des terroirs. The Terrace Restaurant at Mission Hill Winery 1730 Mission Hill Road, Central Okanagan, B.C. V4T 2T1 T: 250 768 6448...

The Wickaninnish Inn & The Pointe Restaurant, Tofino, B.C.

Soft round notes of a hidden flute rise as the early summer sun sets over the Pacific. The shores become shadowy; frogs take over, singing their hearts out. Offshore a line of breakers surge onto a reef connecting the islands. The Wickaninnish presides over it all. This is Tofino, more specifically, The Wickaninnish Inn, the long time dream of the McDiarmid family located in an area that is now an official UNESCO World Biosphere. It is also, according to the readers of Travel & Leisure North America’s premier travel magazine, the #1 Western Canadian Resort 2016; and a Platinum Circle Member 2016 according to Condé Nast Traveler’s readers.! BRAVO! On all three sides of the inn there is the often-pounding ocean, the backdrop is an old growth forest. When I think of The “Wick” I think of whales and storms and fabulous surf and equally fabulous food. At night the only lights on the beach are from glimmering masses of stars, the lighthouse that flashes rhythmically and a few flickering campfires. Tofino is rich in great ingredients. Crab is harvested all year round; there are wild berries by the ton; the salmon stocks are healthy; the halibut that’s on the menu is landed almost in front of the inn. There are gooseneck barnacles, fresh clams and fat, briny beach oysters. Executive Chef Carmen Ingham uses them all in The Pointe Restaurant, a dining room with a 240’ view of the Pacific. They buy cheeses from The Happy Goat Cheese Company in...

Dosanko, Vancouver

The Japanese culture in British Columbia is centuries old. They came as fishing families and stayed. In Vancouver, the restaurants that sprang up were largely sushi places. Real Japanese cooking was found in the home kitchens of what is now loosely called Japantown. It’s those somewhat homespun interpretations of B.C. ingredients that have formed the basis of the menu for this lively restaurant. Dosanko began with a single dish: nikujaga, (at left) a hearty...

360 The Restaurant at the CN Tower, Toronto

Their tagline is “Canadian Ingredients ~~ Canadian Wine ~~ Canadian View” The unspoken one…at least publicly is “we don’t buy things in, we make things here.” Since John Morris took over as the Executive Chef, the dining experience at 360 has become even more stridently Canadian. He hails from the renowned National Arts Centre in Ottawa where every meal was expected to reflect our nation’s cuisine. Food and Beverage Director Peter George grew up...

Anju, Calgary

Defining Canadian cuisine, for me, is easy. It’s one word…”possibilities”. As food travels from region to region, as immigration patterns evolve, so does our food culture. And with that, comes the challenge for agricultural production. Anju is a terrific example of how Canadian cuisine is being enriched with flavours from every corner of the world. Chef Roy Oh was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta. His parents were immigrants and as is typical, they...

Waterfront Wines Restaurant, Kelowna, British Columbia

Kelowna is a hotbed of culinary talent. Many of the young chefs (seems that youth is a prerequisite) have arrived from across Canada. Because the city is at the heart of the wine industry, it was just a matter of time before a chef with sommelier credentials would land in the valley. In 2004, Chef/Sommelier Mark Filatow opened his intimate Waterfront Wines Restaurant. Up till then Mark had honed his culinary skills at some of...