The Wildflower @ Chateau Whistler, Whistler, British Columbia

Nestled at the base of Blackcomb Mountain, it took Canadian Pacific Hotels to build another chateau with luxurious rooms, lots of dining options including the Wildflower, award-winning golf and a full-service spa. Although it’s now a Fairmont property, it remains one of the finest such properties in Canada.

Chateau Whistler’s Executive Chef Isabel Chung, the only female Executive Chef in Fairmont, has built quite a team in this, one of the busiest hotels in western Canada.

Enter Executive Sous Chef, Derek Bendig who leads the culinary charge in all four full-time and two seasonal restaurants.  I’m not sure anyone has his energy!  His expansive personality and prodigious knowledge of all things food-related make him a perfect choice to oversee such a complex and important side of the hotel’s food service. He’s won accolades from Food Day Canada and in 2017 was invited to cook with other Food Day chefs at the James Beard House in Manhattan, after which he pretty much tasted his way through the city. I’m not sure any of the other chefs could keep up with him….I know I couldn’t. 

There’s a ton of talent in these hotel kitchens and what we’ll see unfolding over the summer does Canada proud. You may taste maple-cured Arctic char with a wild vegetable salad, watercress aioli, and wrapped in smoldering cedar paper (at left). Or there might be a Chateau-smoked salmon poutine using legendary Yukon Gold potatoes, likely grown up the road in Pemberton, a spoonful of fresh cream cheese, extra virgin canola oil sabayon and local B.C. sturgeon caviar.  Can it get any more decadent?

Chef Bendig is a hunter and although no wild game can be served in his restaurants, he knows how to serve it forth. Check out the roasted venison loin with wild mushroom and barley “risotto”, wilted mustard greens and mustard seed jus. It would have to go with a lusty cabernet franc or possibly even a Syrah from the Okanagan. And speaking of wine..for as long as I can remember, the emphasis has been on B.C. first with a cellar gathered from the likes of Quail’s Gate, Cedar Creek and Mission Hill to name only three. And there are cocktails including this one dedicated to Canada 150!

Menu Introduction ~ Food Day Canada 2019

Tradition and Innovation in Agriculture

For this years menu I decided to showcase the bounty right outside our front door and source everything directly from the Whistler Farmers Market, we are spoiled with the produce, fruit and ethically pasture raised meats that show up every Sunday and Wednesday here in Whistler from all over the sea to sky corridor and I have partnered with some of my favorites for this menu. 

We are thrilled to be able to pair all of these items with the portfolio of Roche wines out of Penticton BC, winemakers Penelope and Dylan Roche have deep roots in French traditions dedicated to natural, artisanal farming and winemaking. They grow using traditional and organic methods and their wines reveal the relation of the terrior and the wine. They will prove to be excellent pairings for the menu.

Contact The Wildflower at the number below to reserve a Food Day Canada table.

The Wildflower est l’un des beaucoup de restaurants à travers tout le Canada qui participent au Journée des terroirs.

The Wildflower @ The Chateau Whistler
4599 Chateau Boulevard
Whistler, British Columbia
V0N 1B4

Photography by Julie Zoney.