Some people will go to any lengths to find a great meal, even if they have to walk, bike or snowshoe their way to it

by Rhonda May

– and for those people there is Swallow Tail Tours, a Vancouver-based tour company that specializes in regional gastronomic adventure.

Company owner, Robin Kort, an enthusiastic cook, certified oenophile and lover of the great outdoors, knows where the highest quality edibles are to be found throughout the province, and being athletically inclined, she leads many of the tours herself – whether these be pedal-pumping tours of the Okanagan Wine Valley, hikes to secret swimming holes on the Gulf Islands or treks across frozen Coastal Range lakes.

The getting there may require a certain amount of huff and puff (tours can be up to five days long), but at some point during each day comes the goal, and the reward – an amazing multi-course meal made from fresh, regional B.C. ingredients matched to the best B.C. wines. Like the participants on her tours, Kort cares that the food she eats is nourishing for the body and sustainable for the planet. Hence, all meat, dairy and eggs served on the tours are sourced from B.C. organic producers raising free-range, hormone-free animals fed on a natural diet. The bread is likely to have been made from flour ground at a local mill with heritage flour, the cheese lovingly crafted by artisan cheese makers, the produce grown by local organic farms, the wine bottled by eco-conscious British Columbia vineyards.

Whatever food you discover, you’ll want second helpings, and you’ll feel okay about that because – hey, you just burned off all those calories.

The tours are not, however, only for Olympians in training. The focus is more about getting food lovers closer to the source of their diet in a healthy, active way. 

The tours are not, however, only for Olympians in training. The focus is more about getting food lovers closer to the source of their diet in a healthy, active way. Kort keeps her tours small and intimate (seven to 10 people max) and they can be tailored to the fitness level of the group. Cyclists on the tours, for example, are trailed by vans, giving participants the option to cycle or ride along as much as they choose. Then of course, at the end of the day, there are those other fresh-air attractions, such as hot-tub soaking, fireside lounging under the stars and repose in a quaint farmhouse, unique B & B or rustic mountain cabin.

If time is limited, Swallowtail Tours also offers popular one-day excursions from Vancouver, such as its crabbing trip – an outing at sea on a fish boat to set crab pots, followed by a Dungeness crab fest in Kort’s own kitchen featuring the day’s catch.

As Robin Kort explains, “My tours are the perfect break for the couple where one partner wants to engage in some sort of activity and the other cares more about great dining. This way they can vacation together and have both.”

You can follow Robin on Twitter
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or via her own cooking blog

While Vancouver and Whistler are jumping with frenzied Olympic activity, what are the citizens of Victoria doing?

by Rhonda May

Apparently, taking it easy with a nice cup of tea. As a matter of fact, British Columbia’s capital city on Vancouver Island has decided to market itself as a nearby refuge from the mayhem of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games with a campaign called “Calm on over to Vancouver Island.”

The plan initiated by Tourism Victoria invites visitors to take advantage of seasonally low priced accommodation and dining options while taking in the crowd-free attractions afforded by the city’s heritage architecture, colourful gardens and emerging arts and culture scene. And with Victoria only one hour away from Vancouver by seaplane, half a day by ferry, the program is meant to appeal to both besieged Vancouverites as well as tourists who would like to see more of Canada’s west coast while they are in the region. Hence, the  agency has assisted travellers with their getaway plans by providing a day-by-day transportation guide that can be downloaded here.

Here is a quick look at some top events taking place in Victoria in February.

Have a cuppa …

The 4th Annual Victoria Tea Festival will take place February 13-14, 2010, at the Victoria Conference Centre’s Crystal Garden. International tea experts and sellers will be on hand to help attendees pour and sample the complete spectrum-wheel of teas: green, black, white, oolong, herbal and floral. Teas, accessories and food pairing will be available for purchase and festival goers may also attend workshops and lectures that outline the health benefits of tea, as well as the etiquette of the serving ritual. Tickets are Cdn$20 (Cdn$25 at the door) and can be obtained by calling 250-370-4880.

Dine around …

Dine Around, Stay in Town is the year’s best opportunity for exploring Victoria’s vibrant dining scene, from small independent restaurants and unique brewpubs to iconic institutions such as the stately Fairmont Empress Hotel. The program, modeled on similar successful programs in New York, Seattle, San Francisco and Vancouver, offers menus at 50 participating restaurants with prices fixed at $20, $30 or $40 per person. All menus come with B.C. VQA wine-pairing suggestions. The city’s major hotels will join in on this deal too, with rooms offered at Cdn$69, Cdn$79, Cdn$89 and Cdn$129 under the “Pillows and Plates” plan. Dine Around, Stay in Town begins February 18 and runs until March 7, 2010.

Watch the Iron (Tea Kettle) Chef Challenge…

Courtesy Fairmont Empress Hotel

If you happen to be in town the night of February 24, you might like to take in the “Mission Emp-possible” competition between Takashi Ito, executive chef of the Fairmont Empress Hotel, and Matthew Batey, executive winery chef for the Okanagan’s Mission Hill Family Estate Winery. The two chefs will engage in friendly competition by creating five dishes each, paired with Mission Hill wines. Immediately afterwards, each dish will be publicly critiqued by a panel of celebrity judges. Kevin Brauch of the Food Network’s Iron Chef America and the Thirsty Traveller, will serve as the emcee and Mission Hill’s chief winemaker John Simes will join him in a spirited discussion of the wine and food pairings at the dinner. (Brauch will also be unveiling new Icewine cocktails at the Empress’ Bengal Lounge the night of February 23, 2010.)  Tickets for the “Battle of the Chefs” are $150 per person exclusive of taxes and gratuities; note, only 130 spaces are available. Reserve by calling 250-389-2727. The event takes place 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. in the Empress Dining Room at the Fairmont Empress Hotel. Victoria Harbourfront.

See the big picture …

Another good dining option is Vista 18 in the Chateau Victoria Hotel and Suites. The landmark rooftop dining room has just undergone an extensive facelift and will reopen to the public early in February. We haven’t seen the inside yet but sources say the décor has been simplified and modernized to put the focal point on the restaurant’s stunning views as well as what’s on the plate. Alos as part of the new look, artist Charles Gabriel has custom-designed signature glass and mirror pieces for the dining room and the adjacent Martini and Wine bar will feature an Aqua Creation silk ceiling fixture that is four feet in diameter. Executive Chef Garrett Schack’s menu using Vancouver Island ingredients, the selection of local beers on tap, as well as an extensive list of B.C. wines by the glass certainly signify a “Uniquely B.C.” experience. Vista 18 will be open all day and will offer live entertainment on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings.  740 Burdett Avenue., Victoria. 1-800-663-5891.

See also:

Another Chance to View the Olympic Medals

Courtesy cityfood.com

Thanks to a number of globally styled yet locally produced alcohol products making their debut on the B.C. culinary scene, 2009 could very well end up as the year of the “100-mile tipple.”

Not the least of these newcomers is Chambar Ale, a pale ale named after the popular Belgian restaurant (located in Vancouver’s Crosstown), that both inspired and commissioned it.

Says Chambar co-owner Karri Schuermans, “Our restaurant has made a reputation for its list of premium Belgian and Northern European beer. But what with import and transportation costs, the fuel usage involved and everyone’s preference these days for sustainable, local eating, we thought: ‘Wouldn’t it be great if we could offer a 100 per cent local beer product without compromising quality or changing the style of cuisine that we are known for?’”  

Read more of this post at cityfood.com

Not that anyone really needs a good reason to jet off to Paris. But Harry Kambolis and Shannon Ronalds had two

Kambolis, the owner of three top-rated Vancouver restaurants (C restaurant, Raincity Grill, and nu restaurant + lounge), and Ronalds, Kambolis’s business associate in the Contemporary Ocean Products line of sustainable food items, have just flown back from the international SeaFood Summit, held this February in the “City of Lights. (Yes, we restrained ourselves from giving this article the title: “Something’s Fishy in Paris”). 

See the rest of this article at cityfood.com

With less than 30 days to go until the Olympics arrive, we’ll be tracking the best deals and specials to be found at restaurants, bars, street venues and food and wine stores within (and close to) the pedestrian red-zone entertainment areas of the city. Information will be organized by streets and neighbourhoods.  For complete information, be sure to access this page from the Daily News Section or if you are using an iPhone, from the hot button on our home page. New items will be added daily. Restaurants and retailers may send us their updates via email to contact@cityfood.com. We will also be posting all updates to our Twitter and Facebook accounts (to be announced).

Link to this article at cityfood.com

For some time now, bartenders at the trendiest saloons around British Columbia have been flavouring their drinks with syrups, infusions and bitters concocted from locally sourced herbs, fruits and woods. Yet only recently have they been able to slip locally distilled spirits into their gunbelts as well.

Vancouver Island winery, Winchester Cellers, spearheaded the arrival of micro-distilleries when its gleaming copper still brought forth Victoria Gin, an artisan liquor distilled from a long list of local, organic ingredients. (Most recently they’ve launched a house made lemon bitters). Next, Frank Deiter fired up his Okanagan Spirits distillery to make fragrant eau de vie from the abundant fruit crops to be found around Vernon.  Merridale Estate Cidery in Cowichan began their program with local brandy, and then in the summer of 2009, Tyler Schramm of Pemberton joined this spirited community by introducing British Columbia’s first commercially bottled, small-batch organic vodka.

The justification for placing a vodka distillery in the middle of traditional farm country was an obvious one.  After all, Schramm’s land was planted with acres of the liquor’s singular ingredient – potatoes. And not just any potatoes, but Pemberton potatoes!

For Schramm, the justification for placing a vodka distillery in the middle of traditional farm country was an obvious one. After all, his land was planted with acres of the liquor’s singular ingredient – potatoes. And not just any potatoes, but Pemberton potatoes! In agricultural circles, the Valley just north of Whistler has a reputation for having some of the most fertile growing conditions for spuds on the planet. All thanks to eons of geological activity by flooding rivers, shifting mountains, and yes, melting glaciers – the benefactor that other vodka companies point to when they are only discussing the purity of their water.

Considering these ideal conditions, if the alchemy of turning prime tubers and clean mountain water into potato vodka has not been attempted before now, B.C.’s archaic liquor laws may have been to blame. All alcohol produced in the province is subject to such heavy sales taxes that their weight tends to crush the life out of entrepreneurial incentive. However, with the demand for locally produced food products on the increase, Schramm could see the potential for a made-in-B.C. alcohol. So he took to the idea in spades, so to speak.

Today’s Jeopardy Question: How Many Kilos of Potatoes Are Needed to Make One 750-mL Bottle of Vodka?

Dusting off his university science degree, Tyler enrolled at the Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh in order to notch up his skills in brewing and distilling. Once armed with this new expertise, he and his two brothers then set forth on a long winter’s march toward production – selecting appropriate land, constructing a distillery, buying essential equipment from Europe and ordering truckloads of potatoes from local organic farmers (it takes seven kilos of potatoes to make one 750 mL bottle of vodka), not to mention waging many frustrating and arduous battles with bureaucratic red tape and licensing delays. But finally, in July 2009, the Schramm brothers’ first potato vodka was ready for bottling and distribution to markets throughout western Canada.

David Wolowydnik, bar manager at Vancouver’s West restaurant, feels Scramm’s vodka has the substance to hold its own against some of his spiciest cocktail recipes.

Consumers may be surprised by the result. Vodka made from potatoes exhibits a very different taste profile to that of the ubiquitous grain vodkas, which are often over distilled to the point of becoming flavourless and odourless. The potato version is marked by a distinct earthiness with a faint sweetness from the potato starch, and a mouthfeel that some may describe as “full-bodied character” and others might dismiss as “forward.” Schramm Vodka, in particular, has faint peppery, herbal-flavour notes, a melted-snow softness and a mineral edge that is appropriate for the label’s illustration of the Coast Mountains. David Wolowydnik, bar manager at Vancouver’s West restaurant, feels it has the substance to hold its own against some of his spiciest cocktail recipes, such as the Schramm “Old Tom” Gibson he makes with his own house-pickled, organic onions. You can view his recipe by clicking here.

Now that the company is distilling approximately 1,300 bottles a month, you can find Schramm Vodka in creative bars and restaurants around the province. At the retail level it sells for $49.99 and is widely available at BC Liquor Distribution branches.

Link to cityfood.com.

Photo courtesy Schramm Vodka