A Brewmaster’s Dinner at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, B.C.

Dan    Calgary & Area, Restaurants     amazing, beer, Big Rock Brewery, dinner, eating out, I'm on a mountain!, Kicking Horse

Aside from winter ski trips, I can’t think of another time I’ve had to take a gondola, certainly not to just to have supper. The Eagle’s Eye restaurant is situated on the very top of Kicking Horse Mountain Resort in British Columbia. Right outside of Golden, BC (about two and half hours from Calgary), this resort establishment’s tagline is ‘Canada’s most elevated dining experience’, which is most definitely true. It is the highest altitude restaurant in Canada — so high, in fact, that even when I was there for dinner, on Canada Day, it was snowing.

I came to Kicking Horse to attend the first of a trio of events in the resort’s Summer Dinner Concert Series. Entitled the Brewmaster’s Dinner, this particular night featured beer pairings with its five courses, as well as performances by a great local musician. The resort had partnered with Calgary’s Big Rock Brewery for this particular event. Each dish, along with the beer pairing, would be presented by executive chef, Sylvain Bourget and a representative of Big Rock’s. I’m a beer man through and through, so, needless to say, I was definitely looking forward to this experience.

The first course was a pan-seared pickerel served atop wild boar bacon rösti with a smoked green tomato jam. Wow, say that ten times fast. Wait, actually don’t, it will just make you hungry. The tomato jam was especially nice, and anything involving wild boar bacon is generally a key to my heart. This dish was paired with Big Rock’s Grasshopper Wheat Ale, an appropriately summer brew to juxtapose with the snow outside the restaurant.

The next dish that was brought to our table was a cute little cup of snap pea soup accompanied by an equally cute (dare I say adorable?) tomato crisp. This soup was definitely one of the main highlights of the dinner for me. It was so fresh tasting, like drinking the essence of summer. Almost in an ‘Ursula stealing Ariel’s voice in The Little Mermaid’ kind of a way, but not as creepy. A new beer to the Big Rock family, their take on an India Pale Ale, paired perfectly with the soup.

As a palate-cleansing third course, we were served a sweet corn and Warthog Ale sorbet garnished with a green baby corn. It certainly cleansed my palate, but I don’t think I’ll be heading to my local ice cream shop in search of this sorbet combo anytime soon. Nonetheless, it did its job. Palate cleansed. Next.

Ah, the main… Side note: the best/worst thing about writing up great dining experiences is remembering what everything tasted like. ‘Best’ because of the fond food memories, and ‘worst’ because it makes you hungry! This plate consisted of barley risotto and a very tender Alberta beef tenderloin in a chanterelle cream sauce. I did everything short of my lick my plate with this one. My only wish was that there was a bit more chanterelle cream, but that’s kind of like wanting more bacon; you don’t really need it. Paired up with this course was the Big Rock Traditional Ale. Definitely their ‘ol’ faithful’, it stood up to the red meat and richness of the dish.

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