All posts tagged with: Chefs Across the Water

Chefs Across the Water is back for another year at Hastings Country House on Salt Spring Island. The third-annual guest chef program invites distinguished chefs from luxury hotels and gourmet restaurants to participate in a dinner series in June, September and October.

The 2012 Chefs Across the Water participants are:

• Chef Nicholas Nutting, The Wickaninnish Inn, Monday, June 11th
• Chef Lee Parsons, The Wedgewood Hotel, Monday, September 17th
• Chef Terry Pichor, Sonora Resort, Tuesday, October 16th

“We are thrilled to bring chefs with a diverse international repertoire, from the Relais & Châteaux family, here to Hastings House,” said Kelly McAree, Hastings House General Manager. “Our diners will enjoy an exquisite and memorable meal that compliments fully our Salt Spring Island pantry.”

Each chef will prepare a five-course dinner incorporating Salt Spring Island’s produce; seafood that includes, locally caught Dungeness crab and sable fish, as well as lamb and livestock for a foodie’s dream come true.  Wine pairings will be offered to complement the extraordinary menu.

Reservations are now being accepted for the 2nd annual Chef’s Across the Water dinner series at Hastings House Country House Hotel on Salt Spring Island, near Vancouver, BC. Each month for four consecutive months, renowned chefs from Vancouver will prepare a five-course dinner using Salt Spring Island’s bounty of fresh produce, seafood and live-stock.

• July 18 – Vikran Vij from Vij’s
• August 15 – Ernst Dorfler from the Pan Pacific Hotel
• September 12 – Michel Jacob from Le Crocodile
• October 3 – Tojo from Tojo’s

On June 27 there will be a special Alumni dinner featuring the return of the four chefs from the 2010 program: John Bishop (Bishop’s), Sean Brennan (Brasserie L’Ecole), Frank Pabst (Blue Water Café), Pino Posteraro (Cioppino’s), and Alessandra and Jean-Francis Quaglia (Provence Marinaside and Provence Mediterranean Grill).

“We have been incredibly fortunate to have worked with some of the best chefs on the west coast and are equally delighted with our new line up.” said Hastings House General Manager, Kelly McAree. “Each chef will offer up unique culinary creations to stir the palate and tease the mind, with the goal of drawing attention to the issue of sustainability and lamb production on Salt Spring Island.  Our guests have fully embraced the concept and we are very excited to participate in this worthwhile endeavour.”

Salt Spring Island, the largest of BC’s Gulf Islands is a food-lover’s paradise, renowned for their organic fruits and vegetables, meats, and cheeses.  Fresh-caught, wild seafood rounds out nature’s local pantry. In recent years, island wineries have added to the diversity of the local harvest.  Hastings House has an extensive garden yielding an abundance of fruit, vegetables, flowers and herbs.

For more information or to register for one of the Chef’s Across the Water dinner series events, visit the Hastings House website.

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This year, Hastings House Country House Hotel and Dining Room on Salt Spring Island welcomed some of the best Chefs from across BC for the dinner series, Chef’s Across the Water. The fifth and final dinner in the series was held on Monday, October 18 and the hotels very own Executive Chef, Marcel Kauer took to the kitchen to prepare the five course dinner.

The dinner took place in the original manor house, which was converted into two guest suites on the upper floors, and a wonderful and cozy dinning room and lounge on the lower floor. What makes the atmosphere so inviting is the charm and character of the building. The original exposed wood beams and rock quarried right on site give the room warmth and personality. The crackling  wood burning fireplace in the period-dated hearth warms the room, and the table is set with delightful dinnerware and antique silver flatware.

“Our focus of this year’s Chef’s Across the Water is to target food enthusiasts,” said Chris Parks of Hastings House. “Everything is locally grown and produced, and the majority of it is organic.”

There was a pre-set menu. At each course our server would pour the glass of wine, explain where it came from and provided some tasting notes; the same went for the course selection – we were explained what was being featured, how it was prepared, and what we could expect.

The Menu:

• Wild pacific salmon tartar, parsnip chips, fir tree honey and parsley oil
  • 2005 Blue Mountain rose brut
• Caramelized Onion and Apple bisque, goat cheese crouton
  • 2009 Salt Spring Vineyard blattner white
• Seared local pine mushrooms, bright farm leek, orchard pear and smoke albacore tuna ragout
  • 2006 Mission Hill S.L.C. sauvignon blanc/semillion
• Grilled Salt Spring Island lanb, rosemary rosti potatoes, grainy mustard jus
  • 2004 Osoyoos larose
• Hot Hastings House garden quince souffle, Grand Marnier creme anglaise
  • 2008 Elephant Island apricot

Chef Kauer explained how the organically grown Salt Spring Island lamb is shipped off-Island to be processed and then brought back to Hastings House the same day where he ages it for 10 full days in their cooler. My expectation was that the lamb would have the traditional taste of free-range lamb – very earthy and almost gamey. The taste was very much the opposite. It was perfectly prepared, allowing the natural juices combine with the fresh rosemary; giving is a beautiful taste. And because of the organic environment and the careful aging process, it was extremely tender.

Being from the Okanagan and having visiting many BC wineries over the years, I have come to appreciate BC wine. The wines throughout the course of the evening were all very good. I was very surprised how much I enjoyed the 2005 Blue Mountain Brut; I feel the Okanagan hasn’t yet mastered Brut, but clearly they are on their way to making adjustments to produce better products. A meat and cheese plate would have gone wonderfully with the brut.

I also felt that some of the pairings of wines were a miss on some of the courses. For instance, the tuna ragout would have paired much better with a chardonnay than the semillion; and the softness of the souffle with a heavy syrupy late harvest riesling.

By the end of the meal I felt extremely content. Chef Kauer clearly demonstrated he had exceptional knowledge of the use of local herbs, vegetables and especially the Salt Spring Island lamb.

“Next year Hastings House is looking to expand to host six or seven dinners in the Chefs Across the Water series,” said Park.

Partial proceeds from the Chefs Across the Water program will go to the Save Salt Spring Island Lamb fund.

Chefs Across the Water, a guest chef series at Hastings House on Salt Spring Island, highlights the bounty of the region’s produce and raises awareness and funds for the  “Save Salt Spring Lamb” fund.

Lamb production on Salt Spring Island has been down 50 per cent over the past five years, due to government regulations requiring all livestock be taken to Vancouver Island or the mainland for slaughter. It’s easier to get Salt Spring Island lamb in Vancouver than on the Island.

Salt Spring livestock producers have received $100,000 grant to go towards a mobile meat processing unit, however they need to match the amount to receive the money.  Partial proceeds from the Chefs Across the Water dinner series will go towards the fund.

“The ‘Save Salt Spring Lamb’ fund is looking to raise $200,000 in the next few months for a mobile unit on Salt Spring,” said Margaret Thompson, Chair of the Salt Spring Livestock Producers Group. “We are hopeful of raising enough money in time and are delighted to partner with Hastings House in their Chefs Across the Water series to draw awareness to this issue.”

The series includes one final event of the season on Monday, October 18, showcasing the talents of Chef Marcel Kauer of Hastings House.

Hastings House Dining room manager Milly Sinclair says there is a lot of excitement building for food-lovers who enjoy local fare prepared by the best chefs in BC.

For more information please visit the Hasting House website and the Chefs Across the Water website. For reservations call 250.537.2362.