Whistler food: A world of flavours sits next to the slopes
Goan, Thai, and Alpine culinary experiences are 2023 highlights
G.O.A., Four Seasons Whistler Resort & Residences.
The Chalet at Fairmont Chateau Whistler. Photo by Julie Zoney
Barn Nork Thai Cuisine.
SURE, EPIC SKIING and snowboarding are what Whistler is best known for, but the mountain town on the shared, unceded, ancestral territory of the Squamish Nation and Lil’wat Nation is earning more and more credibility for its dining scene.
Japanese food has carved out a major presence here, with a dozen destinations, including ever-popular Sushi Village and Sachi Sushi. Weirdly and unfortunately, there isn’t a single Chinese restaurant. Despite that major gap, the food community is home to flavours from around the world. Here’s a glance at a few new and notable places serving global cuisine. (If an overnight stay is out of the question, especially during peak season, Skylynx, Whistler Shuttle, and Epic Rides offer daily bus service between Whistler Village and downtown Vancouver.)
Sajish Kumar Das, G.O.A., Four Seasons Whistler Resort & Residences.
G.O.A.
There’s nothing like it in Whistler or Western Canada for that matter: this pop-up restaurant serves exclusively Goan cuisine. Based at Four Seasons Whistler Resort & Residences, the culinary experience is the brainchild of executive chef Sajish Kumar Das. Das grew up in Goa, a small state on the west coast of India that was a Portuguese colony for 451 years. The cuisine is complex and diverse, with other influences coming from the numerous cultures the state came into contact with over the centuries, including Arab, Brazilian, African, French, Konkani, Malaysian, and Chinese.
Growing up, Das always found himself in family’s kitchen, cooking by his mother’s side, eager to be the first to get to taste anything she made. He knew early on that a career in culinary arts would be his calling; he trained at Goa’s Institute of Hotel Management and went on to work at five-star properties in India, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar, and Canada before joining Four Seasons Whistler.
G.O.A.’s menu combines Goan techniques and traditions with B.C. ingredients. Among Das’s dishes are oven-roasted king prawns with squid-ink rice crisp, shaved garlic, and the pickle-like sweet and sour balchao spice; Soup From the Sea, which consists of clams, mussels, and prawns in a fragrant tomato seafood broth with rasam essence (a spice made with toor dal, pepper, coriander, jeera, red chilies, and hing); and tandoori carrot tikka wit pumpkin dal purée, micro greens, and tamarind reduction. Other highlights include lobster curry, duck dosa with fried egg, and king porcini mushrooms korma with cashew gravy and morel dust. All of the mains are served with a choice of bread, white rice, or paratha (unleavened layered flatbread).
Goan-inspired cocktails are also on the menu: take the Goan Twist, a premium-rum based drink with clarified tamarind mix, lime, and chaat masala; and Mumbai Affair, with Bombay Sapphire gin, lychee, lime, and rose water.
The inaugural pop-up runs to January 8, but keep checking back: word has it that the run has been so popular, it’s almost certain to make a comeback.
Chanidaporn Sriwanta, Barn Nork Thai Cuisine.
Pemberton’s loss is Whistler’s gain: from the moment it opened in Mt Currie more than seven years ago, Barn Nork gained an instant, loyal following. The husband-and-wife team of Jatuporn Nuttamarn and Chanidaporn Sriwanta specializes in northern Thai cuisine and relocated to Whistler in late 2021, moving into the former home of Riverside Café. With room for just four tables for dine-in service, the eatery focuses on take-out (look for more outdoor seating in warmer weather); public response has been just as phenomenal. It’s no wonder: the two chefs honed their skills at Bangkok’s Sala Rim Naam in the five-star Mandarin Oriental Hotel and studied culinary arts at Vancouver Community College.
The restaurant takes its name from Thai words meaning “rural areas” or “the countryside”. While its menu is ever-changing—the couple sources from local farms and uses organic meat, eggs, and produce—popular mainstay dishes include green papaya salad, green curry, beef Massaman curry, and pad Thai. There are also Thai inspired ice-cream and sorbets in flavours such as Thai coffee and Thai tea, coconut pandan leaf, coconut riceberry, and pineapple chili and salted mango.
The Chalet at Fairmont Chateau Whistler. Photo by Julie Zoney
The Chalet at Fairmont Chateau Whistler
The heart of the European Alps is reflected in the cuisine at The Chalet, situated in the summertime home of the Chateau Whistler Golf Clubhouse, complete with a cozy fireplace and staff members in Bavarian vests. Among the specialties on the menu are Swiss rösti, artisan charcuterie, and veal schnitzel with herb späetzle; however, it’s the Fondue Experience that takes this dining outing to the next level.
It starts with a choice of the Chalet’s signature French onion soup with duck-fat crouton and melted Gruyère or roasted-pear and goat’s cheese salad. Next up is a classic cheese fondue—a simmering pot of Emmenthal, Gruyère, white wine, and kirsch with thick cubes of fresh baguette to dip and swirl—and fondue Chinoise from the land. The latter features lightly simmered chicken broth served with AAA beef, prawns, scallops, and B.C. salmon. (If your food falls of your fork while it’s cooking in the aromatic broth, you’re to kiss the person on your left.)
That’s not all there is for the dunking; to round out the culinary journey is a chocolate fondue, with house-made caramellini, banana bread, strawberries, banana, and meringues (your choice of dark or milk chocolate). Vegan options are available, and the fondues can be ordered separately a la carte. Finish off with a digestif of schnapps (or eau de vie). The Chalet carries Okanagan Spirits’ Kirsch Danube, Canados, Bartlett Pear, and Raspberry Framboise made from purely B.C. fruit picked when ripe, fermented for two to 12 weeks, then double-distilled in copper stills, best enjoyed neat or over ice.
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