Refreshing Summer Sensations
Story by Nikki Bayley / Images by Joern Rohde
The Den at Nita Lake Lodge | Executive Chef Derek Weerts
Ajo Blanco with Grilled Octopus
Forget sleepy bowls of comforting soup; these lighter, chilled summer soups provide zippy acidity and bring excitement to the meal. “Inspiration for this dish began with local octopus from Vancouver Island, and we wanted something to complement it,” Executive Chef Derek Weerts tells me. “One of our chefs is from Spain, and she said that ajo blanco, which means white garlic, would pair well and be refreshing.” She wasn’t wrong!
“We used peppers from Abbotsford to make a romesco sauce that’s swirled on the bottom of the plate, and our ajo blanco, which is poured tableside, is made with bread, garlic, olive oil — no almonds as it’s a nut-free kitchen. We use seeds instead.” A glorious marriage of textures and tastes from smoky octopus to punchy garlic, the pop of pickled grapes, and a little kick of vinegar, this dish just keeps on giving, and just when you think you’re done, the smoky, tangy peppers hit. Excited for the sunshine, this will be Weerts's first Whistler summer after two years in Ucluelet. Head down to Nita Lake Lodge to visit him and the team and discover the hyper-local bounty of B.C. showcased on the menu.
604-966-5711 | nitalakelodge.com
CARAMBA | Chef Shane Sluchinski
Green Goddess Baby Gem Salad
Chef Shane Sluchinski has presented me with something of a problem. This gorgeous baby gem salad is almost too pretty to eat: the leaves are carefully arranged to recreate the shape of the lettuce, chunks of tangy Irish cheddar artfully scattered on top and drizzled with my favourite — Green Goddess dressing. Of course, the key word here is “almost,” and as I reach for my first well-dressed leaf, any thoughts of admiring this dish quickly depart!
“I’m usually not much of a salad guy, but this salad is too good to miss,” Sluchinski says with a laugh. “But it’s time to get your summer body on, and there’s nothing like a salad to help get you there, and everyone loves this. It was Executive Chef James Paré’s creation, and it’s such a hit.” It features baby gem lettuce, a niçoise olive agrodolce with garlic, shallots, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and a creamy mayo-sour cream fresh herb dressing with Irish cheddar and crunchy apples for texture. Can a salad be restorative? If it tastes as good as this, I’ll say yes! The star of this dish is the agrodolce with a vibrant pop of tang from the salty olives blending with the sweet balsamic. Yum!
604-938-1879 | carambarestaurant.com
BAR OSO | Executive Chef Jorge Muñoz-Santos
Gazpacho
I remember the first time I tried gazpacho; I’d never tasted a cold soup before, and suspiciously, I took the tiniest lick from my spoon, and then my eyes popped open wide. Wow! I remember a flood of flavour unlike anything I’d tried before, and I became an instant convert to the cause of chilled summer soups. A tradition in the south of Spain where it gets very hot through the summer months, Executive Chef Jorge Muñoz-Santos’s take on gazpacho delivers the taste of sunshine… in a soup!
“It’s perfect for those hot Whistler summer [days],” agrees Muñoz-Santos. “Fresh and refreshing, I like to use local heirloom or vine tomatoes from Rootdown Organic Farm in Pemberton, which have a wonderful flavour.” Blending those tomatoes with cucumber, shallots, garlic, olive oil, red pepper, and sherry vinegar, the soup is sieved for a silky texture and dressed with hard-boiled egg, cucumber, and fresh chives to bring a little bite. Drizzled with basil oil and served atop an ice bowl, this delightful bowl packs big flavour: a whoosh of garlic, the salty crunch of the croutons, and perfect, vibrant, fresh tomato flavour! “It’s so light and bright for the summer,” says Muñoz-Santos. “And it makes for a delicious vegetarian option for our guests, too.”
604-962-4540 | baroso.ca
BEARFOOT BISTRO | Culinary Director Dominic Fortin
Gindara Sablefish Crudo
When it comes to soup or salad, it’s an easy choice for the Bearfoot Bistro’s culinary director, Dominic Fortin. “I’m a salad guy,” he declares. “I need that freshness.” However, when it comes to creating a dish for this story, in typical Bearfoot fashion, why choose? Have both! “I wanted to highlight the beautiful baby sablefish we get from Gindara, a local, sustainable seafood company that partners with the Ka:'yu:'k't'h'/Che:k’tles7et'h' (Kyuquot/Checleseht) First Nations. It’s so delicate we can serve it raw, and the perfect pairing for this is a chilled aromatic cucumber consommé.”
Cured in ginger and kombu for 24 hours, the sablefish is sliced thin like sashimi; the consommé is a wonderfully refreshing aromatic sip with lemongrass, cilantro, sake, ginger, and fresh serrano peppers for a little kick of heat. Garnished with cloud-like sake meringue, mirin and rice vinegar-macerated blood orange, and micro baby fennel fronds, plus briny pops of trout roe and crisp fried ginger, this soup-salad combo brings beautiful complexity with simple-yet-delicate flavours; the fattiness of the fish is cut through with the freshness of cucumber and acidity of orange. Super refreshing, this looks set to be a crowd-pleaser kicking off a fun night at the Bearfoot. “We’re going to be more focussed on late night this summer,” Fortin shares. “Stand by for some amazing new menu items!”
604-932-3433 | bearfootbistro.com
Il Caminetto | Executive Chef Mark Mcloughlin
Chilled Pea Soup with Stracciatella and Snap Pea Salad
Executive Chef Mark Mcloughlin and I are having a friendly disagreement on soup temperature as he carefully arranges creamy Stracciatella cheese (the ooey-gooey inside of a burrata) on a house-made sourdough crostini. “Soup for me [has] gotta be hot!” he declares, as I tease: Even in summer? “I’ll have hot soup on a hot summer’s day! I like cold soup as more of a sauce, which is why I’ve made this soup dish with a salad on top!” I Idon’t have the hot soup/hot day gene, so I can’t wait to dive into this chilled emerald pea soup with green garlic, mint, and a swirl of creamy crème fraîche.
The creamy kiss of Stracciatella, the crunch of the sourdough, and the silky-smooth texture of the pea and mint soup just scream summer! “There’s mint oil to bump up the flavour and it’s finished with Maldon salt and a little lemon zest — one of my favourite ingredients.” Summer isn’t just the time to slurp this divine soup. For this kitchen, it’s all about the ingredients. “We get a long winter here, but once the season changes, we get new things every day from the farms in Pemberton, and it's a great time in the kitchen!”
604-932-4442 | ilcaminetto.ca
MEKONG | Culinary Director Angus An
Grilled Chicken and Squid Salad
Ooh, this is clever! Imagine the bright flavours of a Tom Yum soup with lemongrass, galangal, and lime… but in a salad that’s so very fresh, crisp, aromatic, and beautiful that it makes you wonder why you’d ever choose anything else! Perfectly grilled squid and chicken rest on fragrant leaves of fresh mint, basil, and cilantro, seasoned with a tangy, smoky, nam jim dressing with ash from roasted corn, onions, and topped with a bit of coconut cream.
“This is a really traditional aromatic flavour profile,” explains Culinary Director Angus An. “But this dish isn’t something they’d have in Thailand; I was inspired by the way Mexican chefs use the ash from charred peppers in their salsa dishes. I’ve always thought there are parallels between Thai and Mexican cuisine.” Beautifully garnished with edible flowers, this is Creekside's must-have dish this summer. Running a brace of restaurants in Vancouver, too, Chef An can’t wait for the peace that the sunny months bring to the mountains. “I love to walk in the woods and soak up the calm of the mountains. I’m taking part in the Granfondo bike race again this summer; I can’t wait to get out there!”
604-972-1065 | 88mekong.ca