Issue No 1 February 2004 Welcome Letter from the Editor Coming Up In Our Next Edition Rockies Events Calendar The best Canadian Rockies events calendar highlights so many events in Canmore and Banff that you'll be begging for some down time! Canmore's Native History Ancient pictographs are just one reminder of this area's rich and fascinating Native history. Discover the 11,000-year-old story behind the Canmore area's First Nations people. Adventures on Snowshoes Walk on clouds of powdery snow for miles amidst pristine Rocky Mountain scenery - on a snowshoeing adventure. Snowshoeing is fun, safe and a great way to enjoy the outdoors for all ages. Subscribe Today!     If you haven't already signed up to receive your free subscription to SolaraLife, sign up now by submitting your email address in the space provided above.	HOME   /   LIVE IT Dine on high at the decadent Eden It is hours before the first diners will be seated for their evening's feast at Eden. Chef Yoshi Chubachi welcomes me with a warm handshake and an almost imperceptible bow, leading me through Eden's opulently furnished, fine wood panelled dining room upstaged only by the expansive view of the Rocky Mountains. Soft spoken, with a kind gaze one suspects is behind a masterful attention to detail, Chef Chubachi is modest when asked for his response to Eden's recent milestone of achieving the 5 Diamond status awarded by the American Automotive Association (AAA). "We in the kitchen department, and in the service end, we've all very happy to achieve the 5 Diamond — that's what the goal is here. It takes a long time," he says. Chef Chubachi arrived at Eden a little more than a year ago for the next step in a career that has taken him from his initial chef's training in Japan, through prominent hotels in Tokyo, Switzerland and France. He arrived in Canada in 1977 to work at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel, then left for the Hotel La Sapiniere in Montreal. After further postings in Winnipeg and Edmonton he embarked on an eight-year term as executive chef of Calgary's elite Petroleum Club. The next move, to Banff and the Rocky Mountains, brought Chef Chubachi to the Rimrock, where he began his quest for further elevating an already fine restaurant to the elite 5 Diamond status. In his tenure at Eden, Chef Chubachi has generously applied his passion for fine food and working with young, talented kitchen staff on a menu described as "Fine French Cuisine with New World Influences." With two 5 Diamond restaurants just minutes apart in Banff, Chef Chubachi can't deny that fine dining could well attract as many visitors to the world famous national park as the sightseeing, hiking, skiing and mountain views in all directions. "We have seven 5 Diamond properties across Canada, and two here in Banff, Eden and our neighbour (The Banffshire Club at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel) — it's quite unusual," Chef Chubachi says. The creative team behind Eden restaurant's AAA 5 Diamond success includes (l-r) sous chef Andrew Stevens, executive chef Yoshi Chubachi, and maitre d'hotel and sommelier Blair Hunter. Chef Chubachi and Blair Hunter, Eden's maitre d'hotel and sommelier, orchestrate the efforts of a highly attentive service staff and a young, talented kitchen staff of 10 to maintain the highest possible standards. This begins in the kitchen, as chef and his staff accept nothing but the freshest of ingredients — from Western Canadian-grown produce and fine Quebec goose fois gras, to the freshest French turbot flown in as a menu highlight. "My kitchen philosophy is always to get the top quality as possible," Chef Chubachi says. "Even smoked salmon, we smoke our own salmon in-house — we do everything in-house." back to top The finest in table service at Eden assures diners a feast for their palate as well as their eyes. Eden's chef also believes the food he serves must be as appealing to the eye as any work of art. Creative presentation of food has clearly been a passion for Chef Chubachi, who has been a member of Canada's Culinary Olympic Team continuously over the last 20 years. Since 1981, he and his team have won numerous gold medals in various international culinary competitions. In 1992, Chef Chubachi and his team won the title of World Champions at the Culinary Olympics in Frankfurt, Germany. Chef Chubachi admitted it is not always easy to maintain the highest level of creativity, but he credits working with Eden's talented and imaginative young kitchen staff for keeping ideas flowing. Sous chef Andrew Stevens, just 25, is known to have brilliant ideas that make their way onto the seasonally changing menu after days of experimentation and taste tasting. Eden's menu typically follows a seasonal pattern, with changing offerings for winter/spring, summer and autumn. Eden offers its diners some difficult choices in selection, with five multi-course tasting menus available. Three of the menus consist of eight courses each ($95 Cdn per person, plus an optional flight of accompanying wines for $60 per person); the fourth menu offers diners a nine-course selection ($110, plus an additional $60 for the wine selections); while the fifth menu is likely to take a little longer to enjoy, with an extravagant 10 courses. The latter is billed as the "Menu du Paradis, an exquisite 10-course degustation menu, matched with rare and elite wines from our award-winning cellar." The current seasonal offering starts with a tantalizing amuse-bouche, followed by a trio of caviars, hamachi sashimi, lobster agnolotti, confit of pheasant, a pan-seared escalope of goose fois gras, and sherry poached tenderloin of Kobe beef. The grand finish comes with artisanal and farmhouse cheeses, mint, apple confit, chocolates and petits fours. This culinary experience can be had for $500, including its flight of fine wines. Nearing the end of our interview, young sous chef Andrew Stevens arrives to join us. He is wearing the casual day-off uniform of most 25-year-olds in Banff, with sneakers, ski jacket and ball cap. But casual attire and tender years aside, Stevens is serious about food — and thrilled to be working under Chef Chubachi. "We're all over close, we work so closely together all the time," says Stevens, who admits to spending many, many hours in the kitchens hidden behind the 75-seat fine dining room. "I think that's a huge part of the success, that everyone just gets along so well." Shari Bishop Bowes In our next edition of Solara Life, watch for our feature article on the Banffshire Club, AAA 5 Diamond dining room at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, and its celebrated chef, Daniel Buss.
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