Rockies' castle crowned with 5 Diamond dining
by Shari Bishop Bowes
Dining like royalty is not an unrealistic expectation in the Canadian Rockies - especially if your restaurant of choice is in a stately castle. The Fairmont Banff Springs, known worldwide as "Canada's Castle in the Rockies", is home to a fine dining experience that is as unforgettable as the mountain views and scenic beauty that abound in this special part of the world.
While there are many choices for dining tucked away in the elegant corners of the Fairmont Banff Springs, it is the Banffshire Club that treats its diners to an experience comparable only to some of the finest restaurants in the world.
The Banffshire Club recently announced it had reached one of the highest levels of achievement in the culinary world - the 5 Diamond Award from the American Automotive Association.
The Banffshire Club's rack of lamb has been an extremely popular menu item since the 5 Diamond restaurant opened its doors.
Chef Buss is the tall, slim and soft-spoken man of 33 whose passion for fine food lies at the core of the Banffshire Club's success. He was there to open the new restaurant in February 2001 after the completion of extensive renovations to the fine old hotel, and immediately made it his mission to attain the coveted 5 Diamond Award.
The announcement came one day last fall, and was received with great pride and pleasure amongst hotel staff, Chef Buss says. "We opened a bottle of Dom that day."
The evaluation and rating process by the American Automotive Association is exhaustive and incognito, with a close examination three times each year of the food, service, décor and ambience.
Service at the Banffshire can only be described as impeccable, from the initial contact made with the guest making a reservation over the telephone, through to the last plate cleared following a truly memorable meal. This all takes place amidst richly appointed surroundings, designed almost like a private club - but without the membership. The décor pays homage to the hotel's Scottish heritage, with tapestries, heavy tartan, delicate bone china, fine linens and wrought iron light fixtures completing a warm, intimate and inviting setting for an evening's feast.
"On the culinary side, we just have to find the best, freshest ingredients that we can find, locally and globally," Chef Buss says, "with meticulous preparation, although simple."
A great deal of thought goes into a guest's first impression as they are served each course.
"The presentation is extremely important to us," Chef Buss says. "We do a lot to ensure the plate looks pretty and 'wows' the guest before they even try anything."
The Banffshire's impressive wine list is like a walk through the best vineyards in the world - showcasing 750 wines that are beautifully housed in wood and glass-panelled racks that can be viewed by guests as they are led to their tables. The award-winning list includes famous Canadian ice wines, dessert wines and deluxe sherries and cognacs from around the world. Service staff are well informed to help guests with their wine and food selections, and all are trained as professional sommeliers.
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Banffshire Club chef Daniel Buss, right, and sous chef Ian Bens are pictured with (left to right) cauliflower and onion bisque, roasted loin of rabbit with pistachios and warm rillettes, and roasted date and pecan crusted white tail deer.
The Banffshire's 'prix fixe' tasting menu offers an optional flight of wines, each meticulously matched to enhance the tastes and pleasures of a nine-course feast. Current selections include a 1988 Wolfberger Gewurztraminer from Alsace, France with the soup course, a 1999 Matanzas Creek Winery, Reserve Select Merlot from Sonoma USA with the main course, NV Moet & Chandon, Brut Imperial Champagne from France with the cheese course, and a 1999 Chateau Des Charmes, Riesling Ice Wine from Niagara, Canada with the dessert course.
Buss defines the Banffshire's menu as "Canadian with a French influence". That means diners are treated to Canadian specialties such as duck fois gras from Quebec, lamb, bison, wild game and Kobe beef from Alberta, and unique, small farm-grown vegetables from British Columbia. Sometimes the most ordinary of ingredients find their way onto the menu, including a soup on the menu that is one of Chef Buss's current favourites. "We started a cauliflower soup recently," he says. "Usually cauliflower soup is a bit mundane, but we serve it with curried vegetables, oysters wrapped in watercress, dungeness crab, and nicely garnished on the plate, and then with a little bit of crab bisque swirled in. It's very tasty, and people are surprised by it."
Chef Buss, who is married with two small children at home and enjoys cooking for his family as much as for the Banffshire's guests, says a career in fine cuisine is made all the more interesting by today's huge interest in food and wine.
Dessert is always a perfect finish to a superb meal at the Banffshire Club. This sweet concoction is lemon curd with coconut ginger cake - beautiful to look at and delicious as well.
The Food Network, along with countless books and magazines keep amateur cooks and gourmands on top of trends - and more familiar with what goes into the fine dining experience. Buss believes that while some trends may come and go, at least a few are worth keeping long into the future. A recent trip to the Napa Valley to attend a food and wine event reminded him of how important it is to source out fresh, local ingredients from local farms and purveyors. Going organic, and using the very freshest of produce may cost more, he says, "but the taste is there."
With the 5 Diamond Award proudly achieved, Buss says, the restaurant is now fully prepared to go after yet another culinary benchmark: the Mobile 5 Star Award. This is an even more exclusive rating, he says, with only 13 restaurants in North America currently carrying the 5-Star designation. Impressive ratings aside, Buss finds the best compliments come from guests who have travelled and dined extensively, and who compare the Banffshire to some of the best restaurants in the world.
"I find a lot of people are very surprised, that in the middle of Banff National Park they can dine in a restaurant like this."
Interested in a look over The Banffshire Club's current 'tasting' menu? Click Here to view it in this edition of Solara Life.
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