“Feast in the Mountains” – Whistler’s Unique Celebration

This time being in Beautiful British Columbia, I passed Vancouver and continued driving Highway 99, the Sea to Sky Highway, up to Whistler, the Host Mountain Resort of the 2010 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games. Filled with utmost curiosity I was off to an event in Whistler’s Rebagliati Park where I would participate in celebrating the “connection between farm and fork” with a Feast in the Mountains!

In this inaugural year of Feast in the Mountains the Chefs represent Whistler’s brightest culinary talents and some of the finest BC beverages.fairmont2

With the wine glass and a menu received at the entrance, I walked from booth to booth various times, tastingglassesnapkins beautiful arranged tidbits of food in the order they appealed to my palate (and personal sense of menu order). While taking my time, I ventured to the quieter booths of the producers of that bounty. “Amongst the beauty of these mountains lie fertile lands that have long produced food for this valley and beyond. Upon that land a small number of committed farmers toil without glamour or acclaim to ensure the integrity of our food chain. This event is inspired by them – their commitment in the face of great challenges, their passion for the land that sustains us”, writes Astrid Cameron, Co-founder/Co-producer of Feast in the Mountains.playerschophouse

Furthermore, several organizations were represented; I encourage you to check them out:

Slow Food, an international organization that was founded in 1986 as a response to the standardizing effects of fast food and the fast life. It supports good, clean and fair food. Ocean Wise, Canada’s leading sustainable seafood restaurant program, Green Table, a network of sustainable foodservice and their suppliers in the greater Vancouver, BC area (although foodservices from elsewhere are welcome), and Farm Folk/City Folk, an organization that connects farm and city and that focuses on cultivating a local, sustainable food system.

I really liked the relaxed atmosphere full of laughter that comes along naturally with good quality food and drink (especially in an outside setting). Yes, it was a great feast in the mountains – and also a conscious one that celebrated the whole food chain and gives dining out again a meaning of true hospitality.

Find all pictures taken at this event at our flickr site

feastseating

The “American Track” is international – www.amtrak.com

Amtrak (the National Railroad Passenger Corporation) is the transportation for enjoying the journey while traveling the US, as well as Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal in Canada.

Amtrak took its international approach very thorough and translated its entire content into Spanish and German language. I explored the German part and I am pretty sure that the Spanish is of equal excellence:

Portal (to the various languages): When arriving at www.amtrak.com, you clearly can see the links in the native language ‘Español‘ and ‘Deutsch‘ written vs. the sometimes ambiguous flags that are used to indicate a foreign language page.

Images: Images with text are translated, special offer picture ads, even the search button are translated for the German visitor. It gives the whole website a very integrated look and feel.

Customer Service: The German traveler finds all info on individual Amtrak stations, can search for current special offers, latest information on critical issues (such as swine flu), and use the reservation system in its native language. Amtrak provides an interactive map to search routes and plan trips which is in English, yet it is acceptable because the search goes via an image map of the US or by station and region names. And in case German visitors don’t find an answer in the question and answer section of the website, they can go to the contact page and submit their request… the answer they receive will be in German.

amtrak4

10th Anniversary of Chef Wayne in Andaluca

Yesterday, I was honored being a guest at Chef Wayne’s 10-year anniversary at Andaluca.

I liked the warm welcome by the Chef himself, the background music creating the Andaluca atmosphere, and the delicious food that puzzled my taste buds with new sensations (I definitely want to go back to taste more). I was faszinated by the stories, the journey, the achievements shared about Wayne, his thanks to his crew and team in the kitchen. I enjoyed the variety of interesting people I met – his friends, family and other foodies.

Wayne, I wish you all the best for your journey ahead.

Andaluca2
Andaluca3

photo credit: Lacey Lybecker of LovingLocalFood. Thank you Lacey!

Tender at the Bone – Continued

A Spanish bistro in the heart of the city, in a house individually shaped through history since 1930, with murals depicting a fairy tale from the founder of modern Russian literature, Alexander Pushkin, with just enough seating that the Chef can greet every guest personally and still cook their meals – with a careful selected team, of course. This is Olivar, and it is the perfect setting for a small personal event with food writer Ruth Reichl and those special fans who love food, write consistently, explore continuously new recipes – yes, I am speaking of the food blog writers of Seattle.

Keren Brown of Keren Brown Media made it all happen and we had a wonderful dialog with Ruth Reichl where we not only talked about food but also about women and more specifically mothers, and in particular about the relationship of child and mother – about Ruth’s latest book “Not becoming my Mother”. It was Ruth’s big challenge to write it, pushed beyond her comfort zone as food memoirs writer and editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine, and into a realm of emotions, briskly ones, because they start as early as in the womb. It changed Ruth’s understanding of her mother completely, filled her with tenderness and love for her – to the bones.

After the dialog, Chef Philippe Thomelin served appetizer, tender, brisk and unique as his restaurant and the event with Ruth Reichl.

Keren Brown

Ruth Reichl

Greetings from the Oberlausitz

Last Saturday, we scheduled our spring house cleaning. As we are all from different parts of Germany, I decided to make a special dish from the region where I was born, the Oberlausitz .

Quark-Keulchen

What does it mean?

Quark [qvark] after Wikipediais a type of fresh cheese of Central European origin. Dictionaries usually translate it as curd cheese. It is soft, white and un-aged, similar to Fromage frais, but with a higher fat content.”
I usually buy it in our local food co-op
, sometimes I can find it in the organic sections at QFC.

Keulchen, comes from Keule, which is a cudgel, the ending chen indicates the diminutive form of it – still indicating the richness and heaviness of this delicious dish.