Eating at a 5-diamond restaurant in Canada

This was served first and I am not sure what to call it since it was not listed on the menu, but it was delicious/By Patricia Leslie, Dec. 23, 2023

Eden at the Rimrock Resort Hotel in Banff National Park  in the Canadian Rockies is one of only three AMA Five-Diamond restaurants (and the Eden, more than once) in all of Canada, and the only one in western Canada to achieve this status.

It has recently been named one of the top 1000 restaurants in the world for 2024 by the French-based guide, La Liste, making it one of only 19 restaurants in Canada to be included on that list.  

The first course was canapes of "artisanal breads" and three kinds of "cultured butters" and every bit as delicious as one might expect/By Patricia Leslie, Dec. 23, 2023

In 2022 it was named the Best Fine Dining Hotel Restaurant in North America by the World Culinary Awards.  

So, naturally while staying at the Rimrock as a member of Road Scholar's Christmas tour in Banff, my new friend Sara and I took advantage of the proximity to Eden to partake of its fare.  

We could have ordered the seven course meal ($185, Canadian) or the vegetarian seven courses ($175), but being cost-conscious consumers, we opted for the four course meal ($135 Canadian dollars = about $100 American dollars).

What looks like a boat growing trees (the latest in yacht designs) was actually beetroot with pomegranate, quinoa and pecan which I ordered for my second course and although this presentation may look unappetizing, let me assure you it was anything but.  (You don't  have a landscape gardener for your yacht?  Let me assure you, they are coming.)

For her second course, Sara chose Brussel sprouts in maple glaze with chestnut and gruyere. (Please read below.)/By Patricia Leslie, Dec. 23, 2023

As I recall, Sara ordered Brussel sprouts, a vegetable I escape whenever possible and I cannot recall how she described it which was probably as dull as the taste. (If you grow up in the South as I did, Brussel sprouts is a Yankee dish that does not grace Southern tables.)

 

For our next course, we both chose the lamb tartare in carrot curd with mint gel and herb crostini/By Patricia Leslie, Dec. 23, 2023

I erred and joined Sara in choosing "lamb tartare" (raw lamb) for our next course.  If you do not know (I did not), it is raw lamb which I was unable to eat. (What was I thinking? I was not thinking!) Indeed, it was so rare that, to quote my dad when describing rabbit my mother cooked for him one time and one time only, the baby animal jumped off the plate, crying baa...baa all the way home. I did not know that rabbits cried outloud.

Sara raved about the lamb tartare.

For my entree, I selected sablefish in chorizo with clams in lobster bisque/By Patricia Leslie, Dec. 23, 2023

The sablefish for my next course had been heartily recommended by our tour guide, Jake, and it lived up to its reputation, floating in a clam and lobster bisque which was as scrumptious as this description implies and not too heavy.

Sara had the celeriac pithivier with mustard, sauerkraut and umami jus for her entree/By Patricia Leslie, Dec. 23, 2023

My dessert was, of course! Chocolate, manjari with citrus and red currant and cashew/By Patricia Leslie, Dec. 23, 2023

My dessert, the Manjari chocolate kind did not disappoint! 

A dessert of sea buckthorn in creme fraiche with hazelnut and brown butter was Sara's choice. Since I cannot recall accurately about her receipt of some of her choices, I shall not include Sara's opinions/By Patricia Leslie, Dec. 23, 2023

For a parting gift, Eden gave us this loaf of bread packaged in a handsome cardboard box/By Patricia Leslie, Dec. 23, 2023

For "take home," Eden gave us each a loaf of bread beautifully wrapped for the season.  Although a bit dry, we agreed the next day, which was Christmas Eve, that it was an ample substitute for breakfast on Christmas Day when we skipped breakfast for champagne and the delicate but mountainous tea spread (no one could eat everything) at the historic (1888) Fairmont Hotel. (Check out the pictures.  Our tea [pictured below] was on that first floor above the tree tops with all the glass windows overlooking the mountains. Sigh) 

Tea at the Fairmont Hotel where we could not finish all the delicacies, but I do recall that was some sort of Egyptian tea and quite delicious, almost exceeded in taste by the champagne. If there's anything which beats champagne, prithee, sayeth thee!/By Patricia Leslie, Dec. 25, 2023

A bar at the Fairmont/By Patricia Leslie, Dec. 25, 2023

After our meal at Eden, we independently agreed later that the experience, ambiance, and restaurant service exceeded the food quality, and perhaps it was because we only ordered wine by the glass and perceived that the sommelier was a bit haughty and unhappy with us whenever he wheeled the wine bar up to our table. 

Overall:  All I want for Christmas is more Rimrock! Where service exceeds any that I have found in Europe, Africa, North and South America, and if you're lucky, Pierre, the 7-foot-tall bellman, will be "on duty."

But, please leave the Brussel sprouts and baa baa baby lamb at home.  Thank you.

A view from my hotel room at the Rimrock Resort Hotel, Banff, Canada/By Patricia Leslie, Dec., 2023

Another view from my hotel room at the Rimrock Resort Hotel, Banff, Canada/By Patricia Leslie, Dec., 2023

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