Celebrate National Organic Week on Salt Spring Island!
The Festival will bring together growers, food providers and chefs from Salt Spring Island and partner them with local craft brewers and vintners representing the wine growing regions of British Columbia.
Foodies, start your engines, Sip & Savour Salt Spring 2014 is coming soon!
Menus are planned, reservations are being made, tickets are selling! The Sip & Savour Salt Spring, Harvest Food and Drink Festival, September 19. 20 and 21st, 2014 is less than one month away!
This year’s three day event offers so many delectable options, choosing where to dine for the Friday Night Harvest Dinner is going to be one tough decision.
For a multi-course, wine paired dinner, you can choose from the sublime to the extraordinary. From the upscale surroundings of Hastings House Country House Hotel with Dungeness crab and herb crusted Salt Spring Island Lamb paired with Burrowing Owl Estate Vineyards wines, ( 5 courses, 5 wines, $100) to the soul-stirring beauty of Stowel Lake Farm and chef Haidee Hart’s super local, ultra fresh Brandywine tomatoes, Sockeye Salmon, blackberries and cheese from the “neighbours”, paired with Road 13 wines (5 courses, 4 wines, $85), how can one decide? Accommodations are available at both locations, so you can enjoy dinner and not driving.
But wait, there’s more… Hoyne Brewery, on tap, with a special harvest menu at Moby’s Pub, a tasting menu of local ingredients at Auntie Pesto’s Cafe, paired with La Stella wines and more Salt Spring Island lamb, this time served with organic veggies and fruit from their own backyard, at the Harbour House Hotel and Organic Farm and Restaurant, paired with Summerhill Organic Wines….or if you are south of town, Rock Salt Restaurant is offering their Friday Night Fresh Sheet, featuring the best fresh, local, seasonal cuisine in the Village at Fulford Harbour.
Then there is Saturday! First a dizzying array of harvest produce and local arts and crafts at the Saturday Market in Ganges, then up Rainbow Road to the Farmer’s Institute for the Grazing Experience from 1:00-4:00 pm. Over 40 of BC’s best wine, cider and beer to sip, paired with locally grown and produced tasty morsels to savour, live music and a host of island characters to keep you entertained all afternoon. Farm raised, spit roasted lamb and pork, island cheeses, flavourful relishes, crunchy salads, house-made salumi and charcuterie, comforting soups, spicy curries, raw chocolate, juicy apples, tomatoes so sweet and ripe, they will make you weep! Pick up a little extra to take home with you (that is, if they survive the snacking in the bus, car or ferry ride home!) If you are still wanting more, then head downtown to one of the island restaurants offering special Sip & Savour Harvest Menus all weekend, like the Treehouse Cafe or Salt Spring Inn, or over to Moby’s Pub for dinner, live music and dancing.
When you awaken on Sunday morning, thinking that you just haven’t quite had enough fabulous food and drink, make your way over to the Harbour House Organic Farm and Restaurant to enjoy their award winning Best Brunch in Canada, while having the opportunity to sample top BC Sparkling Wines.
Check out the whole weekend of events, make reservations and buy tickets for the Grazing Experience at www.sipandsavoursaltspring.com or call 250-537-8320 for more information and group tickets.Sales are brisk and we are expecting a sell-out of all events, so don’t delay!
FOOD, WINE, CRAFT BEER AND PEOPLE
Salt Spring Island is known as the organic capital of Canada.
It’s small family farms, artisan food providers and fishing community provide a bountiful harvest of fresh, delicious fruits and vegetables, breads and cheeses, eggs from free range chickens, famous Salt Spring lamb, farm raised, heritage breeds of pork and chickens, daily catches of crab, mussels and oysters – and in September, local salmon.
Surrounding Salt Spring are the nearby southern Gulf Islands, the verdant Cowichan Valley, the rich plains of the Saanich Peninsula and the other southern Gulf Islands all of which share a similar climate, soils and love of the land and sea.
In addition to the wonderful local food, the area is home to the outstanding wines of the ‘Wine Islands’ region. These wines will be featured together with wines representing all of the wine regions of British Columbia and some of the finest Vancouver Island Craft Beer.
THE EVENTS
>On Friday evening, local restaurants and farms will be hosting Harvest Dinners where the talented chefs will combine with locally produced ingredients in seasonally inspired menus. Wine and beer selections will be paired with specific courses, either in set menus or as you choose.
- In Ganges on Saturday afternoon beginning at 1 pm, the Salt Spring Island Farmers Institute will be transformed into a fabulous Grazing Experience as visitors sip fine wines and craft beer from BC and savour samples of delicious local foods, prepared by island chefs. Attendees will see the fresh produce, be able to talk to the grower, ask the chef how they prepared the ingredients and discuss how the wine or beer complement the resulting dish. The pairings are carefully selected to enhance the experience that is unique to our grazing event. Additional products will be available for purchase for those wishing to take some of the taste memories home.
- Saturday evening various locations will be hosting live music and great food to keep you entertained – check ourEVENT CALENDAR for details!
- New for 2014 is the Harbour House Sparkling Wine Brunch at the Harbour House Hotel and Restaurant. Many BC sparkling wines will be available to taste, then choose a glass of your favourite to enjoy with their sumptuous award winning brunch, prepared Chef Brooke Winters, with the farm’s fresh organic eggs and produce. http://www.vancouverobserver.
com/news/harbour-house-hotel- restaurant-and-org
anic-farm-canada-s-only-farm-table-hotel - As a bonus to your Sip & Savour Salt Spring weekend, stay and enjoy varied events during National Organic Week, culminating with the 16th Annual Salt Spring Apple Festival taking place on Sunday, September 28th. Tour various farms and attend the main event at Fulford Hall. Learn more at: www.saltspringapplefestival.org
- Mariner’s Loft
Many of Salt Spring Island’s hotels, resorts and B&B’s will be greeting guests with weekend accommodation rates and a special island welcome! Visitors can also enjoy a studio, winery and farm tours, visit a spa or yoga studio, dine at one or more of our excellent restaurants, take in a Farm Dinner, and enjoy live entertainment at many local venues. Learn more at www.saltspringtourism.com
Partial proceeds will support the initiatives of Island Natural Growers, a chapter of Canadian Organic Growers, West Coast Islands Stewardship and Conservancy. This event also supports the Salt Spring Agricultural Alliance.
WHO WE ARE
Sip and Savour Salt Spring is a non-profit festival being organizing by local volunteers from the food, wine and grower communities of the island.
This event is proudly presented by the members of the Salt Spring Island Chamber of Commerce and is presented by Mouat’s Trading – an iconic Salt Spring merchant since 1907! www.saltspringchamber.com
Participating Breweries and Cideries are Saltspring Ales, Hoyne Brewery, Lighthouse Brewery, Sea Cider Farm and Ciderhouse
Food Providers include Monsoon Coast, Moby’s Pub, Hastings House, Harbour House Hotel and Organic Farm, Moonstruck Organic Cheese, Stowel Lake Farm, North End Farm, Auntie Pesto’s Cafe, Tree House Cafe, Fernwood Road Cafe, Bullock Lake Farm, Salt Spring Sunrise, Spit Fire Catering, Gulf Islands Secondary School Culinary Program, Sugarland Farm, In Season Foods, Salt Spring Coffee, Salt Spring Artisan Vinegars, Mount Maxwell Coffee Roasters, Rock Salt Restaurant, Salt Spring Mercantile, Penny’s Pantry …and more to come!
Participating Wineries are Salt Spring Vineyards, Mistaken Identity Vineyards, Garry Oaks Winery, Silverside Winery, Sea Star Winery, Tugwell Creek Farm & Meadery, Mission Hill Family Estate Winery, Poplar Grove Winery, Sperling Vineyards, Le Vieux Pin Winery, La Stella Winery, Bench 1775 Winery, Paradise Ranch Winery, Little Straw Winery, Fairview Cellars, Bella Wines, Arrowleaf Cellars, Black Cloud Winery, Stag’s Hollow Winery, The View Winery, Unsworth Winery, Nagging Doubt Winery, Eau Vivre Winery, Synchromesh Winery, Glenterra Winery, Culmina Family Estate Winery, Terra Vista Vineyard, Summerhill Winery, Tantalus Winery, Sage Hills Winery, Blue Moon Winery, Road 13 Winery, Clos du Soleil Winery, Kettle Valley Winery, JoieFarm Wines, Burrowing Owl Estate Winery, Calliope Wines, Stoneboat Winery, Blue Grouse Winery
