Highlighting our kick-off to the Alpine Festival are appetizers made fresh by local chefs using local ingredients, paired with Vancouver Island and B.C. wines, and beer from the Comox Valley’s new brewery, the Surgneor Brewing Company, www.surgenorbrewing.ca The evening will feature guest chefs, winemakers, authors and a presentation from Mary Ann and Edgar Smith, owners of the award-winning Natural Pastures Cheese Company. A host of Comox Valley producers will also be in attendance – all-working to provide guests with gourmet grazing in true Alpine-to-Valley style. The evening will be serenaded by the intimate guitar music of Chilean-born virtuoso Rodrigo Figueroa, who returns to the Alpine Festival by popular demand to play his outstanding mix of Latin and Blues-inspired melodies. Figueroa’s intricate, emotional guitar songs frequent the CBC and he has performed at festivals throughout the Pacific Northwest, playing with legends like Sting and Chick Corea.

The reception will be a great place to meet the festival’s many chefs, including our Emcee and host for the weekend, Chef Corbin Tomaszeski, who famously hosts the Food Network’s Restaurant Makeover show. A festival sponsor, ‘Beyond’ The Kitchen Door, will showcase the bestselling cookbooks of local authors Eric Akis, Ann Kask, Vivian Cruise and Tahera Rawji. The authors will be present to meet guests, sign books and prepare delicious samples. Tahera will create appetizers from her vast repertoire of sweet and spicy Eastern cuisines, while one of Eric’s favorite recipes will be featured from his “Everyone Can Cook” cookbook series.

Some of the Local fare featured will be:Karen Pattison of BiteSize Specialty foods with her famous Raspberry pepper Jelly Glazed Chicken Wings with Bleu cheese Dip

Mark Howarth of Greenwood Pies pairs his special Surgenor Beer Sausage with Surgenor’s Steam Donkey Lager & Red House Ale

Eric Akis’ Smoked Salmon & Tuna on a Green Onion Pancake

Tahera Rawji will feature her fabulous Fish Cutlets served with coconut Chutney

Vivian Cruise prepares Bison Sliders from Island Bison served amongst her old World Food Display

Belinda Jones of The Gateway Bistro sampling her Espresso Balls with Rhodos Coffee

To attend the reception as a separate event, the fee is $25. You may call Central Reservations at 250-338-1386 or 1-888-2… to purchase your tickets.

Alpine-to-Valley Gala Dinner – 8 Courses paired with BC wine
Saturday, September 05, 2009: 07:00:PM
Location: Whiskey Jack Banquet Room

Eat well, eat fresh and eat locally as our chefs, renowned for their passion for organic produce and sustainable seafood, present a menu that reflects the season’s harvest. Each course of this gourmet field-to-fork feast highlights a Comox Valley or Island chef and features fresh produce picked from the stalls of the Alpine Market. Host Corbin Tomaszeski presents the chef, the producer and the dish as it arrives at the table. Every sumptuous course will be paired with a wine from a BC winery, including Island-made wines wherever possible. Wine pairings for each course will be discussed by the vintner.