During the month of May and into the first week of June, Tofino/Ucluelet is hosting Feast, a multi-venue celebration of all good things food and wine related in the area.  I headed up for week one, Salmon Week, and due to the fact I unfortunately have to work for a living, I couldn’t stay for the following three weeks featuring crab, spot prawns and then the finale, food and wine festival week; a terrible shame. Feast wraps up with the Tofino Food and Wine Festival, an amazing grazing and sipping through the Tofino Botanical Gardens, one of the best festivals for food and wine lovers in the province.

I ventured out on the 10:40 am Ferry from Horseshoe Bay and arrived in Nanaimo, gassed up and drove north-west to the opposite coast.  In my childhood we camped in Tofino and my special memories included beach-combing and finding a pearl in an oyster, a treasure I still hold on to.  I also visited Tofino last year for the Food and Wine Festival, but one could spend weeks there and still feel they’ve got much more to explore.

The theme for week one of Feast was salmon, a fish I often enjoy, so I was looking forward to feasting on this west coast beauty.  I checked into the Wickaninnish, put on my rain gear, and rushed out to attend Cruise Into Dinner with Jamie’s Whaling Station and The Pointe Restaurant.  The weather wasn’t cooperating, and in fact it was hailing, but as I stepped aboard the ship and was handed a glass of Blue Mountain Bubble, I started to come down from the stress of rushing out of town and the hectic driving conditions enroute.

Salmon themed appetizers created by chef Duncan Ly, the guest chef from Hotel Arts Group and The Wickaninnish’s Pointe Restaurant Chef Nicholas Nutting were plentiful.  I’d first met Chef Ly at The Gold Medal Plates in Kelowna in February 2011  where his dishes were equally impressive.  He began as a dishwasher at the Pointe, so it was a reunion for not only myself, but the staff at the Wick, including Chef Nutting, who was particularly excited to work beside Ly again.

The cruise was followed by Chef’s Table 5 course dinner in the Rainforest Section of The Pointe Restaurant with the guest Chef, Duncan Ly.  One would think they’d be tired of eating salmon throughout the four courses, but Ly’s inventive dishes were anything but palate-tiring.  Wines served along with dinner included the Mission Hill Reserve Sauv Blanc, Joie Riesling, Gran Monk Odyssey Pinot Noir, Sandhill SMall Lots Sangiovese and the Blue Mountain Brut with Limoncello and Rhubarb Bitters.  All worked well with the intensely flavoured cuisine.

I left before dessert to catch up with Chef Peter Zambri (Zambris, Victoria) and Chef Liam Paul (Long Beach Lodge, Tofino).  I’d had to give my earlier invite to fly up to pick up the spot prawns after the cruise that evening to local Photographer Chris Pouget (still looking for a link to the prawn flight shoot) so I could attend the Wick dinner, a tough decision to make, but I wasn’t going to miss some late night cooking with these two chefs.  Be sure to check out Pouget’s project.  He shoots one Tofinoite (sp??) a day and blogs about them everyday for an entire year.  Check it out here.

The following day I was up early for breakfast with the Wickaninnish’s Charles McDiarmid at The Pointe Restaurant, and a tour of the property.  The Wick is gradually upgrading it’s building at the Pointe, so that the entire property is of five star quaility.  This is a truly magical place, guests want for nothing, service standards are extremely high and not a detail is overlooked.  From heated floors to gorgeous handcraft woodwork throughout the suites, this is try luxury.  Of course a wide angled lens would capture this better, but I took some make-do shots with what I had.

The stay was far too short and I sadly checked out of my room, departing for the Long Beach Lodge,  another amazing property, but I need more time at both.

In order not to bore you with a lengthy post (although I find this all rather exciting and can’t imagine that you wouldn’t)  I will continue my Feast BC adventures in another post.