Our evening at River Cafe was initiated by a cold glass of Veuve Clicquot yellow label, (as David Walker referred to it, “the perfect wedding wine”) and a charcuterie table featuring 17 month Berkshire prosciutto, finnochino sausage, duck liver pate, lamb merguez, duck breast prosciutto, wild board ciccioli and bison bunderfleisch. “This brings a different clientele – people that are interested in food.  At River Café it is all about connection to the growers.  We buy directly from as many farmers as we can.  For us it is about sustainability.  Being a chef my biggest motivation is quality,” said Executive Chef of River Café Scott Pohorelic.

CSL spoke to Jay from Visa who filled us in on the Visa Infinite Dining series (just one of the many perks of owning such a card).  Visa Infinite Dining series allows cardholders, “more than just an exemplary gourmet experience, [the] series takes you beyond the dining room.”  Other events across Canada have included dinners at Colborne Land (Chef Claudio Aprile) and Lumiere (Chef Dale MacKay).  We are envious - too bad we couldn’t attend these dinners as well!

Our five course tasing menu consisted of the following: sunshine coast spot  prawn and qualicum bay scallop with  grilled giant pacific octopus and scarlet turnip salad; ling cod, nasturtium beurre blanc, Russian blue potatoes and butternut squash; roast broek farm’s suckling pig, stinging nettle, cannellini beans, brassica mustard; rocky mountain ranch’s white tail deer, caramelized onion perogies, maitake mushroom, wild huckleberries; and Lemon and dandelion honey tart with blood orange sorbet.

The venison, had been slow poaching for five hours (dinner was at 6:30pm) lending a texture similar to cooking sous vide- pink in the centre, and lightly seared on the outside. Roasted suckling pigs (2) were the showpieces on site.  The octopus, scallop appetizer: we learned that pacific octopus is a by product of harvesting other fish; and seldom utilized.

As each dish progessed, John Gilchrist and wine expert David Walker ushered tidbits of information about ingredients and pairings. Dessert (in particular the blood orange sorbet) was the topic of interest at CSL’s table.  CSL thought there was the marked floral taste (elderflower perhaps?), but were told that the sorbet was pure blood orange.  This was paired with Veuve clicuot demi sec- a fine ending.  Bright, slightly more residual sugar but ever so elegant.

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