It was either in my Grade 7 or Grade 8 History
book when I first saw the iconic photo of the Banff Springs Hotel. The picture was both enchanting, yet odd to
me at the same time. Why exactly was
there this gorgeous turn-of-the-Century European chateau built in the middle of
the Canadian Rocky Mountains? As I learned through my history class, the
Banff Springs Hotel opened in 1885 as part of the Canadian National Pacific Railway
route that connects Eastern Canada with Western Canada. It was one of several luxury hotels built
along the Canadian National Railway to entice tourism and immigration towards
Western Canada during the Expansion era of the late 19th/early 20th Centuries.
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| The Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel |
A National Historic Site of Canada, the Banff
Springs Hotel is now owned by the Fairmont hotel chain and priced for those
seeking luxury in the Canadian Rockies.
Needless to say, the Banff Springs Hotel is far too rich for my
budget. But as chance would have it, my
employer decided to treat our team to dinner on our last night in Banff.
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| The Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel |
After our walk along the Bow River Trail, my
appetite was a bit more worked up than I had anticipated. For my appetizer, I chose some fresh Prince
Edward Island oysters. Yes, the menu said fresh Prince Edward
Island oysters. Although I finished them, I did question how “fresh” these oysters were given that Prince Edward
Island is about a two-day drive East of Banff – or about a 5-hour flight out of
Calgary. Factor that in with the time it would also take to harvest oysters off the coast of the Atlantic Ocean and package them for shipping across Canada, and you will start to understand my cynicism here.
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| View of the Rockies from the Banff Springs Hotel |
My entrée was a lot more local as I went for
the Alberta bison tenderloin paired with a Bloody Caesar. My word did this dinner ever hit the
spot! So tender and juicy – just how I
like it with medium rare steak. The
bison tenderloin also came with a side of seasonal vegetables. While I am not a huge Brussels sprouts fan, I had
no complaints here with the Banff Springs Hotel as they added some excellent flavour
with the seasonal vegetables making the sprouts less bland.
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| The train lines that came to Banff in 1885 |
As for the Bloody Caesar, you couldn’t have
asked for a spicier drink to pair nicely with the tenderloin. The Bloody Caesar is Canada’s take on the
Bloody Mary, but we substitute Mott’s Clamato for the tomato juice. The Caesar was invented in Calgary back in
the late 1960s, so I have not been disappointed with any of my Bloody Caesar
drinks in Alberta thus far.
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| My "fresh" Prince Edward Island oysters |
Although I thoroughly enjoyed my dinner and
appetizer, it was a shame that I had no room for dessert as I knew I would
never personally eat here again. My dinner
alone was already worth more than $100 – the Alberta bison tenderloin was one
of the “cheaper” entrées at around $65 CDN.
Ouch! After 2 hours of dining and conversing, we
headed back to our hotel. It was a pleasure
to have finally seen the Banff Springs Hotel in person, and it was an experience that
I won’t soon forget.
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| Alberta Bison tenderloin with seasonal vegetables |
Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel
405 Spray Avenue
Banff, AB (Canada)
T1L 1J4
Phone: (403) 762-2211
Fax: (403) 762-5755
Website:
http://www.fairmont.com/banff-springs/
