What a treat to have dinner in the Hawthorn’s dining room on a Sunday evening. We were welcomed with Champagne and two delicious hors d’oeuvres.

Bailli Joe Scorgie greeted everyone to the Hawthorn with a few words. We were reminded of the rules of the table, then Joe presented four Commandeur pins to Linda Robinson, Jade Gandasubrata, Louie Marchesin and Rosemary Bacovsky.

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Hawthorn bread
truffle mushroom butter

Appetizer | Diego Gordillo, Bolivia
“Lengua”
confit beef tongue, pistachio butter, escabeche
Domaine de Colette Rosé, Beaujolais, France

Pasta | Gregor Dunki, Switzerland
“Capuns”
spãtzle, Swiss chard, speck
pickled shallots, cream sauce
Grüner Veltliner, Wachau, Austria

Cleanser | Arin Heibert, Canada
Raspberry sorbet

Seafood | Vinay Kumar, India
“Moilee”
barramundi, mung bean
vegetable kofta, coconut emulsion
Fournier Pouilly-Fumé Sauvignon Blanc
Loire Valley, France

Poultry | Rupert Garcia, Philippines
“Inasal”
Cornish game hen, foie gras, onigiri, ginger jus
Burrowing Owl Merlot
Okanagan Valley, British Colombia, Canada

Dessert | Arin Heibert, Canada
Golden orchard tart
almond cream, stone fruit
mascarpone, honey oat streusel
Inniskillin Reisling Ice Wine
Niagara on the Lake, Ontario, Canada

The dinner drew its creativity from flavours of the world. The Chefs used their heritage as inspiration for the dishes. As each course was served the Chef responsible joined us in the dining room to explain the background to the choice.

Diego told us about the traditional tongue dishes that were created at home in Bolivia. Executive Chef Gregor spoke about his grandmother’s home-made spätzle back in Switzerland. Vinay described how he used traditional Indian flavours to create his course.

Rupert portrayed his Filipino heritage and did a play on the traditional inasal dish, but instead using Cornish hen. Last but not least Arin, the Palliser Hotel’s Pastry Chef, told us about growing up in Canada and the fresh stone fruit stalls that pop up along the highways.

As the evening wound down it was time for the brigade to enter the dining room. Members and their guests stood giving them a round of applause, Joe made sure to toast them first, so that they could enjoy their Champagne. In Joe’s closing comments he highlighted the flavours of the dishes and how well a brigade of 14 looked after 50 attendees.

By tradition two plates are presented as a token of our event in recognition of the exceptional efforts of two members of the Fairmont Palliser Hotel’s staff: one from the kitchen brigade (or “heart of the house” as we call them) and another for the front of house.

The plate for the heart of the house went to Arin Hiebert, Pastry Chef. The one for the front of the house went to Sandhya Rayamajhi, Assistant General Manager.

Vive la Chaîne!