Inspired by the emerging spring produce on Vancouver Island, as well as the dedication of B.C. farmers, The Courtney Room unveils its new tasting menu, featuring innovative takes on familiar flavours and new techniques.
“Curating our new tasting menu was a real growth moment for me and the team,” says Executive Chef Brian Tesolin. “We took a look at popular techniques in the culinary world and put our own flair into it, ones that emphasize textures and flavours, as well as celebrating the incredible farmed and foraged ingredients we see locally.”
The menu highlights defining features including the restaurant’s dry-aging and preserving program, allowing the team to maximize flavour, highlight their ethos around minimizing waste, and capture ingredients at their perfect ripeness and share them year round. The restaurant also has an on-site butcher, allowing them to bring in whole fish or animals and use every element in the kitchen.
The new tasting menu starts with a progressive amuse snack, each one increasing in elegance: Cashew Bites; a Carbonated Tomato Negroni Sip – a consommé made from preserved last summer’s tomatoes from Littlest Acres with a blend of orange bitters, tonic syrup, juniper and coriander; an Oyster with rose hip and trout roe; and Foie Gras Parfait Bunello, sea buckthorn, creme fraiche and pistachio. First course features Cold Smoked Dry-Aged Amberjack Crudo with yuzu ponzu, radish and locally foraged ox-eye daisy buds, then Sablefish with butternut squash curry velouté, truffle and savoury granola. Next Yarrow Meadows Duck Breast with pine, mushroom, celeriac and lentil, followed by Peace Country Lamb with morel mushroom, nixtamalized corn, farro, pumpkin seed and harissa. To end, Hazelnut Sablé with a raspberry ganache.
The new seasonal menu is available now at The Courtney Room, and costs $125 per person, plus tax and gratuity. Optional wine pairings are available, carefully selected by Wine Director, Colin Davidson, focusing on interesting wines and unique varietals from renowned producers, both international and local wine regions. The restaurant’s wine list was recognized in the 2024 Wine Program Excellence Awards with a Platinum Award distinction, announced at the Vancouver International Wine Festival, the first restaurant on Vancouver Island to achieve the coveted title.
