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Sizzling SpatulaA Cooking Class at Victoria’s Newest HotelBy Karoline Cullen
I’m perched at a long granite counter, glass of British Columbia wine in hand, listening to the Victoria Marriott’s Executive Chef David Roger outline his menu for our Sizzling Spatula cooking class. The Marriott is Victoria’s newest hotel, a few blocks from the scenic Inner Harbour, and Chef Roger plans regular offerings of the Sizzling Spatula.
He’s cooked his way across Canada and back. After an apprenticeship at the famed Five Sails in the Pan Pacific Hotel in Vancouver, he came to Victoria. While here, he was named Victoria Chef of the Year in 1998. More opportunities beckoned from points east, taking him to the Canadian Rockies and the Maritimes and back again. Luckily for those of us in this special class, we taste first hand the delectable results of his passionate pursuit of excellence. By the time the last of the wine is poured and the dessert completely demolished, there isn’t a lot of room for our dinner planned at the Marriott’s Fire and Water Fish and Chop House. As a remedy, we walk along flower basket lined streets to nearby Victoria’s Inner Harbour, busy with boats, ferries, and artisans.
From all that we sample from Chef Roger’s kitchens, we appreciate that he is decidedly raising the bar for hotel dining. The Victoria Marriott, an AAA 4 Diamond hotel, opened in 2004. It offers 236 rooms geared for both the business and pleasure traveller. www.victoriamarriott.com For information on Victoria, see www.tourismvictoria.com/ Photos by K. Cullen 1 Chef carefully plates dessert. |
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With
studied concentration, chef spoons a silky sabayon sauce over the
strawberries nestled in a pastry shell. A garnish of mint completes the
creation and it’s served with a flourish. Our patience for waiting while the
sabayon was whipped is finally rewarded. That’s the wonderful thing about a
cooking class. Someone else does all the work, while you ostensibly absorb
the techniques used, and then you get to eat the results. 
We
munch on the delectable first course, Dungeness crab cakes with greens and a
bright orange nasturtium garnish, while he preheats the pans to sear the
Vancouver Island lamb and Alaskan scallops for the main course. Intriguing
food combinations characterize this class as well as the menus in the hotel.
As he carefully checks that the chops aren’t overdone, he digresses to
divulge his cooking history.
After
a night filled with dreams of flipping things in a frying pan with the flick
of a wrist, it is Grand Opening day at the Marriott. After the speeches are
made and the balloons released, we take our glasses of champagne and wander
through the lovely hotel. There are more tasty morsels from Chef Roger and
his staff to sample. In the ballroom is an elaborate buffet featuring a huge
array of seafood. Following the delicious smells of barbeque, we linger on
the outdoor heated patio, listening to a jazz trio and watching Chef Roger
tend the grills. On the 2nd floor, we see synchronized swimmers in the pool
while munching from the buffet of hors d’ouvres, fruits and cheeses.
A tour of the 16th floor features some room patios that overlook the Olympic
Mountains, the Pacific Ocean, and Victoria’s cityscape. In the Concierge
Lounge, there’s a harpist to serenade our dessert selections. (photo 4)