Missed Dinner? A Chef’s Table Recap
What happens when you combine fine dining and complete relaxation? A culinary adventure unlike any other. Guided by Thermëa’s Executive Chef, Darnell Banman, guests dived into a 7-course meal with wine and wellness pairings this summer. While we may have missed our chance to savour the experience, we can still have a taste of Chef’s Table here.
Take a Seat at Thermëa’s Chef’s Table
Before their meal even begins, guests are whisked away to Finlandia. The first thing on the menu? A private Aufguss ritual carefully crafted by mixing key ingredients picked from all of Thermëa’s rituals. Intense heat, towel waving, essential oils and tree veniks all came together to set the tone for a unique night at the spa.
“Every ritual sets the tone for the moments we experience afterwards. For the private Aufguss before Chef’s Table, we wanted to prepare our guests for the delicious meal they were about to enjoy” reveals Rituals Manager Tasha Konkin No detail is spared, every essential oil featured in the ritual was chosen by the chef himself with the help and knowledge of Rituals Artisans. “By picking essential oils like blood orange and juniper, we’re able to mirror the ingredients of the meal. We begin the culinary experience in the sauna” continues Tasha.
Once at the table, after having cooled off with cold eucalyptus towels, the thermal cycle is completed with the help of a table-side meditation. An artisan guides guests into a grounding practice. “To ready their minds and body to receive the nourishment to come,” explains Tasha. A mental palate cleanser, the practice helps reconnect with one’s senses and, hopefully, awaken their taste buds.
The first course is succulent beef tenderloin tartar with a quail egg, chili oil and sesame cracker, paired with Benjamin Bridge’s Brut Rosé. Next, a PEI lobster cappuccino—sans coffee, don’t worry—with Japanese custard. The third course, paired with Père et Fils Chardonnay, is refreshing sunflower shoots, prickly pear, blood orange oil, prosciutto and fire-roasted pineapple. The journey continues with a fish course: halibut with trout roe, chive beurre blanc and sunchoke purée. Hungry yet?
Then comes the palate cleanser, a rhubarb granita with a champagne sorbet, a popcorn crème and a glass of McManis’ Cabernet Sauvignon. The sixth course is hearty and comforting venison short loin with rosti, morels, spring peas and carrots. Its juniper jus takes us back to the earlier Aufguss and its essential oils. The last course, of course, is the dessert. The night ends on a sweet note with honey ricotta ice cream, almond orange cake, whipped banana, raspberry fluid gel and chocolate soil.
All night, guests sat at a custom-made live edge table from Urban Lumber. The recent partnership between the Winnipeg business and Thermëa ensures nearby trees destined for the landfill find their way to the spa instead. Transformed into beautiful creations, they now call the spa home and give the Chef a beautiful table to call his own, one made with one of the well over 2000 trees Urban Lumber has saved from a tragic end.
“It’s exactly how we imagined Chef’s Table,” reflects Chef Banman, “the experience at Thermëa encompasses so much and didn’t want to ignore it, but celebrate it to curate the perfect evening. There’s nowhere else in Winnipeg where you can experience a thermal cycle, sauna rituals and amazing food made with local ingredients, all within a few hours.”
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Photos: Jenna Rae | Instagram