Dining Features

It's been my experience that a leisurely drive up the Sea to Sky Highway is full of surprises, primarily because of its varied landscape. By this I don't mean the current level of heavy roadwork on this route (which my toddler daughter calls the Land of Diggers) but the panorama of new and historic landmarks to discover: from the roadside carnies in Britannia Beach up through the proto-funk that is Squamish to the Town That Snow Built, Whistler.

But if you've never ventured beyond the Upper Village turnoff all the way to Meadows Road, then expect the unexpected: a beautiful, how-green-it-is farm valley stretching northeast along the Lillooet River and southwest to Mount Currie. To really enjoy it, leave early and pack a cooler and an appetite, because there's more to dig in Pemberton than its famous potatoes.

After the two-hour drive, a left turn at the town's main intersection on Highway 99 will bring you to the Pony Espresso to water and caffeinate the family. A short jaunt east on 99 leads to North Arm Farm (1888 Sea to Sky Highway, northarmfarm.com/) where Jordan Sturdy and his wife, Trish, operate a unique self- and full-service farm operation, offering fresh-daily baked goods, as well as prepared foods and U-pick strawberries, raspberries, and garden flowers.

While pursuing a career as a mountain guide, Sturdy bought the farm a decade ago on a lark (and urging from mother Martha) and figured out how to grow from a strawberry patch to more than 18 hectares of assorted crops; in fact, a stroll in his self-serve walk-in cooler is like a once-around the farmers market. Raspberries will be front and centre this month, but if you love root veggies, deals can be had on parsnips, carrots, and (particularly) Jerusalem artichokes: Sturdy grew several bushels for a restaurant's special order and, well, they're still up for grabs. Every reasonable offer will be entertained.

More immediate culinary satisfaction can be found in the bakery's home-style butter tarts, eight centimetres of flaky, oozing delight priced to please at $6.50 for nine.

You may want to save those for dessert, however, and head east for a patio lunch at the Big Smoke Mountain BBQ (2021 Portage Road, Mount Currie, 604-894-1227; bigsmoke.ca/). Pit master Adam Protter keeps the smoker loaded with low-and-slow-cooked meaty goodness, including pulled pork, brisket, and ribs, with some Mexican-menu standards and even some vegetarian items along for colour. Protter's lineup also features fries made, with pride, from fresh-cut Pemberton organic potatoes, the crop that put Pemberton on the continental food map.

Since 1949, the valley's splendid isolation has been home to some of the world's best seed-potato farms, currently producing more than 8,000 tons of 34 varieties and shipping these to growers across North America. Lucky for us, they manage to keep a few tons around for local consumption.

To view Pemberton's potato alley, head west through town out on Meadows Road, which delivers exactly what you hope for in a mountain meadow; kilometres of lush green fields, sparse thickets of trees, and the occasional grazing sheep set against a backdrop of snowcapped peaks. A quiet "wow" is perfectly natural.

Along the first stretch you'll find a few U-pick strawberry farms, such as McEwan's Farm (7752-C Meadows Road, 604-894-6063), enjoying a bumper crop this year that's ripe for the picking for another two weeks.

Approximately 13 kilometres from town, you'll find Doug and Jeannette Helmer's organic farm (604-538-6618), source of many spuds peeled in top Vancouver kitchens and coveted by customers at the East Van Farmers Market, including perennial favourites Sieg Linde and Bintje (new for 2005: Rheingold and Russian Blue varieties).

Daughter/farmer Anna Helmer and her pal Lisa Richardson suggest loading your bike rack for any meadows tour but hope to entice you and your gang to ride the valley on August 21 for the first annual Slow Food Cycle Sunday (slowfoodcyclesunday .com/ will be up any day now). With support from the Pemberton Farmers Institute and the recently formed Slow Food Whistler convivium, the pair is organizing a free, self-propelled 50-kilometre street party along Meadows Road with plenty of interesting and tasty pit stops.

Riders will receive a "green guide" to local crops, the seed-potato lab, historical milestones, and the region's unique ecology. Those pedalling up an appetite can pull up to any of a number of farm-gate stands offering quick nutritious eats, smiling chatty farmers, and piles of local produce priced to go.

A backpack, pannier, or sidecar is highly recommended.