World Ocean Day (June 8) may be behind us, but the Grill Room at Fairmont Chateau Whistler is celebrating summer with a new menu that shines a light on B.C.’s flourishing sustainable-seafood movement.

Not all farmed fish is a threat to wild Pacific salmon and all the species that depend on it, including whales, bears, and eagles. West Creek is a sustainable land-based aquaculturer based in the Lower Mainland that raises Coho salmon in a closed-containment recirculating aquaculture system. (It’s open-net pen salmon farms that have many environmentalists, chefs, First Nations groups, and B.C. citizens concerned about the future of B.C.’s wild salmon.) Raised without antibiotics or growth hormones, West Creek salmon is endorsed as “Best Choice” or Recommended by Ocean Wise, Seafood Watch, Sea Choice, Fish Choice, and Fish Wise.

At the Grill Room, executive chef Isabel Chung and executive sous chef Derek Bendig cook and serve this salmon on a cedar plank along with potato, mustard, and pork belly from Fermes Gaspor Farms. The Quebec farm raises milk-fed piglets, yielding succulent meat that’s in demand by three-star Michelin restaurants around the world. (The Grill Room has amassed its own culinary awards.)

Langley’s Berezen Shrimp Company is another land-based, closed-containment farm. The shrimp is raised in a biosecure facility that is said to have no impact on the ocean or local waterways. The family-run business doesn’t use antibiotics, hormones, pesticides, PCBs, or other chemicals in its Pacific whiteleg shrimp (aka Litopenaeus vannamei, or white shrimp). With it, Chung and Bendig create a spectacular shrimp cocktail with avocado and summer vegetables.

Chung and Bendig are also champions of sustainable Gindara Sablefish. Gindara is the largest employer in the Kyuquot/Checleseht community on the west coast of Vancouver Island; the Kyuquot/Checleseht First Nation granted permission to operate in its territory 20 years ago. Gindara Sablefish is the only commercial-scale sablefish farm in the world. 

Also called black cod, Gindara sablefish, unlike wild Sablefish, do not get kudoa thyrsites or other parasites. The dish at the Grill Room features smoked Gindara with asparagus purée, quail egg, and Northern Divine Caviar.

Besides sustainable fish and seafood, the Grill Room menu also features steaks, pastas, lamb, duck, rabbit, risotto, and more.

For more casual diners, The Clubhouse at Fairmont Chateau Whistler Golf Club is offering breakfast for golfers and non-golfers alike for the first time in its 25 year history. Bendig’s menu includes selections like fried oatmeal with maple syrup, lemon curd, and blackberries; avocado toast with bocconcini cheese, tomato jam, and an optional egg; and the Cure Burger with a fried egg, bacon, cheddar cheese, and tomato with a side of house-made tater tots.