Bella Gelateria’s Edible Art
Photo Courtesy of Bella Gelateria and Maggie Jankowiak
Gelato-topped martinis? Bacon-spiked Old Fashioneds? Cranberry sauce cocktails? This season, Pacific Northwesters are sipping a new batch of edible drinks. Get your spoons ready for a round-up of these food-filled cocktails in Vancouver, Whistler and Victoria.
We All Scream for Ice Cream
Bella Gelateria, Vancouver’s top gelato shop, recently opened a glam new location overlooking the waterfront in Yaletown. Not only is it now serving traditional Neapolitan pizzas along with its handmade frozen desserts, it’s also concocting adults-only gelato-topped cocktails dubbed “gelatinis.” Choose a classic Negroni made creamy with a scoop of Earl Grey tea gelato, go exotic with the Buko Bird (chili-infused vodka, ginger liqueur, lime juice, cilantro and coconut-scented buko pandan gelato, a Filipino-inspired flavor) or get a little crazy with the Wild Evita (Auchentoshan scotch topped with powdered espresso beans and salted caramel gelato).
Bella Gelateria, Photo Courtesy of Bella Gelateria and Kent Kallberg Studios
Ice cream creeps into drinks at other venues, too. In the Lobby Lounge at Vancouver’s Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel, order a Kentucky Float, a blend of bourbon and housemade root beer, topped with bourbon and maple ice cream, while over in Chinatown, cool, modern Bao Bei Chinese Brasserie mixes up Ba Ba’s Root Beer, with pisco, Ramazzotti liqueur, Barq’s root beer and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Hail, Caesar
Canada’s signature cocktail — the Caesar — turns up across British Columbia with enough edible garnishes to make it (almost) a meal. Similar to a Bloody Mary, but made with Clamato, a blend of tomato juice and clam broth, this vodka-based drink is topped with candied bacon when it’s served at Edible Canada, a multifaceted facility on Vancouver’s Granville Island.
At Fifty Two 80 Eatery + Bar, the lounge at the Four-Star Four Seasons Resort and Residences Whistler, bartenders pile fresh tomato, baby carrot and beef jerky atop the B.C. Caesar, which also consists of local Pemberton Distillery vodka and their own housemade clamato mixture. Over at Dusty’s Bar & BBQ, a long-standing watering hole in Whistler’s Creekside district, the Summer Caesar (on the menu in colder months as well) sates your appetite with pineapple juice, hot sauce and a smoked pineapple ring.
Clive’s Classic Lounge, Photo Courtesy of Chateau Victoria Hotel and Suites
’Tis the Season
Need a winter warmer? At Yew Restaurant, the Four-Star dining room at the Five-Star Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver, cozy up to a Smoked Maple Old Fashioned, blended with Canadian whiskey, smoky maple sugar, bitters and bacon.
Over in Victoria, Clive’s Classic Lounge serves some of that city’s most creative cocktails. Dig into the Clippin’ Apples (Apfelkorn apple liqueur, Aperol, Strega, fresh lemon juice, elderflower syrup and sliced apples) or sip the Portuguese-inspired Porto Douro, a mix of saffron-infused gin, port, amaretto, lemon juice, fig syrup and hot coffee tincture. Craving cocoa? Try the Scottish Sidekick instead, with cold brew coffee, GlenDronach 15-year scotch and a piece of dark chocolate.
The Mallard Lounge at Fairmont Chateau Whistler brings you in from the cold with a range of hot “liquid desserts,” ranging from the Warm Apple Pie (rye whiskey, Grand Marnier, butter ripple schnapps, lime and hot apple juice) to the Avalanche (crème de cacao, Baileys Irish Cream, caramel syrup, coffee and whipped cream). And if the bar is in a festive mood like it’s been in years past, a holiday menu of cranberry sauce cocktails should be appearing soon, too.
