Explore Conscious Cuisine With the Experts
We’ll venture a guess that you’ve indulged in a farm-to-table meal. But what about tide-to-table or forest-to-table? Nimmo Bay’s creative and passionate team has curated a sensational four-day exploration to do just that, inspired by the natural bounty around the wilderness resort.
During the Savour the Coast Culinary Retreat, you’ll reignite a connection with your food through local ingredients, foraging adventures, and guidance from our chefs. When it’s mealtime, you’ll savour the flavours in breathtaking locations, with only the sounds of nature as your soundtrack.
If you are a foodie, are food-curious, or need some refreshing and nourishing time away (don’t we all), this is your chance. Spend four days immersed in an unrivalled natural setting under the guidance of an executive chef, a sommelier, and a guest services leader. Our talented team at Nimmo Bay connects the wild location to the culinary experience.
Spots are limited to 12 to ensure an intimate and unique retreat. Join us from May 26 to 30, 2022—and get ready to savour coastal ingredients, curated wines, local spirits, and unparalleled wilderness.
Awaken Your Connection to Local Fare
Nimmo Bay’s location in the heart of the Great Bear Rainforest abounds with opportunities to relish nature’s bounty. Guests will collect ingredients for each meal through an interactive and hands-on approach. Prepare to go foraging and harvesting! You’ll be pleasantly surprised at the availability of local goods to bring to your plates.
Our executive chef Linnéa has listed several unique ingredients from the ocean and forest around Nimmo Bay, and how they may be incorporated into your dishes:
“The list of unique foraged ingredients from around Nimmo Bay is extensive, and quite honestly, I am always learning how to respectfully harvest and process new ingredients each time I am at Nimmo Bay. The list is continually changing with the seasons.
We are very fortunate to be located between land and ocean foraging and harvesting ingredients all the way from the ocean floor, such as bottom-dwelling fish and crustaceans, to the ever-changing tide line with kelp and other seaweeds, gooseneck barnacles, sea urchin, and sea asparagus. The list goes on! On the land and into the forest, we can harvest mushrooms, fiddleheads, shoots, leaves, and berries of all sorts.
As far as incorporating any of the foraged ingredients we harvest from the surrounding area, we try to present them to guests with as little manipulation as possible to allow the elements to shine. Some things take a little more processing or cooking than others. Still, for the most part, many products are kept raw and then paired with components that support or accent them to make a complete dish.”
Curate Earth-to-Table Meals
This retreat adheres to a sustainably-minded and environmentally conscious philosophy. Maintaining the pristine landscapes of coastal BC remains a top priority as we forage for ingredients.
Once you’ve foraged, fished, and collected your ingredients, it’s time to prepare your nourishing meals while sommelier Kyle ensures your wine glass is full.
Under the guidance of executive chef Linnéa Letourneau, you’ll gather your ingredients and we will transform them into delectable dishes. What results will taste extra special because you’ve seen some of your ingredients go from earth-to-table. And, there’s always that tangible taste of heart and soul that goes into cooking with a new appreciation for the source.
Exquisite Dining Locales
Each of your meals will be enticing on its own, but add the spectacular locations where you’ll take your meals and take the experience from great to phenomenal.
Imagine savouring your breakfast on a floating dock with mist on the water next to you, surrounded by the fragrant forest and chirping birds.
For your next meal, you might venture out and find balance on a paddle board floating peacefully on the water. Or, you’ll enter into the forest and create a dreamy picnic spot among the towering trees.
While you dine in these luxurious locations, you can look around and note where some of your ingredients came from.
Meet Your Talented Leaders
Part of what makes this retreat so exquisite are the talented, skilled, and down-right awesome leaders along for the journey with you. We asked them to share their thoughts on this culinary exploration so you can get a better idea of what to expect.
Linnéa Letourneau
Executive chef Linnéa brings a global perspective to Nimmo Bay, having honed her culinary skills in Vancouver, Paris, Australia, and Tokyo. Now she’s focused on a local palette centred on the stunning West Coast, with an evolving dedication to sustainable, seasonal ingredients. Her dishes are inspired by the local delights around Nimmo Bay, which she’ll add to her dish after foraging and harvesting from the wilderness around her kitchen.
For Linnéa, this culinary retreat enables guests to relish in memorable dining experiences and feel connected with the surrounding nature where the ingredients come from. This will be accomplished by using locally produced, grown, caught, and harvested elements for each dish.
It’s Linnéa’s hope that guests get a sense of what the West Coast has to offer, further inspiring them to explore “West Coast cuisine” and the nature that it comes from. She hopes that guests will see the beautiful landscapes of the ocean, mountains, and forests engulfing Nimmo, as well as the flora and fauna. Zoom in on the unique products that will transform from the earth to your plate, including mushrooms, seaweeds and kelp, urchin and seafood.
Through eating and drinking the local goods, Linnéa would love if our guests gained a new perspective. Remember that busy life at home? Leave it behind, and slow down to feel the rhythm of nature, which hopefully carries with each guest back in their daily lives.
She can’t wait to share everything she loves about Nimmo with the guests—find out why she keeps coming back!
Kyle Gartlan-Close
Your sommelier and maître de Kyle will bring his decades of hospitality experience to your glasses as he brings bliss to your tastebuds with his carefully curated wines and spirits. Spending much of his career on the West Coast from California to Nimmo Bay, his penchant for coastal food and wine runs deep. While on your retreat, Kyle will ensure that whatever fills your glass perfectly pairs with coastal-inspired dishes on your table.
Kyle believes this retreat will suit anyone passionate about flavour and wants a connection to their food and drink through a story. This retreat is a way to truly experience how culinary is art. He hopes that guests will create a connection between what’s on the plate and in the glass with the farmers and people behind the products.
A significant part of this retreat revolves around connecting food to the land it comes from and reigniting a connection to oneself. Kyle notes that what we put in our bodies is a massive reflection of how we feel and live. By eating and drinking products from the lands we walk on, we start to innately feel more connected to the place.
In Kyle’s words, “It’s a truly immersive experience. Being on the land here with us and delving deep into the processes of food and drink will truly connect any passionate food lover to what the West Coast has to offer.”
He’s eager to share his passions and stories with the guests—it’s one of his ultimate favourite things to do! (And we can assure you, you’re in for a treat.)
Shauna Thompson
Nimmo Bay’s guest services manager will be at your side to make your stay as comfortable as possible. Her primary goal is that you feel like you can be present, feel welcome, and act like Nimmo is your home—she’ll take care of all the other details to ensure the retreat runs smoothly.
For Shauna, this retreat will enable guests to gain a newfound sense of connection to place through food, and hope that stays with them in their home lives. Nimmo Bay’s location means guests will feel the fresh air and maybe a few raindrops, smell the salty ocean and fragrant forest, watch wildlife all around, and of course, taste the delectable meals throughout each day. It’s truly a journey for all the senses that will leave lasting memories.
She encourages anyone curious about food and nature to consider this retreat. It’s especially suitable for those who could use a reset in the luxurious Great Bear Rainforest.
Expand Your Connection to Place Through Taste
For those looking to expand their culinary horizons or just indulge in some of the West Coast’s finest and freshest fare, our culinary retreat will leave a lasting impression. You’ll restore a connection to yourself, the land, and your retreat group, including the guides. Take with you what you learned to enhance your cooking when you return home.
As Shauna aptly says, “Food has a way of bringing people together, inspiring us, and exciting us.” We hope you’ll feel inspired after joining us for the Savour the Coast Culinary Retreat from May 26 to 30, 2022.
