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A balanced brekkie

I know that breakfast is supposed to be the most important meal of the day. In theory, it makes a lot of sense; the food you eat after waking up provides you with much-needed fuel to start your day.

I know that breakfast is supposed to be the most important meal of the day. In theory, it makes a lot of sense; the food you eat after waking up provides you with much-needed fuel to start your day.

Unfortunately, despite the logic behind this clichéd saying, I’m still not a big breakfast person — the idea of a greasy fry-up of eggs and sausage first thing in the morning kind of makes my stomach turn. Now, I’m okay with fruit salad, oatmeal, granola and yogurt, or a toasted bagel with cream cheese, but I’m personally more of a lunch/dinner person, and have never really invested a lot of time or energy in the meal designed to “break your fast.”

But after a recent Saturday night excursion, a friend managed to convince me to let down my guard and try a bit of “real” breakfast to ease our suffering. She swears up and down that Elements has the best big breakfast in town, which puzzled me at first, because it’s actually a Tapas-style restaurant, known for its locally inspired small plates and selection of wine and cocktails. But I caved and decided to judge for myself.

Technically, we didn’t arrive at Elements until after noon, so I guess it was more of a brunch than anything, but it didn’t matter, really; the meal I chose would be amazing at any time of the day.

Despite, or perhaps because of, our tardy arrival, my dining partner and I faced a bit of a wait to get a table in the small dining area. But the funky, eclectic décor and funny, friendly servers proved to be a great distraction and before we knew it, we were settled at our table, menus in hand, with tea on its way.

As someone who often suffers from order anxiety in the face of an extensive menu, I found their offerings were diverse, but not overwhelming, and after only a few minutes of hemming and hawing, I finally settled on the item that sounded probably the least healthy, but the most delicious — the brie and ham stuffed French toast.

Apparently, my choice also had the slowest prep time (our server didn’t tell me that until he finally brought it to the table), but it was worth the agonizing wait. My jaw dropped at the sheer size of the meal — basically an entire loaf of bread filled with gooey, melted brie atop grilled ham — so it was easy to see why this dish takes a while to prepare. It was beautifully presented with a shot of fruit smoothie, a melon ball, and a small mug of warmed maple syrup on the side, to balance out the savoury flavour of the meat and cheese. Though I managed to put an impressive dent in my breakfast, I still didn’t even come close to finishing it, and sadly put down my fork.

My friend settled on her standard and more reasonable, but equally appetizing, classic breakfast, complete with poached eggs and duck sausage.

While my one meal at Elements wasn’t quite enough to declare myself a “breakfast” person, I definitely know where to go if I’m in need of a solid Sunday morning breakfast anytime soon.

 

Extra helpings

 

Eat-local aficionados must love the month of August; first, we had the wildly successful Slow Food Cycle Sunday in Pemberton two weeks ago, and this weekend, we get another taste of provincial culinary delights with A Taste of British Columbia.

The event, which takes place at the Roundhouse Lodge on Friday, Aug. 29, features a delectable selection of fresh food from across the province, including venison and lamb from Merritt and the Fraser Valley, root vegetables from Pemberton, Riesling steamed Salt Spring Island mussels, west coast oysters on the half shell, oven-roasted B.C. black cod, smoked salmon, and local berry desserts.

And just think, you get to fill your belly with these homegrown goodies while the sun sets on the Whistler alpine. The event runs from 5 p.m. until 7:30 p.m., and tickets range in price from $29 for children to $59 for adults. If you have a lift ticket, the rate is a bit lower. For more information on A Taste of British Columbia, contact guest relations at Whistler-Blackcomb: 1-800-766-0449.

Last, but not least on the local food front, the annual Sea to Sky Feast of Fields is set to take place on Saturday, Aug. 30 at Rebagliati Park.

The event runs from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m., with loads of local restaurants, food producers, wineries and microbreweries sampling wares and providing information on B.C. food and drink. Tickets to the Feast of Fields are $80 and are available online at www.ffcf.bc.ca/whistlerfeast/tickets.html .