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Table Scraps

Farming television, clinking cosmos

What do Slow Food and the 2010 Winter Olympic Games have in common?

Anybody’s guess, but chef Grant Cousar of Whistler Cooks is travelling to Torino, Italy to represent the Slow Food Whistler convivium at the globally recognized foodie conferences of Terra Madre and Salon Del Gusto – just think Cornucopia times Europe – to find out.

"With the 2006 Olympics in Italy, it is a great opportunity to go back and see what Slow Food and the Olympics meant to each other."

Especially in a Coca Cola-sponsored environment, the philosophy of getting back to the land and minimizing the amount of hand passing from producer to purchaser puts the two at odds, with one in the fast food lane and the other in a muddied trail between rows of potatoes.

"Tens of thousands of people come to the events: cooks, producers, commercial food distributors," Cousar says. "We will be discussing things like how a chef like me can build a better repertoire with farms in my community."

The relationship seems well on its way, with Cousar hosting a Slow Food Whistler field-to-plate five-course dinner Aug. 31 to help raise funds for his trip. As well, the Slow Food philosophy will be seen in action with Cousar working with local farms and producers for a homegrown magical evening.

The Endless Feast Dinner gets underway at 4:30 p.m. and will showcase Pemberton’s North Arm Farm produce, Pemberton Natural Beef, Lil’wat Nation salmon and traditional herbs, David Woods’s Salt Spring Island Cheese and Pemberton Valley Vineyards wines.

Cousar didn’t want to divulge the exact details of the courses, wanting people to open their minds to new adventures of the palate with no preconceptions.

"It’s about eating what comes from the soil and enjoying it," he says.

The dinner table will be set for an intimate group of 45 people set in the flower garden at North Arm Farm with Mount Currie providing a stunning backdrop.

Only a dozen tickets are left for the dinner. The farm is not only opening its barn doors to food adventurers, but a television crew from the PBS network will film the dinner for the Endless Feast television series. The show will air spring 2007 throughout North America.

The evening also includes a live auction after the meal. The Hairfarmers will add to the farm festive ambiance with acoustic ramblings from legends Guitar Doug and Grateful Greg.

Tickets are $100. Call North Arm Farm at 604-894-5379 or Whistler Cooks at 604-938-8835 for tickets.

Cosmo clinking Sunday

Who needs an excuse for an evening of girls, cosmos and high heels?

Well teeter away ladies on the Village Stroll cobblestones with an evening dedicated to women looking for a Sex and the City night out on the town.

Now you probably won’t find a suit-totting Mr. Big lighting up a cigar at this local haunt, but who needs boys when you can fill a table of your best girlfriends with martinis that don’t cost the equivalent of your new peek-a-boo-toed BCBGs.

Chickalicious is the new Sunday night hot spot around town at the Mixx Lounge, where girls are invited to lose their board shorts for an evening and slip into something a little more comfortable – like one of the lounge’s champagne cocktails; the perfect fit every time.

Chickalicious tickets are $10 and include a martini, appetizers from 9 to 11 p.m. and a nail glossing by Farfalla Salon estheticians. So pull out those wonderful strappy sandals for a little toe dressing and sit back to the house grooves of DJ Business or Pleasure.

And who knows, maybe Mr. Big will make an appearance – even if it is only on one of the lounge’s plasma televisions that will be airing Sex and the City reruns all