by Wolffy

With even the provincial government getting on the local-diet bandwagon, however awkwardly, wouldn’t it be great to make 2008 the year Powell River gains fame for its local cuisine?

We have some fine restaurants in this small city—but how do our visitors find out?

Put on that chef’s hat, cher restaurateur! Tie on the apron, closet cooks! Immanence launches the first-ever Powell River Eminently Local Cuisine Championships! You have about two months to whomp up an appie, beverage, entrée, salad, or dessert with local ingredients that will woo the taste buds of our summer visitors back to our city for R&R year after year.

Cultural capital? Fine. Musical hotspot? Great! Why not add Bijou Gastronomique to our city’s string of pearls?

Well, that’s a silly appellation but it spells out the truth: that the way to tourists’ hearts probably is routed through the gastronomic system. If we are serious about re-inventing Powell River in its second century as a model of sustainability, why not start with the fun part—eating out!

Take this column as an initial invitation to all restaurants and food preparers from Lund to Texada to Saltery Bay to devise a gustatorial marvel composed of largely local ingredients (as in the 100-mile Diet). Try your creation out on your family and customers before entering it in the Eminently Local Cuisine Championships. Appetisers, beverages, salads, entrees, and desserts will win tiers of prizes in each category, and there will be plenty of publicity, splash, and rounded tummies on the party night Immanence is planning for the awards.

Details on judges, deadlines, and the gustatorial event will be printed in next month’s edition. Have some ideas for making the awards evening an even more special event focusing on local inventiveness and ingenuity?

Drop a line to editor@immanence.ca