By Ezra Black
On Nov. 24, waistlines were expanded at the Taste of Fernie food festival.
The Fernie Chamber of Commerce sold 91 of the hundred available tickets for the Taste of Fernie food festival and 15 participating restaurants and retail shops each offered specials for the occasion.
Nevados served tacos, while The Loaf served lamb and cheese ravioli, Freshies Cafe had sweet and savoury crepes and Frida also had tacos.
Big Bang Bagels was serving bagel chips and dip.
“It has been made with a whole bunch of love,” said Big Bang employee Bridget Brown. “The bagel itself has been made in house. From there we sliced it, seasoned it and baked it. We consumed one or two for quality control.”
“It’s the chip thing that everybody loves and you get all the gluten that you need,” added her colleague Galatée Malnoy.
Even the dogs were getting in on the action as Barkside Pets was also participating.
“This is our year of fully embracing being in the chamber,”said spokesperson Jenn Woods. “We’ve had treats donated and we’re giving samples of food as well.”
Barkside’s Tristin Zimmer added that their most delicious dog treat is the bacon, which is graded safe for human consumption.
“We have actually had a customer that ate the bacon,” she said. “He put it in his mouth and I asked how it tasted and he said it was actually really good. He said if you heated it up and fed it to him, he wouldn’t know the difference. The only thing is, it’s not very salty.”
The Fernie Hotel and Pub unveiled new additions to their menu: Asian shrimp and cod cake and Thai chicken and beef satay.
A number of retailers also participated. Eye of the Needle was giving away $10 gift certificates, The Green Petal was giving away flowers and Polar Peek Books cooked up and handed out sauce samples for the occasion.