Preparing a three-course meal for several hundred guests is a test of any chef's mettle.  Add to that the challenge of prepping, cooking and plating aboard a moving train and you'll get an idea of  Frederic Couton's job as executive chef on the Rocky Mountaineer. 


British Columbia's luxury rail line, the Rocky Mountaineer runs its glass-domed, double-decker trains from Vancouver up and over the Canadian Rockies and into Alberta.  I recently had a chance to experience the Journey Through the Clouds, a two-day trip  up the Fraser Canyon, through Kamloops and over the Rockies at Yellowhead Pass. 

For the train aficionados aboard, it was the trip of a lifetime - a ride through stunning alpine scenery on Canada's equivalent of the Orient Express.  But, as I was surprised to find out, the trip has a lot to offer foodies as well, especially if you opt for the top-tier Gold Leaf Service.       

Breakfast, for starters, is no casual affair.  As the train entered the mouth of the Fraser Canyon, we were led from the upstairs viewing car to the dining car on the lower level.  The narrow space holds an intimate dining room: banquettes with window views laid out with white linen tablecloths and gleaming silver. 

I opted for the Sir Sanford Fleming breakfast, a variation on eggs Benedict named after one of Canada's rail pioneers.  The poached egg was served over Montreal smoked meat on top of a fluffy crumpet and topped with creamy tarragon Hollandaise.  While the scenery blurred by outside, I got to know a few fellow passengers dining at my table, travelers from Los Angeles visiting Canada for the first time.


After breakfast, I took a peek inside the car's galley, a space no wider than a shipping container where 144 gourmet meals are prepared every day.  A crew of seven white-aproned cooks were already hard at work slicing and grilling for lunch.  Overseeing the controlled chaos was executive chef Couton. 

French-born and trained - with a thick accent to prove it - Couton worked at Vancouver's famous Cannery Restaurant before coming to the Rocky Mountaineer.  "It's not like other kitchens.  There are a few tricks you have to learn," he said over the rumble of the rails.  "When you open the fridge, you open it very slowly." 

When we crest the Fraser Canyon and enter the arid BC interior, it's time for lunch.  Locally sourced and organic ingredients - including BC Salmon and Alberta beef - feature prominently on the menu, as does wine from the nearby Okanagan Valley.  I opt for the Alberta pork tenderloin, which comes with a confit of sweet onions, as well as market veggies and whipped garlic potatoes.  How the food was plated so artfully on a moving train - each carrot in its place - remains a mystery to me. 

By the time we finally reached the Rockies on our second day, talk focused almost as much on food as on the stunning peaks outside. Over the duration of the trip, we were treated to black tiger prawns and Alberta sirloin, Fraser Valley chicken and honey-glazed salmon.  The highlight for many, however, was a much simpler pairing: local cheeses and B.C. wine, served each afternoon as the province's mountains and canyons rolled by. 

Has anyone else dined aboard the Rocky Mountaineer?  Please share any thoughts or favorite meals by leaving a comment below.

Remy Scalza is a food and travel writer who appears in The Washington Post, Wine Spectator, National Geographic Traveler and other outlets.  He blogs about his adventures in Canada and elsewhere at RemyScalza.com and InsideVancouver.ca.   

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