I cannot believe that I have been sleeping on the best culinary night out in Banff for SO long; why didn't anybody tell me what an absolute hoot Wine + Pasta at Rimrock’s Primrose restaurant is? Like, a) it’s a bargain for what you get, and b) watching chefs create an inferno in an open kitchen is, truly, my kind of party!
Every Wednesday from 5pm - 9pm Primrose throws a colourful evening of all-you-can-eat pasta, salads, charcuterie and desserts as part of their bumping Wine + Pasta Night, but before we even get to the food chat, I am dying to tell you about their super fun Aperol Spritz bar cart! Wheeled over to you, cocktails are crafted tableside, making it feel as if you have your own private bartender! You can pick your own spritzy flavour journey too, with options to add various garnishes, botanicals, flavour liqueurs, and a choice between Prosecco or Champagne for bubbles. Cheers!
If you’re a cocktail lover like me, you may also be delighted to know that Primrose offers discounts on their signature concoctions during Wednesday’s festivities, as well as 50% percent off various wine bottles. FIFTY! How on earth could my boyfriend and I say no to a delicious bottle of Valpolicella for under $35? That is a trick question; we all know there is only one clear choice in situations like these.
Come with a hunger game plan because, baby, this is a true feast of an evening. I could not believe my eyes when I wandered over to the buffet stations overflowing with cheeses, cold meats, roasted vegetables, cornichons, chutneys and preserves, next to similarly plentiful stations of seafood and bountiful salad items, mixed together at your behest by a live chef. Were it not literally called “Wine + Pasta” night, I may have made the rooky error of loading up on all the delicious pre-game items and forgotten to save space for the star of the show; the incredible pasta experience.
Picture a pasta dish from your most elaborate daydreams… now bring it to life at Primrose! Toppings galore (G A L O R E) await you at the pasta bar, with zero judgement from anybody as to how loaded your plate may be. Once you have selected all of your best trimmings, jovial chefs will add your mega-mix to a searing pan lathered with butter (or alternative, if diet demands), creating a fire show worthy of stadium grade pyrotechnics. Pick a sauce, decide on whether or not you’d like lashings of wine, snow flurries of parmesan and, perhaps most importantly, what type of pasta you’d like as the backbone of your dish. Then BEHOLD as the chefs prepare the heartiest meal of your life.
I have the urge to list every single ingredient I had in my magnanimous, steaming bowl of pasta, but that might not make for the most engaging article; instead let me tell you that curiously, through my plate, I was transported from the small mountain town of Banff to Cloud Nine: Pasta Heaven (no, really, it's a place, I’ve been there). Urgh, each bite had me declaring that this was indeed the best night of my life. A bit dramatic? Whatever, did I not mention the wall of theatrical flames? This is something akin to dinner theatre, and you’ll love it!
I’m just going to say it: there is a chocolate fountain. Yes. Chocolate. Fountain… plus all manner of fruits and sundries to be dipped in it at leisure. There is also a goodly human who will help you construct an ice cream sundae should you so wish to partake (you do). Cupcakes, cookies, brownies, blondies and a truly thigh slappingly good carrot cake also await you. I may once have looked you in the eye and declared “I’m just not that much of a dessert gal”... but that was a lie and my face when approaching the dessert cart would have given it all away in a heartbeat.
The BEST news that Wine + Pasta night is only $45 per person and will fill your tum and your sweet carb loving soul to the BRIM. I already can’t wait to come back!
The last Wine + Pasta Night of the year is on December 18th, and returns in the New Year on January 22nd.
For further information rimrockresort.com/dine-drink/primrose/.
