Led by longtime local Estelle Blanchette, the brand new Jasper Food Tours are the perfect way to get to know Canada’s most authentic mountain town while filling your belly with delicious food and drink.
Calling all foodies! Also all history buffs. And cultural explorers. Anyone who relishes a good time, really (although if you don't appreciate a good food pun then peas see yourself out). Jasper Food Tours caters to many tastes, and their inaugural daily tour - the Downtown Foodies Tour - is a three hour walking and eating journey that takes participants to four local restaurants and many Jasper landmarks (total distance walked is 1.5 kilometers).
The featured restaurants remain a mystery until the minute you find yourself outside their doors, but trust that each one is unique and special to Jasper, not to mention drool-worthy. Once seated, you’re immediately served a healthy portion of aesthetically pleasing grub and an equally healthy pour of the good stuff. Although the menu is also kept a surprise, we can reveal that it includes wild game meats, local brews, Canadian classics and globally-inspired treats (note: it can be customized in advance for vegetarian and gluten free preferences).
Jasper is itself a gastronomic curiosity. Cuisines from across Canada and the world mix and mingle in this northern pocket of the Rocky Mountains; the resulting melting pot of flavours, combined with Jasper’s off-the-beaten-path location helps to foster the town’s community-oriented culinary traditions, which date back to the early days when a tardy cargo train meant no new food so local families grouped their rations to create meals for all.
It is fitting, then, that although Jasper Food Tours explores top notch menus and drink pairings, at the end of the day it’s about people: the entrepreneurs making the food, the new friends you make during the tour, the trailblazers from Jasper’s storied past, and of course the owner and main guide for Jasper Food Tours, Estelle Blanchette.
I’m passionate about two things: food and the mountains.
Estelle, Owner and Guide of Jasper Food Tours
If she’s not climbing the latter, you can find her enjoying the former. Whether in the kitchen making her own cheese and pasta from scratch, or telling stories over a meal at Jasper’s restaurants, Blanchette has spent the past two decades researching the Jasper food scene. Jasper Food Tours is a natural extension for the local foodie.
Blanchette created the food tour as a way to delight in the gastronomic variety and quality within Jasper, but hasn't forgotten that eating is a social tradition as well as a physical need. Each tour is packed with fascinating facts but it also feels like just a fun afternoon out with friends. Each tour is capped at twelve people to preserve the cool and intimate feel. It's a chance to experience the true character of Jasper. Bonus: you'll finish stuffed.
Jasper Food Tours operates daily and year-round. Book now at jasperfoodtours.com/.
