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Take a tasty tour of town and learn stories steeped in history with Estelle Blanchette鈥檚 Jasper Food Tours.
The daily food tours visit four Jasper restaurants with a dish and a drink at each, every day of the year.
鈥淲hatever the weather, even if it鈥檚 minus a million outside,鈥� Blanchette said.
Blanchette handpicks Jasper restaurants for the tour based on flavours, good partners she knows, and places with a story.
鈥淚 think we have an amazing, diverse city,鈥� she said.
鈥淚t is unique, eclectic.
鈥淲e definitely have an important Greek influence in the food scene and it has improved a lot in the last decade.鈥�
Blanchette works closely with the locations on what will be served - something that represents the restaurant and its menu with a drink that perfectly pairs.
And the foodie tour guide will talk you through each dish and tell tales of the venue鈥檚 history.
鈥淧eople leave full in body and in mind, they feel like they have discovered something,鈥� said Blanchette.
鈥淵ou can learn something about Jasper you had no idea about, if you have just come to town or been here for years.
The Quebecer, who has lived in Jasper since 1996, was working for Tourism Jasper when she hatched the idea for a food tour in Jasper.
She said her 鈥渆ureka!鈥� moment came when she stopped in Vancouver with a tour group and went on a foodie tour of Gastown.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 want it to end,鈥� she said.
鈥淚 thought, 鈥楾his is awesome, Jasper so needs this,鈥� and kind of put it together on the train back.
鈥淚 kept hearing the demand from travel agents for something with more culture, less activity, targeted towards foodies and thought, 鈥楾his is it.鈥欌��
She got her business licence the following week.
Daily tours started in May last year after a soft launch at Jasper Pride in April.
Blanchette toured more than 1,000 people in her first year and is a finalist in Travel Alberta鈥檚 Alto Awards in the New Tourism Experience category.
She also has two special events coming up.
On October 19 and 26 is the Dark Sky Festival FOOD LAB at the Olive Bistro from 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. It is a fun, interactive cooking demo of molecular gastronomy where ingredients meet technology in quirky cooking techniques to obtain unique flavors, textures and style. The best part? You get to eat.
On Valentine鈥檚 Day is the Gastrodisiac Tour - A food tour packed with aphrodisiacs.
Jasper Food Tours run daily from 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily.
Attendees must be age 18 and over, and the tours can accommodate most dietary requirements including vegetarians and dairy, shellfish, nuts and gluten allergies.
