What happens when one of North America’s 50 Best Restaurants brings together Canada’s best bar and the first Canadian winery ever named to the World’s 50 Best Vineyards?
I got to find out firsthand at the Wild Blue Long Table Dinner in Whistler. On August 16, I joined guests at The Range at Whistler Golf Club for the fourth edition of Wild Blue Restaurant + Cocktail Bar’s annual Long Table Dinner.
This year’s event brought together three of British Columbia’s most celebrated names in food and drink. Wild Blue, Vancouver’s The Keefer Bar, and Mission Hill Family Estate from the Okanagan Valley all came together for one memorable evening.
The accolades between them are pretty impressive. Wild Blue is ranked No. 47 on North America’s 50 Best Restaurants 2026. The Keefer Bar was named The Best Bar in Canada 2026 and climbed 21 spots to No. 7 on North America’s 50 Best Bars. Mission Hill Family Estate also made history in 2025. It became the first Canadian winery named to the World’s 50 Best Vineyards, debuting at No. 45.
Having a 50 Best restaurant, bar and vineyard come together at one long table made this year’s dinner extra special. It was a beautiful summer evening in Whistler filled with local ingredients, Mission Hill wines, inventive cocktails from The Keefer Bar and, of course, one very long table.
Cocktails and Canapés to Start
As with every Wild Blue Long Table Dinner, the evening started with a welcome reception. We kicked things off with canapés, Perrier-Jouët Champagne and seasonal cocktails from The Keefer Bar collaboration.
Known for its apothecary-inspired cocktails, The Keefer Bar brought a taste of Vancouver to the mountains. Head Bartender Virginia Guenette and bartender Asya Hemsworth joined Wild Blue Bar Manager Zack Lavoie and the team for the evening.
After cocktails, it was time to find our seats and get down to the serious business of dinner. And what a table it was.
Wild Blue Long Table Dinner Menu
Under the culinary leadership of Chef Alex Chen and Executive Chef Derek Bendig, the menu celebrated seasonal ingredients from British Columbia.
Hannahbrook Farm Tomatoes with Mission Hill Exhilaration Rosé Sparkling Brut 2023
We started with a dish that felt exactly like August on a plate: Hannahbrook Farm Tomatoes with whipped ricotta and yellow tomato gazpacho. Fresh, vibrant and beautifully simple, the tomatoes were paired with Mission Hill Exhilaration Rosé Sparkling Brut 2023. Its bubbles and bright acidity made it a refreshing start to dinner, especially on a warm summer evening in Whistler.
Wedge Salad with Mission Hill Perpetua 2022
Next came Wild Blue’s take on a classic Wedge Salad. This wasn’t the traditional steakhouse wedge. Instead, Wild Blue paired gem lettuce with crispy pork belly, Samuel le Bleu cheese, roasted tomato and ranch dressing.
There was a lot going on in the best possible way. The lettuce brought the crunch, while the pork belly added richness. Then came funky blue cheese and creamy ranch to bring it all together. The salad was paired with Mission Hill Perpetua 2022, a Chardonnay from the Okanagan winery.
Slow-Roasted Prime Beef Striploin with Mission Hill Compendium 2021
Then came the main event.
A Slow-Roasted Prime Beef Striploin arrived with roasted shishito peppers, Wild Blue yakiniku sauce, and sweet corn and bacon cornbread. The beef was the star, but honestly, that cornbread gave it some serious competition. Sweet corn and bacon is already a pretty great combination. This was the kind of side dish you keep reaching for even when you know dessert is still coming. Meanwhile, the roasted shishito peppers and savoury yakiniku sauce brought everything together.
The course was paired with Mission Hill Compendium 2021. Rich and bold, the red was a natural match for the striploin.
Peach Melba Ice Cream Sandwich and The Keefer Bar’s Pipe Dream
Of course, we had to end on a sweet note.
Dessert was a very summery Peach Melba Ice Cream Sandwich with peach sorbet, vanilla gelato, raspberry chocolate and lemon verbena shortbread. Peach, raspberry and vanilla are already a winning summer combination. Turning those flavours into an ice cream sandwich made the final course even more fun.
This time, however, we swapped wine for a cocktail from The Keefer Bar. Called Pipe Dream, the cocktail combined Altos Plata tequila, apricot, jasmine umeshu, peach, lemon and clarified jasmine milk. The peach played beautifully with the dessert, while the jasmine and umeshu added another layer of flavour. It was creative, unexpected and a fitting way to end a collaboration between one of Canada’s best restaurants, bars and wineries.
Three of Canada’s Best at One Table
As much as I loved the food and drinks, what really stood out to me was seeing three very different sides of BC’s food and drink scene come together in one place.
You had Wild Blue representing Whistler, The Keefer Bar bringing its cocktail creativity up from Vancouver, and Mission Hill Family Estate pouring wines from the Okanagan. Each has its own style and personality, but somehow it all worked around the same table. And I think that’s what made the evening feel so special. It wasn’t just about bringing together three names that happen to be on 50 Best lists. It was a chance to experience some of the best of BC in one evening, from what was on the plate to what was being poured into our glasses.
Even better, the dinner also gives back to the community. Wild Blue donates a portion of the proceeds from its Long Table Dinner Series to the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation. Great food, great drinks, a summer evening in Whistler and a good cause behind it. Year after year, Wild Blue manages to make its Long Table Dinner even more memorable than the last.
Worth a Try?
The Wild Blue Long Table Dinner has become one of those annual traditions I always look forward to. It captures everything I love about summer dining in Whistler. A beautiful outdoor setting. Local ingredients. Excellent BC wine. Creative cocktails. And one very long communal table where dinner isn’t something to rush through.
Somehow, Wild Blue manages to raise the bar year after year, and this year’s collaboration with The Keefer Bar and Mission Hill Family Estate made the evening even more memorable. Having three 50 Best-recognized names around one table is impressive on paper. But by the end of the evening, the rankings weren’t really what I was thinking about. I was thinking about those tomatoes that tasted like summer. The beef and that sweet corn and bacon cornbread. The Peach Melba ice cream sandwich paired with a jasmine-laced cocktail. Glasses being poured, platters being passed down the table and conversations carrying on as the evening unfolded.
And really, isn’t that what a long-table dinner is supposed to be about?
The Wild Blue Long Table Dinner has also become one of Whistler’s most popular summer dining events, so it’s definitely one to plan ahead for. Bookmark this post for next summer, and when tickets for the next Long Table Dinner are announced, don’t wait too long to grab yours. I know I’ll be looking forward to pulling up a chair again next year.
Wild Blue Restaurant + Bar
Address: Across from the Aava Hotel, 4005 Whistler Way, Whistler, BC V8B 1J1
Website: https://www.wildbluerestaurant.com/
