The National Council of the Bailliage of Canada was pleased to join with dignitaries, members and guests from the three British Columbia Bailliages (Nanaimo, Vancouver and Victoria) for an outstanding Garden Party.

Held in conjunction with the semi-annual Executive Meeting of the National Council, the event featured the incredible gardens of The Grand Hotel in Nanaimo which nestle against the stone cliff face at the rear of the hotel.

With over 800 attendees, the party was a festival of food and wine stations featuring the local chefs, winemakers and produce of Canada’s beautiful west coast. It was organized by the Bailliage of Nanaimo and its Bailli, Susie Sirri, who is Director of Operations at the hotel.

Each of the five food stations featured a particular item beautifully-crafted by the Chef in charge. These included:
- Chef Hubert Scheck with paella
- Chef Takashi Ito (Officier Maître Rôtisseur) on the sushi station
- Chef Jeffrey Brothers (Vice-Conseiller Culinaire - Victoria) preparing lamb chops
- Chef Melvin from Snuneymuxw First Nations preparing salmon in the traditional fashion over a fire pit
- Chef Helen on the dessert station

The food stations were wonderfully complemented by a selection of wines from wineries across British Columbia as well as Argentina. The distributing companies and wineries present included:
- Storied Wines: representing wineries such as Nichol from Okanagan and Lock & Worth and Unsworth from Vancouver Island
- Bacchus Wines: representing wineries such as Santa Julia and Zuccardi Q Malbec and Zuccardi Torrontes
- Carpe Diem Wines: representing wineries such as Liquidity and Misconduct Wines from the Okanagan.

All in all it was an outstanding event. Compliments to Bailli Susie Sirri and her organizing committee!

Eric Jones
Chargé de Presse

Photos courtesy of Linda Jones