Honouring Indigenous Food Culture
Featuring Chef Shane Chartrand
In the spirit of respect, reciprocity, and truth, we honour and acknowledge that Banff’s townsite, including The Maple Leaf restaurant, is located on traditional Treaty 7 territory. Read more.
These feature dishes explore the reawakening of Indigenous cuisine and provide a delicious opportunity to contemplate what it means to cook, eat and share food. Feature menu available for dinner nightly, scroll down to view the menu.
Meet The Chef
Born to Cree parents and raised by a Métis father and Mi’kmaq-British mother, Chef Shane Chartrand has dedicated his adult life to learning about his history, visiting with other First Nations peoples, gathering and sharing knowledge and stories, and creating dishes that combine his interests and express his personality.
These feature dishes explore the reawakening of Indigenous cuisine, and provide a delicious opportunity to contemplate what it means to cook, eat, and share food. Chef Chartand shares his inspiration for each dish in the stories below.
Appetizers
Poached Baby Crimini Mushrooms V+/GF 16
pear relish | celery | almond parsnip puree
“The amount of mushrooms that grow in the forests of Prince Rupert is incredible. This dish is a celebration of their land, and the Terrior that grow so many “Chicken of the Woods.”
Cinnamon Cured Salmon GF 24
honey and birch glazed carrot | fennel salad | pumpkin seeds
“Salmon is of course the staple ingredient for Aquatic based Indigenous peoples of our land. The flavour of cinnamon is simply my own style of cooking Indigenous food.”
Entrée
8oz Bison + Apples 80
wild pepper-crusted bison tenderloin | in-house apple sauce | root vegetables | kettle-cooked potatoes
“This dish is a celebration of two things: the Okanagan Valley where I have spent a lot of time cooking in the region where the Indigenous peoples live and for the plains Cree, and the Bison relationship of food, that has been gifted to us, and now as well to all people.”
Dessert
Farrow Pudding V+/GF 12
saskatoon sauce | sesame snap
“This dish was inspired by the delicious foamy whip that soap berries give, but I’ve used Saskatoons as this is where I am from. Farrow is also an ancient grain that I believe needs to be showcased as much as quinoa and others.”
Appetizers
Poached Baby Crimini Mushrooms V+/GF 16
pear relish | celery | almond parsnip puree
“The amount of mushrooms that grow in the forests of Prince Rupert is incredible. This dish is a celebration of their land, and the Terrior that grow so many ‘Chicken of the Woods.”
Cinnamon Cured Salmon GF 24
honey and birch glazed carrot| fennel salad | pumpkin seeds
“Salmon is of course the staple ingredient for Aquatic based indigenous peoples of our land. The flavour of cinnamon is simply my own style of cooking Indigenous food.”
Entree
8oz Bison + Apples V+/GF 80
wild pepper-crusted bison tenderloin | in-house apple sauce root vegetables | kettle-cooked potatoes
“This dish is a celebration of two things: the Okanagan Valley where I have spent a lot of time cooking in the region where the Indigenous peoples live and for the plains Cree, and the Bison relationship of food, that has been gifted to us, and now as well to all people.”
Dessert
Farrow Pudding V+/GF 12
saskatoon sauce | sesame snap
“This dish was inspired by the delicious foamy whip that soap berries give, but I’ve used Saskatoons as this is where I am from. Farrow is also an ancient grain that I believe needs to be showcased as much as quinoa and others.”
Bring it home
Chef Chartrand’s cookbook, Tawâw: Progressive Indigenous Cuisine, traces Chartrand’s culinary journey from his childhood in Central Alberta, where he learned to raise livestock, hunt, and fish on his family’s acreage, to his most recent success as a highly sought after leader and consultant of Indigenous cuisine.
Containing over seventy-five recipes — including Chartrand’s award-winning dish “War Paint” — along with personal stories, culinary influences, and interviews with family members, tawâw is part cookbook, part exploration of ingredients and techniques, and part chef’s personal journal.
Land Acknowledgement
