Devour! Fest Helps Jasper Get Back Into a Starring Role

Chef Neal Brown pulls a glistening hunk of seared meat from the flames in the short film “Heat & Meat”. He holds it in his hands and bites into it like an apple. The juices run. Within minutes, 130 guests at the sixth Devour! The Canadian Rockies Food Film Fest in the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge are having the same delicious experience.

Unlike the on-screen chef, we used knives and forks for Edmonton chef Blair Lebsack’s thick, grilled pork chop. Lebsack, co-owner and chef of RGE RD, was assigned “Heat & Meat” to inspire his main course: A boneless chop and a tender oblong of rare-seared Alberta elk loin, accompanied by farrow studded with wild mushrooms and smoked beef tongue.

His plate was one of five courses at the Chefs and Shorts showcase event of the Alberta edition of Devour! The luxurious Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge in Jasper National Park hosts the food-and-film lovers’ weekend each spring.

Chef Michael Howell started Devour! The Food Film Fest in Wolfville, Nova Scotia in 2009. It’s become the world’s largest festival dedicated to celebrating chefs, film, cuisine, and the good life at the table, satisfying any film fan who’s been overcome by cravings before the movie credits roll.

Howell and festival managing director Lia Rinaldo, a food writer and career film maven, will mark the 15th edition of Devour! in Wolfville from October 20-26 with a Montreal chefs-and-filmmakers theme.

“This idea that you can taste the screen is what motivates us,” said Howell, former co-chair of Slow Food Canada.

For the Fairmont JPL Devour! weekend in April, Howell invited Edmonton chefs Lebsack, Doreen Prei of Glenora Park, and Paul Shufelt of The Workshop Eatery, along with Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge executive chef François Lecouvez, to take part, including a dine-around dinner, chowder smackdown lunch, and the Chefs and Shorts gala.

Part of the festival’s success is its satellite food-and-film events that promote the Devour! brand and its primary fall conference. Howell hopes the Rockies edition inspires people to make the trip to “the Devour! mothership” in Wolfville, which drew more than 6,500 guests in 2024.

Guests at the weekend-long culinary-meets-celluloid party in Jasper receive two nights’ accommodation, along with a variety of food and wine experiences. It sells out every year. Many participants said they have been meeting up at Devour! annually.

For the first event of the Jasper weekend, each chef chose a favourite flick to inspire their menu for a dine-around meal. Prei went with dark haute-cuisine satire “The Menu”. Howell served Italian for “The Godfather” and Lebsack chose “The Great Outdoors”. He sliced a succulent tomahawk steak in homage to John Candy’s on-screen Ol’ 96er meat challenge. Shufelt went with the Royale with Cheese from “Pulp Fiction” and Lecouvez paid tribute to Canadian Oscar-winning short animation, “Bao”.

The next day, the chefs impressed with an ambitious chowder smackdown contest at lunch. Howell won with his Finnan Haddie and Nova Scotia scallop chowder. Each creamy soup was paired with an Alberta beer.

There was another opportunity for guests to get to know Alberta’s robust craft-beer scene with an afternoon session on pairing brews and charcuterie. Experts guided participants through tastings of beers matched with cheese and cured meats from Meuwly’s Artisan Food Market in Edmonton.

For the Chefs and Shorts gala on Saturday evening, each course began with the chef explaining how the movie inspired the story of what was presented on the diners’ plates. Guests watched the film, or a scene from it, before tucking in. The courses were creative, delicious, and often whimsical. Each was paired with an appropriate wine.

A Sunday bubbles brunch capped the weekend.

Jasper Regains Its Momentum

It’s been a challenging year for the town of Jasper and Jasper National Park, following devastating July 2024 wildfire. Some 32,000 hectares of the park were affected. More than 20,000 people were evacuated as the fire, caused by lightning strikes, rapidly spread. Numerous  homes and businesses in the townsite were destroyed.

Some fire damage is evident on the 700-acre Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge property, which is also in the national park. The forest around the heritage golf course is charred. Signature cabin Milligan Manor and one of the Beaver Suites were lost, along with several hotel operations buildings.

Fairmont JPL, Pursuit, Rocky Mountaineer, Jasper Brewing Co., and new restaurant The Maligne Range have together pledged more than $5.5 million to support recovery efforts.

Jasper is healing. The national park reopened to visitors in September and most of the town is welcoming visitors again. Tourists and school groups were enjoying the townsite when I was there in April. Proof of that renewal can be seen with the opening of The Maligne Range and a small-batch whisky distillery in the town’s former movie theatre. The Maligne Range is owned by Bearhill, the same company that runs Jasper Brewing Co., which will reopen later this spring following smoke and water damage repairs.

I had an excellent meal of house-smoked chicken with bright, garlicky chimichurri, and textbook-perfect smashed potatoes at Maligne Range. There are 34 Canadian whiskies on the menu, including three distilled in house. Whisky flights and whisky-based cocktails are also popular.

The Fairmont JPL is looking towards a busy summer as tourism picks up, including celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Stanley Thompson-designed 18-hole golf course.

The resort has already begun an ambitious months-long, multimillion-dollar project to renovate and refresh much of the property, including guest rooms and the spectacular Great Hall. With peaks and Lac Beauvert views, the hall has a classic mountain lodge ambience with the Emerald Lounge and a gastropub dining area in a grand space dominated by a massive stone fireplace.

The property is open for guests throughout the project, although the Great Hall will close for winter season construction. Renovations are expected to wrap up in early 2026.

Jamie Hussey, Fairmont JPL director of food and beverage, said the property’s restaurants will also undergo changes based on a “food for connection” theme. Some of the plans are still under wraps.

He’s especially enthusiastic about a new look for the Great Hall, which he says will combine elements of nature with contemporary, functional design that won’t compromise the traditional grandeur of the space.

Hussey said what won’t change is what brings guests to the resort in the first place: A getaway that combines cabin-style luxury with Rocky Mountain nature, served with a rich helping of history within the unique setting of a national park.

MORE ABOUT VISITING JASPER NATIONAL PARK

Getting There: Jasper National Park is about a four-hour drive from Edmonton. The more picturesque route is from Calgary, which includes the Icefields Parkway. SunDog Tours runs bus service from either airport, which takes a bit longer than self-drive.

Room Rate: The weekend rate for Devour! includes meals and accommodation. Go to the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge website for room rates and bookings.

Things to Do: Jasper Food Tours’ walking Downtown Foodie Tour takes guests to four restaurants for a taste of the town, including an alcoholic beverage at each stop. My tour included salmon crudo at The Maligne Range, smoked beef ribs and poutine at De’d Dog Bar & Grill, a taco trio — including seared elk tacos — at Su Casa Mexican Lounge and maple cheesecake at the Whistle Stop Pub. Go to Jasper Food Tours to book.

Jasper Food Tours’ also offers a Wildfire Peak-Nic, where guests following a guided 4k hike through wildfire-impacted areas to learn about forest rejuvenation. They arrive at a nearby peak for great views and a hot lunch.

SunDog Tours runs a variety of experiences, including wildlife viewing tours, nature walks, white-water rafting and dark-sky park night-time tours. Find out more at SunDog Tours.

More Info: Plan your trip at Tourism Jasper.

Note: Vacay.ca Writer Linda Barnard was a guest of Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge and Tourism Jasper, which did not preview this story.