ONE floor below the cosy, cultured lobby of Four Seasons Resort Whistler, Sidecut restaurant lounges next to a snowy terrace, its kitchen tucked in toward the heart of the hotel.
Therein lies the rub. Actually, therein lie a whole lot of rubs, the spices that compose them, and often, you'll also find the guy who makes them hard at work there.
Since early last year chef de cuisine Edison Mays has played a key role at Sidecut - under the direction of exec chef Scott Thomas Dolbee - helping to create and introduce their concept of a modern steakhouse serving Canadian prime beef and fresh local seafood, amped up with Mays' 17 custom rubs and sauces. Guests can mix and match to their liking - though each rub has been created with a protein in mind. Of the original six, Edison's Medicine and Black Angus stand up beautifully to beef, Caribbean Jerk is great with chicken, Lemon Buddha gives a lift to seafood and Blueberry Hill was inspired by the venison sourced by the restaurant - the deer eat huckleberries as part of their diet.
"You start with your protein," says Mays. "But the primary component in any rub always comes from the creator. It's what your palate wants you to create."
He shares this insight in one of his increasingly popular Rub Classes, this one offered last weekend during Cornucopia (Whistler's food and wine festival).
When he first arrived in Whistler, for example, from Four Seasons Resort Nevis, he was still heavily influenced by the flavours of the Caribbean, and loved using allspice and cinnamon in his rubs.
Some of the more recent additions to the line-up are influenced by Pan-Asian cuisine.
The point of the class, says Mays, is to encourage participants to try some new flavours.
"We will always go with what we know," he says. "Here we want to get you out of that box, help you make something really different and tasty."
He starts by making a pepper base that can be used by all of the students; with a massive spoon he spades black and pink peppercorns, fennel and a little sea salt into a frying pan for toasting, which will awaken the aromatic oils in the spices.
Then we're set loose, to blend, sample, toast and grind our own rubs. He encourages us to taste as we go, and to write it all down, so we can recreate our rubs at home.
"Edison, what's the one thing that's going to knock this out of the park?" asks a seriously keen Big J, my date for the class.
Mays dips his pinky into the bowl. His brow furrows as he surveys his jars of dried peppers, pods and powders.
"You like a little heat?" he asks, and after an answer in the affirmative, he tosses in a dash of his own fiery spice blend, called Devil's Tail.
"That's it," says Big J in wonder. "He nailed it."
When we're done, we tip our spice blends into jars and label them, minds filled with ideas for the grill once we return home.
Interested in dinner at Sidecut, or in booking one of Mays' Rub Classes? Visit www.fourseasons.com/whistler/ dining/sidecut.
