Rimrock Banff, Emblems Collection recently underwent a $115 million renovation and officially welcomed guests in July, with its full thermal wellness experiences and fitness spaces set to open this fall.
Rimrock’s history spans over a century, originating as a small six-room hotel in 1895. Today, it’s completely unrecognizable from its early beginnings, thanks to more than 100 years of evolution and, more recently, a complete reimagining. Hospitality company Accor Group’s luxury brand, Emblems Collection, acquired Rimrock and revamped the hotel to align it with its ultra-luxury vision.
Guests can now indulge in new heights of luxury at Rimrock, including elevated culinary offerings worth the trip to Banff. Here are a few things to know about the food and beverage program.
Parker’s Table is rooted in Canadian terroir
Rimrock’s new signature restaurant, Parker’s Table, celebrates Canada’s story. In fact, it starts with its name — Parker’s Table is an homage to Elizabeth Parker, the co-founder of the Alpine Club of Canada. Rooted in local, Canadian ingredients and guided by the seasons, executive chef Dave Gibson captures the essence of Canada in every dish, thanks to partnerships with local farmers, fishers and foragers. Find ingredients like homegrown mushrooms and haskap berries, and Canadian meat-forward dishes like the boar, bison and trout options.
The wine cellar remains world-class
It’s no secret that the Rimrock’s former restaurant, Eden, boasted an impressive wine cellar — back in the day, it was considered one of the largest in the Bow Valley. Today, Rimrock Banff still carries some of its inventory, served at Parker’s Table. While slightly smaller, the cellar continues to carry prestigious labels, including a significant Château Pétrus collection.
It has a special, symbolic ingredient
Every Emblems Collection destination has an emblematic ingredient, intended to capture the taste of place. At Rimrock Banff, it’s alpine honey, a flavour guests will find throughout the culinary offerings, but notably, in Emblems’ signature travel cake. Developed by world-renowned pastry chef Yun Eunyoung, Emblems’ travel cakes are designed to remain fresh for up to a week, making it easy to bring the taste of place back home. Guests at Rimrock Banff can enjoy the alpine honey cake, along with other signature flavours depending on the season.
Local partnerships create new flavours
To connect guests to the Bow Valley and surrounding area, Rimrock has partnered with local companies to create new special food and drink products. Guests can enjoy The Goat, Rimrock’s lager made by The Grizzly Paw Brewing Company, a private-label whisky from Canmore’s Wild Life Distillery, a special coffee blend by Chronicle Coffee and a bread and butter cart featuring massive mountains of butter from Terroir Butter.
There’s a tableside bar cart
Inside the new, intimate Listening Lounge, a 36-seat cocktail-forward lounge with a retro feel, drinks are made tableside. What looks like the bar is simply cosmetic — it’s actually for the DJ set. Staff come to you with an impressive bar cart, made with a Meganite surface designed not to make any noise when working on it, and strike up a conversation that will guide what cocktail they make you, or you can choose from the very rare whisky, spirit or wine list.