The last time Ryan O’Flynn drove ‘the three Cs’ – Carstairs to Cremona and then Cochrane – it was in a Lada.
“They’re probably one of the biggest pieces of (garbage) out there, but they last forever,” he said.
But then O’Flynn came clean. “I was actually being sarcastic. The last time I drove through it would have been in my Lincoln MKX.”
Just a bit of difference from the Soviet-mass produced sedan. But it’s his new set of wheels that’s really got him itching to drive the route.
“Obviously now having the BMW, it’s a fantastic run up to Banff.”
The Calgary-based chef won the Canadian Culinary Championships held in Kelowna back in February – the annual competition held in conjunction with the Gold Medal Plates dinners supporting Olympic athletes – and was awarded with a 2015 BMW 428xi Gran Coupe.
But it wasn’t until May that he was able to bring it home. And he’s taken to the thing “like a fish to water.”
“It just wants to go into turns quickly, it holds the road perfectly, it wants to go faster. You need to be careful because this car feels very, very comfortable at X amounts of speeds I’m not going to mention,” O’Flynn admits with a laugh.
O’Flynn was presented with the car after besting 10 top chefs with his creation of a terrine featuring pine-smoked Alberta river sturgeon and cured Quebec foie gras; wild N.W.T. morels; Okanagan apples and toasted brioche, served with Sandhill Small Lots 2013 Viognier.
Much like the highly sophisticated piece of European engineering he now drives, O’Flynn has some serious Old World credentials backing him up.
Starting in Southern Ireland, he worked in Europe for 11 years in various high-end restaurants from Wales to France to Monaco as a sous chef all the way to executive chef.
He laboured for the likes of U2 and the Queen of England. He even worked under the always-incendiary Gordon Ramsay.
“It’s the SAS of food, that’s for sure,” he said, referring to cooking under the legendary foul mouth star of Hell’s Kitchen.
He credits his years in the culinary trenches for his win at the championships and snagging the car.
And now O’Flynn gets to enjoy the fruits of his labour, and that drive is definitely a part of that.
“That road is just fantastic. The elevation and foothills and ranches on either side. It’s a pretty damn cool road. It’s probably one of the better ones in Alberta if you want to take a nice car out for a rip.”
For O’Flynn, there isn’t just one part of the drive he likes.
“It’s a package deal. The scenic view is great, but it’s the scenic view combined with the style of road it is. It’s not that straight generic highway; it’s actually got character to it.”
When he stops in Cochrane, he said nothing beats having a bite and beer at the Texas Gate. But the town itself offers a quaint historical vibe that O’Flynn enjoys.
“What a beautiful town. Just the overall feel of it. It’s like you’re in a beautiful place that’s gone back in time.
“It’s a town that’s looked after its Canadian roots.”
O’Flynn will do the drive in three weeks, after he returns from a mushroom harvest in the Northwest Territories and shooting an episode for a show.
That’s also the time when he will unveil a revamped menu in tandem with a re-imagining of the Westin Edmonton in July.
