Julian Owen-Mold, the Hilton Whistler’s executive chef, has been thinking about what a renovated Cinnamon Bear could look like for quite some time.
“I’ve been waiting for this renovation for the 12, 13 years I’ve been here,” the chef said of the hotel’s sports bar. “I joined the Hilton from Nita Lake and the GM back then said, ‘We’re gonna have a renovation.’ So, this has been a long time coming.”
The Cinnamon Bear officially reopened last week with a modern new look and a playful, revamped menu. The bright space has been completely opened up so the bar area on the lower level now connects to the restaurant on the second level, creating an airy, inviting environment just as well suited to an anniversary dinner as it is to a game of pool with friends.
“We are a casual, contemporary place, so we’re not trying to be white-glove fine dining. There are places for that,” said Owen-Mold. “We want everyone to feel welcome, whether you’re playing pool over some beer and wings or having a tomahawk steak.”
A locals’ haunt since opening in 1982, the Cinnamon Bear has, at least compared to other hotel restaurants around the resort, maintained a certain informal feel, making it a popular spot for après and for catching the latest game. While the hockey jerseys hanging from the ceiling and the addictive maple chili wings are no more, Owen-Mold said it was important the upgraded space maintained the same warm environment the sports bar has long been known for.
“[Hilton GM Chris Vick] wanted to keep the Whistler tradition of Cinnamon Bear,” said Owen-Mold. “We really wanted to keep that overall good vibe.”
Owen-Mold contributed to the good vibes through his new family-style menu, which features a range of share plates inspired by coastal cuisines “from Peru up to Alaska,” he explained.
Owen-Mold said he developed the menu alongside Vick, the Hilton’s GM, over several dinners the two enjoyed together in Vancouver.
“We went to a Chinese restaurant In Vancouver where it’s all a shared menu,” he said. “That’s the way we enjoy to eat ourselves, in that family style where you get to share everything.”
The tapas menu features standouts such as the Latin American-inspired street corn on the cob, smothered in crema and spongy cotija cheese; muhammara, a vegan Middle Eastern spread made from eggplant, zucchini and walnuts; and the octopus and Humboldt squid anticucho, served with aji mirasal chile, adobo, crushed marble potatoes and red chimichurri.
The large plates menu serves up a rolled trofie pasta dish with basil, pesto, potatoes and green beans; an herb-marinated, salt-brick chicken in romesco sauce; and a lamb porterhouse chop with smoked sunchoke purée, rosemary and garlic.
For groups and gargantuan appetites, there’s also the extra-large plates menu, featuring the aforementioned long-bone, PEI tomahawk steak; a full side of cedar-smoked B.C. salmon; and, one of Owen-Mold’s personal favourites, a whole Dungeness crab cooked in tamarind, ginger and garlic, on top of crab-fried rice.
“I love the crab. You have to be ready to get sticky fingers, which I am,” he said. “Dungeness crab is like the West Coast’s version of lobster. It’s our gem.”
The upgraded Cinnamon Bear also prides itself on its steak. All cooked on a cast grill and sliced to share, there is the eight-ounce bavette angus beef steak; the eight-ounce New York-style striploin from Alberta’s Macleod’s Leap; and the 10-ounce ribeye from the Okanagan’s 63 Acres Ranch.
“I tried to put a spotlight on different places for beef. There are amazing beef producers everywhere,” Owen-Mold said.
In a nod to its sports-bar past, there is also a full bar menu featuring classic pubfare with a contemporary twist. The cocktail program, meanwhile, takes a similarly playful approach. Highlights there include the black peppercorn-infused gin Garden Tonic; the Green Inferno, featuring chili-infused tequila, green chartreuse, St. Germain, lime, basil and agave; and the London Cloud, a gin cocktail with Earl Grey syrup, lemon juice, cream and egg white.
“[The bar team has] thought about the fun and interesting aspect to cocktails, not just to elevate but to also give a bit more diversity for the guest,” Owen-Mold said.
Cinnamon Bear is open daily from 7 a.m. to midnight.
