The guests haven’t arrived yet, but the evening has already begun.
In a rented chalet with views of snow-capped Whistler and Blackcomb mountains, Gracie Matterson backlights a wine glass in a warm ray of sunlight, inspecting for dust and smudges. At the kitchen counter, Brielle Clark is plating up various hors d’oeuvre. She has the quiet focus of a person who has done this a hundred times and still cares about every pass of the spoon. The smell of Ella Broadfield’s hot chorizo, blue cheese and dried apricot sausage rolls draws me in like a moth to a light bulb. Near the bar, Danielle (Dani) Crowley is muddling herbs she picked up that morning at the Whistler Farmers’ Market as she builds her first cocktail of the night, a French 75 made with local gin and Canadian sparkling wine. Outside, Grace Watson is tuning her guitar on the deck.
This is Drinking with Dani, though the name tells only part of the story. What started last year as a private cocktail service has grown into something bigger: a fully curated evening where cocktails, food, wine, music and atmosphere all work together inside a client’s home. And every collaborator Crowley brings to the table is a woman building her own business in the Sea to Sky Corridor. It’s a vibe we need more of.
“I think of it as assembling a team,” Crowley says. She is an award-winning bartender who’s been named one of the country’s best — the Canadian champion of the 2022 Giffard West Cup global bartending competition — and has worked at beloved local establishments like The Raven Room (RIP). “Each person brings something I couldn’t replicate on my own. Working alongside these women and uplifting what they’re building, that’s central to everything we do.”
The women she works with most are the ones here this evening: Watson, a live acoustic musician; Matterson of Gracie and the Grape, a sommelier and event stylist; and private chefs Clark of Harvest Chef Society and Broadfield of El la Carte Food. The universe brought them together in Whistler’s hospitality world, and the friendships came fast.
“There’s something special about witnessing all the hard work that leads up to the main event and watching it all come together,” Clark says. “It’s a treat to have the space to bounce ideas and be experimental. With Whistler being such a small community, it’s important to work as a team and support local talent when possible. That’s where true creativity thrives.”
A typical evening starts with a welcome cocktail and charcuterie. Watson picks up her guitar, plays acoustic, reads the room and lets the music settle into the space. “The moment she starts,” Crowley says, “something changes. You can’t get that from a playlist.”
From there, Crowley walks guests through a series of drinks built around what’s local and in season. A smoked rosemary sour. A berry-shrub spritz made with Sea to Sky brambles. She sources from farmers markets and producers in the corridor whenever she can, and each cocktail is designed to complement the flavours of the food. For Crowley, local sourcing isn’t a selling point. It’s just how she works.
While Crowley mixes drinks, Matterson works the room. She trained as a sommelier and did hands-on stints in wineries around the world before landing in Whistler, where she built Gracie and the Grape around wine experiences that feel personal rather than performative. “Every wine has a story, of where it comes from and the people behind it,” she says. “In these more intimate settings, I get the chance to really bring those stories to life while working closely with our chef collaborators to fine-tune pairings that feel seamless and genuinely exciting.”