Taking a trip to the North Pole might not be as difficult as it seems, as the Barona Resort & Casino recently unveiled its enchanted gingerbread village at the entrance to the Season’s Fresh Buffet.
Welcome to “Barona’s North Pole.”
Taking a trip to the North Pole might not be as difficult as it seems, as the Barona Resort & Casino recently unveiled its enchanted gingerbread village at the entrance to the Season’s Fresh Buffet.
Welcome to “Barona’s North Pole.”
A creation of Chef de Cuisine Erin De Pompeo and Chef de Partie Ashley Rodney, this magical edible wonderland is on display until Dec. 30. Created with butter, sugar, candies, chocolate, flour, fondant and other ingredients and some help from Chef Jose Barajas, the display covers generations of Christmas memories with Santa’s Workshop, a Christmas Tree Farm, the classic characters of Burl Ives’ “Rudolf the Rednosed Reindeer” song and classic animation cartoon, a reindeer corral, elves mining for coal, and the complete elves village.
De Pompeo said she began preparation in August, working from home at first. Rodney joined the village wagon a couple of months later and together they put in more than 900 hours, creating the 50-foot village in between shifts and after hours.
The detail of each character, trees and scenery are remarkable and De Pompeo said it took a lot of imagination, and trial and error, to get to the final project. Rodney said it was a work in progress, making many changes and coming up with new ideas as they built their way through the process.
This snow covered village is a sight to behold and worth the trip to see a fine piece of culinary art.
