Araxi
February 26, 2011 at 10:43 pm 1 comment
I’ve wanted to try Araxi restaurant in Whistler since we moved to Vancouver and we visited it recently during a long-weekend getaway for our friends’ wedding and my birthday. I’d heard lots of great things about Araxi, and I was also familiar with it due to the many hours I’ve wasted watching Hell’s Kitchen on TV (a chef job at Araxi was the big prize a couple of seasons ago). The restaurant is located in the heart of Whistler Village and focuses on innovative regional cuisine. It was full the night we ate there with a mix of Canadian and international guests, and also a surprising number of kids – the little American boy at the table next to ours somehow convinced his parents to let him order the market-price crab legs, which must have cost a pretty penny!
I was really impressed with Araxi. Thanks to my husband’s job in the wine industry we have the privilege of trying a lot of good restaurants in many different places, and I thought Araxi delivered on the hype. The service was great; the atmosphere was relaxed and upscale in a way that felt very Whistler; and the food showcased Pacific Northwest regionality with local ingredients brought together in an innovative way that reflects the confluence of Canadian, Asian and European culture and cuisine that is unique to this area of the world. It was also refreshing to eat at a fine-dining restaurant where the menu is not dominated by meat. Lots of fresh, Oceanwise-certified fish, good vegetarian options and I loved the raw bar with its focus on sushi and sashimi-inspired dishes.
Araxi chefs at work assembling food from the Raw Bar menu.
Fresh bread hot from the oven served with a Tuscan bean spread, olive oil and sea salt
We had champagne with dinner – a special birthday treat.
Seared tuna with micro-greens and ponzu pearls
Roasted Pemberton beets with blue cheese, spiced pecans, pink lady apple and rosemary vinaigrette, frisee and baby sorrel
Wild mushroom risotto with grilled prawns
No dessert was required after all that!
Entry filed under: Cooking, Life, Local food, Restaurants, Travel. Tags: Araxi, beets, blue cheese, champagne, Hell's Kitchen, mushrooms, Pacific Northwest cuisine, Restaurants, risotto, tuna, Whistler, Whistler Restaurants.
1. Cornucopia Food and Wine Festival « Nest and Sparkle | November 20, 2011 at 10:43 pm
[...] It was a fabulous deal for a fine dining restaurant and like with the Big Guns dinner and like my first experience dining at Araxi, the ingredients were beautiful, food near perfect and the service was always polished and [...]