Allan and I just got back from a FANTASTIC extended weekend up at Whistler Blackcomb for the Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival.

We were invited by the amazing Whistler Blackcomb media team (thanks Michelle, Tabetha, Amber!) to check out some of the festivities and attend some events. This was our first year attending as “media”.

We rushed to Whistler Blackcomb after work on Thursday and checked into our hotel for the night — the Coast Hotel Blackcomb Suites (thanks Danny!).

The hotel had tons of amenities such as a gym, full breakfast room, outdoor pools and hot tub, not to mentioned located right on the side of a run for ski-in ski-out access.

We loved our room! Super comfy and had a full kitchen too.

Then, it was off to Araxi Restaurant for a dinner hosted by Cindy of the BC Ministry of Tourism and Breton from Tourism Whistler. Araxi has been one of our favourites restaurants for many years (long before Hell’s Kitchen and the crazy amounts of press it has been getting over the past year or so)… and still is.

As soon as we arrived I was peer pressured into “sabre-ing” the champagne… my first time ever! It was pretty scary but very cool. I got to use a real sabre to chop off the top of the champagne bottle. Videos to come.

Araxi is well-known for its seafood, sustainable food, and local and organic cuisine.

Chef James Walt makes some amazing dishes. He actually lives in Pemberton on a farm and partners with the producers out there to source seasonal foods. The gnocchi and souffle were to die for.

It was also my first time ever tasting venison… and I loved it. So tender. Allan also loved his lamb.

For dessert we had the pistachio ice cream covered in chocolate and an apricot cheesecake. Yum. Also to note — it was my first time ever really trying champagne, red wine, white wine and dessert wine. Steve Edwards (restaurant manager and sommelier) gave me tons of information and some really amazing recommendations. I may slowly be starting to be a convert.

Here’s Michelle, Steve (thanks for all the wine tips!), myself and Cindy.

The next morning (Friday) we woke up and had a hot breakfast at our hotel.

Then it was off to Scandinave Spas in Whistler.

I can’t say enough good things about this place. The eucalyptus steam room (mmmmm), the cold baths, the hot mineral baths and the waterfalls everywhere. We spent about 4 hours here before we were completely shriveled and jello-like, and then it was off to dinner.

We decided to try the Rimrock Cafe in Whistler (by Creekside) as it was recommended to me by one of my coworkers as her favourite restaurant in BC. The drinks we had were a great start — Allan had some wine and I had a kiwi lime Brazilian caipirinha . My drink was sooooooo good.

The appetizers were also pretty good… I had the scallop lobster capellini (very delicate… loved it), and Allan had the cariboo medallions (good, but not as good as the venison at Araxi).

For dinner we had the gnocchi, mushroom risotto with sablefish, and salmon stuffed with crab. I personally thought the gnocchi and the sablefish were pretty good but the mushroom risotto was terrible. Very acidic and not creamy at all — more like a rice pilaf. Would not order again. Allan liked his salmon but thought it was too rich and the crab overpowered the salmon. The dessert was the toffee pudding which was AMAZING. So basically — we would go there for drinks and dessert but probably not dinner again.

Overall… a pretty good couple days in Whistler so far! Next post coming soon with the last few days of the weekend. What did you get up to this past weekend?

Yesterday Allan and I were invited by the wonderful Shelley (Communications Director for Top Table Restaurants) to a sunset party at Vancouver’s Shangri-La Hotel. It was a fun-filled classy evening celebrating the launch of Chef James Walt’s cookbook for the Whistler restaurant Araxi. Yes, of Hell’s Kitchen fame.

Araxi has been one of my favourite restaurants for many, many years now… and we always try to visit a couple times a year. I’d been hearing about this cookbook for months now, and I was so excited to hear that all guests were receiving a signed copy of the cookbook! I absolutely cannot wait to make some recipes from the book. I’ll make sure to post photos when I do.

The party was on the 58th floor in a suite overlooking our beautiful city. Our ears were popping like crazy in the elevator. The Shangri-La is so tall that it really feels like you are looking down on the other high rises.

Not to mention we were treated to a stunning sunset throughout the event.

Guests were served a nice selection of wine, and some delicious canapes prepared by Chef James Walt and the team from Araxi. My favourite was definitely the braised short rib, but Allan sure thinks the tuna was the winner.

There were some beautiful desserts as well… I had my fair share of chocolates that evening.

There was lots of mingling, and it was great to meet some of the food critics, magazine editors, chefs, and other professionals in the food industry. Not to mention getting to finally meet Miss 604 in person, and the lovely Keira-Anne.

At the end of the event, Chef James Walt began signing books for everyone. It was great to talk to him again outside of Araxi and get a photo with him. Excuse my stupid look here, I’m pretty sure I was way too excited to get a picture with him.

He lives in Pemberton (near the farms, on a farm…) and is big on local produce and sustainability as I mentioned in my previous post on Araxi.

We worked up an appetite with all the food teasers, and so we stopped in for a quick bite at the Shangri-La’s Lobby Lounge. We had a couple cocktails, appetizers, and some yummy mains and desserts. Pretty good for bar food!

What a fun night! Thanks to Shelley, Chef James Walt, and Araxi for throwing a fabulous party.