Michelle and I went up to Whistler last weekend for a wee bit of gastronomic excess with some journalists visiting from the United States (cool cats all). It was bloody hot out, so we borrowed a pretty sweet convertible for the duration, and cranked old Rolling Stones tracks all the way up, singing “Pleased to meet you, won’t you guess my name, wooo-hooo!” Good times…

After checking in at the Westin (hooray for pools), we headed straight for Araxi, this year’s critic’s choice for Best Whistler at the Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards. It and Bearfoot Bistro are my two Whistler reliables, as their respective chefs – Melissa Craig and James Walt – are two of the best in BC. We couldn’t get up in time to enjoy lunch at BB with the American journos, but they regaled us with tales of noon-hour excess. One of them even fell asleep at the table after the lunch had ended! I had the opportunity of being a judge when Melissa won the Canadian Culinary Championships in Toronto a few years back, so I have pretty good idea as to the excellence of what we missed. Sigh…it sounded fantastic, like a fisherman’s “one that got away” tale. There’s always next time…

The 10 of us – happily received in Araxi’s private room by GM Steve Edwards – were led through five courses prepared by James and his crew (including recently minted sous chef Owen Lightly). Several of the best meals I’ve ever had in my life have been enjoyed in that room, and this one was definitely in the running. It began with a tiny, Caprese-esque salad of GME heirloom tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, basil sorbet, gazpacho vinaigrette and nasturtiums, crescendo-ed with a plate of Pemberton Meadows shortribs that had been cooking for 72 hours, and finished with white chocolate-pistachio nougat glacé dealt by pastry chef Aaron Heath. Wine Director (and charmer) Samantha Rahn made some great and sometimes brave pairing moves – like saddling the beef up to a seven year old Austrian Gruner Veltliner – but…if I can channel Hopper for a sec, it was pure poetry, man…poetry. Here’s the menu…

————————————————————

ARAXI DINNER

First Course
GBE Heirloom Tomatoes
buffalo mozzarella, basil sorbet, gazpacho vinaigrette and nasturtium
Suavia, Soave Classico, Veneto, Italy 08

Second Course
Sweet Corn + BC Shellfish Soup
Qualicum scallops, Egmont spot prawns and Tofino dungeness crab, basil tops and baby leek oil
Mission Hill ‘Perpetua’ Chardonnay, Okanagan, BC 07

Third Course
Crisp BC Wild Sockeye Salmon
North Arm english peas, summer squash, fava beans and lavender
Fort Ross ‘Fort Ross Vineyard’ Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, California 05

Main Course
72 Hour Cooked Pemberton Meadows Beef Shortrib
with citrus pickled North Arm carrots, romanesco and radish, carrot puree and ponzu reduction
Loimer ‘Spiegel’ Gruner Veltliner, Kamptal, Austria 03

Dessert
White Chocolate-Pistachio Nougat Glace
Pemberton blueberries and Okanagan apricot coulis, flourless pistachio cake
Donnafugata ‘Ben Ryé’, Passito di Pantelleria, Sicily, Italy 06

————————————————————

And that was just the beginning. The whole point of the trip up was to be reunited with our merry traveling friends of Outstanding In The Field. If you’ve never heard of this operation before, it’s a group out of California led by surfer/artist/chef Jim Denevan that take four months to navigate their way across the continent hooking up with local farmers, chefs, artisan producers and winemakers to host mind-boggling, multi-course dinners in jaw-dropping natural settings, everything from tidal beaches and farmer’s fields to vineyards and forest groves. We’ve been attending every year down in Vancouver, but the extra trek up to Whistler/Pemberton is new relatively new for them and us, it being just the second year. We had such a fantastic time in 2009 (we camped on the farm in our VW Westfalia after dinner), that we were stoked to do it again. What made it especially attractive to us was the fact the James Walt – who cooked the OITF dinner last year – would be doing it again. But I’ll get to that in a minute.

After sleeping off the meal at Araxi and waking up to a benny breakfast at Lift Coffee Co. across from the hotel, we browsed the local Farmer’s Market and prepared for lunch at the Four Seasons. It seemed ill-advised to fill up just hours before we were to sit down at Jordan Sturdy’s gorgeous North Arm Farm for OITF, it was a date that was hard to resist. The hotel had only just rebranded its restaurant, which is now a modern steakhouse called Sidecut.

We sat on the patio and started salivating immediately because one of the cooks was barbecuing huge sides of fish and corn not thirty feet away. This was quickly forgotten, however, as chef Scott Thomas Dolbee soon began doling out plate upon fabulous plate of terrestial proteins to show off his new menu and concept. They’re specialising in rubs and sauces, and we sampled each and every one with venison, lamb, chicken and steak after steak. We practically rolled out of there, not a little concerned as to whether or not we could sustain any further belly lashings, but our appetites were revived after a visit to the certified organic Pemberton Distillery, where we sipped Schramm vodka and took a wee tour.

Thus primed, we made the short haul over to North Arm Farm for the main event, and got carried away with the spirit of the day and night. I’ve got to run now to catch a plane (New York here we come), so I’ll let the pictures tell the rest of the story from here (after the menu). Thanks to my new American friends for the grand company, and to all who helped to make our weekend an awesome one…

————————————————————

OUTSTANDING IN THE FIELD

Reception
Food Lovers (North Arm Farm)
Cowichan Bay Duck country pate
vodka mustard, potato bread crisp, golden beets, goat cheese, candied walnut, bing cherry, sweet cicely double cream, cornmeal tuile
Schramm Vodka with spiced beet juice or sweet cicely soda

First Course
Dungeness Crab
crab wrapped in a thin egg crepe with gazpacho, North Arm flowers and herbs with garlic scapes
Leggiero Chardonnay 2009

Second Course
North Arm Farm Squash Blossom
stuffed with Salt Spring Island Moonstruck cheese, cherry tomato vinaigrette and grape must
Vivace Pinot Grigio 2009

Third Course
Ballotine of Wild Sockeye Salmon
Sturdy’s sweet peas, salmon caviar and peppermint, Root Down organic greens and basil
Lastellina Merlot Rosato 2009

Main Course
Pemberton Meadows Beef Fillet
with crisp beef cheeks and shortrib and North Arm horseradish salsa verde with North Arm beets and globe carrots
Maestoso Merlot 2007

Dessert
Duo of North Arm Berries + Oliver Cherries
Valrhona chocolate mousse cakes, brandied cherries, almond crusted choux buns with marinated berries
Moscato d’Osoyoos 2009

————————————————————