Araxi Celebrates Silver Anniversary with Five Courses For $30

I’ve just returned home after traveling for over week on business.

Being on the road, and eating out three times a day, had really begun to take it’s toll on me (shocking but true). All I wanted to do was get back to Whistler, snuggle up in my blue Snuggie, and prepare myself a home cooked meal. And just to clarify, by “prepare myself a home cooked meal,” I mean, have someone who cooks, prepare a home cooked meal for me.

Then I found out Araxi was celebrating their 30th Anniversary with a five-course dinner for $30!

For those of you who don’t know, you might be lucky to find a single course at Araxi for just $30, so this deal seemed too good to be true. Naturally, I scrapped any idea of slaving away in the kitchen (or having someone else slave away in a kitchen for me), and hauled my ass over to Araxi for some five-course fine dining.

The restaurant was packed! Word of the anniversary special had clearly spread among Whistler’s foodies and everyone was in the mood to party. The downside to this is, despite having a reservation we still had to wait almost thirty minutes before being seated. My hunger pains and taste buds were not in a patient mood.

The anticipation for Araxi’s five courses was killing me. I have never been so happy to be seated for dinner. Finally, it was time to get this anniversary party started.

First course was a local corn and basil soup. Corn soup is always one of my favourites, so I inhaled it as soon as it was placed in front of me. Almsot forgot to get the picture before it was gone too! There’s something so attractive about colourful foods and I fell in love with the crazy delicious yellow of this dish.

For the second course, you had a choice; BC Albacore Tuna Tataki, Quebec Foie Gras Partait, & Roasted North Arm Farm Beet Salad. I hate eating things I can’t pronounce so I decided to keep it local with the beet salad. I used to hate beets and I often promised my mother that I would never try them. Well, I am happy to report I have officially eaten my words and beets are now one of favourite root vegetables. In fact, if beet salad is on a menu, I usually order it…and so should you.

Up next, was a Ricotta Gnocchi. There was no choice with this third course, but had there been, I probably wouldn’t have filled the gnocchi with ricotta. Now that I am obviously a very sophisticated and serious food critic, I need to tell you, this wasn’t my favourite taste combination. But with that being said, my plate was still licked clean. Even if I’m only paying $30, it doesn’t mean I can afford to waste food.

The main attraction, and fourth course, coincidently offered us a quadruplet of choice. The big decision lay between Duck, Tenderloin, Roasted Mushrooms & Polenta, or Arctic Char. My rule of thumb is to always choose Arctic Char when it’s on a menu. You can’t go wrong with char…it truly char’tastic.

However, I had just enjoyed some char two days earlier, so I thought I would mix it up go with the Yarrow Farm Duck Breast. Luckily, my friend ordered the Arctic Char, so I was still able to steal a taste and it did not disappoint. The duck breast was served with a Pemberton purple potato puree and let me tell you, I now want that puree served with EVERYTHING I eat. It was ridiculously delicious.

To cap off the evening our fifth and final course was Valrhona Chocolate Fondant. I had no idea what Valrhona was, but I knew it would be good because it was followed by the word chocolate. Turns out, Valrhona is a French chocolate manufacturer that specializes in high-grade luxury chocolates.

Well, nothing is more high-grade and luxury than my sophisticated palate, and let me tell you, this dessert tasted exactly like my roommate’s chocolate lava cakes. This is a huge compliment, as my roommate makes the most delicious cakes. You should all try it. I promise you’ll all have the sweet dreams from this chocolate coma.

Araxi is celebrating their Silver Anniversary until December 8, so make sure you come in and try out the $30 five course menu while you still can. You’ll probably see me there, as the menu will continuously change throughout the next six weeks and I plan to try them all, just $30 at a time!