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Table scraps

Top Table in town

Araxi captures top spot with Vancouver Magazine’s annual restaurant awards

 

I have to admit that I haven’t personally had the pleasure of dining at Araxi yet, but by all accounts, it’s a pretty hot spot in Whistler.

But when I received word that they’d been awarded top honours for the Whistler category at the 19 th annual restaurant awards from Vancouver Magazine for the ninth consecutive year, I thought it was time to have a chat with restaurant director, Steve Edwards, just one of the many people behind the scenes at this long-time local favourite culinary destination.

Long-time is actually putting it mildly; this Top Table restaurant was founded in 1981, so it’s a veritable dinosaur by Whistler standards.

“We were one of the first,” Edwards says with a laugh.

Edwards, who has only been at Araxi for about two years now, was ecstatic to hear that they’d been designated as the top spot in Whistler for yet another year.

The competition is always stiff in Whistler, with a myriad of fine dining establishments in the running.

This year, the Bearfoot Bistro, led by chef Melissa Craig, captured silver honours, while the Four Seasons’ Fifty Two 80 Bistro received the bronze designation. The Rim Rock Café and Après also earned honourable mentions.

“We expect a run for our money every year and we never know when our luck will run out!” he says.

While there are definite staffing challenges involved in running a successful restaurant in a resort town like Whistler, Edwards says Araxi has actually had a fairly low turnover rate, and their strong staff members are really responsible for their recent success.

“I think it has a lot to do with the people that are behind it,” he says. “We have such an incredible team, we have such an incredible chef, we have the resources with Pemberton being 20 minutes away — you don’t get that in the city.”

The secret to their success actually seems pretty simple — they stay true to their priorities, which are food, wine, service and ambience, in that order.

And when it comes to food, it seems like they were miles ahead of the curve on the slow food cycle.

“It’s always been local, that’s really our focus, is providing the best fresh local sustainable product that we can, and presenting it consistently well,” Edwards explains.

Executive chef James Walt lives in the Pemberton region and actually picks some of their produce directly from the fields on his way to work, so the food is often literally coming from the farm to the table.

In addition to their inclusion of local produce in their regular menu items, Araxi will also offer a special 100-mile diet spring tasting menu in the coming weeks.

But you’ll need something special to complement all of this fresh local cuisine, and at Araxi, the obvious choice would be wine.

“For me, gastronomy is the magic of food and wine, and it’s really incredible to find a pairing that enhances both,” Edwards says. “I think that’s the magic of the whole experience, is that one complements the other and it just creates flavours that you can’t get on their own.”

On top of their recent accolades from Vancouver Magazine, Araxi received a gold designation for their extensive wine list, which features more than 1,200 labels from all over world, during this year’s Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival awards.

“Basically, what we’re looking to do is have a very well rounded, complete list, so we’re able to take every major wine region and have all of them have a good showing at every different price point,” Edwards explains.

And if you’re a bit clueless when it comes to selecting that perfect glass of vino, fear not; many of Araxi’s servers have their sommelier diplomas, so they can lend you a bit of their extensive wine knowledge.

With the Olympics right around the corner, Edwards says they are contemplating making a few changes, but emphasizes that their overall priorities of good food, wine, service and ambience will remain the same.

Hey, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right?

 

Looking for a guilt-free way to satisfy that sweet tooth?

The Make-A-Wish Foundation is celebrating their Sweet Dreams Dessert Day on Thursday, May 1, and of the 128 restaurants participating throughout the country, there are a few here in our own backyard.

The Whistler and Squamish locations of Boston Pizza, and the Fairmont Chateau Whistler’s Wildflower Restaurant and Mallard Lounge will be serving up sweet treats, complete with candles so people can make their own special wishes, and donating proceeds to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which grants wishes for kids with life-threatening illnesses.

This year, the foundation’s B.C. and Yukon branch organizers are hoping to raise over $20,000 from the day, which is being held to coincide with their 25 th anniversary of granting wishes.