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Savor local ingredients (and a bucolic view) at Bearfoot Bistro.
(Photo: Courtesy of Bearfoot Bistro) |
Savor farm-to-table cuisine and top-notch cocktails at Alta Bistro, tucked into a hidden pocket of the Village. Grab a seat at the reclaimed wood bar for cocktails made with housemade infusions and bitters; the Into the Fir, made with Douglas fir syrup, Chartreuse, fresh lemon, and egg white, is a clever nod to Whistler’s woodsy environs ($12). The modern French-leaning menu also showcases the restaurant’s hyperlocal, eco-friendly ethos�most produce comes from an organic farm in nearby Pemberton, and hormone- and antibiotic-free meat is sourced in Vancouver. Try the Alberta-elk tartar and duck-liver parfait appetizer ($13), served in a jar and topped with crumbs of duck fat, followed by B.C. snapper with bacon, clams, sea asparagus, and black-garlic toast ($23).
Snag a patio table at Araxi, nestled in the heart of the Village. Executive chef James Walt, who cooked at New York’s James Beard House, serves up sophisticated but unfussy seafood-centric dishes with locally sourced ingredients. Belly up to the snazzy marble bar inside for a selection of up to a dozen varieties of oysters (from $2.75), or sample the seasonal flavors of B.C. via small plates like beet salad with buffalo mozzarella, whipped goat cheese, and quinoa ($15) or the wild seafood trio, which includes a crispy wild-scallop sushi roll with pickled daikon radish ($16).
Saber your own bottle of bubbles at the Bearfoot Bistro. Don’t let the grand piano and chandeliers fool you�it’s always a party here, as diners learn the historic origins and best techniques to dramatically slice open any bottle of sparkling wine (and there are 20,000 bottles in the cellar to choose from). Kick off your meal in the Belvedere Ice Room, the world’s coldest vodka tasting room at -25 degrees Fahrenheit, where you can take a bracing shot of 1 of 50 vodkas while bundled up in an Arctic-rated Canada Goose parka. Then warm up with executive chef Melissa Craig’s five-course menu ($62), which might include Pemberton potato-and-garlic-scape soup with confit escargot and anchovy gremolata, and pork tenderloin from B.C.’s Fraser Valley with smoked tomato, clams, and artichoke.