Nestled in
the heart of Whistler Village is Araxi, the internationally renowned culinary hotspot that is famous for
exquisite cuisine featuring locally sourced ingredients.
“We feature what I like to call Regional Modern
Cuisine,” explains executive chef James Walt. “We represent the region, which is a melting pot of
flavours.”
The ingredients they source are as unique to the West Coast as the flavour profiles they feature: More than
60% of the ingredients on Araxi’s menu are locally sourced including freshly caught fish, meats and an
abundance of produce picked daily from nearby farms. Walt draws on the experience of local farmers, many of
whom he has worked with since 1997, when creating his seasonal menus.
The restaurant has received recent media acclaim on Hell’s Kitchen, the kitchen reality show run by Gordon Ramsay, renowned chef and beloved potty-mouth.
It was offered as the Season 6 prize to winner Dave Levey, who joined Araxi for the unique opportunity to
work under Walt during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.
Araxi was the first Canadian restaurant to be offered as a prize on the show and is what Ramsay referred to
as “the finest of the prize locations of the six Hell’s Kitchens” — high praise coming from the chef who
offered two of his own restaurants as prizes in former seasons! In fact, Ramsay went so far as to name Araxi
the best restaurant in Canada.
Interested in cooking like a culinary star? Araxi recently released its first cookbook Araxi:
Seasonal Recipes from the Celebrated Whistler
Restaurant, already recognized with numerous international
awards, including a nod from New York’s James Beard Awards, widely recognized as the Oscars of the culinary
world.
“It represents the area, the restaurant and something to learn from,” says Walt. For a summertime menu, he
suggests readers prepare the English Pea Soup with the Herb-Crusted Halibut, and, of course, the ever-popular
Araxi Cake.
“You’ve heard of molten chocolate cakes,” says Walt. “But we’ve been doing ours for a long time.”
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