"It was small, intimate, and Atom Egoyan was wandering around."
I was at a party with a mouth full of eggnog, describing how the Whistler Film Fest compared to Vancouver's. Having only participated in the latter, and casually at that, I had zero expectations before arriving in Whistler on the 3rd of December.
Whistler Film Festival Awards Brunch - December 5, 2010
Being a Vancouverite of the non-skiing variety, half the novelty of the film fest was simply being in Whistler in the snow and -10 Celsius temperatures, drinking rum & eggnog lattes, cozying up next to fireplaces, and enjoying the Christmasy atmosphere of it all. Not that seeing Die Mannequin for the Hard Core Logo II afterparty was anybody's idea of Christmas, but hey, I'm not complaining.
We only managed to see three films: the hard-to-swallow-but-you-have-to-see-it The Whistleblower; the light-hearted geek-fest of The People vs. George Lucas; and the heart-breaking beauty that is Marwencol. They were all excellent for completely different reasons.
Marwencol, for me, was the most memorable and perhaps even left the bigger emotional impact:
Following Marwencol and before driving home, we bit the bullet and splurged on an incredible meal at Araxi Restaurant. It seemed such a fitting end to the weekend. For those who were following Hell's Kitchen last year, Araxi Restaurant was where the winning chef would work. I don't think he's there anymore, but it didn't matter. The food, service, and atmosphere confirmed to me why they're consistently rated amongst the top restaurants in BC.
Seared Albacore Tuna
A variety of BC oysters
Sunday evening is apparently a quiet time for Araxi!
Baby gem and romaine lettuce salad
Local onion veloute with tapenade and a crispy oyster
Fraser Valley free range chicken
Buffalo ricotta and truffle gnocchi... I even got an extra gram of fresh black truffle!
Araxi!! I wanted to go so badly when we were in Whistler, but it was not open at that time! It looks GORGEOUS!! I love all your pictures - thanks for sharing! And now you made me crave ahi tuna like crazyyyyy mmmm looks so good!
Yeah, Araxi was incredible. I had been there once before when it first opened, in the summer of 1992. I was 12 - ha! I was there with my family. And funny enough, I do remember that meal because it was the first time I ever had a mesclun green salad and focaccia with balsamic & olive oil. So fancy, I thought!
2 comments:
Araxi!! I wanted to go so badly when we were in Whistler, but it was not open at that time! It looks GORGEOUS!! I love all your pictures - thanks for sharing! And now you made me crave ahi tuna like crazyyyyy mmmm looks so good!
Thanks for commenting! :)
Yeah, Araxi was incredible. I had been there once before when it first opened, in the summer of 1992. I was 12 - ha! I was there with my family. And funny enough, I do remember that meal because it was the first time I ever had a mesclun green salad and focaccia with balsamic & olive oil. So fancy, I thought!
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