Araxi: Roots to Shoots; Farm Fresh Recipes

I visited Whistler for the first time this summer and fell in love with the area, the people, the scenes and the amazing restaurants that surround the village, of which my absolute favorite was Araxi. Though each place was so good, with amazing food, local beer and wine; Araxi ended up being the one place we visited twice during our one week stay. The food was so fresh, so delicious; the Seafood tower was divine, the fish, and the sides, everything -not to mention an immense and excellent wine selection. And though planning a return trip next year, I saw this and decided it would be the perfect birthday gift for my husband who loves to cook -and for me if we could replicate some of the dishes.This is a large, gorgeous book that would be at home on a coffee table as much as in the kitchen. The book begins with beautiful pictures of the Whistler Mountain and the restaurant interior which quickly brought back those happy memories. Then the book introduces us to the restaurant with some notable highlights, and we get to meet the team behind this amazing food –from the Chefs to the Master Oyster Shucker, the bar staff and the wine director.The book is set up as follows: Shoots - (think spring and summer dishes, fresh and local) Small plates – salads, soups, seafood and appetizers. Larger -main courses featuring prawns, seafood, gnocchi, meats followed by desserts. I love the simplicity, and the fact that this is kept to just three chapters.The book begins with four beautiful cocktails, each photographed, each easy to make and I was so excited to see the peach sangria featured as this is delicious. They feature easy to find ingredients and are simple to make, delicious to taste.Then the recipes – some are simple, some quite complex but all use fresh in season ingredients. Many of the fish dishes would be best attained by a visit to a good quality fishmonger to source the freshest Spot Prawns or sushi grade salmon; but many other dishes can begin with a shop at any good grocery store. Many of the dishes are accompanied by stunning photography of amazing and delicate presentations and we quickly got started on our first dish - confit heirloom tomatoes and burrata as we happened to have all the ingredients on hand (from Trader Joes no less!!). It was so simple to make, using under 10 ingredients – several of which we just fresh herbs.Then we move to longtable – so named after the event Araxi holds to mark “the height of the sea to sky summer”. This chapter, like the event features 4 courses: two small and two large, two cocktails -gin and tonic and a bramble, and one dessert.Then as the year ends, we move to winter - Roots. Think heavier, comfort food -pot roasts, slow cooking and roots based beets, carrots, leaks. Again we begin with cocktails, then small plates, main course and the desserts (in which I was so glad to see they shared their shortbread recipe as this was delicious). In Winter I found the recipes most complex and some will be hard to source ingredients for (sea urchin roe for example) but there are many that will be easily to shop for and well within the realms of most home chefs.The book is stunning, the photos beautiful and the recipes great and again attainable for most home cooks! It might be a while until I can eat at Araxi; but this book brings the restaurant to me!

Yay, at last a restaurant style recipe book full of simple, healthy recipes, each one is beautifully photographed which shows how to plate like a professional!

Great new recipes from a great restaurant

Great book just as well laid out as the first book.