Thursday, March 26, 2009

Aubergine Grill @ Whistler, BC Canada

http://www.westinwhistler.com/itoolkit.asp?pg=AUBERGINE_GRILLE_AND
Serves: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Cost: $$$
Experience: :)
Decor: Comfortable to Fine dining

I have been a complete ski bum this year, and thus find myself still in Whistler 2 weeks later in the season than I thought I would be still indulging in the sport. The Aubergine Grille has received many awards and much attention which you may read all about on their own page - below, I am only going to speak of the dishes that I ordered.

I happened to visit them on the one night when they had a more bistro-type menu instead of one of their fancy dinner arrangements (I also missed their $35 prix fixe dinners - maybe I'll try to catch it tomorrow just before driving back to Vancouver), so the dishes may seem a bit more "ordinary". However, the flavors were solidly balanced and refreshingly subtle (particularly where the salad is concerned) for all that they were more commonly found items.



The dip is a black-bean hummus - the appearance sort of reminded me of black sesame products, with little flecks of black in a lighter background. Though usually I'm not a big fan of black beans, it blended well with the usual hummus taste.



Butter lettuce, a block of goat cheese, organic beets, and roasted shallot vinaigrette. Again, I'm not usually a big fan of beets (at least, in large quantities), but all the flavors on the plate balanced perfectly against each other - a few folds of lettuce, half a wedge of beet stacked atop, with a smear of goat cheese and vinaigrette...utterly delightful. I polished off the whole plate, carefully divvying up the portions so that even the last bite would not lack any particular component.



I love risotto, but find it a little peculiar that it is often offered as a main course all on its own, rather than paired up as a side to some other item, or being paired up with sides in turn. Even for a vegetarian, I think it contains too little variety just by itself to justify a whole dinner based on it alone. Thus, I paired this up with another appetizer which I had been hankering after - the mussels.

The risotto had cubes of squash and whole hazelnuts sprinkled in it. The hazelnuts added a nice scent to some of the bites, but unfortunately, they were quick to grow soft in the heat and dampness when I did not eat them fast enough. The squash added a touch of sweetness, and even when I lumped them into a large spoon-full, did not overpower the taste of the risotto. The risotto's texture was perfect for my mood - just enough body to let me chew on it a bit, while being an over-all cooked-through soft; and thick with sauce that was neither runny or too dry.



The picture of the mussels suffered the most. Between the laptop, camera, phone, various table decorations and 4 large plates; I did not have much room by this point to rearrange settings. (Besides which, I had little patience left to let the food remain sitting there without taste-testing!)

This was the least-surprising dish of all in terms of flavors, but again, they were beautifully prepared. Tender, plump, and juicy; with just a hint of their seafood flavor without being too fishy.

While there may be other restaurants in Whistler which I may prefer to revisit first for the novelty of their dishes and/or ingredients (most notably, Araxi), Aubergine Grill is also solidly on the list of locations which I would be happy to revisit.

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