I visit Whistler, BC in the summer of 2011 to check out whether it lives up to its international reputation for consistent fine dining experiences - and it definitely does.
I also check out the spa scene and walking trails, as well as the Peak to Peak Gondola ride.
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With a five night stay booked at the Whistler Westin Resort and Spa, I thought this would be an ideal chance to check out the renowned restaurants that have established Whistler's reputation for fine dining. There is a core group that have been the "must go to" restaurants for years, and I was curious to see whether they were still as good as ever.
With only four evenings free for dining out I had to make some choices. With that in mind, I planned dinners at four of the best-reputed restaurants, and hoped as well, to try as many other dining experiences as I could fit into this short visit.
It is summer in British Columbia and in Vancouver we have been enjoying one of the hottest weeks on record. Perhaps enjoying is not the best choice of word. Temperatures soar and instead of grumbling about rain, there are warnings everywhere about how to "survive the heat". It is really quite amusing as other parts of the world regularly experience weather far hotter and more humid than we are seeing.
Anyway, by sheer coincidence, this happened to be the weekend that our group of friends who have traveled together on several explorations of the regions of Italy (Tuscany, Le Marche, Umbria, Sicily to name a few), decided to have another BC reunion with lots of food and wine (see A Taste of the South Okanagan). Two couples in our group have homes on the island less than 5 minutes drive from each other, and the plan was that the rest of us would stay at one or the other place so we could easily convene for our various outings.
Two of us from downtown Vancouver had planned to leave around 5 to catch the 7:30 ferry from Horseshoe Bay, but our plans changed suddenly when we read that the Critical Mass cyclists would be obstructing the downtown streets just as we were heading over to the North Shore. We decided to err on the side of caution and leave an hour early and possibly have an early supper in Horseshoe Bay.
One Hundred Days at the OPUS Hotel
350 Davie Street,
Vancouver
Phone: 604-642-0557 or Reserve Online
It was the last evening before my visitors were leaving - a 7 am flight ! So an early supper was called for. I had the One Hundred Days restaurant on my "to visit" list since I first read about the concept. Basically the restaurant at the OPUS Hotel is undergoing a redesign and remodeling under different management. The idea was that over 100 days, local graffiti artist Vince Dumoulin would paint murals while the chefs would serve up equally creative dishes. But since it was a couple of months ago that I read about I figured the 100 days must be up and thought I had missed out. Not so.
A quick search on line however indicated that One Hundred Days was still going - and indeed when we got there, our server Fraser told us that they were actually up to 106 days. They would be remaining open until Dine Out Vancouver was over and then the push for the new restaurant would be on.
Chicago is one of my favorite US cities to visit - a feast for the eyes, the heart and the mind. Stunning architecture and man-made green spaces complement the natural beauty that comes from its location on the south-west shore of Lake Michigan. As I wrote on my last visit to the city in 2006, Chicago has a theatre scene that rivals New York or London - (Why Chicago dominates American Theatre, Part I and Part II) - and it is also a paradise for foodies. Reluctant as I was to leave Vancouver at this glorious time of year, I was anticipating my five day trip to Chicago with excitement.
What a week! With no evening dance classes this week I was able to take full advantage of the treasure trove of theatre on in Vancouver at the moment. Starting with True Story last Sunday afternoon, I saw 36 Views at Jericho on Tuesday, Les Misérables at the Stanley on Wednesday, Antigone Unbound upstairs at the Russian Hall on Thursday, Palace of the End at PAL on Friday and finally caught Top Girls at the Playhouse on Saturday.
On Sunday, I rested. Sort of. Actually I wrote and wrote and wrote, and tried to get a lot of exercise. Had fun with my ladies' dance-fit to wild Latin music in the gym. We are almost at the point of getting little routines together for samba, mambo and chachacha! Spandex and Mamma Mia here we come.
Kentizen
2029 88 W. Pender St.,
Vancouver
Ph: 778-863-8281
We were planning to see Antigone Unbound later at the Leaky Heaven Circus Studio above the Russion Hall, so finding ourselves in the general vicinity of Chinatown we decided to wander around and find somewhere for a casual supper. I remembered that there was a place inside the Tinseltown complex that I had wanted to check out so we took the escalator to the second floor and wandered into Kentizen. It was still early, around 5:30 and so we took a window table and studied the menu. As we were debating the merits of Japanese food versus Chinese food, the manager suggested we check out the buffet.
One look at the sushi portion of the buffet and I was sold. So we each took an attractive oblong transparent blue glass plate and helped ourselves to some of the sushi, edemame and other items.
I visit Whistler, BC in the summer of 2011 to check out whether it lives up to its international reputation for consistent fine dining experiences - and it definitely does. 
I also check out the spa scene and walking trails, as well as the Peak to Peak Gondola ride.
With a five night stay booked at the Whistler Westin Resort and Spa, I thought this would be an ideal chance to check out the renowned restaurants that have established Whistler's reputation for fine dining. There is a core group that have been the "must go to" restaurants for years, and I was curious to see whether they were still as good as ever.
One Hundred Days at the OPUS Hotel
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