Arriving early, we were warmly greeted by the Hostess, escorted to the bar for cocktails. The Bartender excused himself from conversation to quickly greet us, present us with menus and offered assistance. He resumed conversation and insured his line of sight was in our direction, WOW, it's the little things that matter...
I'm grateful that we witnessed his creating of our cocktails for had we not, I may have wondered why they took long. He used a multiple of fresh ingredients, pressed juices, muddling and building them into true art forms. Truly inspirational to view.
The room was abuzz, the Sushi Chefs were creating a Seafood Tower, and Michael once again approached us to offer descriptive info of these glorious samplings of fresh seafood.
Now I know not to judge a book by its cover, but another WOW! The detail of the room was amazing, ambiance, quiet music, fresh flowers... We were even given the right-of-way by a server carrying food to another table, and another picked up our host's glove that she dropped on our way.
Our waitress was a little busy but made the time to greet us fairly quickly - although with less enthusiasm than Michael - offering us bottled water then dahing away.
Ready for a 3 Tier Seafood Tower and Champagne, our waitress was nowhere to be found. A young man serving a nearby table took notice and offered to take our order and pass it on to our server. Moments later we were sipping bubbles.
It took a while, but the Seafood Tower was well worth the wait - remembering that inspirational creation of our cocktails...
We had hoped to place our food and wine order before our Tower arrived, but our server seemed quite busy with surrounding tables. She quickly took our order but preferred to have the Sommalier address our wine questions. Thiat's where things became a little unravelled.
The Sommalier is obviously well versed on his list, but Richard found him very condescending. I'm unsure whether this was due to his flight back from Toronto or the busy dining room.
Our server returned to appologize on the delay of our food. The kitchen was busy - her fiancee is one of the Chefs - but she assured us our food will be out shortly. We were NOT in any rush, and never felt things were taking too long for perfection should NOT be rushed.
Minutes later, our smiling server lead and directed another two servers to our table. With a beaming smile, she asked us to enjoy and whether there was anything else she could offer. Confused, we smiled back, looked at one another in disbelief, then she was gone. She was nowhere to be found, not even at her other tables. Another server said she would send her to us, but we did not see her again until she returned with a team of servers to clear our table.
Here lies our problem: It seems she became so un-nerved when she felt we were in a rush, that she decided to SKIP our appetizers??
Richard became visibly upset, and declared his intent on speaking to the GM. My wife pleaded that we refrain from complaining - she seemed to develop a gross dislike towards our Sommalier (also Restaurant Director as his card announces) and his excessively large ego.
That being said, the food was beautiful, and I can only wonder how great the appetizers would have been.
Sadly, my wife will not allow us to return to Araxi. Well, not for as long as they employ a management team that thinks they are bigger than life.
The food was succulant, and if you can get around the somewhat shoddy service, I highly reccommend.
P.S. My wife decided to stay in our last evening, and I ventured back to Araxi. I sat alone on the bar - thankfully unrecognized by the Rstaurant Director - and enjoyed the best MEAL AND SERVICE of our Whistler visit. Although I would NOT risk dining here for a special occasion for the service may fall flat.