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Apres is a fine dining experience in Whistler that is part wine bar and part brasserie. Specializing in modern European cuisine and featuring over 40 wines by the glass.
My wife and I had dinner here on Boxing Day 2007. The place itself is actually rather small though certainly had a nice, decadent atmosphere.
We opted for the 4 course lobster dinner. They gave us 1.5 lbs lobster each in different courses. The first was actually a tiny piece of lobster marinated in this delicious sauce. I believe there was soup like one for second course and the meal progressed with bigger portions, all cooked in very different ways. Each course was heaven and have certainly not had lobster served like this or taste the way it did. This course was about $65 or $70 per person though was well worth it. I think we had dessert too which was also very pleasant. You can't go wrong here, though for 2 people we paid about $220 before tip!!
From the moment that I walked through the door I sensed that I was in for a great dining experience. The room is very intimate, with a very elegant yet sexy fell. We browsed through the wine list which is well layed out with a great variety of both new world and old world wines. The very helpful server pointed us towards the chefs 6 course tasting menu which was to be accompanied with a wine pairing, which we opted to go for. To start off we recieved an amuse bouche of tuna tartar accompanied with an avacado salad. The first cousre was a buffalo mozzarella salad paired with a beautiful sancerre. The second course was a trio of foie gras and it was spectacular. As the chef (who took the time to speak to us after dinner) is from France, this dish is one of his specialties. The dish was my personal favorite and it was paired with a muscat from France, which matched it perfectly. To follow that we had beautiful alaskan scallops finished with a root vegetable emulsion. This dish was paired with a chablis from france which was an amazing wine. To follow up on that we had black cod which was marinated in a ginger and miso jus. The flavour of this dish was oustanding and it was paired a nice pinot gris from oregon. For the main cousre we had wild caribou finished with a purple mustard jus. It was paired with a very big cab from BC which complemented it very well. To finish off the evening we had a chocolate lava dome that was done to perfection accompanied with a house made amaretto ice cream and paired with some Banyuls wine from france. The food in this beautiful restaurant was absolutely amazing. The service was equally as impressive. Our server was able to answer any questions we had about the food as well as the wine and seemed to have a captivating story about every aspect of Apres. All in all, this was one of the best dining experiences of my life and it all took place in the ski town of Whistler.
Et apres? one might ask...
Here was our experience:
The contemporary decor was nice but slightly cold. The wine list is very nice and features many west coast wines. The appetizers were exceedingly beautifully presented. Tuna 3 ways was very good but unfocussed: too many tastes in every direction. The chesnuts soup was gorgeous.
Then the main courses: Caribou was good but again unfocussed, too many tastes, almost conflicting. Same went with the duck, served lukewarm by the way.
Dessert: a tad too big after big portions, the mango pinapple was looking fancy but failed to impress: conflicting tastes again and a hair inside the mango crust did it for us. We did not raised the issue because we had enough by now.
My dessert was OK creams, but inconsistant textures. The chocolate one tasted great.
During our meal, the chef was constantly pacing the room, and clearly did not cook our dishes. Never once did he inquire on our experience during the meal... Only when we were at the door on our way out did a smile popped on his face. Then he returned to fix the computer that refused credit cards that evening...
What a contrast after the warmth and the professionalism of the Bearfoot Bistro chef who was directing her kitchen symphony!
As for Apres: The concept is good, the decor modern, the ingredients of good quality and clearly the chef has abilities but the pretention ruined it: perhaps it is time for the chef to be in the kitchen and focus!
On August 22, I went to Apre in a group of 11 people because I had good experience there two years ago, and because it had nice reviews in general in your web site .
The ambriance was definitely pleasant
The food is somewhat marginal on that day. No doubt the presentation of the appertizers was creative and pleasing. However, the halibut cheeks (summer menu; we ordered 5) were salty, and the duck breast tough, chewy and hard to eat.
When the server inquired about how we enjoyed our food, I informed him about the quality of the duck meat. He proceeded to tell me that the restaurant served only the best quality duck breast. I informed him that I have duck dishes in other restaurants and they were tender, and asked if the restaurant would bring us another entrée to substitute. The server asked me if the restaurant I had been to were 'high end' restaurants implyinng that Apre was, and asked if I were prepared to pay for the additional dish. We did not eat the meat in that one duck dish. I suggested to the server that the chef should try the meat himself. When the server return from the kitcher, he told me that, according to the chef, the duck breast was cooked medium as we ordered.
(I had duck in Umberto C. in Whistler; and in Vancouver, Le Fluer in sutton Place Hotel, Seasons inthe Park, Labuca restaurants...and they were all good. The one time that that Umberto did not make it to our liking, Umberto remade the dish for us right away - no additional charge.)
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We were charged for all the food and breverages we ordered despite most of the duck meat untouched and not edible. I was not smart and paid the full amount togehter with the 17% service charge that the restaurant added to the bill
No... I will not go back to Apre
No...I will not recommend to any of my friends.
My wife & I went to Whistler on the last weekend of October and had dinner at Apres on the Saturday night. From the moment we walked into the room we felt welcomed and appreciated. Our waiter was very good and he genuinely had an interest in making sure we had a good time. We ordered the Chefs tasting menu with the wine pairings. It was fantastic ! Better than West, Gastropod , Bearfoot Bistro or any other tasting menu I've had. Our waiter was the one doing the pairings and they were bang on every time. The food was amazing, tuna three ways, Fois gras three ways, every dish we had was absolutely great.
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