August 29th, 2020: Il Caminetto

Location: 4242 Village Stroll, Whistler, BC

Hours: 5pm - 10pm

Price: $$$$

To start: fresh made-in-house sourdough and foccacia, served with EVOO. They bring it around instead of leaving it at the table, but you can ask for as many as you want. Both are delectably soft with a crusty exterior, exactly what you want with these kind of breads.

Primi: Frutti di mare risotto $41.50

I got a half portion of this as an appetizer, and it hit all my expectations of a great risotto: the creamy and smooth tomato sauce had hints of saffron in it, rice had a nice bite to it, and the fresh seafood medley of scallops, prawns, squid, mussels and clams were cooked perfectly. The addition of castelvetrano olives added a hint of saltiness that did not overwhelm the other ingredients. It tasted like happiness in a bowl. 10/10

Secondi: Daily seafood addition - seared trout with swiss chard and butter beans $mp

Their daily seafood addition changes every week, and today it was a beautiful piece of seared local trout on a bed of wilted Swiss chard and butter beans. The tomato sauce was made with andouille sausage, which added a nice kick without being overly spicy. The trout skin was gloriously crispy, and the fish itself was cooked just right. I am always a quite picky with ordering fish at restaurants because overcooked fish is a big pet peeve of mine, but they nailed it here. Only thing I have to critique is that the Swiss chard was a tad salty. 8.5/10

Dolci: Baci cake $12.50

Chocolate + hazelnuts = match made in heaven. I was tempted to try this last time but decided to go to Cows instead, so I was not about to let this opportunity slip away again. The cake uses Valrhona dark chocolate (quality right there), and is layered with a dark chocolate creme with crushed hazelnuts. It was rich, moist, and definitely on the decadent side, but surprisingly not cloyingly sweet like American cakes. It was topped with a fresh raspberry and a small scoop of vanilla gelato. The gelato was not as thick and creamy as most gelatos usually are, but it worked very well here with this cake. It added a icy touch to a devilishly delicious dark concoction. 9.5/10