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Elements and Gastropod
By ruth | January 29, 2008
I have two contrasting dining experiences to write about.
On Saturday evening we had dinner at Elements Urban Tapas on Main St in Whistler. They do small plates rather than tapas, and suggest three plates between two people to start - you can always order more. They don’t take reservations, and the atmosphere is classy but informal. The staff are extremely friendly and helpful.
We sat at the bar with a view of the kitchen, which Dave always loves. We had an excellent bottle of wine - a very complex Desert Hills gamay, nothing like the very light French gamays we’ve had before. We ordered the vegetable antipasti; lettuce bowls with pork and papaya in hoisin sauce; and beef tenderloin with mushrooms. Everything was absolutely delicious, especially the beef, and it was really nice to be just full, not stuffed, and not had to leave anything on our plates. And the bill at the end was extremely reasonable, even after we’d left a fair tip.
Last night we took advantage of the Dine Out Vancouver event and went to Gastropod on 4th, just a few blocks from home.
We weren’t very impressed. Maybe we’ve been spoilt recently but I thought it was supposed to be an excellent restaurant, not just an OK one. It felt like they were trying too hard to do Heston Blumenthal-esque molecular gastronomy (bacon froth on my soup; Earl Grey syrup with my dessert) but not really hitting the mark. My cauliflower soup was fine, but the bacon was too salty and the froth didn’t add anything; Dave’s salad was only OK. Both our mains (shoulder of pork, and chicken medallions) consisted of way too much meat and not enough of anything else. The wine wasn’t great and didn’t go very well with the food even though it was a suggested pairing (a BC pinot noir, I forget the winery). It was a nice enough wine, but not great. Dessert was very nice (I had chocolate fondant with raspberry sorbet, even though the waitress said it was cranberry; and Dave had apple sorbet, pineapple sorbet and fresh creamy vanilla ice cream) but nothing really to write home about.
The service was speedy and efficient - almost too efficient; and the decor was a little too stark for my tastes.
I don’t think we’ll be back. The bill was high considering the set price meal, and it wasn’t really good value, so I wouldn’t want to pay full price. We’re going to Bistrot Pastis on Wednesday - looks very French and bistro-like - and are looking forward to that.
Tags: gastropod, elements, tapas, whistler, vancouver, restaurant, review, done out vancouver
Topics: /food |