Il Caminetto: Cornucopia 2023
My fiancรฉ’s family owns a timeshare in Whistler and we both like to snowboard, so we stay and visit Whistler quite often throughout the year. By now, I almost see ourselves like a Whistler local.
There are many nice restaurants in Whistler and one of the most popular restaurants is Il Caminetto, a modern and stylish Italian restaurant located in Whistler village.
Recommended: Read my previous review of Il Caminetto back in 2019.
We dined at Il Caminetto in November during Cornucopia, Whistler’s annual food and wine festival. This year, the festival ran from November 9 -19, 2023 and throughout these dates, you can purchase tickets for special events like wine tasting, chef tables and showcases. Tickets for these special Cornucopia events start at $100+ per person.
Recommended: Read my review of Araxi’s Cornucopia menu back in 2018.
However, the best value in my opinion are the special prix fixe menus many restaurants have during November since it is their slow season (the mountain isn’t open for skiing yet). These Fall prix fix menus usually are structured in 3-4 courses and are under $50 per person.
In this post, I will be reviewing Il Caminetto’s Fall prix fix menu priced at $42 per person with wine pairings for $42. I made reservations 2-3 weeks before and was still only able to snag an 8:30pm time slot (the rest were 5pm or 9pm).
The vibe
Il Caminetto can pack quite a large number of tables in their space without it feeling too stuffy. We were seated in their dining room area, which is actually sunken in from the lobby where you first enter.
Our table for 2 is not very large, but I had a comfortable booth seat and Kelvin had a wooden chair with a plush cushion. And in case anyone is wondering, Kelvin hasn’t been able to sit in a booth for years because I always take it ๐ .
The lighting is kind of dim but lit enough for a romantic and cozy atmosphere. All the tables have white tablecloths and overall it feels like a modern and contemporary space. The windows are mostly covered by curtains, giving it a more private and intimate feeling.
As we were leaving though, we did notice it was snowing outside! Very romantic.
Food and drinks review: Prix fix menu ($42)
Here is everything we ordered between 2 people. Prices are in CAD and rounded to the nearest dollar.
Stigs n stones ($19) + Black tusk ($19)
We both order 1 cocktail – Kelvin orders the Stigs n stone and I order the black tusk. When we look for cocktails, we are usually both looking for something fruity and easy to drink.
The Stigns n stone cocktail is the drink in the shorter glass and has plantation stiggins, fancy pineapple rum, campari, pineapple, lime and sugar. It is a pretty decent amount and tasted similar to a mai tai because of the rum and pineapple.
The black tusk was in a champagne flute with doctorโs orders gin, elephant sloe gin, ginger, lemon, honey and prosecco. My cocktail was also fruity, but I am always a little disappointed when it appears in a champagne flute because it looks “less” and also it looks like fruit punch ๐.
Out of the 2 cocktails, I preferred the Stigns n stone one.
Free bread
Every table gets some free bread and they serve it with simple olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Nice little filler, but nothing to rave home about.
First course: Grilled eggplant hummus
For my first course, I select the eggplant hummus. To pair with the hummus, this dish also has Pemberton vegetable crudita, crisp ceci and some smoked paprika on top.
I do like hummus but I don’t love it. I found the presentation of this dish to be quite pretty and I like the way they laid out the vegetable crudites and the overall colour palette it creates. The hummus does pair well with the different veggies but I did like eating it with the crunchy chick peas and the sweet beet the most.
My only critique is that I don’t find this appetizer especially fancy or Italian. Just a nice simple light dish.
First course: Butternut squash crostini
For Kelvin’s first course, he chooses the butternut squash crostinis. The 3rd option would have been olives but I don’t like olives.
One order comes with 2 crostinis, which is nice because we like to share all our food and try everything. On top of the crostinis, there is squash, whipped ricotta, a squash caponata balsamic and ricotta salata.
The crostinis appear small but they are packed with flavour! There is a really great balance between the sweetness of the squash and the balsamic. The ricotta also has a nice creamy texture and a bit of a nutty flavour to make it taste not too sweet.
Second course: Burrata and Pemberton beets
For my second course, I choose the burrata because I love burrata ๐ฅฐ!
When it arrived, Kelvin commented that I am eating a lot of beets today because to pair with the burrata cheese, they also use the same beets from my hummus appetizer. They also put some Autumn greens, toasted almonds, a few pieces of gnocco frito (think of fried gnocci or raviolis), and a roasted tomato crema sauce at the bottom.
I quite liked this dish and thought it tasted nice and clean. The burrata is a decent amount for one person and had a milky and sweet flavour. I liked eating it with all the components on the plate.
Second course: Wild mushroom and parmigiano polenta
For Kelvin’s second course, he chooses the polenta with mushrooms. The mushrooms are locally foraged and cooked in a “ragu”, with smoked egg yolk, truffled pecorino and shallot crumbs.
I am not a big fan of polenta (essentially yellow cornmeal) but I did like the mushrooms. I didn’t get much taste of the smoked egg yolk. Kelvin commented that this dish was very filling and homey.
Third course: Fraser valley pork duo
For my main course, I choose the pork duo. It is pork cooked in two ways – a herb grilled tenderloin and slow cooked belly. To compliment the meat, this dish also uses roasted cabbage, pickled apples and a grainy mustard jus.
I don’t eat a lot of red meats (I usually prefer seafood) but I really enjoyed this pork dish – it was cooked super tender and flavourful. I liked that it was pork in two ways so I got some variety even though it was still pork. In both instances, the pork was soft and cut like butter. The cabbage and pickled apples was a nice choice to balance out the fattiness and richness of the pork.
Third course: 6oz Beef tenderloin (+$25)
So for the steak option, you’ll have to supplement an additional $25 to the $42 prix fix menu. If you choose to do this, you can order their only beef option on the prix fix choices – the 6oz beef tenderloin.
Paired with this steak is parsnip and potato gratinato, roasted carrots, charred cipollini onion and a parlsey salsa verde.
The beef tenderloin came out looking very delicious and I love seeing the grill marks on it (looks like anime food). The meat was juicy and tender – cooked medium rare to our order. The roasted carrots and parsnip as well as the potato all complimented the meat dish well as traditional choices.
Overall, I would say the $25 supplement is worth it for a pretty delicious steak.
Fourth course: Chocolate cheesecake
For dessert, Kelvin chooses the chocolate cheesecake. I was a little surprised when it arrived cause it looked less brown than I thought it would (I thought it would be very chocolatey).
The chocolate cheesecake itself is a rectangular slice and is tasty but nothing extra special. On top and beside it, they place dallops of dulce de leche whipped ganache, almond honeycomb and citrus segments.
I think the addition of these elements (the almond honeycomb and citrus segments) is what elevated this dish from the Cheesecake factory to something from Il Caminetto. The sourness and citrus flavours helped make the chocolate cheesecake less sweet.
Fourth course: Tiramisu
I loved that the tiramisu arrived in a cup ๐! You can’t really tell from the photo, but it’s not a small cup. I would say it is almost enough to share with 2 people as we were quite full by now after 3 courses.
The tiramisu is classic and has all the stuff you would expect – whipped mascarpone, espresso lady fingers, chocolate on top. I like my tiramisu with a higher percentage of whipped mascarpone compared to the actual cake/lady fingers and the one here at Il Caminetto did just that so I was happy.
Final thoughts
Loewe’s rating: โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ
We had a delicious dinner at Il Caminetto and was very very full at the end of our prix fixe menu.
Out of all the dishes we tried, the 2 mains were the standout dishes – the pork two ways and the beef tenderloin. Both of these main dishes truly looked and tasted like it came from an upscale restaurant with high ratings. Aside from that, other dishes we thought were above average included the crostini appetizer and maybe the tiramisu. The rest of the dishes (polenta, burrata, hummus, cheesecake) were just average for us. If 1-2 of the first two courses/appetizers were more sophisticated, I would give this review 5 stars.
At a price point of around $42, this is a steal (#girlmath). We would pay $42 just for one of the mains so the value is definitely there to do the prix fixe.
Service was great and we had no complaints.
If you are ever in Whistler during Cornucopia or in Fall, I highly recommend for you to check out Il Caminetto’s prix fix menu!
Sincerely, Loewe