BlaringSmelly

It was almost a sure thing we’d be spending our Presidents Day weekend at Whistler. I was told that was the busiest weekend of the year for Whistler. Partially due to the holiday crowds from the U.S., also because some race happening in the following week.

We had no luck getting a room in Whistler on Saturday, so we ended up spending a night at Richmond. Inspired by Anthony Bourdian’s recent Vancouver episode, we headed to Vij’s. The restaurant, according to The New York Times review, is “easily among the finest India restaurant in the world.”

Vij’s doesn’t take reservation. We arrived the restaurant 5 minutes before 5:30pm opening time. Already there was a line formed outside the restaurant entrance. The early birds got seated right away. We were too late and had to wait for another 1.5 hour. The head chef and owner Vikram Vij was in the restaurant since the opening. It was almost mesmerizing to watch Vikram’s constant movement from table to table. From greeting guests, taking orders, serving appetizers, to signing his cookbooks, there was no doubt he ran the restaurant and provided a heck of a dinning experience.

The Chows joined us for dinner. Between the 4 of us, we were able to try a variety of dishes: duck breast in spiced mango reduction, beef short ribs and red wine curry, wine marinated lamb popsicles, and Fennel and zucchini dumplings in pomegranate curry. Later the desserts were served with a thin sheet of silver on top.

These were certainly no ordinary Indian food. We enjoyed our meals. But best of all was to shake hands and talk to Vikram. I mentioned my obsession with Anthony Broudian and his show. Vikram shared the days he spent with Anthony while they were recording the Vancouver episode. He recalled Anthony smoked, drank, and cursed so much during the 3 days shooting. If I ever get to hang out with Anthony Bourdain, I think I might cave in and start smoking.

Sunday was a good snowboarding day at Whistler. The snow was quite soft, but the weather was so sunny it was almost too hot to wear the heavy winter gear.

On Monday, we had breakfast in the hotel restaurant. After we were seated, Ktula signaled me the person seating on the right side of our table was Ang Lee. I used my peripheral and right away recognized that was Mr. Lee. Ktula and I were making faces back and forth to “discuss” if we should approach him. We decided to respect his privacy and didn’t do anything. Later I checked with our waitress if that’s really him. She didn’t know but she checked his signed bill and went “Yup, that’s him.”