ARC Restaurant Launches Oak and Smoke Tasting Menu

What chef Sakalis is doing with fire this season

The menu leans into the smoky, charred end of fall cooking: think mushrooms, squash and oak-driven technique layered through a seasonal lineup, with the maple-glazed sablefish singled out in the announcement as the dish worth building a dinner around. It is described as the first instalment of a year-long seasonal series, so whatever ARC is doing with smoke this month is presumably getting benched for something involving citrus or asparagus by spring.

Nobody in this scenario asked for a thematic relationship with oak trees, but here we are, discussing grilled shishito peppers and marinated eggplant with the same seriousness usually reserved for wine pairings. That is the appeal of a tasting-format menu: the kitchen makes the decisions so you can spend your evening disagreeing about literally anything else.

Where and when to go

ARC Restaurant is located at 900 Canada Place Way inside the Fairmont Waterfront. Dinner service runs 5:30pm to 10:00pm, with weekend brunch from 11:30am to 2:00pm (last seating 1:00pm) and a daily happy hour from 3:00pm to 5:00pm, holidays excluded. Pricing for the Oak & Smoke tasting menu was not listed on the official site at the time of writing, so confirm cost directly with the restaurant before booking.