AElder

The quality of ingredients and care of technique to rival many tasting menu experiences on the west coast, stripped of any pretension and at a comparatively much more affordable cost. Book the tasting menu and show up with an open mind and you’ll leave happy and satiated. The owners/operators Jay and Jocelyn seem like wonderful people who really care about their guests’ experience. It’s not fast or easy to get to Orcas Island, but it’s worth it for Aelder alone. They are doing something risky and special here.

I dined at both Hogstone and AElder and found AElder to be completely not worth it. It nearly ruined my otherwise amazing trip to Orcas Island. We made reservations at both restaurants with one person and was not told about the extent of the menu overlap. The first 3 courses at AElder were the same as Hogstone except portions were smaller and overall value more expensive. Are you kidding? How do you insult your customers by price discriminating the ones willing to pay more for what they expect to be a better experience? Then we joked that maybe one of the dishes would be the pizza we ordered the night before and by the time that became a reality it wasn’t really funny anymore. We paid so much for this meal and when more than 1/3 of the menu is a repeat from a much less expensive dinner from the night before, it’s offensive to me as a customer. The least you could have done is to inform us of the overlap when making reservations. Since you did not and never apologized afterwards when we politely let you know after paying - my assumption is that you are just taking advantage of your customers. I appreciate unique dining experiences but I expect the restaurant to be thoughtful when I pay this price tag. Even if you didn’t eat at Hogstone, I don’t think this meal was worth it. And by the way, people don’t enjoy a dish of raw carrots not marked as raw carrots on the menu as much as you probably think they do no matter which farm it was grown on.

I have no idea why no one has reviewed this place. It's two restaurants in one, pizza and a multi course fine dining. I made reservations for the tasting menu with my wife last night. It was supposed to be around 12 courses, but we ended up with about 16 and they got us a pizza to take home. It was insanely fresh and local, almost all the food came from the island. I don't think you will find a better tasting off priced menu like this anywhere. Very unique place, small and intimate.

Ya know that wonderful, unique sensation when you feel you’ve experienced a slice of perfection. That happened tonight at the perfectly lovely, comfortably elegant Ælder which, on this night, was a sort of co-dining experience with its sibling restaurant, Hogstone. Jocelyn, one of the owners, handles front-of-house while her partner is the chef, and my friend and I felt like their lucky guests. Familiar and friendly service with a welcomed sense of humor and generosity of spirit, we couldn’t have asked for more. As for the food, we opted for a spontaneous tasting menu, which was excellent. The ingredients, all local, were fresh and the dishes they’re in, all divine. Highlights were *the lamb with spring onion, oysters with spring peas, a wonderful pizza with feta and nettles, pressed red potatoes with a light and lovely cheese sauce, and two of the most refreshing and irresistible desserts I’ve ever had: a “smoked” ice cream, and a riff on morning cereal.* If every dining experience was like this, the world would be a perfect place.

Got 2 pizzas here. One was excellent. The second a bit soggy. Very good ingredients and thought out toppings.