Victoria: Top Eats V

OK, this is the last of my Victoria eats posts until my next trip (September, 2008). I haven't focused on serious restaurants because to be honest the ones we tried were not very good, albeit their fine reputations. But no matter, because there is plenty to imbibe and savor regardless.

You'll have to venture outside of Victoria for some of these. The Cowichan Valley, and notably Cobble Hill, is a haven of artisanal food and drink production. A 45-minute drive will get you there, an idyllic pastoral landscape of fields, forests, rivers and lakes. Hilary's creamery, several decent wineries, honey producers and cideries dot the hills and valleys. Many of the spirits producers have on site bistros so culinary tourists can take a leisurely break for refreshment and taste the fruit of the vine or orchard along with dishes created to complement flavors.



At Merridale Estate Cidery we sampled the eight varieties of the hard stuff, some with as much alcohol content as wine and with tastes that range from sweet to extra dry. The effervesence is slight, due to the natural process of fermenting the organically grown apples of which there are many varieties. (According to the pourer, other producers inject bigger bubbles into the drink to mask the taste of chemicals.) Read this for a view of the cider business elswhere. The Merridale is experimenting with apple brandy as well.

This is a tricky drink to produce and to store. The cider must stay refrigerated or it will continue to ferment in the bottle, so if like us you plan to take some home bring an ice-packed cooler. But the result of the high standards of production is a delicate taste, in some varieties punctuated with a snap of ginger or pepper, and in others sweetened with honey or berries.

As is the case with most of the artisanal producers, Merridale is fairly new and despite its very good product will probably improve with maturity and more trial and error. But its relative youth is not a strike against it; awards are already pouring in.

Victoria: Top Eats IV

Looks like my posts on "Victoria Eats" have largely been about drinks. So here's one on more solid matter.

Our tour through the Cowichan Valley and its vineyards and ciderworks also took us past Hilary Abbot's creamery. We weren't able to stop, but later that day we found ourselves on Cowichan Bay where Hilary's Deli offers a bountiful assortment of his cheeses (and those with provenance from elsewhere). Hilary is one of those intrepid artisans who is reviving the lost art of cheesemaking on the island. He's well on his way.

Here's a generous plate of washed rind and blue examples, with slices of baguette from the wonderful bakery next door. I'm used to what Portland considers a cheese plate: $15.00 for three tablespoon-sized dollops. You get a big, lingering mouthful at Hilary's.

Victoria: Top Eats Part III

Despite decades of cultural change and openness to more diversity, there is an unavoidable Anglophilia all over Canada. It is part of the country's cultural mosaic, but the one with the deepest roots.

You can find it in the many tea rooms, by watching cricketeers on Sundays, and in visits to pubs modeled on those found in the old country.

It's been eons since I've experienced the dark, low ceilinged and slightly claustrophic rooms of a hundred-years old English pub, which I can recall happily frequenting in my youth for its reassuring, ebullient din and its promise of camaraderie. Never mind the contemporary smoking ban and slightly newer digs of a new country locale, and you have the same experience again all over Victoria: darts, shepherd's pie, Queen's tartan signage and all.

As I discovered recently, not all locals enjoy a sunny summer day kayaking, hiking, biking, gardening or otherwise outdoors. The pubs start rocking early and by dinner hour are full to capacity.

For those who want the best of both worlds, as do I, here's your strategy. These pubs usually have lovely outdoor seating areas, so you can settle in after a summer day's activity, perhaps four-ish in the afternoon, to enjoy the late sun over a Ploughman's plate of local cheeses and a choice of English ales and lagers.

You'll also find wares from a slew of local breweries. My favorite:the lively and fresh tasting Victoria Pilsener from Vancouver Island Brewery. This summer, I also indulged in sampling the island's many hard ciders, a subject to be returned to soon.

Victoria: Top Eats Part I

We are blessed to have our famous Portland food carts, serving up the most delectable ethnic and regional plates without which the city workforce would have few affordable and tasty lunch options. In Victoria, where prices are quite a bit higher for every single thing, the food cart craze has not yet landed, sad to say. However, there was one eatery shack we did find, and as it happens it was all we could have asked for.

redfish bluefish is open 11am to 7pm six days a week year 'round, rain or shine. That's good, because I will make the proverbial bee line for it every time I'm in town. Even now, I can easily indulge in the memory of its perfectly grilled hunk of wild salmon tucked inside a toasted bun moistened with just the right amount of dilled dijonnaise, a lovely dollop of fresh cole slaw and organic greens on the side. An order of dense hand cut fries, plain or curried, or a cup (4 oz.) of the chunky Pacific Rim Chowder with white fish, corn, garlic, chipotle and coconut milk and chances are you won't be hungry again fast enough in order to return for more.

The shack serves the obligatory fish and chips, tacos of salmon, scallops, tuna or white fish, fish "sloppy joe" and other plates of BBQ'd and spicy seafood. A nod to Victoria's English heritage is seen in the offer of Mushy Edamame ("our twist on mushy peas").

What makes this shack so popular? Well, the quality of the ingredients is one reason. The fish is wild and ocean friendly and much of the other elements are organic, fresh and local. But the experience is also a draw. On a sunny day no restaurant can compete with the seating: on the dock in view of the sea planes landing and whale boats departing.

Top Five Things to Do in Victoria

If you are lucky enough to visit Vancouver Island on a clear summer day, you'll think you are close to paradise. And that's where we were last week, visiting with friends from Vancouver and Italy and then taking off on our own for a tool around the environs. Not even an extra long drive home on Monday, lengthened by the inevitable road accident (no one died) between Tacoma and Olympia, marred the memory of perfect days.

Everyone has their favorite things to do in Victoria, which by the way is leaving its twee days slowly behind and embracing an edgier future of more diversity, more young people and a more varied local economy that includes software, slow food and sustainable industries. Victoria is getting more interesting, escaping the ossified fate that awaited it before the oil boom in Alberta brought in young money.

These are things I always do when in town:

See the Emily Carr paintings at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. I was stunned upon discovering Carr about ten years ago and never tire of revisiting her works. The book store sells her autobiography which is worth a read. She was an independent creative spirit trapped in a Victorian small town with a repressive, authoritarian father. So she was a little angry. Nevertheless and against such odds, she found her way.

Discover excellent Canadian writers you've never heard of at Munro's book store. I like Munro's because of the historical building that houses it, but also because it once belonged to one of Canada's greatest contemporary writers, Alice Munro. I defy anyone to find a better writer in the English language. Her ex-husband still runs it.

Get out of the tourist-clogged Inner Harbour and take a 3-mile oceanside walk or bike ride (rentals available in town) on Dallas Road. You'll be watching marine birds, sailboats, commercial fishing boats, freighters and ferries on the Strait of Juan de Fuca with views of the craggy Olympic Range across the water in Washington state.

Taste and pick up a selection of organic tea leaves from all over the world at Special Teas on Fort Street. Nice Roobois!

Indulge in a muckle of tea at the White Heather on Oak Bay Avenue, and avoid the more famous spots where you are treated like one of the herd and charged double for the privilege. "Muckle" means "big" -- really, really high tea. The baker hails from Scotland and makes savory and sweet scones as authentic as can be and nothing like what you buy at Starbucks'. Reservations required. Don't let the non-descript shopping street facade keep you away, as it's what's inside that counts.

I'll expound on these and add another top five in a later post.