VORTiC part 1: Victoria

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Victoria
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Sun Apr 05

We got up early on a cold, grey Sunday morning, showered, packed the last of our suitcases, and headed to the airport. We were off to our first real vacation(ish) of the year.

A smooth drive to Pearson and a speedy breakfast at Fionn MacCool’s later, we walked straight onto our flight to Victoria, BC. The genesis of this was a work trip, but we decided to build a longer trip around it, hence we flew a couple days before my colleagues. We were excited: neither of us had ever been to Victoria.

The flight was easy (love those Porter jets), and we had a spectacular view of the Rockies as we flew over, as well as the ocean and Vancouver island as we descended into the Victoria airport. A cab took us downtown and dropped us at our first hotel: the Victoria Regent. The suite was dated, but very spacious, and had a balcony with a great view of the harbour and the provincial parliament buildings. It would do for a couple of days, surely.

I needed coffee, and badly, so we went to find some. It was beautiful and sunny outside, so much so that when we arrived at our first choice for a coffee shop (Hey Happy) the line outside in the sun gave us pause. Instead, we walked one street over to Habit, fought our way through a crowd of German(?) students, and sipped cortados.

We walked around downtown for a bit, and along the waterfront, before heading to an early dinner at Wind Cries Mary. We had the chef’s tasting menu:

  • cocktails: Body Of Work for me, Spice Of Life for Lindsay
  • endive, apple, walnut, goat cheese salad
    • Vancouver island sparkling
  • king salmon, romesco, potatoes, fennel, sprouts
    • Vancouver island rose
  • duck breast, barley, green bean, beet
    • Franconia
  • peanut butter pie
    • cherry wine

On the way we picked up a couple bottles of wine, a few cans of beer, and a bottle of Gueuze Tilquin Quetsche (maybe my favourite beer of all time) at Vintage Spirits. As it turns out, we bought too much — we’d have little opportunity to drink it, and either dumped some of it down various sinks or left them in hotel fridges. Anyway, we didn’t know that yet, so we blissfully drank that gueuze on the balcony and admired the lights of Victoria’s inner harbour, happy to be back on an ocean.

Mon Apr 06

We had a bit of a lie-in as we adjusted to the time change, but eventually got ourselves out to a big breakfast at The Ruby on Johnson. Lindsay had the sausage Bennie; I had fried chicken & waffles. We were loading up assuming we’d miss lunch, you see. We walked back to the room and got ready for the day’s activity: whale watching!

We’d booked with an outfit called Prince of Whales (get it?) to go look for killer whales. We did a 3-hour tour on a big boat (it was too cold for a zodiac) and ended up seeing a pod of three killer whales: two females and a male. We observed them from a distance before they surfaced right next to us, and then they were gone, chasing some other food. It’s always incredible to see them, and to spend time on the ocean.

After a rough & cold ride back, we realized that, in spite of our huge breakfast, we were too hungry to wait all the way until dinner. We popped into Finn’s, right next to our hotel, expecting a mediocre tourist trap. There were some rocky service issues to start, but the food (prawn tacos, smoke steelhead rillettes, fish & chips, beers) ended up being really good.

Back at the hotel, we showered off the salt water, changed, and eventually went out to what we expected to be the fanciest dinner of our visit to Victoria: Marilena. We were not expecting the vibe we got as soon as we walked in — huge space, with a mix of power dinners, retirees, and whole families with kids climbing on banquettes — but once we settled in to our table, we started to get it. Our server (and our somm) were extremely nice and guided us through the evening. Here’s what we ate:

  • oysters on the half shell
    • glasses of Bauchet ‘Signature Cuvée’ 1er Cru NV Champagne
  • Masunosuke: ora king salmon sashimi
  • Tsunami: lightly torched hamachi, jalapeño, ginger, citrus ponzu
  • milk buns
  • grilled octopus w/ n’duja sofrito, braised gigante beans 
    • bottle of CheckMate, ‘Little Pawn’, 2022, Okanagan Valley
  • Wagyu: A5 Hida, Gifu Prefecture 8oz
  • grilled broccolini w/ red wine vinegar, garlic
  • roasted wild mushrooms w/ garlic confit
    • glass of Tempranillo, Olivier Rivière, ‘Las Viñas de Eusebio’, 2020, Rioja
    • glass of Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon, Orofino, ‘Red Bridge’, 2022, Similkameen Valley
  • ice cream & sorbet: burnt orange, yuzu, passionfruit-pineapple
    • Ratafia, Domaine Henri Giraud, Champagne Solera (1990-2019)

All of it was absolutely delicious, but the Wagyu was the best I’ve ever had in my life. Also, the somm had a bit of fun with us, doing a blind tasting of three reds. It was a smart upsell maneuver too: I picked the Rioja, which was a Coravin selection and 4x the cost of Lindsay’s Orofino.

Weirdly, the very-late-lunch probably moderated our appetites somewhat for this meal, which was lucky, since it was the much more expensive venue. Worth it, though.

Tue Apr 07

It was moving day, so after I ran to Saint Cecilia for coffee we checked out, left our bags, and went for lunch a few blocks away at Maiiz, a Mexican place in the heart of Chinatown. We had duck tacos and chilaquiles and churros, and had to dodge a tortilla production line to get to the bathroom. Good stuff. After that, it was on to the next hotel.

My work function that week was at the Fairmont Empress, and we checked in for a few nights. There was a mix-up with our room, so we ended up with two double beds. Because the room was small and we were traveling with two huge suitcases, one bed was dedicated to luggage, and we did our best to cram into the other bed. Bit of an adjustment when you’re used to a King. Anyway. I was shortly off to a work dinner, which was also at Wind Cries Mary, where we’d eaten two nights before. Bad planning on my part, obviously.

Wed Apr 08

I walked to get a coffee at Discovery, then jumped into a full day of meetings, with a side trip to The Buchart Gardens.

Lindsay found herself various spots around the city in which to eat and grade papers. When my meetings ended my colleagues and I went to The Bard & Banker for dinner, then Lindsay and I met up after at Humboldt Bar. We ate a bit more food, and drank cocktails:

  • Food
    • Ricotta gnocchi, braised lamb ragout, parmesan crumb, gremolata
    • Charred broccoli w/ Romesco, pine nut Parmesan crumb, grilled lemon
    • Rosemary Parmesan hand-cut frites w/ nduja aioli
  • Cocktails
    • Life in The Woods: wheated bourbon, candy cap mushroom, tart maple water, wild blossom honey, cypress, grand fir
    • Poison Dart: Nicaraguan white rum, sotol, passion fruit, aji amarillo, lime, orange, pineapple, Orinoco bitters
    • Lost Luggage: Rangpur & Oaken gins, manzanilla sherry, preserved lime, hinoki, eucalyptus
    • Theory of Colours: Summer Garden gin, rhubarb, riesling, jasmine

Thu Apr 09

Another day of meetings, this time including a sped run to Routine Coffee. After work I didn’t join everyone for dinner at 10 Acres Commons (except for a quick drop-in to say hi) because Lindsay and I had our own dinner reso.

Dinner was at a place called Unicorn Sparkles. It was in an unmarked door in a courtyard. We didn’t know we were in the right place until we saw a neon unicorn on the back wall. It was dimly lit and there were four tables. This wasn’t a fancily-designed restaurant; this was a storage place a few guys decided to turn into a restaurant. So we sat down and asked for the “Today’s best things” menu. And then they absolutely pummeled us with food.

  • Cheese and salumi balls
  • Sprouting broccoli + anchovy butter
  • Duck carbonara pasta
  • Dungeness crab stuffed pasta
  • Gnocchi, buffalo mozzarella, artichoke, tomatoes
  • Liverwurst agnolotti
  • Cheeseburger raviolo
  • Coconut cream pie
    • We got the drink pairings. I couldn’t possibly remember them all. There were two wines from Malivoire. A sherry. A Hidden Chapel cab/merlot. But yeah, it was a mish-mash.

It’s hard to overstate how much food this was. On the fourth course when they brought out Dungeness crab pasta we thought, “Oh wow, what a cheeky way to end the meal!” And then they brought out three more pasta courses. It was all delicious and the music was good and the staff were all like sweet and awkward and it just felt so communal and chill, but my god our stomachs hurt. We could barely walk home. I was still full the next morning.

Fri Apr 10

Moving day once again. We got room service and then checked out of the Empress, leaving our bags behind while we went in search of lunch. We ended up around the corner at the Courtney Room, where we successfully killed a couple of hours.

  • Cocktails
    • Seabird: wayward char #3 gin, aperol, oat, citrus
    • Pineapple Express: mezcal, mia amata, citrus, pineapple, anise
  • Food
    • milk buns w/ cultured butter, sea salt
    • carrot & miso soup w/ fried leeks, creme fraiche
    • beet salad w/ ricotta, elderflower vinaigrette, buckwheat
  • Wine
    • Lightning Rock 2022 Brut Nature, Elysia Vineyard, Okanangan (Lindsay)
    • Neighbourly 2024 Pinot Gris, Saanich Peninsula, Vancouver Island (Me)
    • Tantalus 2023 Chardonnay, Okanagan (Me)

We mentioned to our server that we were headed to wine country that afternoon. He gave us some winery recommendations, some of which we knew, but one of which we didn’t: Liquidity. We filed that away for later. And that Tantalus glass ended up prophetic too.

With that, we walked back to the Empress, collected our bags, got in a cab, and headed to the airport. Time was tight — we arrived at 3:09 for a 4:00 flight, and if it wasn’t for our Nexus cards skipping us past most of the security line, we wouldn’t have made it. Once again, we walked right onto our flight, and headed east.

Next up: the Okanagan Valley.

Three-headed dog + Ladybug

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Last night three of us (Lindsay has a sib in town) walked through an unseasonably warm day to get to dinner at Ladybug Wine Bar. The hostess noted that my geometric Cerberus t-shirt matched our party’s number.

We ate in waves:

  • wave the first
    • tomato-feta mousse crostini
    • crispy chicken & shrimp wonton
    • french green salad
    • three flights of wine (sparkling riesling, verdejo, chilled barbera, bobal)
  • wave the second
    • focaccia
    • gailan broccolo and hickory smoked yogurt
    • pil pil prawns
    • glasses of bordeaux white + pinot noir + blaufrankisch
  • wave the third
    • baked camembert w/ honey & hazelnuts
    • three glasses of bordeaux red

It was all really good, but the prawns were a particular favourite.

OF COURSE we opted for the Dan Tat

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Earlier this week I had dinner with T-Bone at aKin, a Michelin-starred restaurant we’d both been meaning to try. It had been a year since our last dinner, which was similarly extravagant.

We ordered cocktails, and were told about the menu. It’s ten courses, and rotates every few months. When we went it was the Lunar New Year menu, described thus on their website:

This Lunar New Year menu at aKin is shaped by Chinese cultural traditions, where food is chosen not only for flavour, but for the meaning it carries. Each course is guided by ingredients traditionally associated with intention, prosperity, balance, and reunion, creating a thoughtful progression through the meal. The menu reflects Lunar New Year as a season rather than a single day of celebration. Familiar ingredients and ideas are presented in new forms, honouring tradition while allowing it to evolve through aKin’s perspective. Course titles reflect the values they represent, offering a dining experience that is both considered and expressive.

Our server, who was peak enthusiastic, also let us know there were two optional courses: a Wagyu dish, and a dan tat. I’m sorry, said we, a what? A dan tat: a Hong Kong-style egg tart. We explained that since my name is Dan and her name is Tat, we kind of had to order that. I honestly can’t remember when in the menu those things came; the night was a blur of food, Champagne, and emotions. Anyway, here’s the menu according to the card they gave us when we left:

  • AUSPICIOUS VEGETABLES
    • intelligence: scallion, potato, mascarpone
    • endurance: leek, onion, black truffle
    • diligence: celery, celtuce, preserved plum
    • optimism: heirloom carrot, taro, curry
    • prosperity: fat choy, watercress, coconut
  • WEALTH: new brunswick oyster, jellyfish, kaviari kristal caviar
  • TREASURE: buddha jumps over the wall, abalone, sea cucumber
  • ABUNDANCE: madai, mala spices, sauerkraut
  • LONGEVITY: nova scotia lobster, tajarin, stracciatella
  • JOY: zabuton, yellow chicken, sambal, purple bok choy
  • FULFILLMENT: foie gras, périgord black truffle, wagyu, glutinous rice
  • HARMONY: kumquat, winter melon, ron goddess lea, chinese almond
  • RADIANCE: black sesame, peanut, mochi, rice wine
  • GOOD “FOUR” TUNES
    • niangao: canelé, brown sugar, chantilly
    • yuanbao: pâte de fruits, mandarin, gold
    • tanghulu: macaron, hawtharn, sesame
    • red bean: bon bon, valrhona opalys, adzuki
  • DRINKS
    • bottle of Appalonis Champagne
    • glasses of red wine: Carinena for T-Bone, Barbera for me (there were also glasses of red wine with the beef, but for the life of me I can’t remember what it was)
    • dessert-ish: tea for T-Bone, 1983 Grenache Blanc for me

Was it good? Yes. Was it great? Not really. A couple of courses were excellent, but almost as many were left half-eaten on the plate. And considering the cost, suffice it to say this one would be near the bottom of my value-for-money scale. Still, an adventure, and a reason to see an old & dear friend who, it should be said, was soldiering through something quite awful and yet somehow her effervescent self.

A few hugs later we were playing Uber roulette, wondering why nothing at all was coming (I blamed the Leafs, as is my wont) until I snuck in for the win. Getting up at 6 the next morning to drive to the office wasn’t easy, but it was worth it.

Adrak

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Earlier this week I was lucky enough to have dinner with old friends CBGB, here in town for the week. They were even kind enough to book JZ2 too; I hadn’t seen them in 10+ years.

We met for dinner at Adrak, and the consensus was that the food was freaking great. Fantastic cocktails, a familiar favourite Indian wine, and incredible food. We didn’t even order; we kind of just let our host pick everything, and he nailed it.

  • cocktails
  • Papad Ki Tokri (papadams, assorted chutneys & salsa)
  • Rhubarb Seekh Kebab (minced lamb, rhubarb, plum jam)
  • Patrani Macchi (chilean seabass, cilantro, mint & coconut marinade, banana leaf wrap, South Indian fish sauce, mushroom-coconut khichadi)
  • Prawns Tandoori (sesame marinated prawns, sesame, fresh coconut, cheese dip, apple-fennel salad)
  • Murgh Makhani (tandoor roasted boneless chicken, tomato-fenugreek sauce)
  • Andhra Murgh Biryani (aged basmati rice, marinated chicken puff pastry cover, nut salan sauce)
  • Khatte Meethe Baingan (baby aubergine, crispy quinoa, sweet-sour sauce)
  • Mint Laccha Parantha
  • Butter Naan
  • Bottles of Sula Chenin Blanc and Louis Jadot Pinot Noir

Bisteccheria

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On Wednesday, after meeting an old friend for a drink at the Library Bar in the Royal York, I met Dan & Abtin for our annual steak dinner tradition. This time we tried Sammarco; Dan’s second time, my and Abtin’s first. An overdue catchup, and a wonderful time as always.

Here’s what we ate & drank:

  • Cocktails
    • Il Capo (Sammarco rye whiskey blend, Turbinado & aromatic bitters) for me
    • Two gin martinis for the boys, despite a few gin inventory (ginventory?) issues
  • Starters
    • olive all’ ascolana: fried Castelvetrano olives, sausage & pecorino
    • pane e burro w/ St. Brigid’s butter & sea salt
    • insalata di cicoria: heirloom radicchio, chioggia beets, walnuts, white balsamic & ricotta salata
      • bottle of Bachelder 2022 Chardonnay, ‘Grimsby Hillside – Red Clay Barn’, Niagara
  • Main
    • 40oz Fiorentina porterhouse steak
    • broccolini w/ gremolata & hazelnuts
    • patate con granchio w/ zabaglione & herbs
      • bottle of 2015 ‘Sensis’ Cava d’Onice Brunello, Osservanza
  • Dessert
    • Profiteroles: vanilla gelato, warm Valrohna chocolate & gold leaf
      • glasses of 2021 late harvest ‘Primae Classis’ Tempos Vega Sicilia Tokaji

The Surrogate

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Another week in Moncton, another new restaurant tried: Osaka Hibachi. It was a group dinner, and a quick one, so I’m not sure I got the full experience, but it was fun & tasty enough. I got back Thursday night, and somehow stumbled through Friday.

Last night we had tickets to see a show at Crow’s, but needed somewhere to eat beforehand. We intended to pop into Avling, but it looked packed, so we doubled back and tried a place that’s been on my list since it opened: Corduroy Lounge. We grabbed one of the few remaining tables and ordered cocktails: whiskey-driven for me, absinthe-driven for Lindsay. Neither of us were starving so we split a wedge salad (which was excellent) and the cod + chips (which was also excellent) with a couple of pints of Guinness. Overall, pretty good vibes in there. Will be going back.

The play — The Surrogate — was on an extremely small, stark stage. The audience surrounded the cast, who were often a foot or two away. Between their scenes they sat on chairs next to us. Pulsing hospital lights directed our attention up- or down-stage. Technically, it was quite different to anything I’d seen before.

The play itself was good, not great, in both our opinions. It just felt too…overt, too expository (Lindsay’s word, which I felt was better than how I’d been trying to say it), too ham-handed. I get that when you’re dealing with that many contentious issues — surrogacy, gay rights, states’ rights, homophobia, religion, politics of health, reproductive rights, etc., etc. — it might feel necessary to plunk the contention and hypocrisy right there on the floor in front of us, to make sure everyone gets it. It just felt like we were being told what was hard about these hard things, rather than shown. That trap, I suppose, is what made it feel good, not great.

Downtown was better than Yorkville, in this case

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Earlier this week I tried Alobar Downtown for the first time, for a work thing. It was certainly much better than my ill-fated visit to their Yorkville outpost last year.

We shared:

  • Torched hamachi w/ asian pear, miso, ginger
  • Nova Scotia lobster & Hokkaido sea scallop w/ tomatillo, coriander, finger lime
  • Fried calamari w/ zucchini, broccolini, lemon
  • 24oz bone-in prime ribeye
  • Broccolini
  • Glasses of wine
    • Domaine Emmanuel Fellot, Chardonnay 2023, Burgundy
    • Netzl, Grüner Veltliner 2023, Austria
    • Bertinga ‘Sassi Chiusi’ Sangiovese blend 2020, Toscana

Ersterbend 

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A week after attending Star Wars parody burlesque followed by a garbage Italian dinner, we reversed course altogether. Last night we had dinner at Richmond Station and went to the symphony.

Dinner was a typical Richmond Station experience: delicious, cozy, great wine list.

  • cocktails: Honeycrisp, Monkey Business
  • Brigid’s Brie w/ plum compôte, honey gastrique, almonds, brown butter croutons, grilled focaccia
  • roasted organic Nantes carrots w/ candied pistachios, coffee-date purée, chicories, mint chutney
  • 2 x duck leg confit w/ duck croquette, gnocchi, parsnip, orange gastrique
    • bottle of Thierry Germain Domaine des Roches Neuves Saumur Champigny

The symphony was Mahler’s Ninth. Lovely, especially the fourth and final movement.

Jabba singing Biggie was a little on the nose

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Overcoming the winter’s forced homesteading, we managed to get out a couple of times this week

First: dinner Tuesday at The Wood Owl (potato rosti, smoked trout dip, yellowfin tuna, mushroom cavatelli, sweet potato, 3-cheese ravioli w/ short rib sugo, and a bottle of Cabernet) with Kirsten.

Second: a bit of a Friday night out. First stop was my first ever visit to Bar Raval. Only time for a quick bite, so we had pan con tomate, jamon croquettas, cocktails (Shelly In Athens, Yellow Parrot) and sherry (Fernando De Castilla Fino En Rama, Hidalgo Faraon Oloroso). We left there and walked to the Royal Theatre to see — and I swear I’m not making this up — a Star Wars burlesque show called The Empire Strips Back. It was actually quite entertaining. I wish I could describe it here, but words aren’t going to nail the image of a naked (kind of) Emperor Palpatine swinging on a Death Star-shaped wrecking ball a la Miley Cyrus. We left there fairly late in the evening, so just took the easy road across the street to Sotto Voce. That was a mistake. It was such a weird combo of loud club and dusty old Italian joint. We had two bad glasses of wine and split a disappointing pasta and then beat a hasty retreat.

The grand tour

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I spent some of this week on a rapid tour of the Atlantic provinces. After flying to New Brunswick Monday, I joined some colleagues on Tuesday and drove to PEI, stopping for lunch at C&B Corner Cafe along the way. After work stuff in both Summerside and Charlottetown, followed by dinner at Ada, we drove back across the bridge, crossed into Nova Scotia, and got a few hours’ sleep at an airport hotel. The next morning we woke up to flight cancellation notifications, but some hurried rebooking later, we three + one more were on our way to Newfoundland. We landed in Gander around 2pm local time, which means we’d touched all four Atlantic provinces in 24 hours. After a brief stop, we were off to St. John’s.

I can’t remember when I last visited Newfoundland, exactly, but I think it was 2003. I would’ve liked to have stayed in St. John’s a bit longer, but we packed a lot in as it was: we made some Thai food at a work event (run by a company cleverly named Yes, Thai!), had an extremely oversized Burt Reynolds shot at Yellowbelly Brewery, had a terrific breakfast at The Bagel Cafe, a good cortado at Toslow, and a bunch more work stuff before heading to the airport.

Our flight from St. John’s back to Halifax was delayed nearly two hours, but I still had lots of time to buy a bottle of NS dessert wine before my connection back to Toronto. I watched Warfare (imdb | letterboxd) on the way.

I spent a lot of Friday trying to figure out why I felt so tired when I got back. Flying and driving (or, passenger-ing, really — someone else did all the actual driving) doesn’t really tire me out, but I guess wall-to-wall socializing with a lot of people I don’t know still does.