Category: Work

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.

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.

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.

Scotiabank Snowy Day in Toronto

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First trip to Moncton of 2026 in the books — a short visit this time, with none of the travel drama we experienced in December. Nothing fun in the off-hours though: it was too cold, and I was too busy, to try anything further than a stone’s throw from my hotel or office.

When I left they were setting up for Hockey Day in Canada, which probably would have been a lot more fun than what I experienced when we landed in Toronto: a massive snowstorm. Normally I’d have stayed home all cozy, but I had to drive to work on Thursday morning, when there was already a foot down and another foot coming. It was one of the hairier drives I’ve done. I’ve never before seen cars stuck in snowbanks on a major highway. Anyway, I made it there and back in once piece, so I’ll count myself lucky.

Now: to not leave the house for two days weeks.

The curse lives on

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I followed up a trip to Moncton last week (trying two new places during my visit: Taverna and Bâton Rouge; the former is pretty good, but the latter was as meh as I expected and twice as weird) with a one-night trip to Montreal. I had a plan to see my fifth-ever Canadiens game in Montreal in 2025, and just snuck it in before the end of the year.

After a couple nice days back home in Toronto, I headed back to Billy Bishop airport. It was snowing in Toronto, but my flight hit the goodness trifecta: left on time, arrived without incident, and the seat next to me was empty. Can’t ask for more. (Also, the flight attendant on this flight gave me a whole can of pop, while the flight attendant on my Moncton->Toronto flight two days ago gave me a heavy pour of red wine and offered me a second class. I guess I look thirsty.)

I landed at YUL to find a new Uber setup, which I think every airport should copy. On the drive into downtown, I saw some “FUCK ICE” graffiti, which obviously speaks to our political moment in North America, but is probably also an annual sentiment in Montreal.

I arrived at the Centre Sheraton, a location chosen only because I had enough Bonvoy points for a free night, and because it’s about as close as you can get to the Bell Centre, otherwise it would not be on my list. But it was fine for a night, even if the elevators made constant noise.

In search of coffee and tide-over snacks, I popped around the corner to Melk for a cortado and a scone. I finished the book I’ve been reading (Terror from the Air by Peter Sloterdijk), bought some beans to bring home, and walked back to the hotel.

After a couple of relaxing hours I went for an early dinner at Bar Edicola, not far from the hotel. (Thank goodness; it was a full-fledged winter storm now.) It’s essentially a long counter, but the vibes were pretty great. I had a glass of some weird Italian Pinot variant, some heavy soft warm oily bread, a glass of Trebbiano, a plate of ricotta agnolotti, a glass of Nebbiolo, and espresso. Solid meal all around, and perfect for a snowy night.

It was almost time for the game, so I stopped back at the hotel to change into my Montreal jersey and add some extra layers. A short (but cold & snowy) walk later I was settled in, watching the Canadiens take on St. Louis. Now, the curse of my presence at a Montreal home game — once at the old Forum, three times at the Bell Centre — is well documented, so I was a little nervous to go. Sadly, I was right to be nervous: they lost 4-3 to the middling Blues. Apart from a 65-second span to start the second period the Habs outplayed and out-chanced them, but that brief lapse was enough to give away the game. Dejected, I walked home through the snow with the crowds. At least I got to have a Bell Centre hot dog.

The next morning I woke up and had some pretty friggin’ delicious pain perdu downstairs at Stanley. (I’d thought about venturing out for some breakfast, but it was -25° with the windchill.) Some showering, packing, and relaxing later and I was on my way to the airport for my flight home. Not so lucky with the flight this time — it was on time and relatively uneventful, but someone sat next to me, and a lady right in front of me just opened up a can of flaky salmon and ate it with a fork like as if she hadn’t set up a stink bomb in the pressured tube of an airplane. Stunk harder than the Habs at the start of period two last night. (Hey-o.)

I’m glad I’ve gotten to see the Canadiens beat the Leafs here in Toronto a few times, because I’m starting to think I’ll never get to see it happen in Montreal. Frankly, I kind want to give up trying — not because I believe I’m actually unlucky for them, but because it’s kind of a bummer to keep experiencing losses and never get the win.

Ah, who am I kidding? I’ll be back next year.

2xCasual

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I was in Moncton earlier this week for the first time since early June. It felt weird to go so long between visits, considering I was going once or twice per month for the first ~20 months of the new job. No new dinner venues whilst there, but the weather was so gorgeous that after work one day I walked down to Happy Craft Brewing in search of a patio seat. It’s a tricky thing, that: I want to be outside, but I don’t want to be in direct sun. Luckily, the sun had dipped behind the building in such a way that some brand new shade presented itself, and I grabbed it. I drank a tropical sour and a NE IPA and enjoyed the moderate warmth. The patio was full of people playing board games, munching on popcorn, chatting and laughing. Next to me was a table of guys, one of whom was playing Jenga with his young son while trying to help his friend track down mental health resources. It was kind of beautiful, in no small part because I can’t imagine that happening in a Moncton pub not very long ago.

Back in Toronto, Lindsay and I also tried a new (to us) place while doing errands this afternoon: Hastings Snack Bar. She had a few pierogies; I ate an absolutely killer pork schnitzel sandwich. We sat outside under a spreading tree and drank Wellington SPAs and thought to ourselves, why have we never come here before? I mean, sure, we were eventually chased away by hornets, but that’s hardly HSB’s fault.

Signature Blackbush

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After going 45ish years between my first and second visits to PEI, I returned this past week, not ten months later.

After landing on the new Porter route that flies directly to Charlottetown, I was met by colleagues and had dinner downtown on the waterfront at Salt and Sol. Then we were off to Blackbush Resort where we’d hold our meetings for the following few days. Over that time we had ice cream from Harry’s Dairy Bar, wore PEI dirt shirts, ate a delicious meal catered by The Old General Catering House, sat around a fire pit, happily accepted coffee picked up by colleagues at Receiver, biked to Dalvay By The Sea for a big group dinner (in which I ate the biggest pork chop I’ve ever seen — and one of the best too), and walked along a classic sandy PEI beach. Oh, and got eaten alive by mosquitos.

We all left Thursday morning, after getting to see some more PEI countryside and scarfing down some breakfast at Budley’s in the Charlottetown airport. Less than 72 hours there, and nearly all of that focused on work, but we managed to pack in quite a bit of fun too.

Eighty-two

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Earlier this week I flew east for work, but before that I tacked on a day or two to spend at the family farm to help celebrate my dad’s 82nd birthday. We had dinner in Amherst the night before, then a drink next door at brother #2’s, and then watched as the Maple Leafs folded like an old tent. Not much of a birthday present for my poor dad, but I was fine with it.

Monday morning four of us (Dad, myself, brother #1 and his progeny) drove just to the other side of Parrsboro to see Hidden Falls. They must be aptly named, because neither my dad nor I had ever been there. Anyway, it was <10 minutes from the road, and quite lovely.

Hidden Falls, just outside Parrsboro NS

Better still, the rain that had been coming down the whole drive there let up just as we began the hike to the falls, and started again shortly after we began driving home. The birthday gods were smiling on us, it seemed.

Back at the farm, Mom had made soup and sandwiches and a truly great marble/chocolate cake. That, plus a whole pile of crib, seemed to make the old fella happy. Brother #1 and I departed around the same time, he back home and I to Moncton. No new restaurants attempted this time, alas — I wasn’t there long, and the weather (both in Moncton and Toronto) has remained steadfastly un-spring-like.

Happy birthday, dad.

Gganbu

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The last week’s been pretty social: two days of work meetings downtown which included a Blue Jays win over the Atlanta Braves, coffee from three good spots: the Spadina Neo, the University Fahrenheit, and the Union Pilot, and drinks at The Chase to close it all off.

Friday was a holiday. We basically just binged Squid Game, which we somehow avoided when it came out.

Saturday our friend Upasana made us a delicious dinner, and we had such a lovely time chatting we barely noticed it was midnight. We left feeling fat and happy, as they say.

Sunday night we were the hosts, as Ricky and Olivia came over for dinner. We provided salad and a cheese board; they brought delicious Filipino comfort food. We poured a bunch of fun wine, and served ice cream.

I took Monday off, and kept it chill. Lots of leftovers. Quite a bit of catchup. More Squid Game. Playoff hockey for the first time in four years.

An RO in both places

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I spent last weekend in Nova Scotia, at the family farm, to celebrate my mom’s 75th birthday. Brother #1 & progeny drove down for the day as well. We had a big Chinese feast and chocolate cake and then we surprised mom with her birthday present (to come in a few months).

Saturday I re-lived my youth and went to a pancake breakfast down the road at the local fire hall / community centre. That day, and Sunday, I was able to help a tiny bit with the very end of maple season. [UPDATE: I have been informed that the season in fact continued all week. I’d swear it was wrapping up last Sunday, but what do I know? I’m a city boy now.]

I worked in Moncton Monday and Tuesday, dosing my co-workers with maple sugar, then flew home early Wednesday morning. It was a few days of all-out sprint for us both, but we had enough in the tank to eat a delicious meal last night at Ricky + Olivia:

  • Cocktails
    • White Negroni (Dillon’s gin, Elora elderflower liqueur, gentian)
    • Mr. Christie’s Old Fashioned (Brown butter washed rye, Dillon’s chocolate liqueur, sea salt, vanilla, orange bitters, chocolate chip cookie)
  • Food
    • Grilled kofta of chicken + duck w/ rhubarb, yoghurt sauce, goat feta, endive, fingerling chips
    • Turnip cakes w/ purple daikon, chilli crisp, marinated tofu, mushrooms, black radish
    • Perth pork shank w/ daikon “pineapple” rings, Niagara cherry, maple + mustard
    • Special: spicy carrots, bacon, and burrata
    • Bottle of Big Head RAW Malbec
  • Dessert
    • Chicken liver mousse w/ Parallel Brothers’ beet tahini, Rosewood Estates wildflower honey, VQA red wine gummies, sour cream bundt cake doughnuts (seriously)
    • Glasses of Paradise Grapevine fortified Gewurztraminer and Southbrook The Anniversary

It was all fantastic, but the pork shank and chickenduck were the showstoppers for me. How lucky are we to have that place in our neighbourhood?