A Capital Escape: Ever dream of moving to Victoria? Start by learning how to forage. Judging from menus studied during a recent 48-hour dine-around, hand-harvesting is the new Island pursuit. Or just go: fly, and you can still be back in time for spin class on Monday

1. M AY 2 O 1 5 | VA N C O U V E R M A G A Z I N E 113112 VA N C O U V E R M A G A Z I N E | M AY 2 O 1 5
***
THE VANCOUVER-BASED SAJE TRAVEL
KIT KEEPS YOU ENERGIZED AND HEALTHY
WITH AROMATHERAPY FORUMULAS LIKE
ARRIVE REVIVED AND EATER'S DIGEST
($39.95, saje.ca)
IMPERIAL
AMBITIONS
Those windows
just above the word
“Empress”? Yup,
you can stay there;
views are killer
WORLD STAGE
Pull up a pew at
Stage for thought-
fully selected
by-the-glass wines
from B.C. and
around the world
ONE RING TO
RULE THEM ALL
Empire Donuts
has been a local
secret since it
opened for delivery
only, but its cakes
are now available
at select cafés
SUDS CYCLE
A Pedaler tour hits
founding brew pub
Spinnakers. If you
make it there, order
the effervescent
new Ortega Blonde
wine/ale mashup
T H E
GOODS Nex t De s tina tions
F IE L D T R IP
Twelve tasters later, I’m ready for
a little sit-down, so bike returned,
I retreat to the Empress’s Bengal
Lounge, where a Port Authority
(Maker’s Mark, port, and bitters,
all barrel-aged) and Morgan Wil-
son’s elevated pub fare (pork sliders,
hand-cut crisps) animate the happy
hour menu. (Later, it’s all G&Ts
and Raj-era curries beneath the
mounted tiger skin.)
For dinner (sticking to the
healthy theme), I hit Foo Asian
Street Food (769 Yates St., 250-
383-3111), a more rigorous version
of hometown hero Noodlebox
adjacent to the hotel, where Indian
paneer and Thai curries sit beside
octopus salad and sweet-and-sour
pork belly, the heat and sweet
nicely handled by a curated selec-
tion of local craft brews.
I spend Day 2 browsing
through Chinatown, having a
hearty omelette at Jam Cafe (542
Herald St., 778-440-4489) in the
a half-dozen gastown app-
maker bros are selfie-ing their
way across the strait, which would
be annoying except 1)flights with
Harbour Air (harbourair.com) are
only 35 minutes long and 2)those
views. Leaving at 9, I’m still in time
for second breakfast when we drop
into Victoria’s Inner Harbour, so I
climb all of two blocks to the Gold
Lounge at my hotel, the Fairmont
Empress Hotel (721 Government
St., 866-540-4429; from $259), for
grill-your-own burritos, mini crois-
sants, and that bespoke tea blend.
Overlooking the parliament build-
ings, I consider the day’s options.
I feel ready to take on the world,
or at least 6.5 kilometres of it, in the
company of Kyra McLeod of The
Pedaler (719 Douglas St., 778-265-
7433), which owners Paul Rayman
and Rosemary Lee set up in 2013
to offer bicycle tours along culinary
and historical lines. We helmet up
for the three-hour Hoppy Hour
Ride ($89), travelling along city
streets and over the still-under-
construction Johnson Street Bridge
(hold on!) to old-school brew pubs
Spinnakers (the city’s original,
from 1984; 308 Catherine St., 250-
386-2739) and Swans (from ’89;
506 Pandora Ave., 250-361-3310),
plus Moon Under Water (circa
2010; 350 Bay St., 250-380-0706),
where owner/brewmaster Clay
Potter tours us behind the scenes.
old Herald Street Café spot, and
checking out the Victoria Pub-
lic Market (1701 Douglas St.) for
knick-knacks and Vikram Vij’s
new Sutra. Feeling adventurous I
even hit up two much-discussed
new cafés in industrial Rockland
(a sketchy five-minute drive from
downtown): Wheelies Motorcycles
Café (2620 Rock Bay Ave., 250-
995-9359), a custom bike shop
overrun for killer grilled sand-
wiches, rocket-fuel espresso, and
housemade espresso gelato sand-
wiched between brownie slabs
and rolled in candied pecans; and
Second Crack Coffee Lab (2612
Bridge St., 250-634-2680), an oh-
so-serious retail space for a whole-
sale roaster that also happens to
purvey the city’s on-trend Empire
Donuts, made by Melanie Laverick
for home delivery by the dozen.
Several brewery tastes later,
dinner. So many options, but
I elect to cab it to Stage (1307
Gladstone Ave., 250-388-4222) in
leafy Fernwood. Gold winner in
this magazine’s Best Victoria cat-
egory (see pg. 94), this cute neigh-
bourhood brasserie (exposed-brick
walls, a worn floor of narrow wood
planks) serves killer share plates
(think local charcuterie, Sooke-
caught trout with bacon and crème
fraîche, salads of purslane and
sheep sorrel) and a smart B.C.-for-
ward wine list, including a dozen
chalkboard specials by the glass.
I’m stuffed, but we have to put a
nose into the recent farm-to-table
rebrand of Ulla. OLO (509 Fisgard
St., 250-590-8795) is Chinook
for “hungry,” explains owner/bar-
tender Shawn Soole, godfather of
Victoria’s vibrant cocktail culture,
as he mixes up digestifs for our
party. Each eerily suits its recipient.
Maybe a last nightcap at
tonight's hotel, the Rialto (653
Pandora Ave., 800-332-9981),
just a few blocks up the way. A
2009 rebuild of the storied (but
deteriorated) Hotel Douglas, the
Rialto now does restful boutique
accommodations and a great hotel
bar, Veneto Tap Lounge, as smack
downtown as you could hope.
Stump gin (from Phillips Brew-
ing down the street) in hand, we
toast city founder James Douglas in
the remains of his namesake hotel. VM
ACapitalEscape
Ever dream of moving to Victoria? Start
by learning how to forage. Judging from
menus studied on a recent 48-hour
dine-around, hard-harvesting is the
new Island pursuit. Or just go: fly, and
you can still be back in time for spin class
on Monday by john burns
PART & PARCEL
Foo’s just-opened
sib has a changing
daily menu of beau-
tiful proteins (trout
tartine) and world
grains like farro ri-
sotto. 2656 Quadra
St., 778-406-0888.
Partandparcel.ca
OLO
A drink and dessert
at the bar is fine,
but on the next trip
serious investiga-
tion is required
into the modern-
ist farm-to-table
menu. 509 Fisgard
St., 250-590-8795.
Olorestaurant.com
CATEGORY 12
A mad scientist
brewer in darkest
Central Saanich?
Sign us up! 2200
Keating Cross Rd.
Category12beer.com
NE W KIDS ON
THE BLOCK

2. M AY 2 O 1 5 | VA N C O U V E R M A G A Z I N E 113112 VA N C O U V E R M A G A Z I N E | M AY 2 O 1 5
***
THE VANCOUVER-BASED SAJE TRAVEL
KIT KEEPS YOU ENERGIZED AND HEALTHY
WITH AROMATHERAPY FORUMULAS LIKE
ARRIVE REVIVED AND EATER'S DIGEST
($39.95, saje.ca)
IMPERIAL
AMBITIONS
Those windows
just above the word
“Empress”? Yup,
you can stay there;
views are killer
WORLD STAGE
Pull up a pew at
Stage for thought-
fully selected
by-the-glass wines
from B.C. and
around the world
ONE RING TO
RULE THEM ALL
Empire Donuts
has been a local
secret since it
opened for delivery
only, but its cakes
are now available
at select cafés
SUDS CYCLE
A Pedaler tour hits
founding brew pub
Spinnakers. If you
make it there, order
the effervescent
new Ortega Blonde
wine/ale mashup
T H E
GOODS Nex t De s tina tions
F IE L D T R IP
Twelve tasters later, I’m ready for
a little sit-down, so bike returned,
I retreat to the Empress’s Bengal
Lounge, where a Port Authority
(Maker’s Mark, port, and bitters,
all barrel-aged) and Morgan Wil-
son’s elevated pub fare (pork sliders,
hand-cut crisps) animate the happy
hour menu. (Later, it’s all G&Ts
and Raj-era curries beneath the
mounted tiger skin.)
For dinner (sticking to the
healthy theme), I hit Foo Asian
Street Food (769 Yates St., 250-
383-3111), a more rigorous version
of hometown hero Noodlebox
adjacent to the hotel, where Indian
paneer and Thai curries sit beside
octopus salad and sweet-and-sour
pork belly, the heat and sweet
nicely handled by a curated selec-
tion of local craft brews.
I spend Day 2 browsing
through Chinatown, having a
hearty omelette at Jam Cafe (542
Herald St., 778-440-4489) in the
a half-dozen gastown app-
maker bros are selfie-ing their
way across the strait, which would
be annoying except 1)flights with
Harbour Air (harbourair.com) are
only 35 minutes long and 2)those
views. Leaving at 9, I’m still in time
for second breakfast when we drop
into Victoria’s Inner Harbour, so I
climb all of two blocks to the Gold
Lounge at my hotel, the Fairmont
Empress Hotel (721 Government
St., 866-540-4429; from $259), for
grill-your-own burritos, mini crois-
sants, and that bespoke tea blend.
Overlooking the parliament build-
ings, I consider the day’s options.
I feel ready to take on the world,
or at least 6.5 kilometres of it, in the
company of Kyra McLeod of The
Pedaler (719 Douglas St., 778-265-
7433), which owners Paul Rayman
and Rosemary Lee set up in 2013
to offer bicycle tours along culinary
and historical lines. We helmet up
for the three-hour Hoppy Hour
Ride ($89), travelling along city
streets and over the still-under-
construction Johnson Street Bridge
(hold on!) to old-school brew pubs
Spinnakers (the city’s original,
from 1984; 308 Catherine St., 250-
386-2739) and Swans (from ’89;
506 Pandora Ave., 250-361-3310),
plus Moon Under Water (circa
2010; 350 Bay St., 250-380-0706),
where owner/brewmaster Clay
Potter tours us behind the scenes.
old Herald Street Café spot, and
checking out the Victoria Pub-
lic Market (1701 Douglas St.) for
knick-knacks and Vikram Vij’s
new Sutra. Feeling adventurous I
even hit up two much-discussed
new cafés in industrial Rockland
(a sketchy five-minute drive from
downtown): Wheelies Motorcycles
Café (2620 Rock Bay Ave., 250-
995-9359), a custom bike shop
overrun for killer grilled sand-
wiches, rocket-fuel espresso, and
housemade espresso gelato sand-
wiched between brownie slabs
and rolled in candied pecans; and
Second Crack Coffee Lab (2612
Bridge St., 250-634-2680), an oh-
so-serious retail space for a whole-
sale roaster that also happens to
purvey the city’s on-trend Empire
Donuts, made by Melanie Laverick
for home delivery by the dozen.
Several brewery tastes later,
dinner. So many options, but
I elect to cab it to Stage (1307
Gladstone Ave., 250-388-4222) in
leafy Fernwood. Gold winner in
this magazine’s Best Victoria cat-
egory (see pg. 94), this cute neigh-
bourhood brasserie (exposed-brick
walls, a worn floor of narrow wood
planks) serves killer share plates
(think local charcuterie, Sooke-
caught trout with bacon and crème
fraîche, salads of purslane and
sheep sorrel) and a smart B.C.-for-
ward wine list, including a dozen
chalkboard specials by the glass.
I’m stuffed, but we have to put a
nose into the recent farm-to-table
rebrand of Ulla. OLO (509 Fisgard
St., 250-590-8795) is Chinook
for “hungry,” explains owner/bar-
tender Shawn Soole, godfather of
Victoria’s vibrant cocktail culture,
as he mixes up digestifs for our
party. Each eerily suits its recipient.
Maybe a last nightcap at
tonight's hotel, the Rialto (653
Pandora Ave., 800-332-9981),
just a few blocks up the way. A
2009 rebuild of the storied (but
deteriorated) Hotel Douglas, the
Rialto now does restful boutique
accommodations and a great hotel
bar, Veneto Tap Lounge, as smack
downtown as you could hope.
Stump gin (from Phillips Brew-
ing down the street) in hand, we
toast city founder James Douglas in
the remains of his namesake hotel. VM
ACapitalEscape
Ever dream of moving to Victoria? Start
by learning how to forage. Judging from
menus studied on a recent 48-hour
dine-around, hard-harvesting is the
new Island pursuit. Or just go: fly, and
you can still be back in time for spin class
on Monday by john burns
PART & PARCEL
Foo’s just-opened
sib has a changing
daily menu of beau-
tiful proteins (trout
tartine) and world
grains like farro ri-
sotto. 2656 Quadra
St., 778-406-0888.
Partandparcel.ca
OLO
A drink and dessert
at the bar is fine,
but on the next trip
serious investiga-
tion is required
into the modern-
ist farm-to-table
menu. 509 Fisgard
St., 250-590-8795.
Olorestaurant.com
CATEGORY 12
A mad scientist
brewer in darkest
Central Saanich?
Sign us up! 2200
Keating Cross Rd.
Category12beer.com
NE W KIDS ON
THE BLOCK