Summer fun food and drink - CBC TV Steven and Chris Show · Saturday August 16, 2008 by colin newell
The best thing about Food and Drink culture in Canada, I think, is sharing it with the ones you love… and sharing it with complete strangers.
And whether it is a TV thing, a radio spot or a newspaper article – I like the exposure that the food and cafe scene gets…
No. Not the exposure that I get… the exposure that the scene gets.
Because trust me, brothers and sisters, the message is much prettier than I am! If anyone recalls my appearance on WTN (The Womens Network) episode of “The Shopping Bags” – Well, they will recall that I was actually more wooden than Jean Claude Van Damme – my TV delivery a cross between a bad action hero, diction more like Horatio from CSI Miami crossed with the peppy patter of William Shatner tossed in to seal the deal.
This is why I am on the web.
Which is not to say that I will turn down a good offer. Because I rarely do.
But I had to pass on a wonderful opportunity to one of my most talented assistants in the last few days. After getting an offer from the producer of the CBC TV’s fabulously successful Steven & Chris Home show – to appear in Toronto next Tuesday – for a taping of one of their shows… about coffee no less, I had to acquiesce… fairly willingly I might add.
Because I have great people in Toronto – one in particular, Sara Lee Spector, the ever effervescent host and roast-mistress at St. Lawrence Markets Every Day Gourmet caffeine hot spot.
Toronto is a city of 5 million. And half of those people line up for her great lattes and cappuccinos at her lower level shop in the historic market on Front Street – Toronto.
And Sara has been in the business for going on 2 decades. So who could possibly know more about Toronto’s cafe culture than her?
Exactly. So I will stay put and plug the heck out of the event. Times and dates to follow!
Summer food fun and drink - enjoying friendships · Friday August 15, 2008 by colin newell
Victoria once had a pretty good cafe called Torrefazione Italia – ostensibly owned by Starbucks in their latter days – starting independently in the eighties or nineties and then getting swallowed up by the green machine in the late nineties.
Starbucks gave them a freehand for quite a while. Alas, some of the Torrefazione outlets became a little too popular for the sensibilities of the Mother-Ship in Seattle. The Portland location (several of them maybe) were very popular with Italian Americans, the signature coffee resonating with this hard-working group of coffee loving folks. And when the ‘Bucks shut the doors on T.I. about 4 years ago, there were some pretty heady protests – some large. Some small.
I was part of the small protest. I bought my cups (shown above). I wished the staff best of luck… and then I cursed Starbucks when they opened one more cookie-cutter location a thin block away from yet-another-Starbucks on the corner of Yates and Government Streets in Victoria… in the place where the beloved Torrefazione used to be.
Torrefazione was a friend, albeit an inanimate one of sorts – but a friend I could count on none the less. For great coffee. Comfortable digs. And feeding the friendships that I had at the time.
Which brings me to my point… about celebrating with the people around you. Your friends. Your close friends. Your new ones… and the old ones.
Never take a friendship or association for granted. It needs to be nurtured. And fed.
It might be just me, but in these times of thriving specialty coffee – and vibrant cafes… friendships, new and old, appear to germinate and blossom in places like these. It could be the caffeine, that catalyzes voluble discussion in combination with the power of sugar and grains – that calm the soul… and feed the mind.
It helps us grow. And be the best people we can be. There for the people that need us… when they need us.
Celebrate a friendship today.
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Summer food fun and drink - Prima Strada Pizzeria Cook Street Victoria · Saturday August 9, 2008 by colin newell
My mother grew up in Montreal, Quebec Canada in the thirties and forties – in one of the most culturally diverse neighborhoods the city had to offer. Heck, she had Oscar Peterson’s family as neighbors no less and actually got to sit in on jam sessions – Her neighborhood also included many first generation Italian families. And they shared their homes, their food and culture with everyone and anyone with an appetite.
When pizza places start to pop up in Victoria in the mid-sixties, she used to scoff at the menu citing: “This is not pizza! I will show you what Pizza is… the way the Montreal Italian families used to make…”
Her recipe: A very special dough. Left over tomato sauce from spaghetti.
And one very, very hot wood oven… 500 degrees (F) or more if she pushed it.
I know what you are thinking: But what did she put on the pizza?
I just told you.
In August 2008, Prima Strada Pizzeria’s arrival in the Cook Street village in Victoria brings some of that original and authentic Napoli style pizza – to a neighborhood, a city no less… eager to try something other than factory style pizza. You know the kind; 35 possible toppings and a crust so soggy that it’s inedible.
Pizzeria Prima Strada has gone back to the basics; 5 or 6 different styles and each one with only a small handful of ingredients. The Napoletana for instance, has tomato, garlic, anchovies and oregano. That’s what I am talking about.
Their Pizze is baked in a wood fired oven rated at about 800 degrees (F) – while we watched, Pizza went in one or two at a time and came out in under 3 minutes. The kitchen area hummed like a hydroelectric station and the floor staff couriered the fresh baked main event to tables within seconds of its ejection from the oven. We found the floor staff to be informed, passionate and motivated towards educating the customers without being overarching. All good.
On our first visit to Prima Strada, we tried the Salsiccia Piccanta; Fennel sausage, tomato, real mozzarella and roasted bell pepper.
Watching the preparation of the pizza from start to finish is oddly appealing, highly appetizing and ultimately satisfying as it arrives at your table (or bar position as in our case…) as fresh and hot as it can possibly be.
And the first bites? Personally, the taste experience of re-living something as simple as pizza from your childhood… Well, it is a powerful thing. On any other night, I may have been crying into my beer – tears of joy of course.
My mama is now 80 years old and I think she would be proud of what Prima Strada has pulled off. For me, her opinion would speak volumes.
But decide for yourself. Pizzeria Prima Strada has salads, some simple antipasti and a small selection of dessert gelato and sorbetto. Wine pairings appear moderately conservative and tasteful for this menu (Andrea and I had beer…)
We will be back soon. real soon.
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Summer food fun and drink - Some of Victoria's best · Friday August 8, 2008 by colin newell
It must be pretty obvious that I am fond of the food and drink scene in Victoria B.C. Canada – and I am not alone. My wife, Andrea, and I are on a 3 week unstructured break from work. We are spending a tad more time around the Victoria area than I thought we would – but the upside of this is…
More visits to the places we really enjoy.
Photo left – Your editor, Colin Newell, shoots with a Canon EOS-30D and a variety of modern lighting equipment – click pic to super-size
Like the Cafe’s and Cafe-Bakeries. My current number one pick right now is Bubby Roses Bakery (2) on Cook Street and Meares Avenue. Valerie and Mark Engels and their team of food Jedi pack a mind-boggling quantity of home-cooked love into every bite. No wonder. Mark’s attention to detail is not unlike a bald Eagle dropping into a mountain stream with its eyes on the Salmon. It never misses.
I had a visit from Poul Mark of Transcend Coffee, Edmonton, Alberta recently. As we tucked into 2 orders of French Toast, he commented on the samples of coffee he had; double shot of espresso and a macchiato. Keeping in mind that Bubby Roses gets their espresso from Discovery Coffee – “How are the shots”, I asked cautiously… Poul hesitated for a second, “These drinks are way better than Disco – which comes as a bit of a surprise to me…” – “Not me”, I replied. The boys at Bubby’s get the level best from this bean. The people at Discovery could equal it if they worked at it – but they are not going to best Bubby’s on anything. Yea, it is that simple.
If I had to pick one spot down town for a perfect mid-day pick-me-up when hunger calls it would have to be Paradiso De Stelle… The Paradise of Stars is aptly named. The staff look like they are chiseled out of Italian granite – and that is not one word of a lie. If you like looking at young people while they whip up the cities finest Panino Gelati and espressi perfectamente – Then the Paradiso is the place. My buddy Italo has been running this place for over a decade – and he has a new place at the Mayfair Mall. Paradiso de Stelle is one of the best spots (at the base of Bastion Square) for people watching – because with pretty staff come pretty customers – not quite sure how that works… but that is the way it is.
Have a hankering for a coffee and panini on the West side of town? Buon amici’s is to coffee and lunch what Bubby Roses is to wonderful baked goods on the East side of town. Derek and his lovely wife Gina are grand-masters of the perfect latte as well as hosts of an increasingly popular Friday BBQ at their Tyee Road location. Our little secret… to you!
Looking for a wonderful meal in James Bay, Victoria and don’t have a sack of Gold for dinner? Consider the Heron Rock Bistro The Steak Fettuccine or Steak Frite are 2 of my favorites. They have an eclectic menu with suitably quirky wine pairings.
In a World as deeply troubled as our own, we are truly blessed living in Victoria – arguably the most peaceful little corner of our green little orb. Dig in. Enjoy it.
In a continuing series on what’s hot in the Victoria food scene, writer, blogger, photographer and all around decent Man, Colin Newell, reports directly from his plate to you
