Victoria Spring 2011 - Tofino sunset or sunrise on great coffee · Wednesday April 27, 2011 by colin newell
My wife and I have been visiting Tofino and Ucluelet on Vancouver Island for well over 10 years since we were married.
And in a decade some things have changed and some other things have remained absolutely and irritatingly the same.
Food: For all intents and purposes, Tofino has come a nice distance in the last decade. There was a time, 20 years or so ago, that there was little to pick from apart from some questionable burger joints and some really questionable seafood places…
Which is an atrocity when you consider that Tofino and Ucluelet are sea food meccas. For goodness sakes, there are fishing fleets based in these two magical little towns.
In 2011, Tofino and Ucluelet cuisine has moved forward big time — for the cuisine that is. You can still get some horrifyingly appalling fish and chips, burgers and hot dogs… ironically at mom and pop joints… because… wait for it, there are no chains or franchise fast food operations in Tofino or Ucluelet… Because heavens knows that a Taco Bell or McDonald’s could not possibly get down to the junk level of some of the joints up here on the coast. OK. Enough picking on that front.
A notch or two up are the deli’s that I have encountered – the ones that charge $10 for a fancy grilled cheese sandwich, that when you order it to eat in, takes 25 minutes to make and is handed to you wrapped in plastic, tinfoil and or paper. No name, but the one deli we visited on this last weekend kept me in stitches after witnessing one order mess up after another… only to have my order screwed up – where we waited almost an hour to get a cheese sandwich made properly. No apology either. Not a word. No sorry for the wait. Nor a nod. Because this is Tofino.
Tofino – all attitude and no substance. None at all.
At the cuisine level it is another matter. When fresh fish or local meat and produce are being prepared in Tofino, they are generally as good as the big city. Pricing tends to be slightly higher than other major centers – but what the heck, Tofino is a tourist town and a bit of a food trap. That said, there is a lot of competition and competition in close quarters is good for you and me.
Coffee: – There are no qualms about it. The coffee culture in Tofino is nearly hopeless. This is starting to change – thank heavens. A notable and sometimes irritating deli, Breakers, has just picked up a Fernwood Coffee contract – they have good equipment and raw materials… so with a little training from the fabulous people at Fernwood, there is hope. Let’s all cross our fingers.
The interesting observation I get about Tofino coffee culture is that it is all attitude and no production. And I want to be contradicted on this – in 20+ visits over the last decade plus, the coffee groove has remained sad.
A colleague of mine quipped the other day, “Remember Colin, Tofino is surf culture, not coffee culture…”
Huh? Why can it not be both? Victoria is coffee culture, tea culture, food culture and tourist culture?
Could it be that Tofino is not capable of doing anything but hippie chill out and surf? Maybe. I hope not. A community like that cannot survive on one trick pony.
Summary: – I would be remiss in not acknowledging the great people that live and work in Tofino and Ucluelet. Yes, the food and tourism culture is there for our comfort and amusement – much like my little city of Victoria – but there are other sides to the culture of community. Victoria is no different.
But if you are going to do coffee and offer a chunk of espresso culture, try and deliver the goods – even if you are pretending.
For now, if you are visiting Tofino or Ucluelet, I beg of you: Bring your own coffee!
We stay at the Middle Beach Lodge and the drip coffee they serve in the Lodge is very good. I know, I drink too much of it.
If I was anywhere else, I would have brought a Press or the Aero and a hand grinder.
To do anything else would be risky.
Espresso in Tofino? Forget about it…
For now.
Colin Newell lives, eats and drinks Vancouver Island food culture – and can often be found between the pages of EAT Magazine or hovering over a cup of Joe at one of many fine Victoria cafes.
Comment [5]
Victoria Spring 2011 - Ferris Upstairs Food Review · Wednesday April 6, 2011 by colin newell
Let me just say that Ferris Oyster Bar – the main floor is one of my favorite places in Victoria.
On the insistence of a dear friend, I took my dear overworked wife to Ferris Upstairs for something new and exciting.
Made a reservation at 4 PM today – thought it might be challenging getting a table 2 hours before dinner service… for such a popular place. No problem.
Arrived at 6 PM to an empty restaurant — apart from the staff that is.
Ferris Upstairs is kind of a duplicate of downstairs – fewer tables… bits of kitschy art… a few windows… Old Town at its funkiest. Lots of brick and bare wood on high ceilings.
Wait staff were formal and pleasant… punctual. They seemed to be slightly distracted – we were the 1st customers, so maybe like a good motor, they needed to warm up.
Ordered a couple of glasses of Merlot and some bread for purchase… a tiny baguette and hard butter for $1.50 – no big deal, bread does not grow in trees.
I ordered the Bouillabaisse and Andrea the Ravioli.
The Bouillabaisse was OK – rustic with lots of shell fish, white fish, salmon and shrimp perfectly cooked in a fairly ordinary tomato broth – a garlic toast with a mysterious orange butter on top… Again, it was OK.
Andrea had the Squash Ravioli with grilled sage, walnuts and cheese.
The ravioli was so overcooked that my wallet could have been chewed and swallowed more easily. Did I complain? Nah. Not worth it. Andrea gave up on the Ravioli after a few labored chews. I dug in while she sampled some of my Bouillabaisse.
Thankfully, a few folks sauntered in by 6:30. We were feeling pretty lonely.
Dinner for 2 with 2 glasses of wine. $64 with HST.
I would give the meal a 4 out of 10. Andrea gave it a 3.
The pasta should have gone in the bin – no, chef served it. Unacceptable.
I quipped to Andrea that we would have been better off at McDonald’s – could have gotten a happy meal.
Loving it. No. Verdict. Will try again another time – As a dear friend and baker told me – “You cannot judge a restaurant on the first pass…”
Yea – they probably had something going on that was effecting the quality of the product – I could have spoken up but I did not. It happens. Only human.
As I said earlier, Ferris Oyster Bar downstairs is an eclectic classic – we visit there almost monthly and they are reliable as heck.
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Winter to Spring Pop Culture 1 Facebook Face off · Saturday March 19, 2011 by colin newell
Just decided that my blog and websites have been neglected long enough – and the web stats show it.
This blog averages around 75,000 unique visitors a month – and that is not hits – that is actual people. Thanks folks!
But those reader levels have been dropping faster than the water level in the spent fuel rod baths… and it’s all my doing.
Dang you twitter.
Because if you do the math — and I am fond of my core twitter followers, that is a small audience relative to here — but it is there that I am putting my energy.
Foolish huh? Yea. It is.
And it is not like there are lots of people out there sitting on their hands waiting for me to write something – I mean, I hope not.
Still, writing pulp blogs here is way better that firing quips into the wind on Twitter.
As much fun as that is.
So my new rule is: Before I utter a beak full of tweets, I am going to bash the side of my head and think up some observation on the human condition…
Like this one.
Good start. But I am not finished.
Facebook – it has been way useful for keeping track of events of my actual friends in almost real time – with alarming regularity and reliability that rivals gravity.
But what of those special friends… you know the ones… the ones you have stalked on facebook from your past. The people you went to High School with. The friends of the people you may have dated 25 years ago… etc.
Well, I ask myself. Why am I peering into their lives. I have a cluster of friends on Facebook who are part of my distant past and I am pretty sure I will never, ever get together with them – for any reason… ever. So why do I look into the window of their lives? Or why do I continue knowing what I know?
Hard decision.
Time for a Facebook cleanup. People do it all the time. Different reasons. You have yours, I have mine.
It is time to let the past go and let people get on with their lives.
It is the right thing to do.
Colin Newell lives and writes in Victoria B.C. Canada and is often the go to guy for opinions on the subject of Canadian Cafe and Pop Culture
Happy St. Patricks Day 2011 as best you can · Thursday March 17, 2011 by colin newell
Not entirely sure there is any green in this jacket…
Click on the photo at left for the slightly bigger view – Thanks to British Importers for these fine threads – and even though you have changed your name to the egocentric Philip Nyren Clothing you will always be British Importers.
What do you think? Any green in the jacket? No, me neither.
283 years ago, some guy distantly related to me got out of bed in Cork, Ireland – packed his bags, got on a boat and never looked back. He would turn out to be my great, great, great – several more, great grandfather. Irish? Heck yes. Determined to make a better life in North America. Fingers crossed. Apparently things worked out because he found a mate and part of my family tree branched out.
So I celebrate a little green today.
On St. Patrick’s day 2011 – If you would have told me a few days ago that I would be spending all of my time thinking about Japan and the hazards of the nuclear era, I would have questioned your sanity.
Yet here we are.
The word trifecta would not have been in my dialogue a few days ago either – not being a gambling man.
And yet here we are; Earthquake, Tsunami and meltdown.
Loss of life. Loss of home. Loss of confidence.
Nor would I have looked up the meaning of millicieverts and found it rolling around in my brain after determining how many are OK and how many make you sick – and what life must be like for so many people trapped, homeless and no place to go.
These good people need you now – So do what you can folks. Give to the Red Cross. Help out Japan.
And stay safe.
From Victoria B.C. Canada on the West Coast of North America… I am Colin Newell.
