Fol Epi has a reputation as an artisanal bakery, turning out bread thats made with the best flour, wood fired ovens and an 'old time' feel. They've recently moved into a space on Yates Street, and opened up a restaurant to go along with the baked goods and coffee sales.
So, my intrepid breakfast eating friends and I descended this morning to try out the brunch.
The staff set us up a table for eight, moving together a set of two-person tables into one long affair. They were super happy to organize us into the space, and took care of us quickly once seated, bringing out coffee and water as a platoon, not just one server dealing with one table. Though the space is large, and would appear to be noisy, it was very comfortable to sit and have a good conversation, while still seeing across the restaurant, into the kitchen and behind the bar. One guy was squeezing ALL the oranges... so if you need OJ, you knew it'd be super fresh.
We could also order house made 'ferments'. Which I assume is Kombucha and other items that are made by invoking the right mold and bacteria to grow in a liquid or solid... and instead of throwing it out as spoiled, serving it. And why not 'black mushroom tea' is kinda of tasty, even if the mold culture that transforms the sweet tea into the slightly fizzy, slight sour drink is gross looking.
But I choose the coffee. It was dark roasted. it was hot. it wasn't bitter. I liked it. I choose coffee over the APA beer on tap, as it was 10.30am, and I had just driven down. I can adult sometimes.
For my meal, I ordered the eggs, sausage and hashbrowns. The eggs were soft poached, but not overly tasty... the pale yellow yolk suggests these weren't from hens with a wide diet. There wasn't a richness in flavour I've had from other eggs, though my reading suggests the yolk colour isn't really a great indicator of the provenance of the ovum.
The sausages were house made, and a great combination of rich dark meat and a enough herbs to bring the flavour up with out overpowering the meat. Very good. The potatoes were cubed and friend 'country style'. They were advertised as hash browns. The lovely Brunette was not in attendance, so she my monthly gripe. They were good solid cubes of potato, and set well with the rest of the food. Two slices of an airy, floury bread were served with the meal as well. And a big dish of house made ketchup as well. The ketchup was good.
The house made hot sauce was really good. Served with a eye dropper bottle, this added a little kick to the eggs, but also added flavour more than pure heat. Really nice way of serving it, and a really good sauce.
All in all, I thought it was done well, but without amazing me in anyway. The prices were a little bit of a premium to other places, and some of their competition other out does them on the creativity, or on portion sizes. And some can easily match the quality of the source material as well.
I'd probably return for the dinner service, as there looked to be several interesting choices, and the bar drinks where interesting and wide ranging. But for brunch... I'd rate Relish, Veneto and Glo ahead of Fol Epi, all of whom serve a similar style of menu and food. It's not a bad fourth place to be, and there's a lot worse places to go.
Agrius by Fol Epi, 732 Yates Street, Victoria: www.folepi.ca
January 31, 2016
January 24, 2016
Describe My Lonely, Catador Theatre, Victoria
In an aside from my normal talking about food, here's a theatre review.
But to start, I did grab a quick rice and chicken meal from the Cozy Place, 1692 Douglas. Fresh made, in an open kitchen. Not fantastic, but it was fast cooked rice, with plenty of veg and cubes of fried chicken. And a big portion of it, with some egg stirred in too. Tasty enough, definitely filling, and definitely made to order. I suspect the veg was frozen before it hit than pan, but with sweetcorn and peas, that always seems the best way to get it almost as fresh as it was in the field.
The Cosy Place used to house the Green Wasabi, which had made a play downtown from it's base in Sidney. I really couldn't see much difference, except the menu is fast chinese food, and the windows don't give any indication of the price of the dishes, just the range of them.
----
So onwards, and into the Intrepid Theatre, where Catador were presenting Robbie Huebner's "Describe My Lonely". Originally created as a one-act solo show about dating; it was revised to play almost the same story twice. First, the story is told by a character male (dating female) Cooper and then female (dating males) Cooper. The challenge to the audience is to consider the differences in the stereotypes and tropes and challenges in dating from each genders point of view. The challenge for the staging was to keep it interesting for the audience while telling the same story twice.
A smart reviewer would now write two reviews of this show, broadly similar, one for the first act, and one for the second. I am not that smart reviewer.
I think they succeeded overall. While the story was broadly similar, some of the puns were different. The characters were imagined differently by the two leads. The small changes kept you engaged, trying to spot the divergent parts, and then to think about if these changes are because of the gender changes (and how society expects men and women to behave, especially when dating), or just because it helped to keep it interesting.
Cooper is nerdy, obsessive and takes a scientific approach to dating... reading all the self articles they can find. Hoping that online, the facts they can learn hold the key to happiness. Their best friend (who is probably the biggest difference between the two acts) tries to help as well, though I am not sure if they are really the sort of help you'd want. In all cases, the single act takes on almost all the parts, playing Cooper and the other party, flitting between the roles. In both cases, the leads did it was an apparent ease, making it clear by positioning and voice which character was speaking.
My biggest thought at the end was if they staged the show male/female every night. They don't, and alternate nights switched the order of the acts. Which means some people would have a different feel for the two tales than I did. Which reminds me a bit of the Clue: The Movie. The same story, two results motif has recurred before... in 'Two', their 2015 fringe show. I didn't really enjoy Two, as the motif didn't work for me. In "Describe My Lonely", the acting was crisp. The way they showed the use of the internet (with sound effects) was done very well, with me 'seeing' the computer interface they were showing.
I liked Cooper. I liked their naiviety, their sense of wonder and nerdy obsessions. And the finale moral was an uplifting revelation for Cooper, and for me too.
----
Couple of side notes: I'm not sure (and I should ask) but Catador seems to come from the Spanish for a cigar factory... or the tradition someone reading out a novel or newspaper inside the cigar factory. The later seems such a good name for a theatre group whose trying to tell interesting stories.
And, on the other hand, the Intrepid Theatre is small. 49 seats. That's not a problem, but, people, lets be smart and move into the corners and sides were we can when sitting down. Sitting in the middle of the row is fine, but don't be surprised that people might have to climb over to sit down on a sale out night...
But to start, I did grab a quick rice and chicken meal from the Cozy Place, 1692 Douglas. Fresh made, in an open kitchen. Not fantastic, but it was fast cooked rice, with plenty of veg and cubes of fried chicken. And a big portion of it, with some egg stirred in too. Tasty enough, definitely filling, and definitely made to order. I suspect the veg was frozen before it hit than pan, but with sweetcorn and peas, that always seems the best way to get it almost as fresh as it was in the field.
The Cosy Place used to house the Green Wasabi, which had made a play downtown from it's base in Sidney. I really couldn't see much difference, except the menu is fast chinese food, and the windows don't give any indication of the price of the dishes, just the range of them.
----
So onwards, and into the Intrepid Theatre, where Catador were presenting Robbie Huebner's "Describe My Lonely". Originally created as a one-act solo show about dating; it was revised to play almost the same story twice. First, the story is told by a character male (dating female) Cooper and then female (dating males) Cooper. The challenge to the audience is to consider the differences in the stereotypes and tropes and challenges in dating from each genders point of view. The challenge for the staging was to keep it interesting for the audience while telling the same story twice.
A smart reviewer would now write two reviews of this show, broadly similar, one for the first act, and one for the second. I am not that smart reviewer.
I think they succeeded overall. While the story was broadly similar, some of the puns were different. The characters were imagined differently by the two leads. The small changes kept you engaged, trying to spot the divergent parts, and then to think about if these changes are because of the gender changes (and how society expects men and women to behave, especially when dating), or just because it helped to keep it interesting.
Cooper is nerdy, obsessive and takes a scientific approach to dating... reading all the self articles they can find. Hoping that online, the facts they can learn hold the key to happiness. Their best friend (who is probably the biggest difference between the two acts) tries to help as well, though I am not sure if they are really the sort of help you'd want. In all cases, the single act takes on almost all the parts, playing Cooper and the other party, flitting between the roles. In both cases, the leads did it was an apparent ease, making it clear by positioning and voice which character was speaking.
My biggest thought at the end was if they staged the show male/female every night. They don't, and alternate nights switched the order of the acts. Which means some people would have a different feel for the two tales than I did. Which reminds me a bit of the Clue: The Movie. The same story, two results motif has recurred before... in 'Two', their 2015 fringe show. I didn't really enjoy Two, as the motif didn't work for me. In "Describe My Lonely", the acting was crisp. The way they showed the use of the internet (with sound effects) was done very well, with me 'seeing' the computer interface they were showing.
I liked Cooper. I liked their naiviety, their sense of wonder and nerdy obsessions. And the finale moral was an uplifting revelation for Cooper, and for me too.
----
Couple of side notes: I'm not sure (and I should ask) but Catador seems to come from the Spanish for a cigar factory... or the tradition someone reading out a novel or newspaper inside the cigar factory. The later seems such a good name for a theatre group whose trying to tell interesting stories.
And, on the other hand, the Intrepid Theatre is small. 49 seats. That's not a problem, but, people, lets be smart and move into the corners and sides were we can when sitting down. Sitting in the middle of the row is fine, but don't be surprised that people might have to climb over to sit down on a sale out night...
January 17, 2016
Cafe Veneto, Downtown Victoria
I'm surprised. I could have sworn I had reviewed the Cafe at Veneto at some point in the past, but my search-fu suggests I have not published anything. Or even mentioned before how much I like the cocktail bar and restaurant. I would of sworn on my copy of Nigel Slater's "Real Fast Food" I once wrote a paragraph on how awesome the breakfast tagine was. Pulses and lentils and eggs, all steamed and crammed together into a wholesome, filling brunch. But, I must have been feverish that week, and dreamed the whole 'writing it down' part.
The tagine is no longer on the menu. The list is relatively standard for Victoria: a classic breakfast, a benny, a hash, something super sweet, huevos rancheros and a lighter option. This is not a criticism. Having crazy or odd food is great. If you can pull it off. Of course, if you can't pull of a good traditional breakfast either, then your not going to get a good review from me.
The Veneto Cafe can pull of their menu with good skill. I went for the traditional breakfast, and was rewarded with two perfectly, medium poached eggs, perfectly toasted bread (pre-buttered just right) and a pile of breakfast potatoes, crisp yet floury on the inside. For the meat, I went with the bacon, and was rewarded with four rashers, cooked crispy so they crunched and shattered under my bite. And there was hot coffee, medium roasted with just enough of an eye opening caffeine hit.
One of my friends ordered the short rib beef hash. Piles and piles of meat in the bottom of the skillet, covered with potatoes and onions and arugula and curds and eggs. Massive meal, he took half it home, after raving about how good the first half was.
The tagine is no longer on the menu. The list is relatively standard for Victoria: a classic breakfast, a benny, a hash, something super sweet, huevos rancheros and a lighter option. This is not a criticism. Having crazy or odd food is great. If you can pull it off. Of course, if you can't pull of a good traditional breakfast either, then your not going to get a good review from me.
The Veneto Cafe can pull of their menu with good skill. I went for the traditional breakfast, and was rewarded with two perfectly, medium poached eggs, perfectly toasted bread (pre-buttered just right) and a pile of breakfast potatoes, crisp yet floury on the inside. For the meat, I went with the bacon, and was rewarded with four rashers, cooked crispy so they crunched and shattered under my bite. And there was hot coffee, medium roasted with just enough of an eye opening caffeine hit.
One of my friends ordered the short rib beef hash. Piles and piles of meat in the bottom of the skillet, covered with potatoes and onions and arugula and curds and eggs. Massive meal, he took half it home, after raving about how good the first half was.
January 10, 2016
Legendary Noodles, English Bay, Vancouver
I took a trip at the start of the year, which led to a very pleasant couple of days in Vancouver with the Brunette of my Acquaintance. We had a nice couple of nights on English Bay, staying in the Sylvia Hotel. The Sylvia is a 1912 block that once dominated over the beaches, big square, with rows of square windows, brick cladding and a creeping vine all over one side. It imposes itself on the front, even if now dwarfed on all sides by apartment buildings.
English Bay is lovely to watch the sun set over, with the calm edge of the Georgia Strait in the foreground and the ridge of the University endowment land across the Bay. And just out to sea there's always a half dozen big ships floating high up, waiting to be filled with whatever commodities Canada is sending over seas. The red hulls stand out against the blue of the oceans, and the white super structures sitting like cheap apartment blocks against the sky.
The other good thing about the area is a whole abundance of good, cheap food from a variety of ethnicities. More on some of the other in the future... (Victoria, In Person maybe a little mainland based for a bit), but we stepped into Legendary Noodles on a whim one night... and super happy we did.
Legendary Noodles is small, seating maybe 30 people throughout. The back corner is taken up with the kitchen, and one wall has two person tables, with a little shelf above for drinks... as the table is just big enough for the plates of food. The kitchen is all open concept, and there you can see the chef hand stretching and prepping the fresh noodles.
I ordered the Szechuan Chicken noodles, first checking that they wouldn't be too spicy. The server smiled and said they had made them less spicy than real authentic Szechuan food, to suit the tastes of Vancouver. The Brunette ordered the Lemon Garlic Noodles with Prawns.
It seemed in the blink of an eye our food arrived. Two steamy bowls of noodles, with a good, sized portion of food. The white noodles on the chicken were streaked with little pieces of chilli and thick but clear brown sauce. The sauce had some kick, such that I was glad they'd toned down the spice levels a bit. I like a fair bit of heat sometimes, but tonight this was just the right level for me. The tangy of the spicy sauce coated the noodles, which had this beautiful silk like texture ate them, but were not a slick mess. Instead they carried the sauce up to be savoured with the al dente bite of fresh noodle.
I tried the garlic lemon noodles as well. These ha d a very mild spice to them, with a mix of flavours that had some complexity: the citrus tang of the lemon cut into the garlic and spice, and mingled with the green onions as well to create something more savoury than the sum of it's parts. And again, the fresh dough of the hand-pulled noodles was a joy to eat.
At just a shade over $20 (plus tips) for two excellent bowls of fresh cooked food, this was a great meal, in a nice location. The Brunette was impressed enough to get two 'to-go' orders to take back to the family in Victoria... who also enjoyed them, even after a four hour journey by bus, coach, ferry and car.
http://www.legendarynoodle.ca/ - 1074 Denman St, Vancouver,
English Bay is lovely to watch the sun set over, with the calm edge of the Georgia Strait in the foreground and the ridge of the University endowment land across the Bay. And just out to sea there's always a half dozen big ships floating high up, waiting to be filled with whatever commodities Canada is sending over seas. The red hulls stand out against the blue of the oceans, and the white super structures sitting like cheap apartment blocks against the sky.
The other good thing about the area is a whole abundance of good, cheap food from a variety of ethnicities. More on some of the other in the future... (Victoria, In Person maybe a little mainland based for a bit), but we stepped into Legendary Noodles on a whim one night... and super happy we did.
Legendary Noodles is small, seating maybe 30 people throughout. The back corner is taken up with the kitchen, and one wall has two person tables, with a little shelf above for drinks... as the table is just big enough for the plates of food. The kitchen is all open concept, and there you can see the chef hand stretching and prepping the fresh noodles.
I ordered the Szechuan Chicken noodles, first checking that they wouldn't be too spicy. The server smiled and said they had made them less spicy than real authentic Szechuan food, to suit the tastes of Vancouver. The Brunette ordered the Lemon Garlic Noodles with Prawns.
It seemed in the blink of an eye our food arrived. Two steamy bowls of noodles, with a good, sized portion of food. The white noodles on the chicken were streaked with little pieces of chilli and thick but clear brown sauce. The sauce had some kick, such that I was glad they'd toned down the spice levels a bit. I like a fair bit of heat sometimes, but tonight this was just the right level for me. The tangy of the spicy sauce coated the noodles, which had this beautiful silk like texture ate them, but were not a slick mess. Instead they carried the sauce up to be savoured with the al dente bite of fresh noodle.
I tried the garlic lemon noodles as well. These ha d a very mild spice to them, with a mix of flavours that had some complexity: the citrus tang of the lemon cut into the garlic and spice, and mingled with the green onions as well to create something more savoury than the sum of it's parts. And again, the fresh dough of the hand-pulled noodles was a joy to eat.
At just a shade over $20 (plus tips) for two excellent bowls of fresh cooked food, this was a great meal, in a nice location. The Brunette was impressed enough to get two 'to-go' orders to take back to the family in Victoria... who also enjoyed them, even after a four hour journey by bus, coach, ferry and car.
http://www.legendarynoodle.ca/ - 1074 Denman St, Vancouver,
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