Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1215222
tourismvictoria.com | 11 Chinatown's OLO is the slow-food, peak- presentation mainstay that people buy gi cards for. It's fine dining as far as the menu is concerned but the atmosphere is casual and fun, with heritage brick, splashes of orange and crazy scribble light fixtures. OLO's menu is always changing, which leaves room for play and experimentation: sablefish collars (fins come with), confit chicken leg with a side of potato foam, and chicken liver pate dressed up so beautifully with pickled purple daikon you can't help but take photos first. Fresh off winning a bucket of awards is Saveur and its hotshot, 31-year-old chef, Robert Cassels. Cassels specializes in delivering French-inspired contempo- rary cuisine that pulls from the area's rich heritage: chilled soba noodles with miso and grilled shitake, Haida Gwaii spring salmon with Cowichan chanterelles and Cowichan Valley chicken let you taste local in every bite. 10 Acres is a 10-acre farm located 25 kilometres from its three downtown restaurants of the same name. What they don't grow or ethically raise themselves is sourced nearby, and even compost from the restaurants makes it back to the farm— it's farm-to-table and back again! Each eatery is unique with its own mood and menu. 10 Acres Commons is the anniver- sary dinner spot with an artfully craed menu to match its rustic-luxe seing. It is just steps from the Inner Harbour, has a heated streetside patio and serves up organic pub favourites like mile-high burg- ers and buck-a-shuck oysters that you can wash down with a local white India pale ale. 10 Acres Bistro is a more casual option, with a locally inspired lineup of dishes (order the rotisserie chicken before it sells out) and drinks. Brunch is practically a religion in this town, but to hit multiple birds with one stone, head to Paul's Diner by Fol Epi. It's aached to Paul's Motor Inn, which has been a local icon since it started out as a drive-in theatre in 1965. The diner has just been taken over by Victoria's artisan bakery darling Fol Epi and now this renovated retro gem is offering organic and hand- craed brunch, lunch, dinner and cocktails. For sustainably harvested Ocean Wise West Coast seafood, look no further than Red Fish Blue Fish. This cheery yellow shipping-container eatery is right on a wharf in the Inner Harbour, with casual umbrella-shaded seating by the water. The menu is fathoms deep, from tempura- baered wild salmon and chips to albacore tuna tacones and deep-fried oysters. BACKYARD BREWS AND TIPPLES BEER Along with local food, southern Vancouver Island is experiencing an explosion of craft beverage making. Set out on foot or cruiser bike into the warehouse district of Rock Bay, just north of downtown, for a brewery crawl. At Hoyne Brewing Co., $5 buys you a tasting flight (cash only). Sample the signature, hoppy-as-all-get-out Fat Tug IPA at Driftwood Brewery. Try the small-batch experiments at Whistle Buoy Brewing Co. Or luxuriate in the tasting room at Vancouver Island Brewing with a summer sour. COCKTAILS Want something stronger? Pass under a purple neon elephant on Fort Street and keep walking down a long tiled hallway until you reach Little Jumbo Restaurant and Bar, one of Victoria's favourite downtown cocktail haunts. Dark and moody, with a touch of Prohibition-era mystique, it's the perfect spot for meeting up with friends for truffle fries and a serious cocktail made from regional spirits. Other honourable mentions: Clive's Classic Lounge, Veneto Bar Ristorante and Clarke & Co. SPIRITS On the waterfront in Sidney, Victoria Distillers makes a series of small- batch craft spirits, from hemp vodka to brandy, but it's best known for the blue-purple Empress 1908 Gin. A collaboration with Victoria's iconic Fairmont Empress Hotel, the gin gets its unique jewel colour from butterfly pea blossoms. It's a favourite in cocktails, which you should try at the distillery's cocktail lounge. CIDER The whole family is welcome at Sea Cider Farm & Ciderhouse, a bucolic, 10-acre orchard between the ocean and Saanichton's town centre with more than a thousand organic apple trees supplying the fruit for its award-winning ciders. Sipping a blush pink Ruby Rose on the patio with the waves crashing off the shore is exactly what Island life is all about. FALL IN LOVE September is the time to take in harvest events like Brewery & the Beast Culinary Festival and the Salt Spring Island Apple Festival. Eating OUT OLO RESTAURANT; SAVEUR; 10 ACRES COMMONS; (RED FISH BLUE FISH) REBECCA WELLMAN PHOTOGRAPHY; BOOM+BATTEN; (SIDEBAR) HOYNE BREWING CO.; LITTLE JUMBO RESTAURANT AND BAR; VICTORIA DISTILLERS; DESTINATION GREATER VICTORIA; ISTOCK Enjoy seafood literally on the dock at Red Fish Blue Fish