S
EAT Magazine Nov_Dec 2013_Victoria_48_Layout 1 10/30/13 12:01 PM Page 21
EAT’S REBECCA BAUGNIET INVITES
YOU ON A CIRCLE TOUR OF THE
BRAND-NEW VICTORIA PUBLIC MARKET
S
trolling through the new Victoria Public Market in the first couple of weeks after its mid-September opening was both a feast for the senses and a good exercise for the imagination. The long-awaited Victoria Public Market was still very much a work in progress when I took my circle tour to meet the permanent vendors—those who have opened and those who are coming soon—anchoring the new public market. As you walk in the front doors from Douglas Street, the Salt Spring Island Cheese Company greets you with a generous spread of samples. All their goat cheeses, from chèvres, feta, a few surface-ripened cheeses and a hard cheese, are made at their farm on Salt Spring. A carefully chosen selection of crackers, olives and preserves provide all the components for an elegant cheese board in one spot. www.saltspringcheese.com The empty space beside the cheese shop will soon be filled with cake! Marcene Von Ravenhurst first knew she wanted to open a cake shop after presenting a memorable dessert at an event. “The definitive moment was at a party where I delivered a layered meringue cake with violet cream and blueberries within a halo of spun sugar and edible flowers. Everyone went quiet when it was served.” The Damn Fine Cake Co. was born in 2006 but had been waiting for the right retail space to become available. Von Ravenhurst says that “after meeting with Townline and the Victoria Public Market Society, it was absolute—it found a home and I found a fantastic work environment.” In addition to their selection of cakes, Damn Fine plans to offer daily soup, salad and sandwich options for the lunch crowd, and crêpes served in a stack with cherry preserves “like my Gramma used to make… You’ll need a good coffee to go with those!” (You can get one at 2% Jazz, in the back righthand corner of the Hudson. The entrance is on Fisgard). You will also be able to find the Il Dolce Gelato kiosk sharing space with the cake. damnfinecakeco.ca Next door is Sutra, Vij’s highly anticipated Victoria outlet. Mike Bernardo, chief operating officer and wine director at Vij’s for the past 12 years, is the owner of the new canteen and says it has been an overwhelming experience to be one of the first vendors at the market. “Victoria is such a great food city and we are excited to round out the diversity of the market.” Bernardo’s staff trained in Vij’s Vancouver kitchens and is making the popular pakoras, cassava fries, naan and drinks in-house. You can find Vij’s frozen entrées, as well as his cookbooks and spices, here. Chai caramels from Vancouver’s The Candid Confectioner are also available. facebook.com/VijsSutra Beside Sutra is the Cowichan Bay Seafood Company’s brand-new Victoria shop, selling an impressive selection of local and sustainable (Sea Choice and Oceanwise certified) seafood. Owner Greg Best says, “We had been looking for a Victoria retail space and thought the market’s concept was a good fit for our business. We liked the idea of sharing space with other local farmers and producers.” cowichanbayseafood.com The next vacant spot is destined to become home to Victoria’s newest kitchen shop, Whisk. This is the new venture of Marion Osberg, who has many years’ experience working at Haute Cuisine. With the planned closing of Haute Cuisine, Osberg saw the opportunity to open her own shop, stocking many of the items that were popular there, such as Fiestaware, kitchen gadgets, and Rosti bowls and utensils. Osberg is planning a December 1 opening. A few steps over is the nostalgia-inducing Victoria Pie Company. Founded by Robin Larocque, who discovered her passion for pie-making after a resoundingly successful attempt to make her French-Canadian husband a tourtière, the baker is on a “food rescue” mission—to save beautiful local produce just past its prime. Fruit that would otherwise go to waste gets turned into delicious pie. Hop onto a stool at their CONT’D TOP OF THE NEXT PAGE
www.eatmagazine.ca NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2013
21