Who: VN Editorial Assistant Lisa MickleboroughWhat: A Canadian ex-pat returns for a weekend of love and leisure
Where: Victoria, BC, Canada
When: March 7–9, 2008
Why: To visit loved ones in my home and native land!
The Scoop: I’ve lived in San Francisco for almost three months and, while I would not say I’ve become homesick per se, when the opportunity presented itself to return to Canada for the weekend (thanks to a gentleman--see the photo below--who loves me enough to split my airfare), I felt I was in no position to pass it up. Although I am from Toronto, several of my nearest and dearest live in Victoria, BC. By land, air, and sea, I schlepped my over-stuffed suitcase (you never know when you’ll need seven black t-shirts) to Victoria, and stayed with Joey, loved-one #1. He took me around to Victoria’s vegan hotspots, including casual and cozy Green Cuisine, an all-vegan, mostly organic buffet and bakery, where we picked up some surprisingly inexpensive, house-made, organic tofu and tempeh for supper. The morning of day two was spent with loved one #2, Ms. Hilary, who took me to a bustling little retro nook called Lady Marmalade, which, while not entirely vegan, did offer some fantastic vegan brunch options. The service was friendly but slow, although we were so pleased to be reunited that we didn’t even notice. Later on, after an afternoon of rigorous thrift-store shopping with #1, we ducked into Lotus Pond, a charming little Buddhist vegan restaurant where we enjoyed a crispy lemon “chicken” platter and a smoky mock-fish dish served over perfectly sautéed gai lan. I may not have been homesick, but after such an indulgent weekend, it was certainly hard to leave. Hungry for more about BC’s vegan scene? Check out the May+June issue of VegNews when it hits newsstands mid-April for our Vancouver VegEscapes feature.
2 comments:
Yay Victoria! You missed some key places though, y'know, time and all. Mo:Le (molerestaurant.ca), though not vegetarian or vegan, has the best local organic fresh vegan friendly food in town (in my opinion) and they have a rotating nightly raw vegan menu. Also Futaba has a great selection of vegan brown rice sushi, Cafe Solstice is a vegetarian 100% organic cafe with delicious vegan drinks (they have a pot of denman island melted chocolate simmering all day should you want their amazing Mexican Hot Chocolate with Almond Milk) veg zines, daily local vegan soup and other nummies. Cascadia and Wildfire Bakeries have a great selection of vegan goodies from smoked-tofu sandwiches to vegan muffins and the best vegan brownie in town (Cascadia). Rebar, though formally much more vegan friendly (and now not even 100% vegetarian) still has amazing soups, best hummus in town, juices and great staff. And if anyone feels like heading up island, the Corfield Community Market Cafe in Duncan is 100% vegetarian, vegan friendly, and the best source of local organic produce on the island. I could go on....just happy to see my old abode featured by VegNews. :)
Thats why I love my city of Vancouver!!! There are so many vega & vegetarian places here that there really is no reason to eat meat! I lived in LA for 2monts & became sooo homesick that I had to come back to the greatest city in the world...VANCOUVER!!
Post a Comment