This summer we’re savouring farm-fresh fare and Korean snacks, while saying a sad farewell to a beloved restaurant.
Someone once told chef Paul Moran that the Saanich Peninsula was the farm-to-table capital of the world. Whether or not that’s actually true, it sure feels that way, especially now that he’s leased a farm and started his own culinary enterprise here called Sixty Forty. “We’re happy to have this as our home base,” he says, adding, “It’s nice to be back.”
Moran, famously, was the winner of Top Chef Canada Season 7. That was in 2019, when he was the executive chef at Tofino Resort + Marina and had already won some pretty prestigious culinary contests, including the Hawksworth Young Chef Scholarship and San Pellegrino Young Chef Competition for Canada. After that, he spent some time foraging (he comes from five generations of foragers), then hopped across the Rockies for a couple of years as the culinary director of an Eataly-esque market/restaurant complex outside Edmonton.
Now he’s happy to be back in B.C., back on the Island and back getting his hands on all the delicious things that grow here.
Moran and his wife, Danielle Fox, have leased the old Marley Farm on Mount Newton Cross Road, where they are offering catering services, hosting private and occasional public events, and leading culinary adventures like the one they just finished up in Haida Gwaii. “What we are really focusing on is our event space,” he says, noting that they have the room, the ingredients and all the equipment they need “to do a very skookum meal for 40 people.”
Those meals are typically eight-course dinners featuring as much produce from the farm as possible, supplemented with local seafood and “lamb from down the road.” After all, that’s what Sixty Forty is all about: 60 per cent of what they serve will come from their property, where some 100 organic vegetables are grown on site by Square Root Organic Farm; as much of the other 40 per cent as possible comes from around the Pacific Northwest. Or, as Moran says, “If it’s not coming off the property, it’s coming off the neighbour’s.”
Their venue space is the old Marley Farm Winery, which has been closed to the public for about a dozen years. They’ve been renovating it and now have their eyes on the five-acre vineyard that once produced respectable Pinot Grigio, Ortega and Pinot Noir.
“We’re working on rehabilitating the vineyard and starting to make wine with it. We could have a restaurant if we have a winery,” Moran says, though he hastens to add that’s not in the plan. At least, not yet. Right now, he’s just happy to discover all the Saanich Peninsula has to offer.
“I’ve been coming to the Island a lot since I was a kid and the peninsula was always an afterthought,” he says. “Now I’m just blown away by what’s out here.”
He’s leased a farm on the Saanich Peninsula, complete with an event space where he serves local produce and fresh seafood like the spot prawns to the left.
Openings
The wait is over! Hundreds of people were already in line on May 22 when the Asian-style supermarket H Mart finally flung open its doors at Mayfair Shopping Centre. A traditional lion dance kicked things off to bring good fortune, followed by four days of celebration that featured K-pop bands, taekwondo demonstrations, endless lineups and, no doubt, a huge sense of relief, given that this was all originally scheduled for November 2023.
The first H Mart opened in Queens, New York, in 1982, as a small corner grocery store. (The “H” stands for “Han Ah Reum,” which roughly translates to “one arm full of groceries.”) It has since expanded to become the largest U.S.-based grocery chain specializing in Asian-style products, with nearly 100 stores across the U.S. and U.K., eight on the B.C. mainland and now the Victoria store, located in the old Toys R Us space.
Wondering what to buy there? Start with: instant ramen (Shim Ramyun is the go-to brand); Korean snacks, chips and candies (try the Shrimp Flavored Cracker, Sweet Potato Snack and Goraebab, a tomato-flavoured chip); Asian pantry staples (sesame oil, soy sauce, the red pepper paste known as gochujang, black bean paste, tofu, miso, various pickles); fresh seafood; bones for bone broth; tropical fruits; and especially the wide selection of frozen dumplings. Happy shopping! hmart.ca
Transitions
It truly is, as the Hanks’ social media accounts posted in mid-May, “The End Of An Era, All Things Die.” We are saddened to report that chef Clark Deutscher’s cluster of beloved restaurants has announced that it would be no more as of June 1. Thankfully, Hanks has been purchased by the restaurant’s head chef, Mark Taggesell, so please drop by and say hi! But Nowhere, the tasting-menu-only restaurant that placed No. 5 on enRoute’s prestigious list of Best New Restaurants in 2019, has closed. The Filipino-inspired Ate no longer has a physical location, but will appear at local markets. And their pop-up, The Snack Bar, is gone, too. These bold, hyper-local, deeply personal restaurants transformed this city’s culinary scene, and while we are relieved to see Hanks live on, the loss of Nowhere and Ate is huge for our community. We are deeply sorry to see them go.
Events
It’s our favourite way to spend a summer afternoon — wandering around an idyllic outdoor space, wine glass in hand, noshing on great food produced by the city’s finest chefs. We’re talking about the 24th Annual Vancouver Island Feast of Fields, of course, which will be held at Heritage Acres from 1 to 4 p.m. on August 24. This wandering gourmet harvest festival highlights the connections between farmers and chefs, field and table, and farm folks and city folks. It’s a whole lot of fun, but it’s also a fundraiser for Farm Folk/City Folk, B.C.’s oldest and largest food and agriculture charitable non-profit organization. So come on out, enjoy the live music, eat all the tasty things, share in the Saanich Peninsula’s rich farming history and support this great initiative.
In other news
Sheringham Distillery is just sitting there on its hill in Langford, quietly making big waves across the continent. In early May, right in the midst of all the U.S.-tariff-related brouhaha, the award-winning craft distillery expanded into select markets in California and Washington, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange County and Seattle. And then, in June, its flagship Seaside Gin officially earned a rare and highly coveted spot on the Liquor Control Board of Ontario’s general list. This is just the latest triumph for the distillery, which originally launched in 2015 and has won countless awards including World’s Best Contemporary Gin at the World Drink Awards in 2019, BC Food & Beverage Product of the Year in 2020 and double gold at the Canadian Artisan Spirit Competition in 2018. sheringhamdistillery.com
We’re not entirely sure how we missed it when it was released back before Christmas, but we’ve recently discovered Island girl Pamela Anderson’s cookbook and what can we say? We’re smitten.
I Love You: Recipes from the Heart (A Cookbook) is one of the most beautiful cookbooks we’ve ever picked up, with a magical coastal vibe and the kind of recipes you actually want to make.
It seems that in between Hollywood and activism Anderson has always been a passionate cook and gardener. Now, she invites you into her romantic kitchen to share her green goddess mason jar salad, tomato galette, maple-glazed cinnamon rolls and sourdough loaves, along with insights into life, love, entertaining and preserving nature’s bounty.
