Victoria Summer 2011 About Victoria - Kicking it old school with Yoka · Sunday July 10, 2011 by colin newell
I am a big advocate for buying your coffee whole bean – recently roasted and ideally direct from the roaster.
That way you know what you are getting, you are supporting local business and getting a product that is fresh and ideal for immediate consumption.
Photo left – Yoka keeps it old school at #5- 1046 Mason Street in the historic North Park neighborhood – High Cook near Wellburns Grocery
Here is the thing about coffee. It is a food product and like many others, has a freshness sweet spot. And to put this into perspective, whole bean or ground coffee is not like a bowl of rice or lentils or flour that can sit in a fairly air tight container indefinitely.
It is more like a bowl of fruit or a head of lettuce. And we all know that these food items are fairly fragile and only consumable for X number of days.
So how long is freshly roasted coffee good for? Opinions vary but it generally accepted that whole bean coffee is most ideal between 3 and 11 days off the roast day. Some folks extend this a bit but here is the thing. The moment coffee is roasted, it starts to give off carbon dioxide and this degassing process protects the coffee from the inevitable incursion of oxygen (the oxidizer) which stales coffee. Coffees degas at different rates but it is a given that whole bean coffee has the best and freshest flavor to offer between 3 and 7 days off roast. Between 7 to 12 days, the beans are running out of CO2 to release – and after that, the oxygen makes swift work of robbing the coffee of its great taste.
Yoka and her partner Tristan have been running a coffee roaster and shop since 1983 in Vancouver and recently moved their operation to Victoria for a change of pace. In addition to a wide selection of darker roast old origin coffees, they offer whole Belgian chocolate and local honey. There is a seating area for sipping on of their brews and they have a single group Rancilio for an espresso, latte or cappuccino.
Yoka runs a neat operation in that it is somewhat old school – fresh roast coffee in glass bins, old style weighing scales and a roaster in the main room. They event won a Hallmark heritage nod on the update and redesigns to the building on Mason.
Their roast profiles tend to roll towards the darker of the spectrum and get this, they have 3 different roast profiles on the Swiss Water organic decaf – the best decaf in the World… that is produced in Burnaby of all places.
Yoka’s shop is open Tuesday to Saturday 9AM til late in the afternoon – come on by and make sure you tell them that Colin sent you!
Victoria Summer 2011 About Victoria - Victory Chapter 3 · Saturday July 9, 2011 by colin newell
We spoke with Matthew Conrad of Victory Barbers yesterday prior to and during a much needed haircut.
Victory Barbers and hard goods for Men is the latest addition to the Atrium on Blanshard – also housing Habit Coffee and Culture, Cook Culture, AJ Organic, Zambri’s and PIG BBQ – a welcome addition indeed.
Photo at left – Matthew Conrad (and Victory Barber mascot “Belle”) holds down the fort at Victory Barbers – Victoria
Sensing the need for a male enclave, Matthew has built this around his own vision but also based on encouragement and recruitment from the likes of Shane Devereaux of Habit Coffee and the ever benevolent Jawl Properties – the owners of the building.
Matthew notes, “Victoria is saturated with Salons – the ladies are well represented in Victoria…” “The classic barber seemed to be near extinction, but the demand has never disappeared…”
In some ways, the craft of male grooming was on the decline in Victoria – but for the staff of Victory, all was not lost. Each of Victory’s skilled scissor wizards (including two lovely ladies) had training from a master barber. And it shows. You feel like you are there – in a modern day wild west version of the classic masculine enclave.
For Matthew and his crew, this joint is all about honest to goodness male grooming without the stigma or labeling of “metrosexuality” – simply, Victory Barbers is a man’s World… inside the confines of the salon. Outside, you are on your own.
My salon barber, Kim, circles skillfully with razor sharp shears taking my reasonable sparse pate to a more civilized place – a better place – a manly place.
I leave the chair and the salon with a rugged Bruce Willis (slight more hair) look. No nonsense.
Matthew concludes, “You might not want a straight razor and hot towel shave every day… but you might love one once a month… a treat. Guys need to indulge themselves occasionally…”
And I agree wholeheartedly.
Victory Barbers is open 6 days a week for walk ins or with a reservation.
Victoria Summer 2011 Starting Fridays Off Chapter 2 · Friday July 8, 2011 by colin newell
It’s a ritual. In July and August, in lieu of taking any time off of work, we take every Friday off during these two bright months. It is amazing what it does to the overall look and feel of the week.
Let’s talk about today – our first Friday in July off (not counting last Friday as it was Canada Day…)
Dropped into John’s Place in the 700 block of Pandora Avenue. Photo above I have been going there since they first opened in October 1984. I have 35mm photos of friends clustered around tables from those “old days”. Truth is, little has changed in the 27 odd years they have been open; real food for real people… or something like that. Their grub is reliable as gravity – particularly the breakfasts… waffles, eggs any which way, bottomless mugs of coffee.
Today we were late for the breakfast so we opted for the late breakfast specials of Omelette’s – we had the veg and the meat ones with sides of toast and English muffins – I tend to pass on the “Home style potatoes” – they are breakfast plate filler.
Their coffee is strong enough to stand a spoon in and is great for kick starting a caffeine kind of day… like today.
Quick stops in City Hall to flash up my downtown parking card and then Capital Iron and Steel to look at some tools and hardware.
Second stop was Ken Gordon’s Street Level Espresso for a shot of the good stuff. Ken Gordon’s lilliputian espresso bar is super small but it kind of adds to the overall intimacy of the joint… because it is always packed with beautiful men and women. I do not know where they all come from but be prepared to rub shoulders if you are in for coffee – or hang out on the sidewalk for some of Victoria’s finest people watching near the corner of 700 Block Fort and Douglas Street.
Today I walked in for the espresso and Ken put a size large Street Level Tee on my back – the one with the 60’s era Diana camera on it.
Third stop – Victory Barbers in the Atrium (going to do an entire blog on this place because it deserves it…) for my haircut. Victory is a barber shop with some interesting period energy from yesteryear – but totally in the 21st Century. They do conventional cuts for Men and straight razor shaves – as well as a wide selection of “hard goods” for men; shaving kits, colognes, pomades and knives… yes, knives. They even have a Bulldog mascot who does a cute trick. So, if you love dogs, handsome male (and female) barbers – and neat stuff, get on down to Victory!
Victory is the brain child of the devilishly handsome Matthew “Matty” Conrad – who would not be out of place in a wild west flick – He and his equally absurdly and unrealistically good looking staff are on-duty to bring out the manly-man in you.
Fourth stop – HABIT coffee and culture in the Atrium for decaf and some cookies from Origin Bakery
Victoria B.C. is a great place to spend a Friday – great food, coffee and attractions for everyone.
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Victoria Summer 2011 Wine Food Coffee Chocolate and Life Chapter 1 · Tuesday July 5, 2011 by colin newell
Andrea and I have been doing more in our life together.
Here is the thing folks. Life is short. This is not a dress rehearsal. Get on it.
So in the last year or so we have started living like there is no tomorrow – because, hey… you never know.
Photo above right – Vintner owner Andy Johnston was brought up on a Welsh hill farm and graduated from Birmingham Medical School in 1971 as a physician, and soon made his way to Edmonton, Alberta, where he enjoyed a 30-year practice as both a family doctor and a businessman.
One of the new items on our journey are the Wine pairing events at the Fairmont Empress. It is a crazy affordable night on the town that is hard to resist.
And with your free friends of the empress membership card (15-20% off a bunch of stuff) – it is downright frugal.
For “friends”, it is around $45 dollars for 5 wines and 5 food pairs.
Tonight the featured Estate Winery was Averill Creek on Vancouver Island.
One note of housekeeping. An Estate wine is a wine that is produced with grapes grown on the farm that is making and selling the wine. It is that simple.
Averill Creek grows all the grapes for all the wine that they sell.
I am no wine expert but what I do know about Vancouver Island wines is – they have most certainly evolved in the last 17 years or so. Why is that? Climate change… in part. Additionally, the skill and abilities of the vintner and a bunch of other reasons.
I am not a wine expert. Have to be clear on that. And this blog is more about a specific wine-pairing event. So here goes…
Tonight we sampled 5 wines. 4 of them were grape wines;
The Pinot Grigio. The Gewurztraminer. The “Foch Eh”. The Pinot Noir. And a bold Blackberry wine, the “Cowichan Black.”
The P.G. (bold, bright and fruity – with lots of sharp acid and citrus) was paired with an Sea Urchin “Uni Veloute” — kind of a fritter… on top of a Salmon tartar. Brilliant.
The Gewurztraminer was mated to a nugget of natural Vancouver Island Buffalo Mozzarella, baby greens and some wild boar bacon. Again, the G. is big and bold with lots of fruit, apple, figs, spice…
Foch Eh? A humorous take on Beaujolais but made Canadian with 100% Marechal Foch. This light bodied red is delicately structured with spicy dark berry flavors, soft tannins and juicy acidity, wrapped up with a lengthy, dry finish. Paired with seared Ahi tuna, prosciutto and asparagus. Awesome balance!
The Averill Creek Pinot Noir. This is a wine in development for Averill Creek. The Pinot is my wine and I know it fairly well. This Vancouver Island example has a few years of development ahead of it. The Pinot’s I pick tend to be big, bossy and in your face. This one has subtle reflection and delicate nuance – light duty fruit and spice… but hey, it was created on Vancouver Island… so that is astounding all by itself.
The pairing of seared duck breast, morel mushroom risotto and fig jus was overpowering for this gentle Pinot — but perfectly prepared nonetheless!
Cowichan Black – a blackberry wine with a 12.8% alcohol bite – and a sweetness perfect for after dinner, on ice cream, flambe or over your breakfast dairy free waffles a la yours truly!
A bit more on the vintner, Andy Johnston: His transition to grape growing was a natural one – his passion comes naturally. At this particular night at the Empress Hotel, he was engaging and informative – encouraging the guests to discover what was in their glass.
Bottom line here folks: Get out there and explore your Island.
If you do not live on Vancouver Island, take another look at your region, neighborhood and city…
And remember: Life is for the living… and the eating and drinking.
Big hats off to Fairmont Empress food and drink manager, Theresa Dickinson, who, in part, makes these events rock. She is a gigawatt of energy and brings a lot of pizzazz to everything that happens at the Empress.
Colin Newell lives in Victoria B.C. Canada and with his loving Wife, Andrea, endeavor to enjoy life just a little.
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