One of Victoria's best places for dinner...

is now open for lunch on Friday and Saturdays from 11:30-2pm. Go check out their locally inspired menu and experience their great service and delicious food.

FOO: Asian Street Food in Victoria

A few days ago we blogged about Susan' Feniger's street-food-themed restaurant in LA. Since LA is inconvenient for most of us, you'll be pleased to know Victoria now has its own tribute to street food, in FOO. With a beautifully contemporary interior, FOO is great place to stop for a quick bite of Paneer Cheese Dumplings, or Vietnamese Ginger Caramel Chicken, or Laksa with Local Fish... there's a solid selection of delicious choices all at very reasonable prices. Located at 769 Yates St. (250.383.3111)

Dinner at El Bulli: Seriously Entertaining

This is a seriously dedicated and entertaining homage to one foodie's experience of dining at The Greatest Restaurant in the World - El Bulli.

(Full escapade here.)

Eats from the Streets

The constant cultural exchange between highbrow and lowbrow, fringe and mainstream, affects culinary trends as much as it does fashion, art or music. This circular energy has lately swept street food to the forefront of hip restaurant cuisine, and this is one fad that actually has some real substance. In many countries, meals from street vendors far surpass the ubiquitous hot dog northern North Americans are used to burying in heaps of pickled toppings. Earlier this year, LA chef Susan Feniger opened Street, a restaurant that celebrates her personal experience of eating on the streets of the world. Her website is worth exploring - definitely check out the menu (under 'street food').

(The site worked better for us in Safari and Internet Explorer than in Firefox. Maybe Street should follow its own principles here - basic is better? If you have trouble with the main site, you can peruse the press clippings.)

Lucy's in the Square. With Diamonds.

Ok, not with diamonds - but definitely with sparkling words of praise. One of the nicest things about working in a food shop is talking to our customers about food - what, how, when, where... While slicing some nice, thick pieces of bacon (hello, bacon), the conversation, funnily enough, turned to brunch and we were tipped off to Lucy's in the Square, the newest restaurant in Fernwood. We're always looking for good brunch spots and this one received a glowing, word-of-mouth review, so we can't wait to check it out. The Times Colonist and Monday Magazine have both covered Lucy's already. (We can't know everything first ALL the time.) Their own site is in progress.