The London Chef

I had waited with anticipation the opening of The London Chef, at 953 Fort Street. The concept of this space is of a foodie's haven of cooking classes and food parties. Despite my curiosity I didn't get into the shop until late in the summer as I just wasn't in that part of town often. Since I began teaching infant massage next door at the Mothering Touch (975 Fort) though I have weekly opportunities to be in the shop.

My first visit was actually my job interview for the teaching gig when I was surprised to discover that a small cafe and retail area was attached to the shop, something I hadn't known. This cafe is where I will start. Selling coffee, pastries and lunches the cafe is an expanded breezeway really but it is filled with things to intrigue every foodie.

On the retail front the fridge is stuffed with house made sausage from Stage restaurant and there are frozen stocks and sauces too. The shelves to the left of the sales counter are filled with cookbooks from some of the most prominent chef's of today (Heston Blumenthal's The Fat Duck caught my eye especially). There are also vinegars, reductions and flavoured salts (coffee?!?!?) to tempt you too.

In terms of the actual cafe items I have tried a selection. The coffee and espresso is definitely up to standard and the soup I had one day was delicious. Some of the baked goods though haven't been so overwhelming. I have had one of the savory open tarts (leek and goat cheese) and though tasty enough the puff pastry was quite pale and, as a result, lacked the crisp flakiness I prefer. Same can be said of the "breadsticks", which are actually puff pastry sticks with a small sprinkling of cheese and caraway seeds (Bernard was pretty pleased with the caraway) but that didn't compensate for the slightly limp pastry. I have tried some of the sweet pastries to and the same applies. Nothing bad, but I am still waiting to be dazzled.

The bulk of the space is set up in a squared "u" of work stations with a larger teaching station in the open side of the "u". There is also a large (like sit 30 large) beautiful wooden table to the side for dining. There is selection of cooking classes taught here and you can book private cook and eat events in the evenings.

Tuesday at noon is the event I have been most intrigued by. Called "lunch and learn" and running from noon to one this event allows you to come in and get a lunch that you get to watch being made. The menu shifts and focuses sometimes on a culture (i.e. Arabian) or a food (ie. the hamburger). There are munchies for you when you arrive and you then get an interactive demo by the chef and his assistant that culminates in the delivery of your main course (usually around twenty or quarter to one to give you some time for eating). I haven't actually attended but I am often in the cafe during the classes and the atmosphere seems fun and friendly. Judging by the papers the audience are generally clutching I am guessing you get recipes too. At a cost of $25 it is an expensive lunch - but a pretty good deal for an hour long cooking class/entertainment.

Cornerstone Cafe in Fernwood

I went into the Cornerstone Cafe wanting to like it, the decor is interesting, it seems to attract people hang out and give Fernwood a place to meet each other.   Unfortunately it came up a bit flat.

Cornerstone Cafe location in 1988

Back in the 1980s I spent a lot of time in Fernwood.   The building the cafe is in was known as the Gladstone Hilton and a very cheap rooming house.  Various friends that were artists or were on the edges of society lived there.  The building was also home to one of my favorite haunts in the city in 1988/89 - Endangered Species Bookstore.  The bookstore was huge and the guy running it was eccentric in a Fernwood way.  It also had a small but very well run cafe in it that served some of the best Thai influenced food I have ever had.

I have lived in Victoria again since 2004 but I am very rarely in Fernwood, there are very few reasons for me to go there.  I may go there more now I have been to Aubergine Fine Foods.

The whole experience at the Cornerstone Cafe was rather hit and miss:

• Some of the staff were great, some of the staff exuded attitude, bad enough to make me feel unwelcome
• The coffee was passable but not that much better than even Tim Hortons
• It was great to see they made their own ice tea, unfortunately is bland and without any depth.  It needed more fragrance - one of the reasons Earl Grey tea makes such a good ice tea - and it did not have the hit of citrus all good ice tea needs.
• The turkey panini was decent enough, but not at the price.   Turkey tends to be the most boring meat out there when it is used as a sandwich filling.  The panini could have used a better mayo and more cranberry.

I really did want to like the place because it is a project of the Fernwood NRG.   They are the best thing to have happened to Fernwood community and social services in many, many years.  Unfortunately I would only be liking it for charity reasons and not because it was a good eating experience.

Suzi's in the Square

Today I was walking back to my car at the Yates Street parkade through Bastion sqare and saw "Suzi's in the Square" tucked off to the side. I have been called "Suzi" by my sister for as long as I remember so I was drawn in - I hadn't known I had a cafe!

I am glad I was draw. You follow a slightly winding course in to a small cafe with warm, simple decor and a few tables inside and out. Ordering is at the register and you have several good options for breakfast or lunch.

I had the "Secret Garden" wrap. I had my choice of white or whole wheat wrap (whole wheat for me) and it was stuffednicely with hummous and a good variety of excellent quality vegetables. No wilty lettuce or squishy cucumbers. Topped with a Sesame Ginger vinegrette (made in house, as is the hummous)it was a nicely sized wrap at a reasonalbe price.

They have a good sized selection of interesting looking sandwiches and burgers as well as baked goods. There was a big brownie with lots of walnuts that I will one day let myself get - and hope it is as good as it looks.

Overall "Suzi's" offers everything I think a cafe should - comfort, ease, and fresh ingredients with lots of house made things.

Wind your way down to "Suzi's in the Square" and give it a try. I will remember it as a great place to go right in the heart of downtown!

Sheila