yyj visits: brews, bites and algae blooms

It’s insane to think that it’s almost August… where did July go?!

Up until the end of last week, my ghostly gams were hibernating in yoga pants. We’ve FINALLY got a feel of some Summer heat here in Vancouver. These limbs are breaking free!! (after some serious sunless tanner ;))

I spent the first bit of July in Victoria with the boyfriend and my family. With over a week of time to kill, we had planned to do a bunch of outdoorsy exploring of the island. (Disclaimer: the furthest we got from Victoria was Sooke, and physical activity consisted mainly of lifting pints to mouth. Whoopsie!) Time flew by as we sipped copious amounts of wine during late night catch-ups, wandered between sun-drenched patios, and planned dinner parties…. I’m not complaining 🙂

The ferry ride from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay is pretty magical. I always try to pack some snacks, as BC Ferries isn’t known to be very veg-friendly (unless you want to pay $7 for an apple…lol). If the weather is dec, I’ll always take my coffee and grab a seat outside, listen to some tunes, and watch all the PNW beauty sail by.

First stop in Vic was Canoe Club‘s patio, which looks onto their private marina and the Johnson St. Bridge. First thing’s first – from the info I gathered through chatting with some staff – their beers are unfiltered… meaning VEGAN! (unless honey is a featured flavour) HAPPY DANCE! I love that Canoe supports local, sustainable growers and producers (the majority of its summer produce is grown from Topsoil Innovative Urban Agriculture – 500m from the patio!) Unfortunately, the menu is not at all veg-friendly, but our server managed to score me a veg version of the spicy broccolini. (OK, so trying to convince anyone that being vegan is easy and we eat more than just veggies…not gonna happen at this sitting. But hey, I’ve got beer!).

Then Mama and I whipped up a bday din for my guy. I love the team we are in the kitchen… scanning through Pinterest, wine in-hand, bantering back and forth about whether to use beef or veg stock. I offer ideas and attention to detail, add some frills; she executes the whole damn rest of it. To go along with the usual omnivorous appies, I experimented with Hot For Food’s Cauliflower Buffalo Wings – tamed the heat by using half buffalo and half BBQ sauce – still too spicy for most of the gang, but a hit nonetheless. I was super excited about how ‘meaty’ they were… it had people questioning WHAT exactly they were made of?!

Mama now veganizes most side dishes/veggies/garlic bread. I’ll make a salad (I made a quick tahini dressing, loosely following Minimalist Baker’s recipe, topped with cranberries and pumpkin seeds). I love how it’s just the norm now to do without all the butter. And no one seems to care 😉 We did mushroom risotto, sesame peanut slaw, roasted veg and smashed potatoes with avocado aioli (+ a couple Gardein crispy tenders for moi).

To celebrate my parents’ anniversary, we went to Il Terrazzo Ristorante in Waddington Alley. Honestly, I would’ve gone to this place, regardless of its menu, just to sip pinot in the intimate, candlelit nook with brick fireplaces. But the service was impeccable, and the chef knocked it out of the park, creating a custom vegan plate of creamy mushrooms and spinach, garlicky spaghetti, and grilled veg. SWOON!