Victoria’s Secrets (Part I of IV): Get Out of Town

This article is a combined “culiterary” effort between your beloved Hedonista and dear Ronaldo of Cornichon. (Consider it our Thanksgiving gift to all of you!) Let us begin:

Much about Victoria has never changed, and likely never will. Black Ball’s Coho ferry still sounds its arrival into Victoria, as it has for the last 50 years. The great Woolly Mammoth still stands guard in the Royal BC Museum. The BC Parliament buildings still twinkle each night and “Big Blue” – the blue bascule Johnson Street Bridge at the foot of Pandora still rears up periodically to allow sea vessels access between the Upper Harbour and the Inner Harbour.

Victoria’s culinary culture is rapidly evolving in this city full of life; we’ve uncovered some of Victoria’s Secrets – those off-the-beaten-track spots that are known perhaps only to foodie locals.

In this series – part one of four – we begin in the neighborhood of Oak Bay (specifically Estevan Village), home of Paprika Bistro, where we were hosted to a media dinner.

RONALDO: The name Paprika suggests something Hungarian, wouldn’t you say? That’s because Paprika Bistro was founded by a Hungarian, George Szasz, and his wife Linda. George’s parents ran Szasz Deli in Vancouver, (in South Granville, where West now stands), so he grew up with the whole cured-and-spiced meat thing. George and Linda, who’d been running a restaurant called the Little Onion in the northern town of Smithers, British Columbia and were looking to move to Vancouver Island with their family, in 1999 bought themselves an 18-year-old French place in Oak Bay, named Chez Daniel.  They renamed it Paprika and ran it for several years before they sold it in January of this year.

Geoff Parker, the new owner (he used to be the food & beverage manager at Chateau Victoria, an Inner Harbour landmark), runs a quintessential neighborhood bistro, complete with local art on the wall and local food on the menu. The seared pork tenderloin, for example, is encrusted with Victoria Gin botanicals and dressed with a Victoria Gin vinaigrette. (Note that the culinary scene here, much like Seattle, is practically incestuous: Paprika’s chef, Anna Hunt, is the brother of Peter Hunt, the master distiller for Victoria Gin.) As our tasting progresses (house-made sausage, grilled calamari salad, hand-cut beef tartare, pasta with local mushrooms, Cowichan Bay duck breast), Parker pours perfectly matched wines from Canadian producers: Quails Gate chenin blanc, Kettle Valley pinot gris, Cedar Creek merlot, Sumac Ridge cabernet sauvignon. Only the stunning, liver-textured duck requires more than British Columbia can muster, and earns a rich, ripe Cote du Ventoux. It’s a gastronomic and vineyard tour well worth the cab ride.

HEDONISTA: Ah, Paprika Bistro. Just like those memorable moments in life when you fall deep and instantaneously in love, I’ll never forget the first time I laid eyes on that rouge-hued Capsicum annunm. So charming did this perfectly quaint-yet-artsy, off-the-beaten-path eatery look from the outside on that bright sun-filled Oak Bay afternoon, that I simply had to return with a dear friend of mine, who conventiently happens to live in the surrounding neighborhood (that’s spelled “neighbourhood” in Canadian), to try what I was certain was an exquisite find. I was not disappointed. (Note that this was in 2008, so pre-Parker – the Szaszs still ruled the roost.) I can still remember the near-orgasmic seafood dishes … and the duck! So crisp on the outside, yet melt-in-your-mouth on the inside…. We sat at what is still to this day my absolutely fav spot in the entire restaurant, which seats a modest 60 patrons: a tiny window bench tucked in this place’s quietest corner. We truly had the time of our lives.

Now, post-Parker, I’m so very pleased to announce that it’s still the same fab place it’s always been. With Anna Hunt at the helm (Sous Chef under the Szaszs and now Chef de Cuisine under Parker, not to mention culinary consultant for her brother’s gin distillery), the continuity of fabulous foodie festivities remains. This is artisan cuisine, without a doubt: the homemade pasta is absolutely to die for, Parker’s wine pairings perfect, and the Cowichan Bay duck breast immediately teleported my palate back to that first unforgettable night my culinary heart found this beautiful boutique bistro.

In my hedonistic opinion, Paprika Bistro is one of the most romantic dinner spots in all of Greater Victoria. It’s open Tuesdays through Saturday from 5:00 p.m. on. (With a current nightly Table d’hôte (host’s table) menu of a mere $26 for three courses from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. – a great deal.) It’s only a few blocks’ walk to both Willows Beach and Lokier Garden, to boot (not to be confused with the Canadian pronunciation of “about”). They’re also a proud supporter of local farms, wineries and ocean wise fisheries, which is a big bonus in my books. For a mere 10-minute, $15 cab ride from Victoria’s Inner Harbour, this is simply a must-try place that I guarantee is well worth the trek to tantalizingly true love.

Note: In order to comply with FTC Act 16 C.F.R. 255, Heed the Hedonist would like to disclose that it does receive media “comps” and/or media discounts – but not in exchange for favorable coverage, or for withholding unfavorable coverage, of the given venue/meal/performance/product/service.