mutsuki-an and my ninety-four-year-old nan.

Mutsuki-An is an adorable little sushi restaurant perfectly placed smack-dab in the middle of my 'hood that serves some of the freshest sushi I've tried on the island. While they don't get crazy with their rolls (and there's no tempura on the menu! my poor arteries!) the quality-for-price of their seafood is unmatched, as far as I'm concerned, I love the staff, and the experience feels very "authentic" to me, like sushi you'd actually find in Japan.

My nana is an adorable (and brave!) little 94-year-old who had never before tried sushi.

Let the precious photos begin... (hint: watch for a spicy california roll being cut with a knife and fork).

capellini with shrimp and creamy tomato sauce.

While I've been crazy about good food for as long as I've been eating, I just recently started to put an effort into cooking (maybe when I came to the sad realization that eating out for every single meal while living on my own in Toronto wasn't an option unless I was planning on camping in McDs.) I don't have a lot of time to cook, but I'm obviously not going to waste that precious time making crap to mindlessly shovel in my mouth in front of the t.v.


Enter this pasta recipe that my boyfriend and I discovered while browsing the ten-minute-mains on gourmet.com (thank god for ten-minute-mains good enough for gourmet to put its name behind!)


Over time we've tweaked it perfectly to our liking by tripling the garlic (it was a little bland for me with the dose the original recipe calls for, just don't sit too close to me) and using canned, fire-roasted tomatoes for a bit more of a complex flavor. 


Recently, I jazzed it up a bit for my parents with fresh basil and shaved parmesan for a simple al fresco meal. My dad, who's currently attempting a "diet" and initially requested a miniscule portion could be seen scraping the empty pan it was cooked in with a spoon and proclaiming that had he been served the exact same dish at the Union Square Cafe in New York, he would be thrilled silly.


For those who don't know my father and his love for that restaurant, this is a huge compliment. Make this!

summer nibbles.

One of the first things that comes to mind for me when I think of summer, obviously, is food. Sadly, my dreaded bikini and the beaches/docks I plan to wear it on come second to the glorious meals that my tastebuds associate with the warmer months. 

Local melt-in-your-mouth berries and sweet, sunshine-yellow corn that comes at the end of August, almost as an antidote to the inevitable summer wind-down; burgers with ripe avocados, chipotle mayo and caramelized onions served poolside with my dad's old fashioned chocolate milkshakes; fresh prawns caught and barbecued on the back of our boat in Desolation Sound... I could go on, but who wants to read about good food when there are pictures to drool over? Here's a little sampling of what I've been munching on these past few months. Grab a bib. 

a salad of roasted local nectarines, gorgonzola and a simple honey vinaigrette.

heirloom tomato gratinee.

ahi grade sashimi marinated in soy, sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds for a quick DIY donburi bowl.

roasted chicken with mango, shallots, toasted cashews and a creamy peanut dressing over spring greens.

white spot monty mushroom burgers. if you live in B.C. or ever visit and have yet to taste this west coast chain of restaurant's heavenly burgers... please, please do.

al fresco appies with a view.

local berries at their seasonal peak.

mmm mmm mmm!

shizen sushi.

May as well get one thing straight right off the bat: I am a sushi FANATIC. There are few foods I could eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner six days a week - a girl needs a little variety in her life - but sushi is one of them. And yes, leftover rolls in the morning are edible and even quite enjoyable; try it. In the name of variety, though, I'm always looking for new variations on the typical spicy-tuna-and-dynamite offerings of your average sushi joint.


A friend introduced me to Shizen Sushi in downtown Victoria a few years ago. Hours before my first visit, I told my eyebrow waxer (sushi and waxing... what an obnoxiously girly post) that I was going and she tipped me off about the Highlander roll. "It's not on the menu, ask for it specifically and thank me later," was all she said. Obviously, I ordered it. And I've been thanking her almost monthly since.


Perfectly crispy tempura shrimp, avocado and spicy mayo draped with just-thin-enough slices of seared beef tataki and topped with a sweet and spicy kicker of teriyaki + tabasco (if only your typical teriyaki sauce was jacked up like this!) garlic and green onions. Flavor overload in the best way possible, and so freaking pretty to look at.


Other notable dishes: an interesting twist on your typical tempura veggie roll using asparagus (and at $3.95 a roll you can't go wrong) and another off-the-menu, "insider" favorite: a sushi pizza topped with a combination of tuna, spicy mayo and green onion. I've had sushi pizza before and hated it, usually due to the bland set-up of salmon or tuna sashimi on a bed of dry deep fried rice. Shizen's flavorful toppings and perfectly crispy base hit the spot.

Shizen Sushi
1706 Government Street
Victoria, B.C.
V8W 1Z5
(250) 381-8228
www.shizensushi.ca

in the beginning...

This humble venture started, like many things do, in New York City. A romantic weekend for two (and my boyfriend's first visit, no less!) planned almost entirely around food. Restaurants researched, online menus scoured, reservations made months in advance. Days and nights arranged and re-arranged to facilitate anticipated meals planned down to the very last drop of wine.

I love food. Perhaps, I’d venture to say, more than the average person.

I embarrass my dining companions by snapping pictures at the table to send to equally food-obsessed family members, my bumbling enthusiasm for restaurants and the dishes they serve or  delicacies prepared by nearest-and-dearests confuses some, amuses others. “You should have been a food writer,” one of those nearest-and-dearests once told me. “You missed your calling.” Indeed, I lamented, I could imagine nothing I’d love to do more.

I'm someone who likes to chronicle the taste and texture of each bite I’ve taken, and to relive these sensations weeks, months, even years afterwards. And what better way to do so than to get it all down in writing?

I created and deleted one-entry-wonders for months after aforementioned weekend of heavenly food. Until nearly half a year later, today, when I came to realize all the amazing meals in between that I've missed detailing because I've been too big of a wimp to get this thing running.

And so begins this modest blog of a not-so-modest passion for eating well. Just a place for me to wax poetic without weirding out the friends who just don’t quite get it. One meal at a time.