You know when fate steps in? Well this is what happened the morning that D and I ended up at the Blue Fox Café . The plan had been to got to Floyd's for an astounding breakfast that I had only heard rumours about.   We were disappointed to find that Floyds had been permanently closed and we were sadly not going to be able to flip double or nothing for our breakfast.     Cold and still wanting breakfast we had to make a call, and I remembered The Blue Fox, a kitschy breakfast nook I had been ages ago with a friend, so we went searching.   The Blue Fox is unassuming from the outside, with small sign out front with the name of the restaurant and the simple statement of specials. We wandered in.     The dining room felt a lot like you were cramming into Gramma’s kitchen, red brick walls and tables were stuffed cheek by jowl. It was packed. We were given menus in the small waiting area, and we got the impression quickly that the ide...

Hello foodie fans,  It’s been a little while since you have heard anything from us, life gets busy and we have been no exception.  With the imminent return  of the sun , myself and Chef D are planning our return to society from our long winter sleep as well and we are looking forward to a few new places around home to eat and check out.  Spoiler alert Victoria BC is on our list in the next few weeks for our annual VF foodie getaway. Hope you have been enjoying Chef D and his beer of the week reviews. Planning on adding Wine Wednesday to that mix along with a few other food related pages that we have in the works.  So with much love and growling stomachs we will be seeing you very soon. Stay tuned  Whiskey G.

  I generally like most beers produced by Phillips Brewing, and this one is no exception.  Slightly sweet, and not strong tasting in the least despite its beautiful dark colour, this ale measures a moderate 5.3% alc. and 20 IBU.   This dark ale has hints of coffee and what I would describe as toasted puffed wheat. It's very drinkable, although maybe not quite as memorable as some other beers in the Phillips' caboodle. All and all a perfectly solid beer and when measured against all other beers, it's near the top of the crop, but compared to the other amazing recipes Phillips makes, this beer falls a slight bit back. Cheers and bon appetit,  D 7.5/10

  This is no ordinary radler.  First of all, at 4% alc., it's a tad stronger than the usual 2.5-3.5% radlers that are essentially beer diluted by half with juice.   Secondly, this beer is blended with lemon, blood orange and apricot juices. This blend is complex and delightfully fresh tasting, with a tart, but not overly so ending.  A beautiful summer refresher or a great beverage with food,  Strathcona certainly did a nice job on this brew. Cheers and bon appetit,  D 8.5/10

  Well, the name is apt I suppose. This strong ale (10% alc!) smells a bit musky and has quite a bit of funk to the flavour. This brew is a Belgian style golden ale, which in general I'm not a huge fan of, but I know of a few (very few) people that really like this style.   Subtle flavours of coriander and moss underlay the big flavour of the German hops and Santa sweat. I drank the entire bottle, naturally, but I couldn't wait to move on to the next beer in the fridge. Cheers and bon appetit,  D 4/10

  This Irish dry stout is apparently inspired by the prose of James Joyce (Finnegan's Wake, Ulysses et al.) It's a rich dark brown stout, classic Irish styled with soft milky head.  Weighing in at 5.1% alc, it's among a few brews of this style that I could drink all evening without feeling heavy and full.   The flavour of Finnegan's is superb, roasty and malty, a bit sweet with notes of molasses. It reminds me slightly of really good homemade ginger snaps. I can hardly find a fault with this beer, Hoyne hits it out of the park once again. Cheers and bon appetit, D 9/10 

  Whenever possible, it's nice to visit a dining establishment at least twice before writing about it. Not only does it mitigate the risk that maybe the cook was having an off day or the server was new, but also highlights the consistency and/or progression of the experience. This was our second visit to Sult Pierogi Bar .   We arrived during happy hour. Three pierogis for three bucks with sour cream thrown in for good measure.  With a diverse selection of different pierogis on the menu we had a tough time deciding. As we studied the menu I ordered a beer (Electric Unicorn from Phillips brewing, one of my faves), which arrived cold, in a can. Sult has a well stocked bar and a fairly eclectic cocktail menu, and Whiskey (somewhat surprisingly to me) ordered up a Manhattan. As we sipped drinks we managed to settle on four varieties and and added a sausage for accompaniment.   Sult's atmosphere is modern, industrial, and a bit dark, with heavy wooden tables, ...