YAM magazine March/April 2018

ISSUE 54 MAR/APR 2018

yammagazine.com

VICTORIA’S LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE

the

Style abides in the Railyards flat of designer Cristian Arostegui

HOME ISSUE

A Daimler Brand A Daimler Brand

Style. Sophistication. Space.

The new C-Class Wagon. The car that defined a category is now available with an extra measure of space behind the rear seats. And while a generous amount of cargo capacity has been added, none of what has made Mercedes-Benz C-Class a benchmark for performance, style and innovation has been subtracted. So you can choose the body style that best meets your needs, wagon or sedan.

And know you’ll never have to make a choice between practicality and driving passion.

Get inspired at threepointmotors.ca Total price: $49,010*

Š 2018 Mercedes-Benz Canada Inc. 2018 Mercedes-Benz C 300 4MATIC Wagon shown above for illustration purposes only. *Total price for 2018 Mercedes-Benz C 300 4MATIC Wagon includes MSRP of $46,000, Freight and PDI ($2,295), DOC of $495, environmental levies of $100 and EHF tires of $20. Registration, insurance, Admin ($495), PPSA up to $48.45 and taxes extra. Please see Three Point Motors for complete details. DL 9818 #30817.

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44 cover story

CONTENTS LOFTY LIVING Victoria creatives share their unique urban lofts and reveal the qualities that transform these covetable spaces into homes.

BY ATHENA McKENZIE

38 BEAUTY IN BALANCE

28 54 60

TABLE TALK The dining table is said to be the soul of the home — the one piece of furniture that encourages connection and enhances culture. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be stylish.

BY DANIELLE POPE

FINDING PURPOSE YAM explores the Japanese concept of ikigai — “reason for being” — and how to discover and pursue one’s purpose in life.

BY JODY PATERSON

GETAWAY TO SOOKE

Craftsman architecture merges with West Coast artistry in this custom oceanfront home, whose beauty comes from its yin-yang balance of opposites.

Take the short trip to Sooke for its exceptional culinary culture — and some sea and forest therapy.

BY DANIELLE POPE

BY CHRISTIN GEALL

4

YAM MAGAZINE MAR/APR 2018

General Contractors | Custom Built Homes | Renovations | Design

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IN EVERY ISSUE

Come & admire the stylish & new creations from Denmark

B A R B A R A ’S B O U T I Q U E

B a r B a r a ’S

Come & admire the stylish & new creations from Denmark

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EDITOR’S NOTE

11 YAM CONFIDENTIAL

A bathroom décor contest, a sneak-peek at the next issue, and insights from our Home & Lifestyle columnist.

20

15 H ERE & NOW

Tiny homes, modern teal, tactile treasures and tips from our Design Insider.

B o u t i q u e

20 FOOD & DRINK

All about beets and when brunch becomes “brinner.”

By Cinda Chavich

26 GREAT SPACE Wild about walls.

By Kerry Slavens

28 HOME & LIFESTYLE

Craftsman architecture merges with West Coast artistry.

By Danielle Pope

66 STYLE WATCH Now available at: Baden-Baden Boutique!

Now available at: Baden-Baden Boutique!

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YAM MAGAZINE MAR/APR 2018

Distilled men’s style.

By Janine Metcalfe

70 SCENE

Capital City Ballroom plus Culture X3.

By David Lennam

74 DO TELL

The dark and light of writer Yasuko Thanh.

By David Lennam

26

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EDITOR’S NOTE

HAPPINESS, CLOSE TO HOME

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ast night, as I settled on the sofa with my newest book and began reading about ikigai, the Japanese concept of finding purpose in life, I found myself asking why so many North Americans, including me, feel compelled to overlay our lives with other cultures’ happiness formulas.

Last year, for instance, we adopted the idea of hygge Kerry Slavens, Editor-in-Chief from the Scandinavians and learned how nurturing and healthy it is to be cozy in our homes (as if winter-worn Canadians couldn’t figure that out on our own). Hygge was soon joined by a Swedish import called lagom, translated as “just the right amount” or “moderation,” and lykke, a Danish word meaning “happiness.”

This year’s home and lifestyle trend is döstädning, a concept popularized in the new book The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter.

Döstädning is traditionally the practice of sorting out one’s home in preparation for death, but apparently now we shouldn’t wait until the Grim Reaper is nigh — we need to death clean now!

I actually did some death cleaning well before the book came out, tossing out bad poems from university days, relegating pictures of old boyfriends to an envelope labelled, “ These people mean nothing to me now, but just in case I ever write a memoir ...” and generally getting rid of junk I’d never want my family to be burdened with when I kick the bucket. _______________

Available in bar and counter heights and featuring spectator height (seat height 34")

I think the reason we like to read about other cultures’ secrets to happiness is twofold. First, it helps us to reflect back on our own lives and inspires ways to improve them. Second, North America’s tendency to commodify everything (from cars to happiness) can, at times, feel soulless. So we search and we search and when we come up empty in our own culture, we follow trendy concepts from far away.

But perhaps the secret to happiness isn’t across the world? Maybe it’s nearer and dearer than we think. When I think back, I can still feel what it was like to be at my grandmother’s house in the deep winter, tucked between flannel sheets with a hot water bottle at my feet as a blizzard rattled the windowpanes. That’s hygge.

I remember my friend Star inviting me to a spring picnic at her writing hut in a wildflower meadow. We drank wine, ate Metchosin pizza and laughed as the sun set.

That’s lykke. And I think of the book I am writing (albeit very, very slowly) and how, just knowing there’s a story I must tell drives me to carry on, often cursing my way through the paragraphs. That’s ikigai.

It’s all right here, as it should be. I don’t have a name for my secret to happiness, but if I were pressed to come up with one I think I’d just call it gratitude.

Completely customizable colours and fabrics and many more styles available in store Max Furniture is locally owned and operated in Victoria since 2008

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YAM MAGAZINE MAR/APR 2018

Email me at kslavens@pageonepublishing.ca

~ Exploring Mount Maxwell on Salt Spring Island. ~ Inspired furnishings and personalized options with complimentary design services from our talented interior designers.

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luxevictoria.ca

VICTORIA’S LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE

UNIQUE MEN’S AND WOMEN’S FOOTWEAR, LEGWEAR & ACCESSORIES

PUBLISHERS Lise Gyorkos, Georgina Camilleri EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Kerry Slavens

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY Jeffrey Bosdet

PRODUCTION MANAGER Jennifer Kühtz EDITORIAL DESIGNER Janice Hildybrant

DEPUTY EDITOR Athena McKenzie

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Karin Olafson PROOFREADER Sarah Weber CONTRIBUTING DESIGNER Jo-Ann Loro

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Cinda Chavich, Christin Geall, David Lennam, Lana Lounsbury, Jody Paterson, Danielle Pope

CONTRIBUTING FASHION EDITOR Janine Metcalfe

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Jeffrey Bosdet, Joshua Lawrence CONTRIBUTING AGENCIES Alamy p. 60; iStock p. 23; Living4Media p. 38; Masterfile p. 22; Thinkstock pp. 57, 63; Unsplash pp. 11, 54

ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVES Deana Brown, Sharon Davies, Cynthia Hanischuk

1 0 2 3 F o r t St r e e t , V i c t o r i a B C M o n- Sa t 1 0 a m - 6 p m c on tac t@h e ar t a nd so l e sho e s. c a

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250 920 7653

GENERAL INQUIRIES info@yammagazine.com

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ON THE COVER The stylish Railyards home of Cristian Arostegui and Hilary Cochrane.

Photo by Joshua Lawrence

Published by PAGE ONE PUBLISHING 580 Ardersier Road, Victoria, BC V8Z 1C7 T 250-595-7243 info@pageonepublishing.ca pageonepublishing.ca

Printed in Canada by Transcontinental Printing.

Ideas and opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of Page One Publishing Inc. or its affiliates; no official endorsement should be inferred. The publisher does not assume any responsibility for the contents of any advertisement, and any and all representations or warranties made in such advertising are those of the advertiser and not the publisher. No part of this magazine may be reproduced, in all or part, in any form — printed or electronic — without the express permission of the publisher. The publisher cannot be held responsible for unsolicited manuscripts and photographs.

Canadian Publications Mail Product Sales Agreement #41295544 ADVERTISE IN YAM MAGAZINE YAM is Victoria’s lifestyle magazine, connecting readers to the distinctive lifestyle and authentic luxury of the West Coast. For advertising info, please call 250-595-7243 or email sales@yammagazine.com.

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YAM MAGAZINE MAR/APR 2018

Taking care of ‘ U ’

YAM CONFIDENTIAL

in the heart of Oaklands

For this Home Issue, we asked Danielle Pope, YAM’s Home & Lifestyle writer, to share three lessons she’s learned during several years of writing about fabulous homes and condos in our city.

TJ HOLLOWAYCHUK

“Your home,” says Danielle, “should be the place that fills you with ease, that gives you space to feel creative and allows you to rest at the end of each day. No matter what other parameters you place around it, your home should, in a word, be you.

“From all the interviews I’ve held with experts in the home and design field, here are the three big takeaways I’ve heard: • Less is always more. Even the best ideas can be overdone.

• Surround yourself with things that bring you joy.

• Plan for the long term, but not at the expense of what you really want. Yes, resale value matters, but so do your preferences.

With that magic trio, it’s a near guarantee your home will suit your needs.

Happy creating!”

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Visit yammagazine.com for contest details and to enter. Contest ends April 19, 2018. Good luck!

COMING UP IN YAM…

HOME LESSONS LEARNED

CLASSIC FRY PAN SET MADE IN SWITZERLAND

WHAT’S LOCAL, LIVABLE AND LOVABLE? Find out as YAM celebrates our unique Victoria vibe in our upcoming CITY ISSUE, available May 1.

Discover the top 50 reasons to love Victoria, visit a stylish laneway home in Cook Street Village and an unusual urban live/work space on the creative edge of downtown. Tune into culinary talk about tacos and some private thoughts on public art.

It’s all designed with our city in mind.

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YAM MAGAZINE MAR/APR 2018

11

LIVE INSPIRED

Your best life begins with a home that inspires you.

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HERE &NOW

LITTLE LUXURIES Who says you have to sacrifice style to embrace a tiny home lifestyle? This custom 24' Kestrall home from Rewild Homes in Nanaimo features hardwood floors, fir trim and birch cabinetry. Tiny luxuries include a granite sink and butcher-block counters, a gas stove, a bathtub with a view and an unbelievable amount of storage. As Leonardo da Vinci said, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.�

YAM MAGAZINE MAR/APR 2018

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HERE &NOW

1

2

3

4

5 12

6 11

MODERN

10

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TEAL This trending tone works wonderfully as a primary colour on walls, but it’s equally evocative as an accent and makes a contemporary statement in cosmetics.

7

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YAM MAGAZINE MAR/APR 2018

1 The Brilliance sconce by Koket features an agate stone and dramatic rays of metal (lightology.com, $3,200) // 2 Rent a colourful piece of art — such as Miles Lowry’s Moonflame — through the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria’s Massey Sales Gallery (aggv.ca) // 3 The Float sconce has elongated proportions, coloured glass and a sweeping brass stem (articololighting.com, price upon request) // 4 Sherwin-Williams colour of the year for 2018 is a rich, bluishgreen hue named Oceanside (sherwinwilliams.ca, price depends on finish) 5 The flared back, tufted accents and tapered birch legs up the style quotient of Uttermost’s Dak chair (Luxe Home Interiors, starting price $995) // 6 Hobo Bags offers a fun variety of bags and wallets — like the Rachel wallet — in the teal tone “Jasper” (line carried at She She Bags, $138) // 7 Nixon’s Kensington watch is an update on heirloom styles (watchit.ca, $215) // 8 Handloomed from New Zealand wool, this ombré rug is a step up from the standard solid (CB2, starting at $499) // 9 Go for the wow factor with M.A.C’s Show and Teal matte lipstick (visit maccosmetics.ca for local retailers, $22) 10 Butter London’s Bang On is a deep teal tone to dress up your nails (Pharmasave Broadmead, $24) // 11 Get glamourous with Diane von Furstenberg’s animal-print sunglasses (Hudson’s Bay, $136) // 12 The Gemma fan earrings possess a striking fanned fringe with a subtle sparkle (visit stelladot.com for local retailers, $22)

DESIGNINSIDER

By Lana Lounsbury Registered interior designer, Lana Lounsbury Interiors

EYE OF THE DESIGNER As a designer, I always get asked, “What is the first thing you notice about someone’s home?” For me, the first thing is always the people who live in the home and how they bring their personalities to it. But after meeting the homeowners, here are the top three things that grab my attention. I hope these tips give you “designer eyes” of your own to see your house from a fresh perspective.

1

WALL WISDOM The most obvious problem I notice when I first enter homes is the wall colour. Sometimes, it’s just wrong. For instance, a homeowner may have intended to paint walls in a cheerful yellow, but the result reminds everyone of neon highlighter. Even designers don’t always get it right, especially when experimenting! To get the colour you really want, don’t rely on small paint chips that don’t allow your eye to process colour on a large scale. Instead, ask for paint samples you can take home and view in situ.

Blues and yellows can be tough to get right because of the undertones. Two that go well are Benjamin Moore’s CC-700 Smoky Green (left) and CC-170 Honey Harbour

CC-170

3

2

LIGHTING

Lighting is usually an afterthought for both home builders and home buyers, so changing it up is a prime opportunity to give your interior that wow factor. Since lighting is often a focal point, it’s the perfect way to show off your style and bring personality to your home. For instance, Visual Comfort’s Cynara chandelier in white and gold is the perfect way to bring a touch of whimsy and character to an otherwise sleekly modern dining room.

WINDOW COVERINGS If your home still features those one-inch metal Venetian blinds with a few slats missing, then your windows are begging for an update. In choosing a new product, remember that blinds can and should do a lot for you, from energy savings to controlling the light quality to adding that perfect touch of style. And do consider blinds with a lift system: HunterDouglas Pirouette shades with a motorized PowerView lift are one of my favourites for functionality and style.

Visual Comfort’s Cynara chandelier

Above: HunterDouglas Pirouette Shades

SHAPE SHIFTER

CATHIE FERGUSON

CATHIE FERGUSON

W

ith each of her sculptural projects, contemporary ceramic artist Samantha Dickie seeks to create distinct geographies of space.

“I have always been drawn to the raw tactility of clay,” says the Victoria-based artist. “And I aim to keep that visceral earthy quality in the finished piece to preserve the natural characteristics that I love.”

Her work can be found in her home studio and at Madrona Gallery, and at Two Rivers Gallery in Prince George as part of its multidisciplinary Fences exhibition, which runs until April 1.

Dickie will also be one of the artists at the Fired Up! ceramics exhibit at the Metchosin Community Hall from May 25 to 27.

Currently, she is focusing on a large-scale installation for the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery in Ontario “The piece, called All We Can Do is Keep Breathing, is comprised of 1,500 hanging porcelain components along with a soundscape,” she says. “My feminist politics inform my esthetic of highlighting the unadorned and imperfection of beauty in my specific use of form and surface.” samanthadickie.com

Carved porcelain (above) and atoms (left) were created by Samantha Dickie from highfired porcelain. Her porcelain collection explores ideas of urban and natural landscapes through simple organic forms.

YAM MAGAZINE MAR/APR 2018

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Natural, sumptuous textures add an inviting, organic esthetic to your home. Luckily, Victoria is blessed with numerous textile artists creating beautiful — and functional — wares.

MATERIAL GIRLS For Heather Dewy and Suzuna Nagamine — the weavers of Wovenwares — unique textiles add life to a home.

They weave their simple and stunning wares from carefully selected materials, such as local alpaca wool from Vancouver Island’s Hinterland yarns used in their rugs.

Their favourite homeware to create is their squares: “They are totally multi-functional and come in all sizes filling many purposes,” Nagamine says. “Bath or kitchen towel, handkerchief and napkin, to be used in every room of the house.” wovenwares.xyz Dewy and Nagamine use a herringbone pattern in their multi-purpose squares, which are made from organic cotton and linen.

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YAM MAGAZINE MAR/APR 2018

KNOW YOUR KNOTS

SWEET HEIRLOOM PHOTOGRAPHY

TACTILE TREASURES

HERE &NOW

From bohemian wall hangings to retro plant hangers, the pieces by Danielle Roy of Art + Soul Creative are made with the intricate knots of macramé. The Duncan-based artist believes macramé is a fun way to add character and natural elements to any space.

“Being that I’m an Island girl, I use any excuse to scour our beaches to collect local driftwood to use,” Roy says. “All my pieces are made with 100 per cent cotton fibre — many are also embellished with other elements like copper and natural crystals.” etsy.com/ca/shop/artsoulcreate

Made on a piece of driftwood foraged in Tofino, the above wallhanging contains naturally dyed 100 per cent cotton rope imported from Turkey.

EVERYDAY LUXE It was while working in the interior design industry that Amy Cripps of Margie Bella cultivated a deep appreciation for high-quality, unique and lovable products for the home. Her handpainted accent cushions reflect her background in fine art and her love for design.

“Throw pillows can easily transform a notso-magnificent piece of furniture into something spectacular,” Cripps says.

She thinks of her cushions as mini-painting studies, in which the hand-painted panels are constructed with 100 per cent cotton and the fabric paint is heatset with an iron. The materials used in the back panels of the cushions vary and are sometimes vintage and recycled fabrics, giving an extra unique touch. margiebella.com

n fashio f ind

The Penny accent cushion has a strip from a vintage Pendleton wool stripe incorporated into the front panel.

DOSE OF BEAUTIFUL

Boho, Gypset, modern romantic — however you describe this enduring style, you can find it at Shabby Rabbit Clothing, the new boutique on Oak Bay Avenue.

With breezy silhouettes, gorgeous fabrics and fine embellishments, the store offers a one-of-akind alternative to trendy fast fashion.

“This look appeals to a woman who is hip and confident, and who loves quality and individuality,” says owner Bernadette Doyle (who goes by Bunny.)

“I don’t want to be wearing what everybody else is wearing and I don’t want to carry stuff that anybody else has got.”

From the luxuriously layerable elements of the Magnolia Pearl line (shown above) to the simple printed tees from Om & Ah London to the fun wraparound bracelets from the fundraiser Good Work(s) Make a Difference, each piece is carefully selected by Doyle.

As Doyle puts it, “This is my dose of beautiful.”

January to August 2018 Continuing EDUCATION Classes starting every day, evening, and weekend.

Register now camosun.ca/ce 250-370-3550 (option 2)

YAM MAGAZINE MAR/APR 2018

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FOOD&DRINK

AND THE BEET GOES ON Ancient Greeks considered the beet to be an aphrodisiac, and while that may be debatable, there’s so much to love about Aphrodite’s favourite food.

JEFFREY BOSDET/YAM MAGAZINE

By Cinda Chavich

OLO’s beet salad is a marriage of roasted and fresh beets, watercress, endive, fresh cheese and a colourful beet sorbet.

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T

here’s no getting around it — in the waning days of winter, buying fresh, local vegetables is a challenge.

Then again, we always have root vegetables to get us through until the first flush of fresh greens and spring asparagus appears in the market. And for me, that means embracing the beet.

The beet is an interesting outlier in the vegetable world. Originally grown for its tender greens, the bulbous beetroot has a sweet and earthy flavour, something you either love or loathe.

But before you turn up your nose, consider the upside of this humble root. That deep red juice that stains your hands when you peel a bunch of beets is their unique calling card. It’s what gives a bowl of borscht its brilliant garnet hue and what makes beets so incredibly good for you. Betalains — the phytonutrients that give beets their dark red colour — put beets on the health-food greatest-hits list. They are rich in potassium, folic acid and fibre too.

Some studies even suggest the ruby red juice of the beet can reduce blood pressure, increase stamina and fight cancer.

BEETS ARE BIG CHEF FAVOURITES Beyond the red Detroit beet, we can now routinely find sweet, locally grown yellow beets or Italian Chioggia beets, with their pretty pink and white concentric circles.

Though they don’t have the same nutrients as the red beet, yellow beets, like other yellow and orange-fleshed vegetables, contain beta-carotene and vitamins and are milder in flavour than red beets.

And, in the hands of today’s creative chefs, a beet is a beautiful thing. You can’t open a local menu without bumping into a beet or two.

OLO makes a refreshing beet salad with fresh cheese, walnuts, cress and raspberry-beet sorbet. The chefs at Part and Parcel combine golden beets with persimmon, bitter radicchio, feta and tahini sauce. At Nourish, the roasted beet and carrot soup is flavoured with spicy harissa and drizzled with cashew cream, while warm beets and lentils are served with shaved fennel, apple and poppy-seed sauce.

Be Love recognizes the healthy and colourful beauty of beets, whether they’re rolled into nori with brown rice, avocado and burdock in the Vitality Roll, or added to the steamy quinoa Macrobiotic Bowl or a rejuvenating Earth Blood Tonic.

The chefs at AURA have served me an elegant Yukon Gold potato and aged cheddar perogy, garnished with golden beets and a dusting of dehydrated red beet powder, and a sweet beet broth with pickled golden beet, a red beet marshmallow, and a swirl of dillinfused cream.

At the other end of the culinary scale, one of my favourite food trucks takes beets into gourmet fast-food territory. DeadBeetz tops its signature Beatrice free-range beef burger with slabs of house-pickled beets, a shockingly simple but effective combination.

Or you can visit the local Ukrainian Cultural Centre, as I often do, for the baba-made borscht and perogies, and the annual Borscht Festival that lets you taste a variety of family borscht recipes created by competitive home cooks.

BEST WAYS TO BUY, PREPARE AND SERVE BEETS The fact that we can grow beets across Canada and store them long into the winter means they’re available nearly year-round, which is another reason they’re an enduring staple on local menus.

Buy young beets with the fresh tops attached or older beets throughout the winter.

Beets can be stored for a month in the crisper of your refrigerator, or you can precook and freeze them to use later. If you’ve harvested your own beets in the fall, they can be kept for several months, buried in sand, in a wooden box, in a cold root cellar or garage.

Steaming is the easiest way to cook beets. You don’t even need to peel them — simply cut off the beet tops (saving them for salads or sautées), snip the long root ends, then scrub the beets and steam them whole in a saucepan.

When the beets are tender, rinse them under cold running water to remove the skins.

Roasting is another simple solution that really concentrates the sugars in beets and intensifies their flavour. Just scrub them, drizzle them with a little olive oil and salt, wrap loosely in foil and bake in a 375°F oven until tender (about 45 to 60 minutes for a medium or large beet). Then you can easily slip off the skins and quarter or slice the beets for side dishes or salads.

Here are some ideas for serving up your beets in a delicious way: Small steamed or roasted beets can be served whole, simply tossed with a little butter, sea salt and black pepper. A bit of minced fresh dill is also beautiful with beets.

In the hands of today’s creative chefs, a beet is a beautiful thing.

You can’t open a local menu without bumping into a beet or two.

9 WAYS TO LOVE THE BEET

1 To roast beets, wash well, wrap loosely in foil, and roast at 375°F for 45 to 60 minutes, then peel and toss with butter or balsamic vinegar.

2 Use a spiral slicer to cut beets into thin, curly “pasta” to lightly steam or serve raw in salads.

3 Toss hot cooked beet slices with a combination of sugar and red wine vinegar and set aside to cool for a quick pickle.

4 Blend raw peeled beets with apples, almond milk, and ginger, and blend for a healthy purple smoothie.

5 Dress cooked and

shredded red beets and chopped onion with a sweetened vinegar and Dijon dressing.

6 Slice roasted yellow

beets into wedges and toss with some baby greens, toasted walnuts, crumbled blue cheese, and walnut oil vinaigrette for a sophisticated salad.

7 Mix cooked cubed red

beets with lemon juice, sour cream or yogurt, and dill for a colorful (fuchsia) side salad.

8 Use the beet greens too. Shred and sauté with garlic like you would spinach or chard and add to pasta dishes, or season with balsamic vinegar as a side dish.

9 Slow cook red onions

with balsamic vinegar until thick and syrupy and toss with diced roasted beets for a warm side dish or condiment (best if chilled overnight and reheated).

YAM MAGAZINE MAR/APR 2018

21

Make crispy beet chips — simply peel, slice thin, toss with olive oil and bake for 20 to 30 minutes at 350°F.

GOLDEN BEET SOUP

This is my version of the gorgeous, award-winning golden beet borscht created by Pawlina Demchuk MacQuarrie for the Borschtfest at Victoria’s Ukrainian Cultural Centre.

• 6 to 8 medium yellow beets, roasted • 1 tbsp olive oil • Salt • 1/3 cup butter • 1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion • 1 1/2 cups chopped fresh mushrooms • 3 cups shredded cabbage, divided • 1 cup diced potatoes • 2 cups diced rutabaga • 1 cup shredded carrots • 1/2 cup chopped fresh dill, divided • 8 to 10 cups broth (mushroom or chicken broth) • 2 tsp salt • 1 tsp black pepper

Try slicing the beets while warm — especially the pretty Chioggia beets with their concentric pink and white circles — and drizzling them with a little white balsamic vinegar or fresh lemon juice. The acid lightly pickles the beets, and you can serve them hot, at room temperature or even chilled.

Another idea? Make crispy beet chips.

Simply peel, slice thin, toss with olive oil and bake for 20 to 30 minutes at 350°F. Blue cheese and beets are a match made in heaven. Top a green salad with chopped, roasted beets and crumbled Stilton, or layer sliced roasted beets with creamy Gorgonzola and sliced pears in a stacked salad drizzled with a sweet vinaigrette.

Citrusy dressings made with olive oil, orange juice, Dijon mustard and sea salt bring out the best in beets. This combination is perfect with golden yellow beets.

Creamy sour-cream sauces infused with horseradish, mustard, minced green onion or fresh mint are also perfect to drizzle over warm beets. Or shred roasted red beets and combine with Greek yogurt, garlic and dill for a fuchsia pink tzatziki to serve alongside grilled lamb kebabs.

For a warm side dish or condiment, slow cook red onions in olive oil with balsamic vinegar until thick and syrupy, then toss with diced 22

YAM MAGAZINE MAR/APR 2018

roasted beets for a warm side dish or condiment (best if chilled overnight and reheated).

A classic beet and vegetable soup, or borscht, is what I tell kids is my “purple soup.” Swirl some fresh sour cream in at the end to create a lovely fuchsia mixture. Or for an elegant dinner party starter, whirl your beet soup up in the food processor to create a smooth purée, then add sweet or sour cream to make a pretty pink sipper, served warm or chilled in little white coffee cups with a bit of sautéed sweet cabbage or a sprig of dill.

Beets marry well with beef. Use beef broth or bones in your borscht, shred a little raw beet into your meatloaf mixture or sauté up a classic Red Flannel Hash with chopped potatoes, beets, onions, garlic and corned beef, and top with poached eggs for breakfast.

Apples, ginger and beets make a healthy morning juice or smoothie. Or consider a cocktail of prairie Crown Royal rye with beet juice and rhubarb bitters.

Some cooks even like to hide healthy shredded beets in chocolate cakes or use a purple beet purée in place of the typical food colouring for their red velvet pancakes.

There’s good reason why the beet, blessed with beauty, flavour and a host of healthful benefits, continues to evoke love from chefs and food lovers alike.

• 1 to 2 tbsp lemon juice or white balsamic vinegar (to taste) To roast beets, wrap loosely in foil, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt.

Bake at 375°F for 45 to 60 minutes, until beets can easily be pierced with a knife.

Cool slightly, peel and set aside.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large pot and sauté the chopped onion over medium heat for 5 minutes, until starting to brown. Add the chopped mushrooms and continue to cook, stirring, until the mushrooms are softened.

Stir in half the cabbage and sauté five minutes longer. Then add the potatoes, rutabaga, carrots, remaining cabbage and half the dill. Add the broth, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes, just until the potato and rutabaga are cooked.

Shred or chop the roasted beets. Add to the soup with the remaining chopped dill, and heat the soup for 10 minutes.

Season to taste with salt, pepper and vinegar. Serve immediately or chill overnight and reheat for serving.

NOTE: You can also shred the beets raw and add them to the soup after the first 30 minutes of cooking. Simmer until the beets are cooked — 20 to 30 minutes longer — then stir in the dill and seasoning before serving.

Makes eight servings.

SPRING GREENS PIE

This is the perfect way to get healthy beet greens into your diet — a crustless quiche for a lovely brunch or simple supper. Substitute chopped green garlic scapes (the sprouted tops of spring garlic) for the leeks and garlic if available.

M O D E R N KO R E A N C U I S I N E • 1 1/2 pounds shredded greens (beet greens, Swiss chard, dandelion greens, arugula, mustard greens), about 16 cups • 1 medium zucchini, shredded

AUTHENTIC KOREAN FLAVOURS THROUGH MODERN COOKING TECHNIQUES Bibim Bab / Stone Pot Kimchi Fried Rice / Marinated Short Rib Crispy Dumpling / Bulgogi / Ramen / Kimchi Stew

• 1/4 cup olive oil, divided • 2 cloves garlic, minced • 2 cups sliced leeks or chopped white onion

WINTER HOURS

• 1/2 red or yellow bell pepper, finely chopped

Lunch 11:30am-2:30pm Dinner 4:30-8:30pm

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper • 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

P E R S I M M ON

TREE

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• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil or dill • 4 large eggs • 1/4 cup heavy cream • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan, divided • 1/4 cup grated Swiss cheese • 1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs Remove the stems from the beet greens and chard and chop, then set aside. Roll the leaves tightly and slice into thin ribbons. Repeat with remaining greens.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large nonstick sauté pan and cook the shredded greens and zucchini over medium-high heat until tender and most of the liquid is gone, about 10 minutes.

Transfer to a strainer and set over a bowl (or sink) to drain for 15 minutes.

Place in a large bowl.

In the same sauté pan, heat another tablespoon of the olive oil over medium heat and sauté the garlic, leeks (or onion), beet and chard stems and bell pepper until tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and transfer to bowl with greens. Stir in the chopped fresh herbs.

In another bowl, whisk the eggs with the cream and half of the grated Parmesan. When the vegetables have cooled slightly, combine with the egg mixture.

Pour into an shallow oiled 10-inch gratin pan.

Combine remaining Parmesan, Swiss cheese, bread crumbs and remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a bowl. Sprinkle evenly over the pie.

Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until pie is set and browned. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting into wedges.

Makes six servings.

BELGIAN EYEWEAR THAT SUBTLY CASTS A NEW LIGHT ON DESIGN

CLIENT: MAYCOCK EYECARE YAM MAGAZINE MAR/APR 2018 PUBLICATION: YAM MAGAZINE SHIPPING DATE: JAN 29, 2018; AD SIZE: 4.94” x 4.7”

23

Beauty comes from being yourself.

For those with a unique sense of style and a love of natural textiles ...

tastes + trends

By Cinda Chavich

BRUNCH, LUNCH, BRINNER A new book about Canada’s brunch capital will convince you that breakfast is really an “anytime, anywhere” type of meal.

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YAM MAGAZINE MAR/APR 2018

Paul Barron, BA, CIM

Portfolio Manager, Assistant Branch Manager

V

ictoria has a decidedly healthy café scene. Hearty breakfasts that morph into late brunches — with locally roasted coffees — are de rigueur here, earning the city the title of Brunch Capital of Canada.

Which is why local photographer Rebecca Wellman decided to chronicle our obsession with morning meals in her new book, First We Brunch (Touchwood Editions).

“Victoria is a breakfast/brunch/lunch town above all else,” says Wellman. “Brunch makes a very leisurely group gathering — it’s almost as though it’s replaced dinner here.”

At 300-plus pages, First, We Brunch features dozens of local spots to dine out for eggs every way, and includes profiles of some of the city’s fine local producers of morning meal essentials, from eggs to artisan sausage.

Over 300 shops & services.

REBECCA WELLMAN

Wellman includes some of the city’s best stops for a takeaway breakfast sandwich, places to shop for ingredients, and lots of breakfast and brunch recipes collected from local chefs. You’ll even find instructions for shaking up some eye-opening morning cocktails.

It’s all part of the “brinner” (a.k.a. “breakfast for dinner”) trend in the restaurant world, but Victoria is ahead of the curve.

In fact, you’ll find locals and visitors lining up seven days a week to be served at breakfast hot spots such as The Village cafés (where Eggs Benedict has become a bit of an art form), The Ruby (with its famous rotisserie chicken and waffles), Jam Café and Shine.

“I think maybe there’s an economic factor — Victoria has a lot of students and young entrepreneurs who may not have the funds to do big dinners,” Wellman says. “The most prominent demographic in the brunch crowd is 20- to 35-yearolds, and they do breakfast and lunch meetings here every day.”

A few dinner spots have even added creative brunch offerings to the mix. Many restaurants (think Agrius, Saveur, Fishhook and Northern Quarter) are taking egg dishes into new territory, whether it’s egg and perogy breakfast hash, Middle Eastern poached eggs in spicy shakshouka sauce or paneer poutine with smoked sablefish and eggs.

“Chefs have caught on,” says Wellman, “and have designed beautiful, curated breakfast menus.”

Which is why it’s hard to decide where to head for brunch — and why Wellman’s book is such an essential guide for breakfast lovers.

“It started with 35 places for brunch but there are 52 in the book and could be more — the research is endless,” says Wellman.

“Victorians love their morning meal.”

YAM MAGAZINE MAR/APR 2018

25

GREAT SPACE

d l i WWALLS

2

1

When it comes to giving your home interior a powerful style surge for 2018, think wallpaper and decals bursting with untamed botanicals, bold florals and confident brushstrokes. As part of this unapologetically wild trend, don’t be afraid to go “off the wall” by papering or decaling ceilings, headboards, room dividers and anything else that strikes your fancy. And because today’s wallpaper is easy to apply and remove, you have full permission to experiment.

1 Handmade watercolour mural in grey, green and blue splashes from Anewall, featuring photography by The Nickersons (Anewall, anewall.com) // 2 Each Water & Ink Florals wall decal pack contains 18 muted blue blooms; arrange them to fill your space (Urban Walls, uwdecals.com) // 3 Biosphere 01 in cherry blossom by artist David Palmer (Rollout, rollout.ca) 4 FEATHR Baltic Sea wallpaper pattern by Helsinki illustrator Teija Vartiainen (Finest Wallpaper, finestwallpaper.com) // 5 Olivia Floral wallpaper in red motif (Anthropologie, anthropologie.com) // 6 Arizona wallpaper in a gecko colour scheme by Scion from the Nuevo collection (available through Design District) // 7 Groundworks Crescent paper in gold/ivory (Lee Jofa, leejofa.com) // 8 Amazon-inspired Kelapa wallpaper from Harlequin’s Zapara collection (available through Design District) // 9 Large Pink Brush Strokes wall decals in coral pink and yellow; kit includes 165 decals (Urban Walls, uwdecals.com) 10 Nana (Blue) from designer Justina Blakeney on clay-coated paper (Hygge & West, hyggeandwest.com)

10

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YAM MAGAZINE MAR/APR 2018

9

8

3

4

5

6 Rollout’s wallpaper is based on artist David Palmer’s painting Biosphere 01 (acrylic on canvas, 36 x 48 inches, 2015)

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YAM MAGAZINE MAR/APR 2018

27

HOME&LIFESTYLE

CRAFTSMAN ARCHITECTURE MERGES WITH WEST COAST ARTISTRY IN A CUSTOM OCEANFRONT HOME WHOSE BEAUTY IS THE RESULT OF A BALANCE OF OPPOSITES.

By Danielle Pope // Photos by Gary McKinstry

W

alking into one of Ten Mile Point’s most unique and beautiful homes is like stepping into a heightened reality of what it means to live on the West Coast. A great chiselled wood door draws you into a spectacular entry featuring tall, edge-grained Douglas fir beams and a wooded interior that’s as grand as it is cozy. This is a home whose ocean views never let you forget how near to the water you are — and when temptation to actually be on the ocean calls, kayaks are stowed within easy access in a custom garage. On stormy days, the great room offers front-row seating to any weather event.

This custom home is the brainchild of Dennis Moore, principal at D.H. Moore Architect, in collaboration with a team of experts and two passionate homeowners. It’s a home that took time to come together, and the remarkable result is that it blends a contemporary sensibility with the feeling that it has existed in its coastal surroundings forever.

The home represents the “next chapter” for two empty nesters who wanted to create a space that was “more than a house,” says Moore.

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YAM MAGAZINE MAR/APR 2018

BEAUTY

IN BALANCE

Edged into the rock of a pie-shaped property at Ten Mile Point, this home showcases winning West Coast views.

Although the house is located on the seafront, it maintains its privacy from the front and back with strategically preserved foliage, stone and tree features.

YAM MAGAZINE MAR/APR 2018

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The open-concept living/ dining room showcases the home’s connection to its environment. Window walls frame Flower Island, Douglas fir beams mimick the trunks of trees and a granite wall hearth ties in the rock outside. Architect Dennis Moore focused on creating spaces that could shift from large and welcoming to small and cozy. While the living room can host a large gathering, it also features a pair of chairs, perfect for intimate conversations.

Over the mantel, a sliding wall opens to a robust entertainment centre, or closes to showcase a wall hanging, custom made for the owners by Indigenous artist Corrine Hunt. The fireplace face stone, in Carmanah Black marble, acts as a beautiful offset for this artwork.

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YAM MAGAZINE MAR/APR 2018

“THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT WAS THE BIGGEST VOICE IN INFLUENCING THE SCHEMATICS OF THE DESIGN.” “This space was more than a house,” says Moore. “It was designed carefully and deliberately to capture an environment that would be comfortable and intimate for two people, but could easily host great gatherings.

It would be a place for their family to evolve.”

In order to work with the unusual pie-shaped property line, Moore and the homeowners met countless times in the former house on the site to shore up their ideas for transforming the property. Their solution was to turn the house slightly counterclockwise from the angle of the old home. This gave a splayed-wing shape to the house, says Moore, but in the confines of the land, it looks perfectly at ease.

YIN AND YANG The 6,500-square-foot home was designed with the goal of bringing a craftsman approach to the modern West Coast theme, and the home features a balance of spaciousness and coziness to meet the needs of the homeowners. Locally sourced materials were a prerequisite, but

the homeowners wanted to go one step further and include local and Indigenous art, including a custom wall hanging by Indigenous artist Corrine Hunt, to reflect the heritage of the region.

“Just as photographer Ansel Adams said, ‘An image is perfectly composed when it captures a spot of pure black and pure white,” explains Moore. “I’ve found a house is successful when it has these elements too.

So we aimed to bring in that yin and yang.”

White oak flooring is contrasted by charcoal porcelain tile, and sleek glass panelling is juxtaposed against a granite hearth wall. A repetition of angular sightlines is found throughout the home.

Hugh Owen, principal of Owen Contracting, says it’s rare to see a project where the homeowners honoured so many of the ideas of people who contributed to the project. Craftsmen, fine tradesmen and three interior designers were brought in for special projects. They included custom millworker Douglas Grant, who helped build a sliding peek-a-boo wall for the TV display, along

with the custom single-slab Oregon walnut dining table.

“The beauty of a house like this,” says Owen, “is that, even with the challenges, it’s that high attention to detail and great craftsmanship that makes everything look clean and simple.”

THE BIGGEST VOICE One of the most striking features of the home is the view of tiny Flower Island, which can be seen through two sets of windows at the front of the home. In fact, almost every square foot of the home offers strategic views, though this one is especially telling of Moore’s understanding of the space.

“The natural environment was the biggest voice in influencing the schematics of the design,” says Moore. “The property presented some interesting challenges but, as with nature, you have to work with them.

A lot of time and thought was put into how we’d do that.

“The end result is a place where you can experience life.”

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YAM MAGAZINE MAR/APR 2018

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“[THE HOUSE] WAS DESIGNED CAREFULLY AND DELIBERATELY TO CAPTURE AN ENVIRONMENT THAT WOULD BE COMFORTABLE AND INTIMATE FOR TWO PEOPLE, BUT COULD EASILY HOST GREAT GATHERINGS.”

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YAM MAGAZINE MAR/APR 2018

Natural stone, on which the house is built, plays a core role in this home’s motifs. From the kitchen counters and the hallway tile flooring, to the fireplace’s hearth and the feature wall in the master bedroom and bathroom, these elements of stonework draw in the sturdiness of the home’s foundation. The kitchen is also about balance, bringing in elements of light counters and dark cabinets to contrast the white oak flooring and glass tile backsplash. The dining room chandelier, custom designed by Bocci, brings dynamic light to the room. Intimate spaces are also created here, with a clever nook inviting guests to enjoy a quiet view over morning coffee.

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YAM MAGAZINE MAR/APR 2018

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The high-quality craftsmanship of the house is perhaps best showcased in the staircase and the ceiling above. While very minimal, both are highly detailed, and the ceiling shows the classic post and beam nature of the design, which is executed with a clean modern esthetic. A gallery wall of work from local artists completes the space.

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Left: From the second floor, the Juliet balcony in the master bedroom captures views of Flower, Chatham and Discovery islands. The homeowners marvel at how the scene changes every day, yet, even in storms, the house maintains its peaceful and cozy feel.

CUSTOM HANDCRAFTED LIVE EDGE FURNITURE AND LUXURY WOODEN DOORS INSPIRED BY PRIMARY LOGO

THE WEST COAST

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VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA

COLOUR PALETTE

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YAM MAGAZINE MAR/APR 2018

250-213-2733 karmanahwooddesign.com

The bathroom has a clean, contemporary look with a glass-wall shower, pedestal bathtub and heated Island White marble flooring. The fir ceiling and granite feature wall play up the natural elements of the house, while pendant lamps bring elegance to the small room. The homeowners were strategic with their artwork, and even the bathroom features its own showcase wall.

the

Hot life Offering the best in wOOd and gas heating appliances One Pot Wood Stove Lasagna

RESOURCES

• 500g extra lean ground beef or bison • 1 tbsp butter • 8 mushrooms • ½ white onion • 3 ribs of celery • 2 cups of raw spinach • 425g tub of ricotta cheese • 680g jar of tomato and basil sauce • 300g – 400g capricci or egg or broken up lasagna noodles

Architect: D.H.Moore / Architect (Dennis Moore M.A.I.B.C.) Construction manager: Owen Contracting Interior design: Christa Kueber, Adrianna Wooten, Delores Dixon, Dennis Moore M.A.I.B.C. Engineers: Hoel Engineering Plumber: Dave Turner Plumbing & Heating Electrician: VI Electric Doors and hardware: Victoria Speciality Hardware Tile: Decora Ceramic Tile and Natural Stone (suppliers), Ivan Gospodinov (installer)

Over high heat on wood stove, fry onion and mushrooms with butter in large pot. Add beef or bison and fry till brown. Add celery, spinach and tomato sauce, reduce heat.

Painting: Tony’s Painting and Decorating (Tony Moric and Joe Petrowski) Kitchen/bathroom millwork and custom millwork: Douglas Grant Cabinetmakers

Simmer for approximately 4 hours, stirring occasionally. Add pasta noodles, simmer while stirring occasionally till noodles are soft, approximately 1-2 hours.

Glass: Excalabor Glass & Aluminum Countertops: Stone Age Marble and Granite, Matrix Marble and Stone Custom Furniture: Douglas Grant Cabinetmakers

Stir in Ricotta cheese. Serve in bowls and garnish with shredded Parmesan.

Upholstery and fabrics: Running with Scissors Studio (Delores Dixon) Lighting consultant and supplier: Illuminations Lighting Solutions Landscape: Jonathan Craggs Garden Design, Bric Loc (installers)

For a full list of resources,visit yammagazine.com.

160 Burnside Rd. E 250-382-5421 amy@wilkstove.com www.wilkstove.com

YAM MAGAZINE MAR/APR 2018

37

Table talk

THE DINING TABLE IS SAID TO BE THE SOUL OF THE HOME — THE ONE PIECE OF FURNITURE THAT ENCOURAGES CONNECTION AND ENHANCES CULTURE. BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN IT CAN’T BE STYLISH.

By Danielle Pope

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YAM MAGAZINE MAR/APR 2018

The dining table is not only one of the biggest style statements in a home, it’s living art, the place where people gather, dine, share stories, debate, laugh over spilled milk or wine, fight, make up, toil over homework, create art and plan their futures.

D

ining tables have come a long way since their early beginnings as stone slabs in ancient Egypt.

By the Middle Ages in Britain and Europe, when nobility lived in manor houses or castles with multifunctional great halls, everyone would dine together at tables that resembled today’s long trestle tables with benches. The family would sit at the head table on a raised dais, while other people were seated in order of diminishing rank. Over time, the nobility began to develop a taste for more intimate gatherings in smaller parlours — forerunners of modern dining rooms — right up to the late 20th century when the era of multitasking arrived.

These days, dining tables also double as workstations, homework hot spots and meeting areas, and dining has become a less formal affair. In fact, many homeowners have said no to building dining rooms into their homes, preferring expanded kitchens or great rooms instead.

But even without dining rooms, the desire for dining tables has remained.

Novelist Ian Sansom delved into our need for the table in his BBC essay Furniture — A Personal History of Movable Objects. He said, “We put a deal on the table. We drink someone under the table — and then we turn the tables on them. The table is the place where we interact with others — with family, friends, colleagues, rivals and enemies. The value of a table, like all pieces of furniture, lies in its history. We might make it, but furniture in turn makes us. It shapes us, defines us, and determines our everyday lives.”

Elaine Balkwill, a designer at Luxe Home Interiors, recognizes the deep significance

tables can have in our lives.

“My dad had a hook on one hand,” she says, “and there are still marks on the table from where his hook would hit the wood. There are also marks from my kids doing their homework, and they’ve graduated now. This is what it’s all about — a table is a living piece of furniture in your home, and you want to make your memories with it.”

And that’s why now, as much as ever, the table — no matter how humble or how ornate — is still a cultural icon.

THE RIGHT TABLE FOR YOU “Today,” Balkwill says, “people are seeking tables that will be as artistic and conversational as they are functional.”

At Luxe, tables run the gamut from Shakerstyle to statement pieces, such as designer Timothy Oulton’s round Rex table, which is softly lit from within, glowing like an art deco chandelier, or his Zodiac table, a rectangular marble-topped model which combines ancient classicism and modern glam with a patterned top reminiscent of an Escher optical illusion.

“Depending on your creativity, your dining table can also be the boldest statement of your home,” says Curtis Vertefeuille, owner of Moe’s Home Victoria, whose downtown Victoria store features its own statement pieces, including the concrete-topped Amari dining table.

“That’s the power of a good table — it adds soul,” says Vertefeuille.

Soul, substance and style — with so much importance placed on the dining table, is it any wonder people often struggle to decide on just the right one. Do you go with a classic wood table? Modern-vintage look?

MARIA GIBERT/LIVING4MEDIA

The Triplicity table from Autonomous is a contemporary choice, getting its distinct look from the juxtaposition of the solid spalted maple top and clear acrylic legs.

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Nuevo Versailles table Cambria Hampshire Waterstone marble top

A contemporary classic? A custom-made live-edge table made from reclaimed Island wood? What about a refinished antique?

If you are driven by trends, you may be drawn to tables made from deep brown woods or with stone tops. Both are popular for 2018. Vertefeuille says trendsavvy people may switch up their home furnishings, including the dining table, as often as every decade.

But others want to purchase a dining table that will last for generations and are ruled by quality and durability, as much as style.

“Whether it’s for now or forever, consider one thing when picking your table, Vertefeuille adds. “It has to suit your current needs and potential future needs.”

Every table has advantages and drawbacks. While a trestle table may looks romantic in a country-style home, this format is best for long tables (eight to 12 seats), and whoever sits at the end may have to compete with the trestle’s beams.

A round table creates an environment of equality, but takes up space and won’t fit as many chairs. A standard Parsons or square table offers a clean, modern look, but chairs are forced between rigid legs.

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Andre table

Bellini Modern Living Thin table

Otago table

WHAT MATERIAL IS BEST FOR YOU? Woods like mahogany, walnut, maple, teak or oak are typically sturdy, long lasting and require lower maintenance. Just wipe away spills and spray on a wood conditioner every few weeks.

Seasonal wax applications will help keep wood from drying.

The Nuevo Versailles table from Parc Modern features a seared solid oak top with a live edge.

Pine is a popular option, but being a soft wood it does mark up more easily. If you expect your table to get lots of wear and tear, choose a wood that has a patina or is distressed.

Marble is timelessly beautiful, but it is a soft stone, which makes it prone to staining and scratching. Cambria’s natural stone (find a local supplier at cambriacanada.com), such as their Hampshire Waterstone can be used to create a unique, custom table.

Wood veneers can be attractive, but cheaply made ones tend to be delicate, so be sure to protect surfaces from hot dishes or spills, which may mark or warp them. Unlike real wood, veneered tables can’t be easily refinished if they chip, peel or scratch.

Tempered glass — like the glass and metal Andre table from Max Furniture — adds a feeling of spaciousness to a room but may show every fingerprint and require constant polishing.

Ceramic, as seen in the extendable Thin table from Bellini Modern Living, available through Sager’s Fine Furniture, is a striking and durable option.

Metal-finish tables, such as the stainless steel and lacquer Otago dining table, available from Moe’s Home Victoria, make a definite style statement. Soft metals may scratch or dent easily, which is not a problem if you don’t mind a look with a slightly worn-in appeal.

Here are some other considerations to look at before you buy: What’s your style? Stone tops and deep brown woods are popular for 2018, but don’t feel like you have to abide by trends. Instead, take some time to consider your style. Is it a mix of modern and vintage? Is it a trendy semi-industrial? Or is it rustic or elegant? You don’t have to match the table exactly to your style either.

“A customer recently purchased a live-edge wood table with iron legs for a modern home, and it anchored the space beautifully,” says Vertefeuille of Moe’s Home.

How will your dining table be used? Tables

are shrinking in width, a trend symbolizing a reduced need for the classic family dinner with food centred on the table. Now, food is often served from the kitchen or a sideboard, or not served at all. Before you buy, decide whether a narrower table meets your lifestyle. If familystyle dinners are frequent in your home, you may want a wider table to allow plenty of room for centre pieces and serving dishes.

How many people do you plan to seat?

Manufacturers may have their own measurement guidelines when it comes to seating people, but here are some for comfortable seating: > 2 people: 30- to 36-inch round, oval, square or rectangle table

> 4 people: 36- to 48-inch round, oval, square or rectangle table > 8 people: 72-inch round or square table or 96-inch oval or rectangular table How much space do you need? Before you buy, measure the space where the table will be to determine the amount of space you need for the table and chairs. Allow a minimum of 36 inches around the table to comfortably pull out standard dining chairs.

If you have hardwood floors, you might even want to chalk the space to better visualize.

Remember, if you plan to have larger chairs, you’ll need more room. Don’t forget to allow for table expansion if your table has leaves.

What height do you like? In North

America, people tend to prefer either a standard table height (30 inches) or counter height (36 inches). A standard height is usually the most flexible as it allows most people to have their feet firmly planted on the floor. Taller counter-height tables definitely stand out and create that pub-style feeling, but they may present challenges for people with mobility issues, children or the elderly.

Do you plan to stay in your home or do you have a more mobile lifestyle? If movability

is a consideration, you may want to avoid large, heavy wood, metal or marble tables.

Instead, consider lighter materials and tables that can be dissembled for transport.

CHARACTER AND CUSTOM TABLES Kirk Van Ludwig, designer and cofounder of Autonomous Furniture Collective, believes you should need to purchase a table only once in your life, so it’s important to choose carefully.

“Your table is going to become the focal point of the room, and the beauty of creating a custom piece is that you have a role in its story,” says Van Ludwig.

“There’s a lot of background work that goes into making sure a table is going to match your life — right down to taping out its dimensions on the floor. You want a dramatic piece of furniture with exceptional functionality, just outside the norm.”

In his Victoria studio, Van Ludwig is keen on working with different materials, from concrete and resin to wood, steel and other mixed mediums. Wood is the premium choice for many people, he says, and it can be easily customized through burning, smoking and tinting to achieve that perfect colour.

Sustainability is high on Van Ludwig’s list and reflected in his choice of materials.

He also occasionally plays with the classic shape of tables. Case in point: the Kaiwa table. The word kaiwa, loosely translated

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from Japanese, means “conversation” and this table features angled table ends, creating multiple conversation lines. Van Ludwig’s award-winning CB1 table features a western maple live-edge tabletop set on clear Lucite legs, positioned strategically to maximize seating.

Live-edge continues to be a popular style, particularly on the West Coast. With live-edge style, some of the natural texture of the tree’s surface remains and is visible as a reminder of the wood’s origins and its natural state.

The style first emerged in the 50s through Japanese artist George Nakashima’s mission to bring a tree’s natural texture and energy into the home. It was made popular again in the 90s through the work of Vancouver Island designer John Lore and his company Live Edge Design, the movement’s namesake.

Live Edge Design creates most of its products from western bigleaf maples, reclaimed or salvaged on the Island from trees blown down in windstorms or removed for safety. Slabs are kiln-treated to match the humidity of the table’s destination. Though the emphasis is always on the living layer of the tree, the company continually revises its looks to stay on the cutting edge of the trend: from the wild knots and river-rock inlays of their Tidepool table to the refined clean lines of the Metro design.

Live Edge Design’s River Run tabletop paired with a Blackcomb base offers flexible seating around a striking slab whose live edge is accentuated by an organically shaped glass inlay with river rock detail.

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CLOTHING TO CELEBRATE YOUR CURVES! JOE GELINAS

Check out our latest fashions by Joseph Ribkoff,

Inspired by Danish modern design, the expanding Garry oak dining table from Gelinas Carr features trestle beams and angled legs to reduce their impact on seating.

Sympli, Bryn Walker, Grizas,

“What speaks to people most about these pieces is the ‘tree-ness’ of the table — its imperfections,” says Donna Shaw, Live Edge’s marketing manager. “We are seeing a real attraction toward clean lines and straight edges for our 2018 styles, but people still want wood with a lot of movement and character in the grain.”

Whether he’s using live-edge or traditional materials, Joe Gelinas of Gelinas Carr Furniture prefers to start with the base.

“The base is really what sets the tone for the table, and this is where a lot of the art and innovation comes in — from the material to the joinery,” Gelinas says. “My job is to ask the right questions so that clients can think along this line.”

Though Gelinas believes wood will remain the primary choice for most tables, he says mixed materials are growing in popularity, especially for bases. It can be easier to add elements of steel, laminate or live-edge wood to the base while still maintaining a traditional top. That said, Gelinas, who has been in the industry for over 20 years, has always wanted to find someone who would let him make a quarter-inch, steel-top dining table. He sees this as the ultimate stand-out piece.

“The trends I see focus on showing off the base of the table more than before, and using different media, even patent finishes on steel,” he says. “There’s a lot of room to be creative here, and that’s how you make a statement.”

THE HUMAN ELEMENT The American actress Melina Kanakaredes said, “It’s a wonderful time when you sit down around the table for dinner and discuss life. No matter where you are, it gives the semblance of normalcy to my crazy world.”

And so, whatever table you choose, from a round Tulip table replica to a live-edge wonder that is a poetic reminder of the forest it came from, remember that a table is never just a table. It may hold your food, but it will also hold your ideas and conversations — and it will hold your memories.

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FOR THESE VICTORIA CREATIVES, FINDING HOME MEANT DISCOVERING A UNIQUE SPACE, ADDING LOTS OF CHARACTER AND BUILDING A SENSE OF COMMUNITY.

By Athena McKenzie

LOFTY LIFESTYLES W

hen designer JC Scott first moved into Chinatown in the 1980s it was, as he describes it, “an art ghetto,” lacking many essential services but attractive to artists who could afford the rent in the rustic, heritage spaces. Fast-forward over 30 years and the area is now one of the city’s most coveted neighbourhoods.

“The biggest change is that Chinatown went from being underground, and possibly even so exotic that it was scary for people to be here at night, to a mainstream tourist attraction,” Scott says. “It’s had a 180-degree shift in terms of public perception. It’s one of the most livable, walkable communities in Victoria.”

Scott, whose design and community work have been driving forces behind this shift, has rented various unique studios and live/work spaces in Fan Tan Alley, sharing the last few with his partner, artist Anita Rydygier of West Coast EcoHome. They love their current live/ work Chinatown space — which houses JC Scott eco Design and West Coast EcoHome, a shared design and creative studio — both of them “jumped” at the chance to buy a unit in the restored Janion building.

“I believe [the Janion has] got way more character than a new building, with all the features and conveniences — what Anita, being from England, calls mod-cons — of a new building,” Scott says. “And it’s got all the charm of one of Victoria’s landmark buildings.”

As the first buyers in, the pair got their choice of unit, picking the largest west-facing, top-floor unit in the heritage section.

“It has stunning views of the harbour and the parliament buildings,” Rydygier says. “We knew there was going to be no more building to block that off. We just knew it had to be that corner unit.”

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JODY BECK

The designforward sensibility of the unit at the Janion is emphasized by the striking feature wall done in Marimekko Bottna wallpaper.

Rydygier chose its oversized organic pattern to complement the space’s monochromatic palette and to harmonize with its other natural elements, including ecofriendly materials and furnishings.

One pop of colour is introduced with one of Rydygier’s own paintings, Perspective, hung over the sofa.

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MAKING IT PERSONAL To personalize the layout, they reworked the developer’s floor plan, completely removing a den and adding that space and balcony to the bedroom, giving it a harbour view. Scott did the interior design and Rydygier did the interior decorating, sticking to a monochrome palette that complemented the developer’s work.

“You take what’s already there, the tall ceilings and the black and white, and carry that theme throughout the whole space,” Rydygier says. “When you put old and new together and do it well, it’s got such great personality. The building is unique and not so homogenized as a lot of the buildings that have been built from scratch.”

“We walk up original stairs under an original skylight into a new unit with original exterior walls,” Scott adds.

Erica Smolders, the proprietor of the floral boutique Rook & Rose, and Jordan Stout,

PHOTOS THIS PAGE: JODY BECK

A fully restored brick heritage building connected to a new concrete addition, The Janion is a striking mix of historic and modern. Scott and Rydygier chose a top-floor, west-facing unit for its stunning harbour views.

The natural elements continue into the ensuite and bedroom, which is dominated by a stunning Live Edge Design bed with an organic latex mattress, organic sheets and wool blanket.

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PHOTOS: JOSHUA LAWRENCE

an account manager at the creative agency The Number, are also Chinatown residents drawn to the one-of-a-kind spaces and lifestyle of urban loft living. When Smolders first walked through the front door of the space on Fisgard, she knew it wasn’t a typical apartment. Its narrow entry staircase opens up to an expansive room with high ceilings and large windows in every corner.

“This building was originally built in 1888, so every heritage detail in this apartment is noteworthy — original brick walls, hardwood floors, skylights and narrow doorways plus a fire escape overlooking Fisgard Street,” Smolders says. “The big front windows face the Don Mee sign and its neon glow fills the apartment in the evening.”

Before moving in, the pair knocked down a couple of walls to remove a main floor bedroom — they sleep in the loft space over the main area — to open up the living space.

They kept the funky black-painted wooden 48

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The picnic table in Smolders and Stout’s Chinatown loft has been in Smolders’s family for 50 years. It was originally built for her grandparents for backyard barbecues.

Working with a neutral colour palette, the pair have incorporated keepsakes, vintage finds, teak furniture, lots of plants and the artwork they’ve collected, including original Marcus Hastings silkscreens over the sofa. A collection of white concrete and ceramic planters from Rook & Rose displays plants in the kitchen.

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floors but painted over the ceiling and navyblue walls. To update the space, they replaced old kitchen appliances and switched out the existing bathroom fixtures to brass ones. “[Our décor] is inspired by the places we’ve stayed in Los Angeles, New York and Marfa, Texas,” Smolders explains. “There’s a neutral colour palette throughout the apartment, but we’ve incorporated collected artwork, assorted keepsakes, teak furniture and lots of plants. We like keeping the space bright and open — it’s simple, comfortable and a little eclectic.”

URBAN LIVING The perfect day in Smolders and Stout’s downtown home involves waking up to the sun coming in the windows, climbing out of their sleeping loft to make a good cup of coffee, listening to vinyl and watering their plants.

“It’s a really nice space to enjoy peace and quiet above a busy city,” Smolders says.

But loft-style living is not just for individuals or couples. Cristian Arostegui and Hilary Cochrane are raising their young son — with hopes of having another child soon — in a two-bedroom loft in the original Railyards building.

“We were excited when we walked in because it has a different layout and is very modern,” says Cochrane, a speech pathologist

JOSHUA LAWRENCE

Along with some of Arostegui’s designs — including the Sofi and Marea benches — the living room features works by fellow members of the Victoria Design Collective, such as the Bow lamp by Mike Randall of Kurva Design and nesting tables by Stéfane Dimopoulos of Atelier Dimopoulos. Arostegui and Cochrane found their industrial bar stools at various second-hand shops, as well as the now-closed Trade Roots.

The deep blue was chosen for the accent wall to provide a strong contrast with the white walls. To disguise the thermostat, which sits near the middle of the wall, the pair gave it a small intricate frame and created a gallery, which includes photos Arostegui took while travelling in India.

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with BC Cancer. “It didn’t feel just like a normal condo box. We love it there so much.

We’ve looked at bigger places because we’re thinking of having another kid, but now we’re more looking at ways to make this place work for us — thinking how having two kids in there could look. People think you need a house and a yard if you have kids, but you can make this work well.”

The couple moved in over four years ago, before their son was born, and personalizing the space involved painting and adding a large Environite counter, which acts as a bar and focal point during social events. While those get-togethers used to be adult affairs, the

guest list now includes many toddlers.

“Our dinner parties used to be really tranquil and now it’s a bit of chaos,” Cochrane says with a laugh. “But it’s so much fun.”

As a furniture designer with his own business, Arostegui Studio, Arostegui builds things as they need them, using the opportunity to create some of his prototypes.

And along with his distinctive Sofi and Marea benches, Airy console table, custom dining table and pipe and board bookshelf, their home gets a lot of character from their second-hand finds, including an old school, roll-down map and a mid-century modern sofa from The Fabulous Find.

Cochrane decorated their son’s bedroom, creating the mountain-and-bird patterned mural with a chalk paint and designing the unique light fixture, which Arostegui made from off-cut of veneer edging.

JOSHUA LAWRENCE

The 2018 Tiguan is available now. In style.

For the master bedroom, the nature-loving Cochrane chose Cole & Son’s Woods wallpaper to create a dramatic feature wall. Varied elements, such as the distinctive Trade Roots light fixture and the mid-century modern dresser, work together to create an eclectic, inviting feel. Cork floors are found throughout the home, including in the two bedrooms.

“We always argue about who found it,” jokes Arostegui, as he explains their eclectic mix of objects. “Our home’s esthetics is a mid-point where we balance my more modern designs and Hilary’s more West Coast style.”

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Studio Revisions

0

SENSE OF COMMUNITY Their home’s locale is a big part of the attraction and the reason they don’t want to leave. Cochrane highlights the ability to bike everywhere and the short walk into the downtown. And they both love the community feel.

‘We’re always spending time in the parks and going into Caffe Fantastico and running into people and other families that we know,” Arostegui says.

Scott and Rydygier also point to the sense of community as a reason they love their lifestyle in Chinatown. Whether grabbing chocolates at Pure Lovin to sandwiches from Claudio at La Tana to hot

JOSHUA LAWRENCE

beverages at one of the five coffee bars or two tea shops, the pair see friendly and familiar faces. A few years ago, they even hosted a block party in Fan Tan Alley, with a band and DJ, inviting neighbours and local businesses. It’s one of their favourite memories from their time in the neighbourhood.

“People are supportive and friendly and not invasive,” Scott says. “We’ve known a lot of these people for a long time.”

“I love some of these people,” adds Rydygier.

It’s a sentiment echoed by Smolders, who says all the familiar faces are one of her favourite things about her home and neighbourhood.

“It’s [also] a two-minute walk to work and I can grab fresh produce at the Fisgard Market anytime,” she says. “I feel so fortunate to start every day opening our front door to a busy morning in Chinatown.”

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FINDING PURPOSE A bestselling new book about the Japanese concept of ikigai — meaning “reason for being” — inspires our writer to take a deep look at how we discover and pursue our purpose in life.

JUJA HAN/UNSPLASH.COM

By Jody Paterson

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H

The affirming return to splendour of that ow old would she have been that shrub and the woman who loved it showed day she came looking for me to me that a sense of purpose is a fundamental ask if she could prune the scraggly human need. For this woman in survival lilac bush outside the office? mode — living so rough and dangerous that Maybe 45, though she looked much older — just staying alive every day was a major the price of a hard life full of disappointment, achievement — it would appear that food, poverty and drugs. safe housing and a place to rest her weary I was executive director of Peers Victoria bones would be the most crucial needs. Yet at the time, a non-profit run for and by sex workers. She’d been at our drop-in only rarely, what she longed for was meaning.

I don’t imagine she had any idea she’d start mostly to connect with our outreach services, coming into Peers every if at all. I didn’t know day after that. But how else much more about her could it have gone, with her than her name that day IF YOU ACTUALLY knowing full well that only she approached me.

REFLECT ON ALL she could be trusted with the That would all change THE THINGS best interests of that bush? once she started caring THAT GET YOU Hadn’t it been all but dead for that struggling lilac. until she loved it back to life?

She started coming OUT OF BED IN The bush thrived around pretty much THE MORNING, and flowered under her every day after that. I saw FEW AMONG US remarkable touch that her with eyes wide open summer, and I hope all the from then on. Watching ARE LIVING A compliments that came her bring that scraggly LIFE WITHOUT her way let her float above shrub back to beauty PURPOSE. THOSE the ground for a while. She was just about the most seemed like the kind of hopeful thing I’ve ever OF US WHO CAN’T person who hadn’t had many witnessed.

REACH FOR THE chances to do that in her I must have known STARS INSTEAD lifetime — a woman who’d at some level by then heard “loser” and “useless” that purpose is vital REACH ACROSS directed her way a lot over to a fulfilled life, being THE ROOM. BUT the years. But after reviving a purposeful person WE ARE ALL that lilac, she basked in the myself. But seeing this REACHING. warmth of brilliant success. woman heal herself by pouring love into a IKIGAI AND THE forgotten and sad plant MEANING OF LIFE was the act that brought that vague hunch I recently read the 2017 self-help book to the surface. The woman thrived right Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and alongside the plant she was tending, and I Healthy Life by Héctor García and Francesc came to see just how necessary it is to believe Miralles (see sidebar) which aims to guide that there is more to our lives than just to readers in living the fulfilled, long lives keep the body we’ve been given alive for a enjoyed by a renowned community of elders few decades.

WHAT IS YOUR REASON FOR BEING? According to the Japanese, everyone has an ikagai — which translates to “reason for being” or “meaning for life.” In their recent book, Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Healthy Life, Héctor García and Francesc Miralles explore how finding your ikigai can lead to a happier, more balanced — and longer — life. While they acknowledge ikagai is different for everyone, they advise that being curious and doing things that make one happy are part of the discovery process.

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METAPHORICAL LILACS ARE ALL AROUND US, ABLOOM BECAUSE WE TOOK THE TIME TO CARE ABOUT THEM.

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on the Japanese island of Okinawa. The elders live by the tenets of ikigai, an ancient Japanese wellness strategy centred on the importance of purpose to a life well lived.

“What gets you up in the morning?” ask the authors.

The example in my own life of the lilac bush clarified for me that it needn’t be a grand answer (“Ending world poverty!”

“Global peace!”) to be fulfilling. We tend to forget that at times and beat ourselves up for not doing something more dramatic to make the world a better place — especially in periods when our own privileged lives get to feeling uncomfortably comfortable.

But if you actually reflect on all the things that get you out of bed in the morning, few among us are living a life without purpose. Those of us who can’t reach for the stars instead reach across the room. But we are all reaching.

Of course, purpose does need to be philanthropic to count in the way that Ikigai and countless other self-help books imagine it — as a mission that goes beyond your own needs to address a larger need in the world. Feeling purposeful about your big income or your unbelievably thick mattress is probably not going to cut it.

Purpose in the ikigai sense is about finding meaning in your life that brings good to more people than just you.

It could be a big gesture, like the $28 billion that Bill Gates has given to

charitable works over the years, or Mother Teresa’s renouncement of all material pleasures so that she could serve Christ “among the poorest of the poor” in India’s slums. But in its own small way, a beautiful lilac bush in a public space is a gift to the world. We can’t all be saints, but we can all do something.

BUILT-IN PURPOSE My spouse and I spent four-plus years living and working in Honduras and Nicaragua fairly recently, returning to Victoria in May 2016. In those countries, nobody spends a lot of time reflecting on whether their lives have purpose. They’re so deeply connected to their families and to their faith that it’s like their sense of purpose is built right in.

The majority of people in Central American countries live in precarious circumstances. Only the rich enjoy anything resembling certainty. For everyone else, it’s low wages; a local food supply at constant risk of drought, flood or insect plagues; zero job security; and extremely limited state supports. Even a comparatively small problem — a broken arm, a slow start to the growing season, a flat tire — can usher in full-on disaster.

Yet people’s sense of purpose sustains them. They aren’t asking themselves why they get up in the morning, because they know, and have known from virtually the day they were born. They get up to put food on the table, spend time with family, keep the wolves from the door. They get up because God says get up, so that’s what you do, period.

My Honduran co-workers and I sometimes had long talks on drives to distant villages, after my Spanish improved and my male colleagues got comfortable with the concept of exploring issues of religion, mental illness, homosexuality and more with someone who might be able to explain the unfamiliar culture that their American news channels and madein-America movies exposed them to.

On one such car ride, we talked for a long time about anxiety and depression, and why it was that North America seemed to have so much of these issues while Honduras had barely any. I conjectured that human beings perhaps have “worry” quotients to fill, and that once a nation has reached a state of development where we no longer have to worry constantly about our daily bread, we simply move on to other worries.

But I also heard in my colleagues’ questions the issue of purpose — the anxiety that so many of us in countries like Canada seem to have that we aren’t good enough, that we’re not making a difference, that life is passing us by. We live in a rich country that keeps the majority of us well fed, sheltered, educated and protected, yet whether our lives have purpose still weighs on us.

Perhaps we need to reflect on how much we’re already doing to bring purpose and meaning to the world. The children whom we raise to be good global citizens. The elderly neighbours whom we check on a couple times a week. The snow we brush off of dozens of people’s windshields one day on a neighbourhood walk. The metaphorical lilacs all around us, abloom because we took the time to care about them. There’s always more to be done, of course, but the joy of a life lived with purpose also comes from taking the time to recognize what you’re already doing that’s meaningful.

What gets me out of bed in the morning?

I suppose it’s the chance to be part of a better world. We are lost if this world really is for those who never benefit anyone but themselves, and I can’t bear to leave a world like that for my grandchildren (or yours). It sounds like an ambitious personal mission, but mostly it comes down to keeping an eye out for where I can be of help, and then helping.

Sometimes I reach for stars. But a lot of times I just put a smile on and see where it goes. Meaning takes root in the most unexpected places.

Let your family focus on what mattered most.

You.

Pre-Plan your final arrangements as a parting gift to those who love you most.

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South Island

Sidney, The Shortest Distance to Far Away

S

idney is alive with chatter — friends meet for lunch, patrons stroll down the highstreet with treasures stowed in their bags.

Seagulls glide over rooftops, and the sweet, salty smell of ocean air fills the town.

This is Sidney, a place to rest your mind, stimulate your senses, enjoy some retail therapy and remind yourself that “vacation” can be as close as the town next door.

It’s a place where shop owners know their customers by name, where the barista remembers your favourite drink, and where you’re just as likely to run into a neighbour as you are to share a laugh with a new acquaintance. It’s a place surrounded by forests, farm fields and ocean; where you can cycle in on the Lochside Regional Trail,

or arrive by bus or car in minutes. Here, the sidewalks are decorated with flowers, sculptures and people, and the vibe is relaxed.

With a population of just 11,600, Sidney has an unparalleled number of boutique shops and eateries for its size. It has garnered international acclaim for the Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea, the Mary Winspear Centre, the Sidney Sculpture Walk and the legendary Thursday night street market that stretches along four blocks of Beacon Avenue. It’s also Canada’s first and only Booktown, featuring many independent bookstores. Now home to Victoria Distillers, guests can tour the facility and sample innovative cocktail creations, with the ocean as the perfect backdrop.

With expansive views of the Salish Sea,

the chance to uncover local artisans, shop for unique goods, find that perfect read, enjoy a handcrafted crepe, sip a cocktail, or sample dozens of fine restaurants, Sidney is truly a town of experiences.

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Sooke Getaway When a weekend getaway outside of Victoria calls, Sooke is close enough to be convenient, but far enough to let you take a deep breath and enjoy an exceptional culinary culture and some sea and forest therapy.

By Christin Geall

East Sooke Regional Park

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O

n the southwestern tip of Vancouver Island, a rare town huddles on a cold harbour overlooking Washington State’s Olympic Mountains. Sooke — half wild, still civilized, has long been on the Canadian foodie map thanks to a pioneering destination restaurant and inn, Sooke Harbour House, which has been serving foraged fare — berries, fungi and seaweeds — for years.

But Sooke is now more than its signature inn. Broadly speaking, the region runs from Port Renfrew to Metchosin, incorporating wild beaches, waves for surfers, quiet forests and enough foodie action to keep even the most vigorous of hikers sated.

So let’s imagine you need to work up an appetite. Where to start?

East Sooke Park is one of the most stunning parks in the region, featuring lush old-growth valleys and a spectacular 10k oceanside trail along an arid ridge. Parking is easy (BC Transit serves the park as well) and there are trails for every level.

If you didn’t bring a picnic to the park, Sinclair Philip, founder and co-owner of Sooke Harbour House, recommends stopping in to the Smokin Tuna Cafe on the waterfront in Becher Bay, a short drive away.

And if you worked up a thirst on your hike, not to worry: Sooke is now home to three microbreweries. They are, in driving order from Victoria to Sooke, Sooke Oceanside Brewery, Sooke Brewing and Bad Dog Brewing.

Try the Belgian Blonde at Sooke Brewing before checking out newbie Bad Dog’s citrusy Tire Biter IPA. Past Sooke proper (which we’ll get back to) but right around the corner from Bad Dog is the local salt company, Saltwest Naturals.

Featuring hand-harvested Canadian sea salt, the company offers tours of its innovative solar-powered facility, which is open from March to December.

About 10 minutes away down Otter Point Road from Saltwest and Bad Dog is British Columbia’s first meadery, Tugwell Creek Honey Farm & Meadery. Run by entomologist Bob Liptrot and his partner Dana Le Comte, Tugwell Creek was founded in 2003 and has been producing award-winning wines and meads (made from fermented honey) since then. With a tasting room and tours on offer, plus beekeeping lessons and a deep knowledge of apiculture, Tugwell is not to be missed.

Did you know?

Sooke is home to three microbreweries

Clockwise from top: Drop by to fill your growler or stay for a pint or a flight of coastal brew at Sooke Brewing Company; enjoy oceanfront noshing at the Smokin Tuna Cafe in Becher Bay Marina next to East Sooke Park; the patina-rich Copper Room at Sooke Harbour House features a bistro-style menu of fresh and foraged bounty; from March to October, discover how Pacific sea salt is made on a fascinating tour of Saltwest Naturals.

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2017-10-02 3:43 PM

A SALTY TERROIR Titillation accomplished; where is there to sit and eat?

Years ago, between the local octopus and pinot gris at Sooke Harbour House, a young chef and a wine manager fell in love. Their culinary creation? Wild Mountain. Their motto: Clean, fresh and fair.

Chef Oliver Kienast stresses that he doesn’t use local “just when it’s easy.” He ferments, pickles, smokes, freezes, cans and cures. He processes the local bounty for our drizzly months.

“If a farmer or fisherman has too much of something, I tell them to bring it by,” he says. “I can almost always put it to use.”

Kienast has two small gardens outside the restaurant. When I visited in early summer, the menu was fresh forward: a chilled pea soup with Dungeness crab, raw oysters with elderflower vinegar, an innovative green salad with pickled rhubarb dressed in a fig leaf and maple vinaigrette, and local steak with garlic scape and grand fir butter.

Brooke Fader, Kienast’s wife and co-owner of the restaurant, acts as sommelier and manages front-of-house operations. Fader is the convivium leader for the Southern Vancouver Island Slow Food group and founding member of Slow Fish Canada, which is fitting because their restaurant overlooks the docks where halibut and salmon roll in from the Juan de Fuca Strait.

But Kienast avoids those signature fish.

“There’s so much waste in fishing, so I use bycatch — octopus, rockfish, herring.”

Speaking of salty, Kienast buys his sea vegetables from local forager Amanda Swinimer of Dakini Tidal Wilds. If you want to immerse yourself in marine ecology, take a tour with Dakini, which has full wetsuits, fins

CHRISTIN GEALL

Did you know?

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e h t l l i w e r

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From left: Take a guided or self-guided tour of Tugwell Creek Honey Farm & Meadery. Visit the farm’s bee colony (behind glass) and learn about the secret life of bees. Tour the meadery to find out how honey is turned into Tugwell’s award-winning meads; Wild Mountain English-style chilled pea soup with Dungeness crab and radish; Wild Mountain chef Oliver Kienast harvesting borage blossoms in the restaurant’s summer garden.

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and snorkels for a one-of-a-kind BC experience — a Kelp Forest Tour. These leave from French Beach in season and require some comfort with snorkelling. The experience is literally immersive, but Swinimer offers commentary on land before you set out and accompanies groups into the “forest.” For people looking for more detailed information about local sea vegetables and their uses in everything from cosmetics to industry, Dakini also offers land-based ecoexperiences on beaches closer to town.

Dakini’s hand-harvested kelp also finds its way into two local beverages, a Sooke-made Akvavit and a Seaside Gin. You can try a sample in Sheringham Distillery’s tasting room.

FOLLOW THE SHORE From a natural perspective, the southwest coast of Vancouver Island is a marvel.

Architecturally, perhaps not, but the Sooke Harbour House might change your mind.

Long the repository of innovative art, including diverse works by over 150 local artists, this charming oceanfront inn has recently been renovated and now includes a cozy pub in addition to the art gallery and award-winning restaurant. You’re welcome to pop in to view the collection, browse the shop and gardens, and take in the views. Be warned: you may not want to leave!

A little known but very respectable oceanfront inn with a variety of room choices and cabins near the community of Shirley (just past Sooke) is Craidelonna. Outdoor amenities include a hot tub/sauna and shower for guests.

Craidelonna also does meals by request, offering a lodge atmosphere, and will happily host retreats and small weddings. Word has it that the sunsets here, steps from the ocean’s edge, are spectacular.

In Shirley you’ll find a sweet coffee shop,

bakery and cafe cutely named Shirley Delicious.

Popular with day trippers heading out to surf or hike at Sombrio Beach, this place gets great reviews, but plan to line up at breakfast time.

Also in the neighbourhood for people heading back from a day in the waves, is the seasonal restaurant Stoked Wood Fired Pizzeria and Market. Closed in winter, this new venture is serving the growing number of adventurers and residents. (The population of Sooke proper has grown over 13 per cent in the past five years).

Farther up the coast, between French Beach and Jordan River, is the landmark Point No Point Resort, which has TOP been in operation HIDDEN since 1952. With SOOKE twenty-five cabins, SECRETS a restaurant and rooms in the 1 SOOKE lodge, the resort POTHOLES offers explorers While not quite the northern a secret, these naturally formed beaches and a true pools of aquaWest Coast feel green water along and menu. a stretch of the Stop at Jordan Sooke River are River to watch the still a bit obscure. surfers or carry Picnic amid artful on up the coast rock formations to Port Renfrew then cool off in pristine pools and where more waterfalls. outdoor adventure awaits; the Wild 2 MARINE Renfrew website, BOARDWALK wildrenfrew.com, AND PIER is a great portal From Ed McGregor to discovering Park, follow the winding wooden accommodation boardwalk options, kayak through oceanside tours, wilderness rainforest trips and recs to Sooke’s for restaurants, spectacular including the ever300-metre pier. popular Coastal Watch locals Kitchen Cafe. fishing for crabs, The drive back spy harbour seals and breathe in to Victoria from views of the Sooke Port Renfrew is Basin and Olympic about two hours, Mountains. so in order to get your game on for 3 SURF your return back KAYAKING to the city, stop Love kayaking?

Take it up a notch in at Stick in the and experience Mud in downtown surf kayaking in Sooke. A roastery the wild-coast and coffee shop, waves near Jordan it’s guaranteed River. Sooke’s to buzz you up Rush Adventures for the drive back offers beginner lest you’ve been to surf-ready lulled by the lessons. waves.

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RBC Dominion Securities Inc.* and Royal Bank of Canada are separate corporate entities which are affiliated. *Member-Canadian Investor Protection Fund. RBC Dominion Securities Inc. is a member company of RBC Wealth Management, a business segment of Royal Bank of Canada. ®Registered trademarks of Royal Bank of Canada. Used under licence. © 2015 Royal Bank of Canada. All rights reserved.

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STYLE WATCH Fashion Stylist: Janine Metcalfe Photos: Jeffrey Bosdet

DISTILLED STYLE For a refined approach to wardrobing, the jacket is essential. Its range of styles appeals to many tastes — and stands up to every shift in mood or weather.

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Left: Mason’s DaVinci blazer in navy ($475), Sand Iver floral shirt ($225), Mason’s Torino pant in navy ($255), all available at Outlooks for Men This page: Armour Lux striped T-shirt ($98), The Daily Co. charcoal grey pant ($120), Baron loden green jacket ($240), Veja Esplar leather sneakers ($180), Timex Fairfield watch ($119), Cursor & Thread polka-dot bandana ($48), all available at Still Life For Him; Bench Craft weave belt (Outlooks for Men, $125), Bailey Salem packable fedora (Roberta’s Hats, $85) Page 6: Magnolia Pearl Watts French cotton poplin shirt (Shabby Rabbit Clothing, $320); Heritage Travis jean Jacket (Citizen Clothing, $185); Kenny K fedora (Roberta’s Hats, $40)

Left: Bugatti modern white shirt ($205), Ballin slim fit pant ($225), Bugatti windbreaker ($275), Bugatti shoes ($225), Vernizzi woven belt ($150), all available at d.g. bremner & company menswear This page: Magnolia Pearl T-shirt ($95), Magnolia Pearl cotton denim jeans ($295), both available at Shabby Rabbit Clothing; Heritage Travis jean jacket (Citizen Clothing, $185); Bench Craft weave belt (Outlooks for Men, $125); NAOT vintage grey leather boots (Heart & Sole Shoes, $235)

Model: Kane from Lizbell Agency Shot on location at Victoria Caledonian Distillery and Twa Dogs Brewery, with special thanks.

SCENE

A MUSIC VENUE’S CAPITAL VIBE Not since the days of Harpo’s has Victoria had a city-defining live-music venue. Capital City Ballroom is ready to be that place.

By David Lennam

“Y

ou feel like you’re in the barrel of a gun and just being shot out.”

That’s how Towers and Trees lead guitarist Dave Zellinsky says it feels to be standing stage-front ripping a blistering solo in the Capital Ballroom.

“There’s a real powerful energy from the crowd and physically, the way the room is set up creates this really neat vortex of energy and people and mass of sweaty bodies. On stage it gives you that extra 10 per cent that ends up circulating through the crowd.”

The sort of praise reserved for the “great” music halls — those iconic venues that define cities. Like the legendary Fillmore in San Francisco, CBGB in New York City, the Horseshoe in Toronto and, naturally, Vancouver’s Commodore. All ramped up into the canon of mythology by the hippest bands, 70

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by writers, poets, promoters and concertgoers who have held a ticket. It’s what the Capital Ballroom hopes to be.

RELEVANT ROOMS Opening a room and booking a few bands is no guarantee that you’ll become a cultural (or counter-culture) institution, a flagship for music and somewhere musicians think they have to play.

Nick Blasko knew that going in. The cofounder of Atomique Productions, Victoria’s busiest promoter, is one of the team of 10 owners who purchased Sugar Nightclub and a lease on the Yates Street building, from Damian Cownden in 2016. It’s a group — Blasko, Dimitri Demers, Dylan Willows, Glen Barlow, Adam Duron, Chris Hibbins, Morgan Brooker, Stephen Franke, Colin McTaggart,

and Teddy Yip — with deep roots in the music ecosystem.

“When I think about rooms that I enjoy the most or am inspired by being in,” says Blasko, “it’s rooms with histories and where amazing shows have happened and the histories become so potent that the rooms take on a really strong identity of their own.

They become places that artists look forward to playing and become so important to a city and to a scene.”

For Blasko, it’s the similar-sized halls like the El Rey Theatre in LA and the Bowery Ballroom in NYC that have achieved that status.

“They’re important rooms and they stand the test of time and withstand the changing tides of music,” he says. “They were around in the heyday of the LP and the CD and the iTunes era and now into the Spotify era. As

“

... WHAT SETS IT APART FROM OTHER SHOWROOMS IS A COMBINATION OF GREAT SIGHTLINES, CEILING HEIGHT AND CAPACITY WHERE THE ENERGY IS HIGH AND THE ESTHETIC NEUTRAL ENOUGH TO RESPECT THE INDIVIDUALITY OF THE ARTISTS ...”

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music changes those rooms are still relevant for the live experience and that doesn’t change — that feeling you get from seeing a live show.”

Blasko has the highest venue IQ , says another of Capital Ballroom’s owners, Dylan Willows, also the Zone FM morning host.

Willows says Blasko, who is the manager of Tegan and Sara, has “probably been in every room on the face of the earth, twice.”

And Willows strongly agrees that the strategy for the Capital Ballroom team has been to communicate that it’s not a nightclub, but a live music venue.

“A world-class music venue that has a legacy,” he adds. “And a legacy’s really important when it comes to building a music scene or culture inside a city, and these things need time. So you need the proper support systems. You need the YAM MAGAZINE MAR/APR 2018

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Atomique Productions, the talent buyers that understand who to book, the calculated risks to take. You need a room to support the scene.”

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Find step-by-step guides, checklists and more at www.crd.bc.ca/renowaste or contact the CRD at 250.360.3030

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HISTORY TO HEADLINER The Capital Ballroom — once Sugar and Wastelands and Cactus Club and New York New York and Stardust over 40 years of name changes — has established itself in the pantheon of Victoria music halls as one of the big boys, if not the biggest. Capacity is 600, maybe 700 if you stretch the rules. But it’s always been ugly cousin to Harpo’s, the Wharf Street club decorated by a couple of decades of headliners like Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, The Tragically Hip and Green Day. Not that it hasn’t had those I-was-there moments, like the 2011 Prince after-party.

New ownership has upgraded the sound system, the stage, the green room, the liquor service — all part of the objective of making the Capital Ballroom that prominent, if not celebrated, venue.

For Blasko, what sets it apart from other showrooms is a combination of great sightlines, ceiling height and capacity where the energy is high and the esthetic neutral enough to respect the individuality of the artists and nuances of various music scenes.

“Really, it’s just a quality blank canvas to stage a show.”

Willows admits he always wanted to run a club. Even before he got involved in producing festivals (VIC Fest, Capital City Productions), his goal was to build a live music venue where all the bands he wanted to see could play. For years he’d had his eye on maybe buying Sugar.

Blasko and Demers, lead partners in Atomique, busy with festivals like Rifflandia and booking acts into every other space in town, hadn’t put much mind to owning their own concert hall — and they certainly had no desire to run a typical nightclub.

“It was enough to worry about selling tickets versus selling beer,” says Blasko, who now finds himself tallying bar receipts.

But it’s all somehow worth it.

During the Slow show last November, Blasko recalls a room full of aging ex-punkers from the 80s.

“I still know some of them and they were like, ‘Oh, I really like what you’ve done and great job on the beer list. I’ve got a quality beer now and I can watch the band,” Blasko says.

“They don’t want to be moshing anymore.

They don’t want to be bumped into. They don’t want to feel like they have to take a shower when they leave. But I will say, when I walked in that night it smelt like a good mixture of beer and pot, just like a good rock and roll show should.”

In March and April, check out Capital Ballroom on Facebook for upcoming shows, including BADBADNOTGOOD and Born Ruffians.

1

CULTURE X3

HOMECOMING

OUR TOP PICKS FOR WHAT’S NEW IN THEATRE, MUSIC AND ART

A Night Out To End All Nights Out

SPARK BURNING BRIGHTLY A rock star takes a starring role, Daniel MacIvor does American monologist Spalding Gray and a few torn-from-theheadlines shows — this is the Belfry’s 2018 SPARK Festival. It’s too much to ask to recommend just one of the shows, so go see all five. Although, since you’re asking, the strangest is an adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s Tomorrow’s Child, which is played as an immersive audio experience for a blindfolded audience.

2

Belfry Theatre, March 8 to 28, belfry.bc.ca

Tomorrow’s Child, Ghost River Theatre

HOMECOMING 50th ANNIVERSARY GALA Saturday, May 26, 2018 6:30 to 10 pm, Ship Point Tickets: $125 incl. food, drinks & live music

Saturday, May 26, 2018 6:30 to 10 pm

ART OF THE CHART

Remember those old movies about sailors and tall ships and how they used to unroll huge nautical charts on a desk and point at them? The Maritime Museum of BC is rolling out its own collection of out-dated, local nautical charts. In a 90-minute workshop, you can turn these maps into 3D art using origami. We’re a coastal city. We should do this stuff.

Ship Point, Inner Harbour, Victoria (adjacent to the Harbour Air Terminal on Wharf Street)

For info or to purchase tickets, Campania call 250.414.4781 or visit Fountains CoolAid.org/homecoming

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Maritime Museum of BC, April 14, 2 to 3:30 Call 250-385-4222 to sign up.

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BACHMAN AND A BEATLE Randy Bachman will never go away. And that’s good. The elder statesman of Canadian rock may only be 175 years old, but his neverending roadshow, Every Song Tells A Story, is worth its weight in gold albums — and Bachman has sold 40 million of them! On this mustsee tour, Bachman also pays special tribute to his early mentor and inspiration, George Harrison.

Royal Theatre, March 13, rmts.bc.ca/royal-theatre

Echo Park Fountain in cast stone

Planters, fountains and furniture —whatever your style, we’ve got you covered!

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DO TELL A NOVEL KIND OF LIFE The dark and light of Yasuko Thanh

By David Lennam // Photo by Jeffrey Bosdet

Y

asuko Thanh is many things at once. Rockabilly/punk diva who spent her teens living on the streets, mother of two, a writer of the award-winning novel Mysterious Fragrance of the Yellow Mountains and short-story collection Floating Like the Dead, and someone who, when asked “Is writing hard?” answers, “No more hard than being a junkie, or a prospector or long-distance runner… If I wasn’t writing I’d probably be in a ditch somewhere.”

Describing her, writer Andrew Struthers shoots from the lip.“Despite her ability to look great in a garter belt, I postponed reading her novel because I hate Canadian literature. But she writes like a prisoner tunnelling her way to freedom with a tin cup, aware that it might all come crashing down any moment.”

Thanh’s next book will be a memoir, Mistakes to Run With, or possibly a novel about Julia Pastrana, the famous 19th-century bearded lady.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Is there such a thing? Happiness is such a slippery notion. Maybe happiness is what we ... trick ourselves into believing, so we can go on. Because the other option, to dwell on the human condition, life’s transience, our mortality, is too much to bear.

What is your greatest fear?

The fear of death. Non-being. Fear of committing wholly to a project, or fear of falling in love, fear of giving one’s all to someone or something that probably won’t respond in kind, fear of singing in public, looking the fool, you name it, pales in comparison to the fear of being on my death bed thinking, if only …

What is the most overrated virtue?

Moderation, maybe. Especially in terms of speech, as in hedging what one says so as not to appear counter to the moral majority. I once wrote an article extolling the idea of everything in moderation, including excess, riffing on Oscar Wilde. Back then I was just looking for a way to justify my hangovers.

What trait do you most deplore in others?

People who judge others, place them on a social ladder in relation to themselves. I have a pretty strong knee-jerk reaction to prejudice.

Which living person do you most admire?

I have a lot of admiration for my oldest child. My family was at risk of losing our home a couple of years ago. This kid, who’d been through their own share of trials and tribulations, said, ‘We’re keeping this house.’

Quit high school. Got a job. I admire that kind of fortitude.

Which historical figure do you most admire?

When I was a kid I had the biggest brain crushes on Marie Curie and Helen Keller. They lived lives of quiet passion and single-mindedness.

Also, Catharine Parr Trail and Susanna Moodie, that hardy pioneer stock who raised a hundred children, pickled pecks, wrote books, plowed acres and still had time to bake pies.

On what occasion do you lie?

I love how this question assumes we all lie, which we do, but don’t want to admit it. Writers lie for a living. Isn’t that why, in The Republic, Plato wanted to kick out all the poets?

What is your most treasured possession?

“Over the course of a long life the wise man must be prepared to lose his luggage many times.” This quote, attributed to Buddha, has comforted me. Many times I’ve lost almost everything and started again. You become Zen about it. You have to ...

If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what would it be?

Do you happen to know the Powers That Be? Like, if I were to die, could you put a word in for me with the Big Guy? Tell him not a rock or a tree. How about a hoary marmot? I bet they have fun.

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YAM MAGAZINE MAR/APR 2018

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