TASTY ROAD TRIPS START HERE

By Sandra Thomas

Surrey’s new Spice Trail aims to put the city’sdiversity on the global culinary map.

The earthy scent of coconut, highlighted by the pungent aromas of turmeric, coriander and cumin, permeates the dining room of Kerala Kitchen in Surrey, a suburb of Metro Vancouver. Before even taking in its red and gold ambiance, it’s those tantalizing smells wafting from the kitchen that make it immediately obvious why Kerala is one of the highlights of the City of Surrey’s new dedicated Spice Trail.

An initiative of Discover Surrey — and a passion project of its new executive director Ange Chew — the goal of the Spice Trail is to put that city on the culinary map for local and international visitors alike. She hopes they will find Surrey an affordable urban alternative to Vancouver and believes getting the word out about its vibrant culinary scene is the way to start. The new Spice Trail website has been broken down into Surrey’s six neighbourhoods — North Surrey, Fleetwood, Guildford, Newton, South Surrey and Cloverdale — and by ethnicity, vegetarian options, and style so you can plan your trip easily.

But, it’s not just restaurants included on the Spice Trail. Specialty grocery stores, like Lucky Supermarket, have also been added to this self-guided tour. Here, visitors will find a delightfully, delicious introduction to exotic produce and meats not found at your typical grocery store, including entire goats wrapped in linen, and pigs’ trotters as large as ham hocks.

So far, more than 30 restaurants and stores haveenthusiastically jumped on the Surrey Spice Trail.Here are a few of the highlights:

MY SHANTI

Celebrity chef Vikram Vij opened My Shanti in Surrey as an homage to the “personal and culinary journeys” he has taken with friends throughout India, with each dish chosen to represent the uniqueness of a particular region’s cuisine.

KERALA KITCHEN

Executive chef Sujith raj Rajasekharan cooks the authentic dishes of Southern India he grew up with, including a variety of dosa, curries, biryani and thalis.

CAFÉ MADRAS (SIMPLY CURRIES)

This tiny hole-in-the-wall is located within an industrial park — and is worth the effort to find. The same “aunties” have been making the samosas since its inception almost 18 years ago. Tip: try the butter chicken samosas.