Send us a text The clout that Hanks *A Restaurant caries in our fair city is unmistakable. For years they have been creating innovative and exciting dishes that have sparked a buzz throughout the food scene in Victoria. And it's not just the regular dinning clientele either. The crew behind Hanks and Nowhere have been the talk of industry professionals for as long as we can remember. There is a sort of deep respect and reverence, maybe even envy, for the way in which they'v...
Send us a text Part 2 of our conversation with Shawn Soole! We talk travel, mentorship, craft cocktail culture, BC spirits, 14 different style of ice & why gin is awesome. We might have even fallen down a comic book rabbit hole... Join us as we wrap up a phenomenal podcast together. Please don't sleep on this one! Thanks again and again Shawn!
Send us a text Victoria Bartender and hospitality entrepreneur Shawn Soole is arguably the city's best-known bar and beverage expert. Since arriving from his native Australia, Shawn's impact on the Victoria bar scene has been epic. His involvement as bar manager at Clive's Classic Lounge helped grow cocktails culture dramatically in our city. After that, his resume grew to include names such as Little Jumbo, Foxtrot Tango Whiskey Bar, OLO, Café Mexico & Pagliacci's. And...
Send us a text Have you ever thought about visiting Italy, but there's a global pandemic getting in your way? We all hate it when that happens. But lucky for you, Matty and Janel from Papooch's Truffles are here to bring beautiful flavors of Italy to you. Bringing delicious products from Abruzzo Italy, where Matty's family comes from, to local chefs in Victoria has been an amazing way to share the love they have for both areas. They have a network of talented local chefs wh...
Send us a text Some keen observers might have noticed a missing component in our podcast over the past few months. And no, before you say it, not our social media presence... that's always been bad!! I'm referring of course to the Athos to our Three Musketeers, the Dusty Bottoms to our Three Amigos, the Larry to our Threes Stooges, Mr. Andrew Johnson. In January, after years of pondering, AJ found the courage to strike out on his own and opened Bicycle Pizza, a cross between New York ...
Send us a text Dallas Harwood is half of the team behind The Vic Food Guys, a podcast and social media team dedicated to supporting the YYJ food scene. And "dedicated" is definitely not an overstatement. Especially because he does not work in the industry. The ITW crew were struck by Dallas' passion and deep care for the people that nourish us. The Vic Food Guys have been selflessly shinning a light on restaurants through their podcast, Instagram, CFAX and even CTV. We wen...
Send us a text Some people are just naturally talented. Enter Andrew Paumier, co-owner of Indecent Risotto. He and his partner Shannon, both in life and business, have been slingin' arancini balls all around the CRD since 2016. Aside from being obviously charming and a delight to speak with, Andrew has dedicated his career to supporting the community. Whether it be bringing people together one arancini at a time, sharing his advice and experience with fellow entrepre...
Send us a text This week on In The Weeds, Franz & Remi spoke with Brian Tesolin, Executive Chef for The Courtney Room at The Magnolia Hotel & Spa. Brian has worked for a number of very highly respected restaurants in his career, most notably but not limited to Sous Chef for for Hawksworth Restaurant in Vancouver and Langdon Hall in Cambridge, Ontario. Lucky for us, he's found a home here in Victoria where he has become a champion for our blossoming food and beverage offerings ...
Send us a text We've all experienced a terrible veggie burger haven't we? You know the earmark; dry, under seasoned and completely lacking in any semblance of love. Michell Scott and business partner James Davidson were tired of the type of veggie alternatives you reheat in a toaster. So they decided to do something about that. Michell is the business-brain behind product development at The Very Good Food Co. From humble beginnings, testing their products at local Victoria...
Send us a text A little under 13 months ago, we embarked on this podcast journey. While Covid was certainly on everyone's mind, we soon realized that the real focus needed to be on the beautiful characters that have dedicated their lives to food & beverage. Meet Chef Dan Bain. Again. For the second time, ITW's first repeat guest talks us through some of the challenges and innovations he's experienced in the past year. From staffing and supply shortages to exciting G-Panda "...
Send us a text This week we are treated to a conversation with Rachelle Cornish who is currently working her magic at Cold Comfort. This amazing pastry chef started off as a graphic designer but decided to drop that and pursue her passion in baking. Because of her hard work and dedication, she was able to work with some amazing companies like Fol Epi and Cobs Bread, traveled to Australia to work at some pretty awesome places and come back to Victoria to do some pretty sweet stuff at Co...
Send us a text This week our guests are Shane Harwood and Kyle Clayton of Haus Sausage Co. These guys have been work like hell for the past 5 years to make their dreams come true. Starting off renting kitchen space to use after hours, work until the sun came up and doing all this all by themselves. Oh ya, did I mention that they did this after they had already worked a full shift at their other jobs? But it was all worth it. The hard work that these two guys pu...
Send us a text This week, we get to hang out with Chris and Stu from Dobell Sign Co. These two wonderful Aussie's have been making an impact on the culture of Victoria for the past 15 years. You can see their work all over Victoria like the sign of the Government Street Tattoo Parlour, their work at the Drake and most famously, their huge contribution with Phillips Brewery along with many others. Their personal and professional approach is one of the main reasons why they are a w...
Send us a text In 2017, Zac and Julie left the corporate world behind and took a massive leap of faith into the new and exciting waters of owning their own vineyard. But it wasn't just a dream and any old plot of land. After much consideration, they fell in love with and took over ownership from Roger and Nancy Dosman of Alderlea vineyards.. Wine nerd alert!!! This episode is packed with information. Join us as we discuss everything from honoring one of Vancouver Island's ...
Send us a text These days, it can be so rare to find someone in food & beverage who just gets it. Someone who truly believes in hospitality and all the subtleties that just make the whole experience click into place. On the off chance you aren't acquainted with this lovely human, meet Patrick Francis. A hospitality pro through and through, Patrick has worked with some of the most celebrated restaurants in BC. From Hawksworth & Bao Bei to The Irish Times & Pizzeria Pr...
Send us a text This week on ITW, we get a masterclass on cidermaking from Kristen Needham. She is the founder, president and cidermaster at Sea Cider, located on the Saanich Peninsula here on Vancouver Island. We take a deep dive into what it takes to build, farm and bottle world class cider (and a pre-COVID events space). We aren't talking 2L Mountain Berry "Alco-pops" either. We learn all about different apple varieties, the difference between beer brewing and cider making and h...
Send us a text Scones. Scones? You heard me. Scones. But not just any scones. Sidney Scones. This week on ITW we speak to Chelsea Columbus, the Wonder Woman behind some fo the tastiest baked goods on the planet. We take a look in the rearview mirror to see how Sidney Scones came to be and track Chelsea's trajectory to the baked good super star she is today. It's a perfectly sweet episode for Valentine's Day! So cuddle up with your loved one, cat, or bowl of hash and enjoy the sh...
Send us a text What do you get when you mix a British environmentalist turned blacksmith with a heavy machine fabricator? Charm, humour, chaos and lots of hot metal! This is the second time we have tried to connect with these two and it was completely worth the wait. Leechtown Blacksmith Company from Metchosin is Jake James - @jakeblacksmith and Ryan Fogarty - @fogartomic. Together they craft some of Canada's finest metalwork pieces plus super sexy hand-made legacy cookware....
Send us a text After a one month hiatus which (maybe) left our listeners foaming at the mouth, we are back for season 2. We've got some great guests lined up with some surprises along the way. Our first guest of the year is none other than Calen "Big Wheel" McNeil. As the name suggests, Calen is one of the founders of Big Wheel Burger and Zambri's restaurant. It's understandable to be impressed by that list alone but there is plenty more to Calen. We discuss his life-changi...
Send us a text In this special episode, our Executive Producer Remi takes his turn in the host's chair and interviews us! Get to know your hosts a little better- maybe even better than you wanted. This week is stuffed full of Christmas cheer and seasonal magic. Thanks to everyone for their support in Season 1. We look forward to sharing more great F&B stories next season. All the best- Franz, Remi & AJ.