On our wine tour of Southern Vancouver Island (post coming soon!), our driver planned a “secret” stop for the group. I love surprises, but I didn’t think I would enjoy our top secret visit as much as I did!

After a ride up a long, winding hill into the woods, we arrived at a little farmstand surrounded by fresh herbs and pretty wildflowers. There were also chairs and tables with umbrellas set up outside and a friendly yellow lab came running to greet us.

At this point, I really had no idea what to expect!

I soon discovered that this location was the home of Organic Fair Inc., “an artisan crafter of exclusively organic, fair trade, and biodynamic products.“

Organic Fair Inc. is a family-owned company located in gorgeous Cobble Hill on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. All of the products are created on-site at their certified organic farm, which is opened to visitors year-round.

The farm offers:

• A wide selection of seasonal farm-grown organic produce
• Fresh baking with Red Fife Wheat flour and farm grown ingredients
• Handmade ice cream with organic milk and eggs from the BC lower mainland
• Specialty coffee and tea, as well as other creative beverages
• Artisan crafted gourmet, organic fair trade dark chocolate

As you can see, Organic Fair sells all sorts of products, but the one I was most excited about was their dark chocolate bars! Holy yum!

After wandering around and enjoying the beautiful Organic Fair property, our group was invited inside to sample some chocolate!

Organic Fair has 11 different flavors of dark chocolate bars. They’re all made with a minimum of 70% cacao and are both certified organic and fair trade. The bars have no fillers, waxes, or added dairy products– just delicious chocolate with the perfect amount of organic sugar.

Of course, there wasn’t a single chocolate that I didn’t enjoy! Everyone in our group loved them too. Organic Fair really does has a chocolate bar for everyone!

Organic Fair has so many interesting flavors of chocolate! One in particular, the Chiapas Organic Dark Chocolate, was like nothing I have ever tasted. The Chiapas bar is made with 70% cacao dark chocolate, cinnamon, cardamom, and chipotle chile. It was subtly sweet, but left you with a spicy bite at the end. I initially tasted the dark chocolate mixed with cinnamon, but then the chipotle chile hit my tongue and lingered for a few seconds. It was awesome!

I also really liked the Canadiana chocolate bar. There was something quite special about putting chocolate, sun-dried apples, maple syrup, and smoked salt together in one bar! Holy amazing flavor combination!

My favorite chocolate of the day, however, was the Little Italy bar, which is made with dark chocolate, espresso chunks, and lemon. I never would have expected these flavors to taste so delicious! The buzz of espresso and zing of lemon were incredible together!

Mal loved the Silk Road bar (chocolate + peppermint + mandarin), so we each bought one of each to take home with us. Let’s just say that neither of the bars made it out of Canada!

Organic Fair’s chocolate is one of the best I have ever tasted! And I love that they are made with all-natural, organic ingredients and without all of those weird fillers that most of the “mass-market” chocolates are made with. Each bite was packed with natural flavor and subtle dark chocolate sweetness.

Organic Fair has all of their products available for sale online, which are shipped directly from their farm store. Sadly, Organic Fair only ships to their Canadian customers, but perhaps that will change in the near future? I would love another Little Italy bar in my life!

From The Tapa Bar website:

“Tapas are small, flavourful dishes that can be served as an appetizer or together as a meal. What distinguishes tapas from other dishes is more the spirit of the eater, not the food itself. One often lingers, unhurried, over tapas.”

Oh, how I love eating tapas!

As you know, tapas are small dishes that are meant to be shared by everyone at the table. I love sharing food when I go out to dinner because I want to taste everything! Plus, it’s always fun to dine out with a bunch of friends and chat over good food and drinks in a laid-back setting.

The Tapa Bar is quite a hidden gem as it is tucked away in the Trounce Alley, off the beaten-path, of downtown Victoria, BC. The look and feel of the outside deck makes it seem as though you have been transported to a little eatery somewhere in Europe. It’s a super cute restaurant!

The decor inside The Tapa Bar is warm, inviting, and cozy. Spanish music plays softly in the background, and beautiful, original paintings by Mexican painter, Luis Merino, cover the walls.

The Tapa Bar is quite the happening place. Mal and I went to dinner there on a Wednesday evening, and we were surprised to see such a bumpin’ atmosphere. Although it was super busy, the service was friendly, attentive, and relatively fast.

The tapas at The Tapa Bar could easily feed 3-4 people and ran the gamut with a huge range of ingredients and dishes. Both the meat and vegetarian options were equally tasty.

Chorizo Fondue
Spicy Portuguese sausage, cheese, wine, and garlic baked and served with tortilla chips

Almond-Stuffed Dates
Wrapped in bacon and served with blue cheese crumbles and balsamic reduction

Vegetarian Cubanette
Open-faced focaccia with melted cheese, grilled portabella mushroom, fresh salsa, avocado, and pinto beans

All of the dishes were incredibly fresh and full of flavor– excellent tapas! 

With dinner, I enjoyed a vodka martini with blue cheese-stuffed olives. Yum!

If you couldn’t tell, Mal and I loved this restaurant! We’re already talking about making another trip to Victoria just to visit The Tapa Bar again! Be sure to check out this place if you visit Victoria!

For more tapas fun, check out my recent tapas experience at Toro!

What a find! “Sips” was the perfect little bistro to experience some of British Columbia’s unique wines and grab a bite to eat. 

I’m not sure if a reader suggested Sips or I read about it myself, but I’m so glad that Mal and I decided to stop in. 

The decor inside Sips is modern, yet simple, and seems to suit the bistro well. Check out some more photos of Sips.

A colorful, hand-painted mural covered the back wall of Sips.  

Our server started our “tasting” with a delicious, dry, oak-fermented white wine: 2007 Venturi-Schulze “The Bad Boys.”

From the Venturi-Schulze website:

“Pinot Noir and Zweigelt weren’t going to take the cool 2007 season lying down, so they went undercover – took the law into their own hands, you might say. They’d been on capers together before, when things were hot … red hot … but this time, they decided not to let their true colours show: a white wine so good, it’s almost criminal! They had help from the rest of the Venturi-Schulze gang: no irrigation; no herbicides or insecticides; hand selection of grapes; whole cluster pressing and French oak barrel fermentation.”

Mal absolutely loved the Bad Boys wine! In fact, he liked this particular wine so much, he ended up drinking 3 glasses.

Our server kept pouring us “sips” of wine to taste. By the end of the night, we must have tried at least 6 or 7 different wines.

I drank a lot of sips at Sips!

Mal and I had eaten a rather large lunch earlier in the day, so we ordered the Local Cheese Plate to share for dinner.

Local Cheese Plate: Village Cheese Company’s Horseradish Jack, Hilary’s Valley Blue, Natural Pastures’ Comox Camembert: A Cheese Epiphany

Crusty sourdough was served along side the cheese plate.

I really loved this combination of foods– wine, cheese, and bread– so much, in fact, that I decided it would be my “last meal” (if I ever had to decide). Mal said his “last meal” would be Thanksgiving dinner.

I didn’t snap photos of all of my wine sips over the course of the evening, but, let’s just say, there were many! 

One of the wines that I really enjoyed was a 2006 Pinot Noir– also from Venturi Schulze. 

“2006 was a near perfect growing season, producing exceptional quality Pinot Noir grapes. The resulting wine has the dark cherry and brambleberry fruit aromas and a big, dark juicy palate typical of our recent vintages with sweeter and riper tannins than before. The luscious dark berry fruit, minerality and spice are seamlessly clothed in the subtle vanilla and nutmeg contributed by a combination of new and one year old French Nevers oak barrel ageing. The wine can be enjoyed young, yet the rich tannins, alcohol of 14.9% and the bright natural acidity will enable ageing for several years for further softening and rounding. It is unfined and not sterile filtered, so we recommend storing it upright (it is closed with a crown cap) and decanting it off any sediment before serving.”

And more sips…

And more! 

I definitely had more than enough sips, but I had such a blast enjoying new wines paired with delicious, fresh foods, and chatting with my hubby, I didn’t care that I splurged so much. It was totally worth it! 

Sips is a great, little place. I highly recommend it!

Healthy Summit Ticket Winner

Thanks to everyone who entered the HLS Ticket Giveaway! I wish I could give everyone who entered a ticket, but I could only select one winner (via Random Integer Generator). And the winner is… 

Ali from Food, Fitness, Fashion!!!

I let Ali know as soon as she won, but I never had a chance to announce it on the blog. Sorry, guys! It’s been a crazy week with traveling across the country and then to another country for a few days. 

Hopefully, you were able to snag a ticket to the Healthy Living Summit!!!

Question of the Day

What would you pick as your “last meal”?

We’re heading back to Beantown this afternoon. Back to regular scheduled blogging soon! 

Enjoying afternoon tea at the Fairmont Empress may have been the highlight of my entire Victoria vacation! We almost didn’t have tea because it’s a tad on the expensive side, but I’m so glad that Mal and I decide to indulge in one of Victoria’s grandest traditions.

For almost a century, the majestic lobby of this landmark hotel has played host to England’s most beloved ritual – the taking of Afternoon Tea.

Afternoon Tea is served in the elegant Tea Lobby, which overlooks Victoria’s beautiful Inner Harbor. The atmosphere is relaxing and not as “stuffy” as I expected.

The service was spectacular, too. Our server was upbeat, friendly, attentive, and very accommodating. He even gave us some tea to take home with us!

Mal and I lucked-out with a lovely table with cushy chairs right by the window overlooking the front lawn and harbor.

Before we even ordered our tea, fresh strawberries topped with Chantilly cream were served to our table. The Chantilly cream was light and subtly sweet. It was a nice compliment to the sliced strawberries.

The menu listed a number of freshly brewed tea options. Mal chose Earl Grey while I chose the Empress Blend.

The Empress blend is a selection of seasonal, quality teas, created exclusively for The Fairmont Empress by the Metropolitan Tea Company. With components from Assam (thick malty and full bodied), Kenya (floral-like flavor and a golden coppery infusion), South India (superb fruity and sprightly flavor), Ceylon (airy, almost piquant flavor), and China (burgundy depth with light oaky notes), it is truly one of the finest blends in the world.

I enjoyed the Empress Blend quite a lot. It had tons of full-bodied flavor.

I also loved all of the goodies that were served along with the tea. I tried at least a bite of everything.

Pastries:

• Battenburg-Vanilla and Chocolate Sponge Checkerboard wrapped in marzipan
• Chocolate Cake-Chocolate Cake, Vanilla Butter cream, topped with Ganache
• Lemon Tart- Lemon Curd with Berry Garnish
• Shortbread- Earl Grey Tea
• Marble Chocolate Tulip- a cherry hidden under milk and white
• Chocolate in a Chocolate Tulip Cup

Scones:

• Freshly baked raisin scones served with heavy cream and strawberry preserves

Sandwiches:

• Smoked Salmon Pinwheel
• Mango and Curried Chicken
• Carrot and Ginger (cream cheese)
• Cucumber with light Horseradish Mayonnaise
• Multigrain Crostini topped with mixed Mushroom Pate, drizzled with Truffle Oil (open-faced)

Everything was incredibly delicious! My favorites were the Vanilla and Chocolate Sponge Checkerboard wrapped in marzipan, the Carrot and Ginger cream cheese sandwich, and the Crostini topped with mixed Mushroom Pate, drizzled with Truffle Oil. I was in heaven with each of these selections!

From my very first glimpse of the Tea Lobby to my final sip of Empress Blend tea, my experience was truly authentic and memorable. Afternoon Tea is an absolute “must do” for anyone who visits Victoria! Loved it!

Mal and I arrived safe and sound in Victoria around noon this afternoon, but we’ve already had a great little introduction to the city. Victoria has a ton of cute shops and restaurants, and it’s such a pretty place to walk around and spend a vacation. The city is also sort of romantic!

After the Clipper ride, I was SO exhausted! I took a dose of motion sickness medication, so I felt completely out of it when I arrived in Victoria. Meh.

I wasn’t sure what to expect with our hotel since we picked the cheapest option out of the ones recommended to us, but our room ended up being pretty nice.

The view from our balcony…

After checking into our hotel room, Mal and I wandered around Victoria until we decided that we needed a snack to hold us over until our late lunch.

We stopped at the Irish Times to refuel. Mal ordered a beer while I ordered a much-needed mug of coffee.

Omg. Need coffee!

We also shared a plate of French fries with garlic mayo on the side.

We didn’t want to fill up with a big meal because we were scheduled to have “high tea” at the Fairmont Empress Hotel. (The tea was AWESOME, by the way! I will tell you guys all about it later.)

Mal and I are off to enjoy cocktail hour and dinner. See ya later, gators!