I spent a few days in Victoria this week, hanging out with my brother Alex. He and my sister-in-law Laura had asked me to come over to help them pick out some decor for their house in the Cook Street village and I was more than happy to oblige - my brother is one of my most favourite people in the world and I'm always happy to have an excuse to spend time with him. Also - shopping with other people's money?! Well, I'm happy to do that too.
I headed over on the ferry early Wednesday morning, and Alex and I immediately started our rounds of shops: Urban Barn, Homesense, Nood - anywhere that carried *stuff* really, including the Maritime Museum in Bastion Square, where we satisfied Al's craving for an antique map of some kind to hang in his office.
We also satisfied my craving for yumminess by visiting
("Local! Wholesome! Yummy!) at the Glendale Gardens. My friend Mike had given me an excellent review of the place, and even though it was a little out of the way, I was eager to try it, as it's vegan and GF friendly.
We were immediately charmed by the decor, set in the grounds of the gardens in a little annex covered with plants and flowers:
"Secret Garden" entrance to Nourish.
Repurposed barbecue.
The menu at Nourish is small, local and seasonal. Alex and I both ordered gluten-free wraps - Al had a chicken sausage wrap, and I had "Summer in a Sari," which features hummus, apples and veggies (the original comes with goat cheese, too, which I omitted). Both came with enormous fresh salads, and the wraps themselves were amazing! GF breads can be hit and miss, but we both agreed we'd be happy to take home the wraps plain for our own cupboards, they were so good.
Part of Nourish's charm comes from its unique locale, set in the middle of Glendale Gardens. It is pastoral and serene - almost
too
serene for this Gastown girl - I could hear myself chew, it was so quiet!
The view from Nourish's patio dining area.
The view from Nourish into the Glendale Gardens. Even on a cloudy day it's pretty spectacular, non?
For dessert Alex and I took one of Nourish's GF brownies to go, as we needed to continue on our shopping mission. The staff asked us, repeatedly, if we only wanted
one
brownie, to the point where Al joked, "Ask me that again and we'll take two." We got in the car and took off, breaking the brownie out of its bag as we pulled out of the parking lot. We took one bite and looked at each other, laughed, and chorused, "Oh,
sh*t
." Let's just say, you don't want to share these brownies. Moist, delicious, amazing. We should've ordered two. Or a dozen.
You can visit Nourish's website
. They're open 10 - 4 Tuesday through Sunday, and definitely worth the trip out to Glendale Gardens.