Tofino - Chesterman's Beach

Chesterman's beach is always a treat to walk on in the morning, afternoon, and night. So much to see and feel while on its wild shore. This is particularly true when it is storm season and this time it was a little more so. Here are some of the pictures taken during this trip so take a walk with us through my pictures.

The view and feeling it evokes always have me coming back. Each step can bring a different view and the multitude of the steps can bring to your heart a journey.

Tofino - Food

 Here are some pictures of the food enjoyed during our stay in Tofino, over Remembrance day weekend. First, Roar at the local Hotel Zed which is a newer place that has become a must attend for a meal or two. The appetizer was the seafood antipasto board which had excellent smoked salmon, marinated octopus, pickled scallops, and flavoured tuna with chips, hot sauce, capers, and pickled cauliflower.

Duck confit radiatori pasta (pulled duck confit, green olive, oyster mushroom + tomato ragout, preserved lemon, shaved parmesan). A wonderful and fun dish with complementary flavours.

One night we had food that everyone had brought to the townhouse we rented. I made pasta earlier in the week as well as a simple ragout sauce.

Shed has an excellent tuna poke bowl that is a favorite for a lunch with lots of nice textures and flavours.

Lastly Wolf in the Fog, which is always a treat to eat here. Started with potato string wrapped local oysters lightly deep fried. We pretty much always order this as the taste of everything combined is a delight on the tongue.

My wife and I shared a seafood salad, another must have when we eat here. Local mushrooms and seaweed, puffed rice, daikon, sesame mayo, miso chili oil. You feel so good when eating it.

Smoked steelhead trout with buttermilk mashed potatoes, beets, chard, salal berry, and juniper. I love trout for the fatty oils inside when it is cooked just right. Combined with the other items it blends wonderfully.

For dessert, apple terrine with crème fraîche, oat crumble, bee pollen tuile, caramelized honey.

Tofino always has great talent making great food. Its always tempting to stay longer to sample more. Not pictured was the chocolate box my wife and I each bought from Chocolate Tofino, another must see and buy things from.

Tofino on Labour Day Weekend

I and my wife with three friends were in Tofino last weekend. This is a view from the back doors of the three bedroom accommodations we stayed in. The beach is just over the treeline.

On the way to Tofino we stopped at Coombs, did a little grocery and book shopping, and ate at Cuckoos. I had my soup of the day and vegetable Italian sandwich.

On our first night my wife and I had already made pasta, pesto, and tomato sauce from scratch and combined it with a kale and tomato Italian style fry with vegetables from our garden. To finish we had a selection of great chocolates from Chocolate Tofino. Sadly there are no pictures of the spread as we were all quite hungry.

The next day I went out chanterelle hunting with a friend. Lots of interesting scenery with very few people. A huge slug.

Nice moss and ferns on rocks.

Mossy trees.

I got a significant haul of chanterelles too!

After I came back my wife and I took a stroll along the beach.

As a group we went to Wolf in the Fog for another fantastic meal. Potato encrusted oysters was first. 

Then the seaweed salad, with tuna.

Finally grilled mackerel.

The next day was a short walk in the foggy morning with my wife before driving home.

Drive home from Tofino - Highway 4

Our drive home was filled with much rain, foreshadowing the deluge that would affect many parts of British Columbia the next day. As we approached the continuing work on a section of highway 4, at Kennedy lake hill, I though I would take some pictures of the progress as they try to find solid rock for supports.

Two Full Days in Tofino

For our first full day in Tofino, we had a casual early morning of reading and stovetop steel cut oatmeal at our accommodations. We then journeyed to the Tofitian. On the way my wife saw the wonderful drops of water on a small tree.

At the Tofitian we each got a slice of egg pie and a ginger-lemon hot drink.

We had decided to walk downtown, around 45 minutes, and saw this new thing...bus stop, water dispenser, and garbage bin. 

The art on the garbage can was very humorous.

After looking around at familiar places in Tofino, we ate at Shed. We each got the poke bowl and drink, and I got the Brittany Spears (fried pickles). For my drink I tried the chestnut ale from Whistler Brewing company which was quite tasty. 

After doing some more shopping, we walked back to our place and then immediately walked to Chesterman's Beach, images available here. After a rest and light snack of nice brie cheese, we drove to our supper at Wolf in the Fog, a place we have eaten at many times. We decided on a sharing meal, so we started with the ever delicious potato encrusted oysters followed by a seaweed salad. Our main was the seacuterie; marinated octopus, haliwurst, and BBQ' d herring with all the accompaniments. Apologies for the dim pictures, but the lights are always low here at night.

Afterwards we returned to our place, played crib and read with chocolates, then to sleep.

On the second full day, we had breakfast at Roar (for images of the entire Hotel Zed/Roar experience go here). We then drove to town and stopped at the Tofino Distillery for my wife to do a tasting (she really liked the beach fire) while I walked across the street to the wonderful Picnic Charcuterie. The selection and taste of the locally made cured meats was marvelous and the variety of cheeses impressive. They also have a sundry of other things for picnic inside or out.

We then went to Rhino for a handmade donut each, bought some kindling for the stove at our place, picked up a picture at the Roy Henry Vickers gallery, and some bread at the Common Loaf bakery. We then went back to our place for lunch with our meats, cheeses, and bread with a little fire. Our supper was at Roar and the rest of our evening was experiencing another fire, reading, chatting then sleep before driving back home the next day.

Hotel Zed

This was our first time to Tofino since the Zed hotel had finished. Its quite funky for all the right reasons.

I really like the outdoor surfboard shower, garbage, and bike repair station.

The lobby is a trip back through time. The sunken area with ultra shag carpet is marvelous. In the 70's study room, find the book called "Hotel Zed" and pull it to reveal the arcade room.

Had to try out the disco room.

The restaurant in the hotel, Roar, was incredibly delicious. We ate there for two breakfasts and one supper.

For our first breakfast here, I had the Island Egg Pie sandwich.

My wife had the pan fried eggs and hash.

For our supper, we started with drinks. My wife had the Clover cocktail and I had a vermouth I had not tried yet.

We shared the roasted carrot special, which had a nice citrus-y sauce.

The shared main was rockfish with lots of accompaniments. The fish was prepared very well and had great flavour.

For our final breakfast, I had the house kofta and lemon shakshuka. The heat was just right and flatbread just the way I like it.