The Impact of Victoria’s Food Scene

As Annika, I am a writer as much as I am a foodie, and Victoria has emphasized this passion. As I moved to Victoria from a small town, my taste buds are ecstatic to live in “the highest number of restaurants per capita”. 

During the summer of 2021, a Saanich News report revealed that, “Victoria is confirmed to be the Canadian city with the most restaurants, eateries, pubs and bars per person, according to the Destination Greater Victoria.” It is evident that any foodie would LOVE to live in Victoria.

In my first-year at UVIC, I lived on campus with a meal plan, which meant I rarely took advantage of Victoria’s rich food scene outside of campus. After moving off campus in my second year, during my first semester I made it a priority to eat out once every week to keep the student life exciting.

Away from hours of studying, I decided to vlog my eating experiences in Victoria to support local, explore the city, and fuel my creative outlet. Suddenly, Saturdays (the day I dedicated to eating out) was my favourite day of the week, and editing became my favourite way to spend my down time. I have produced 8 Victoria dining experience vlogs on my YouTube Channel and still have more coming!

During my second semester I stopped vlogging and decided to be more present with my dining out experience. I’d ask the servers about their experiences working at the restaurant and what their favourite menu item was.

This curiosity was highlighted in my final assignment for my Creative Non-Fiction workshop class. I was to write a Journalism Profile in which I had to interview someone I didn’t know. I chose to interview John Cantin, the owner of John’s Place, because of a positive experience I had had with my server! After writing this journalism piece for grading, I decided to pitch it to the Martlet, where it ended up getting published!

At the end of the second year of my writing degree, I decided to connect my two passions into a longterm goal.

I decided that I want to become an international ‘Guy Fieri’.

I would review local eateries around the world using my interview skills, editing experience, and comedic personality to entertain while educating the world about different food cultures. Inspired by eating shows I watched as a kid, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, and You Gotta Eat Here, I feel like my passions for food, comedy, travel, and people all correlate to the persona of these food hosts.

I’m taking baby steps towards this goal by applying to jobs that include writing about food, like for Tasting Victoria, “a food blog and an online destination for anyone living in, visiting, or soon to move to Victoria!” writes owner, Amelia Acedo.

My goal for this summer is to apply for jobs that I’m passionate about and that go towards my future goals, rather than focusing on where I can get paid the most.

I see my unique personality traits as my strengths that contribute to my goals. I believe this goal is achievable, as extreme as that sounds, because of the baby steps I will make every day.