More than 60 restaurants and 14 hotels have rejigged their menus and cut their prices for the next two weeks, as the annual Dine Around and Stay in Town event takes hold of the city鈥檚 hospitality sector.
Billed as a chance for locals to try new restaurants, while restaurants can take a few chances with their menus, the event has grown into an important part of the shoulder season in what can be a tourist-driven city.
鈥淚 still think it is really important to celebrate and have a restaurant and dining festival every year as winter turns to spring,鈥� said Tourism Victoria chief executive Paul Nursey.
鈥淢ost major destinations have a similar festival and it helps to signal a fresh start to the year.鈥�
The event, which runs until March 5, has local restaurants offering three-course menus for $20, $30, $40 or $50 per person, while hotels offer accommodations during the event with rates of $79, $99, $129 or $149.
The event kicked off Thursday evening with a gala at the Victoria Conference Centre, which had local foodies buzzing over entr茅es and desserts from the 60 participating restaurants, as well as local beer and wine.
Some of the standouts were a pork belly and root vegetable dish from the Fairmont Empress Hotel鈥檚 new Q Restaurant and Agrius Restaurant鈥檚 inventive take on tuna tataki spread on a crispy pork rind.
For dessert, everyone was raving about Flying Otter鈥檚 decadent milkshake topped with a peanut butter cookie and a stick of deep fried cheesecake.
Barry Parsons, general manager for Catalano Restaurant & Cicchetti Bar, said Dine Around is a great opportunity for locals to experience a restaurant they might have otherwise thought was too pricey.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a good opportunity for restaurants to showcase their ability to provide a three-course dinner at a reasonable price,鈥� Parsons said.
Jeremy Pott, director of food and beverage at the Inn at Laurel Point and Aura restaurant, said Dine Around lets restaurants showcase their best recipes and helps to attract locals during the off-season.
鈥淔or the Dine Around launch with 60 restaurants here, it鈥檚 perfect to see what everyone is offering,鈥� said Pott, standing beside the Aura鈥檚 chef, who was serving seared flat-iron steak on top of an egg crepe with kimchi fried rice.
鈥淚n the shoulder season, it鈥檚 fantastic,鈥� he said.
鈥淚t fills that void, gets people out spending money. People may not try your restaurant on a usual basis because your prices are a little bit higher. But as soon as they try your food and see how amazing it is, the service and everything else, it really comes together and you build a customer base on that.鈥�
Nursey said the reason Dine Around is important has changed over the years.
鈥淕iven Victoria鈥檚 growing business strength in the shoulder season, the dining festival is no longer a key off-season cash infusion in and of itself,鈥� he said.
鈥淭he restaurateurs and chefs that I speak with have told me that Dine Around and Stay in Town is a time when the chefs can experiment with new ideas, use the time for training and really get their heads back in the game and start gearing up for the quickly approaching high season.鈥�
Dine Around menus can be found at tourismvictoria.com/ events/dinearound/.
