Gigi’s Oysters (Comox, BC)

It’s been a while since an island restaurant outside of Victoria has gotten this much buzz. Online and print publications will occasionally gesture to joints on the Pacific side, but rarely farther North, and somewhere deep in my former line-cook lizard brain there is a suspicion that someone got comped for it. Gigi’s Oysters is different; it’s us lizards that have been talking to each other over drinks, on industry Podcasts like Track and Food, and through a food truck window where a total champion told me, “oh yeah, go there.. That’s where I would be right now!”

Kitchen people appreciate simple yet profound indulgences like no-one else, so it was high time for my wife and I to swing by downtown Comox and slurp up the vibe. What a vibe we found waiting! Half an hour before opening on an unassuming Thursday afternoon and the line was all over the sidewalk. Even the host seemed surprised by the weekday turnout and asked if he could snap a picture.

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Eat | Drink | Cheap Episode 11 – Mead, Part 2: The Sobering

The boys sober up and continue their talk on one of mankind’s oldest alcoholic creations. Including step by step instructions on fermenting your own mead, recipes, flavouring ideas and what to avoid when entering into the mead community. Shawn also laments shopping for his wife in the liquor store and shows some love for the original Iron Chef Japan.

Questions, comments or corrections? Hit us up at email@eatdrinkcheap.ca

eatdrinkcheap.ca

eadrinkbreathe.com/podcast

Music by John Palmer

Show notes and Shout Outs:

Make Mead Like a Viking by Jereme Zimmer: https://www.amazon.ca/Make-Mead-Like-Viking-Wild-Fermented/dp/1603585982#:~:text=In%20Make%20Mead%20Like%20a,not%20only%20uncomplicated%20but%20fun.

Middle Mountain Mead: https://middlemountainmead.com/

Wardruna: A Norwegian Folk Metal group that uses traditional instruments: https://www.wardruna.com/

Original Iron Chef Japan on Youtube: Big love to Eevee EVP, Sidney Greenwood and Xacred for keeping my Nostalgia alive!

Il Falcone (Courteany, BC)

Via: https://www.ilfalcone.ca/

I recently sat down with farmer, philosopher and garlic guru Brent Garstin at his bucolic Comox Valley farm for a secret project that hopefully I’ll be able to share in a bit. Brent dropped all kinds of knowledge on me, including where to get some of his award-winning garlic to eat.

Crystal was then gracious enough to pick me up from the middle of nowhere so I treated us to dinner at the restaurant Brent suggested. Neither of us had ever eaten there, but I had high hopes after Brent said, “they do things there the right way, authentic… People that I trust say it’s the best in town.”

Those people were right.

Located at the end of the main drag in Courtenay and easily spotted thanks to its copious grape vines and nearly-neon orange paint job is Il Falcone. We arrived around six and scored a couple of seats in their small dining room just before the dinner rush hit. On the way by I peeked in the open kitchen and saw a guy laying out sheet after sheet of fresh pasta and knew we’d made the right choice.

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New Horizon Cocktail

New Horizon CocktailWell kids, we made it!

Judging from all the puffy eyes, shambling and moans I assume everyone had a great time on New Years and probably toasted the end of 2016 with a variety of libations that they’re now regretting. That’s great! We needed a party to forget last year’s unrelenting weirdness and tragedy.

We lost a lot of great people who filled our lives with music and fantasy and all the things that keep us young. I lost my grandfather, my dog, my house was ravaged twice by floods and my shed collapsed with both bikes inside. It was a hellish year!

But enough doom! Like many others, we mixed up a couple of custom cocktails on New Year’s Eve and celebrated with a loud sigh of relief. Now that we’ve survived I’ve been tinkering with the recipe and figure I’d share it, even though most of us are still nursing a week-long hangover. *laughs* Read More