Cresting off a phenomenal year thanks to a strong economy, low Canadian dollar and robust cruise ship season, many Victoria restaurants are trying to attract to locals to pad out the slower shoulder season.
Cue Dine Around and Stay in Town, a two-week culinary festival in which more than 60 restaurants and 12 hotels entice locals with cut-rate three-course menus and discounted room prices.
Mike Murphy, a veteran Victoria restaurateur who owns 10 Acres Bistro, 10 Acres Kitchen and the Commons, said the festival gives restaurants a chance to get new faces in the door and allows chefs to get inventive and test out new menus. “It’s about introducing your restaurant to new customers. It’s about giving locals a bit of a treat and keeping your staff busy during a slow time of year,” Murphy said, adding that it can be tough to retain staff and keep them engaged during the shoulder season.
Murphy said 2017 was a great year for the three restaurants, with a lot of business from cruise ship visitors. He said many cruise ships are docking in Victoria longer — eight to 10 hours instead of four — which gives people more time to explore the city, eat and imbibe.
The City of Victoria’s crackdown on online hospitality company Airbnb “is not the worst thing for restaurants,” Murphy said, because tourists who stay in other people’s homes often have access to a kitchen to cook meals.
Murphy has noticed the rise of delivery apps, such as Skip the Dishes, which allow people to order take-out from restaurants that don’t typically deliver. However he’s confident most people still relish the social experience of going out to eat.
Ian Tostenson, CEO of B.C. Restaurant and Food Services Association, said 2017 was a solid year for the restaurant industry, largely owing to the strong U.S. dollar, a healthy economy and vibrant tourism industry.
“We’re tracking a five per cent increase in sales compared to the previous year,” he said.
The biggest challenge facing restaurants in 2018 — almost verging on a crisis — is the labour shortage, Tostenson said.
High rents in Vancouver and Victoria have driven lower-wage workers further from the downtown core, many career hospitality workers are reaching retirement age and the cohort of people between 15 and 24 is shrinking, Tostenson said. “By the time we get to 2020 there will be 20,000 to 25,000 fewer people in that age [category] than there are today.”
Restaurants are closely watching the B.C. government’s strategy on raising the minimum wage, said Tostenson, and hoping for a gradual increase, rather than following Ontario’s move of a quick jump to $15 an hour. Many wait staff earn the minimum wage of $11.35 an hour, but that’s supplemented with tips.
“We don’t feel overly threatened by [a minimum wage hike] providing it doesn’t move too quick,” Tostenson said.
At the festival’s launch on Friday in the Victoria Conference Centre, hundreds of foodies sampled entrees and desserts from participating restaurants and washed it down with B.C. wine and craft beer.
Livet chef Jason Bivall was busy piping délice de bourgogne into delicate gougères filled with oven-roasted cherry tomatoes and caramelized onions.
“We’re a fun place that takes what we do seriously but doesn’t take ourselves too seriously,” Bivall said. “We’re trying to work our craft and create great dishes.”
It’s been a year-and-a-half since Livet opened on Broughton Street, with a sprawling L-shaped patio overlooking the Royal Theatre. Graham Meckling, also owner of Stage Wine Bar, a favourite for many Belfry Theatre goers, wanted to open his second restaurant on the doorstep of the Royal to encourage the dinner-and-a-show tradition.
With a location on the edge of downtown, many of the Livet’s customers are locals. However, tourists did stop in during patio season, Meckling said.
Livet has been mostly spreading its name through word of mouth. That’s why Meckling decided to participate in Dine Around this year.
“I think this is a good opportunity for the people who we haven’t advertised to or people who live in the city who don’t know about it, to build awareness,” Meckling said. “We’re doing smaller versions of the regular menu, so it showcases what we do.”
He doesn’t want to serve a dish that diners can’t get if they return after the festival.
Between Jan. 19 and. Feb. 4, participating restaurants will offer three-course menus for $20, $30, $40 or $50 per person, while hotels offer rooms for $79, $99, $129 or $149.
The festival has been running for 15 years and grew out of a partnership between Tourism Victoria and the Victoria branch of the B.C. Restaurant and Food Services Association.
> Participating hotels and restaurants, and sample menus are in a supplement in Saturday's paper and online at tourismvictoria.com/eat-drink/dine-around
