Dinner at Il Covo Trattoria

A candlelit brick courtyard down a Victoria back alley, doing wood-oven Italian for 35 years and not sorry about it.

Steak frites and French red by candlelight in a Chinatown schoolhouse that doesn't take reservations for two, so arrive early.

Peter and Jo have run Zambri's for 25 years and the hand-rolled pasta has earned every one of them.

Beacon Avenue runs out at the water and Riva is what is there: seafood tagliatelle, a sweeping ocean patio and local jazz from 6pm Thursday to Saturday.

Fort Street Korean tapas and cocktails: low-lit, late-running, and serving a 'Squid Game' gochujang dish with the world's most appropriate name.

A Langford pizzeria whose oak oven was handmade in Naples from Vesuvius brick, turning out organic Neapolitan pies daily.

A decades-loved Broughton Street sushi bar where two counter seats and the word 'omakase' is all the plan you need.

Victoria's tiny Indian-spiced seafood room on Fort Street, where vindaloo mussels and French technique share a table at 4.6.

Quadra Street Afghan-Persian home cooking: mantu dumplings, qabuli palaw and hospitality so warm that ordering too much is practically required.

Family-run Thai on Fort Street's antique row, where Mama and Papa Sookjai make the green curry Victorians won't stop raving about.

An 1889 heritage house in James Bay where the cooking is vegetable forward, the light is good and nothing is in a hurry.

Victoria's Chinatown tasting menu that critics keep whispering 'Michelin' about, with just enough seats to feel like a genuine secret.

Victoria's long-running Ethiopian-Eritrean room, where dinner is one shared platter by hand and the closing act is a from-scratch coffee ceremony.

Tiered scones, clotted cream, lavender-kissed preserves and 21 loose-leaf teas under the Empress chandeliers: pinkie-out grandeur, done properly.