Seafront Italian and Live Jazz at Riva

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

A 112-year-old James Bay house, a Genova-born owner cooking your pasta personally, and herbs from the garden out back.

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

A tiny room at the far end of Sidney's pier where the halibut is worth the money and the Mount Baker view is free.

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

Oceanfront fire pits, a Wine Spectator wine list, and wood-fired pizza named The Spicy Beast, all at Oak Bay Beach Hotel.

Thirty seats in Sidney, chef Matt Jackson's French-technique hyper-local cooking, and a 4.7 that explains why those seats go fast.

A brand-new marina room in Sidney where nearly every table looks out over the boats, wild BC seafood and an award-list of wine.

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

Sidney's teal boothed diner on Beacon Avenue, turning out stuffed Belgian waffles and five different hashes three blocks from the sea.

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

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

Air Canada Best New Restaurants longlisted Kerala cooking with a patio pointing straight at Victoria Harbour.

Tasting flights of award-winning organic cider on a ten-acre Saanich Peninsula orchard above the water, reservations required on weekends.