Whether your benchmarks pertain to the richness of coffee, the firmness of mattresses, or the crunchiness of fries, travellers have long used such standards to measure the pluses and minuses of an adventure away from home. The charm of travel benchmarks is that they can be applied to a universal range of tastes and expectations. There’s nothing necessarily snobbish or exclusive about personal litmus tests. In fact, rating what is on offer is one of the prime attractions of choosing a destination in the first place.

When you’re on the road, city-honed taste standards apply just as readily to a cross-section of cuisines, be they a burger at an island pub, a pie from a farmers market, or a mountain resort’s table d’hôte menu. The farther you roam, the more your benchmarks become firmly grounded by experience. Consequently, pleasure is heightened by the chance discovery of the ooey-gooiest cinnamon bun, the freshest margarita, or the flakiest fish fillet, especially at the least-expected times and in the most unassuming places.

In the late 1980s, lodging and culinary experiences for travellers exploring B.C. began to exceed expectations. Over the past decade, such occurrences have risen exponentially, due in large part to tourism-industry and food-and-beverage training programs offered at regional community colleges and privately run training centres. Above-average is the new average. As proof, the Georgia Straight presents a selection of Golden Plates experiences garnered from travels throughout the southwestern region over the past year.

When it comes to jump-starting your heart, there’s nothing like a dash to a B.C. Ferries slip, whether in Tsawwassen in Delta or Heriot Bay on Quadra Island. The law of averages states that sooner or later, yours will be the car behind the last car to make it on board. That sinking feeling is hard to digest. On the upside, a sailing delay occasionally affords time to forage for comfort food. Whether you’re stuck in line for the ferry to Cortes Island, or simply exploring Quadra itself, the place to head for the ultimate burger experience is the century-old Heriot Bay Inn (www.heriotbayinn.com/ ). A short walk from the slip, the view east from the inn’s deck is expansive enough to provide plenty of warning in advance of the ferry’s approach. The best menu choices by far are the heavenly halibut or oyster burgers. Chef Brad White told the Straight that the secret to his chin-dripping creations is sourcing the freshest mollusks from nearby Cortes and the halibut fillets from Crabby Bob’s, a seafood emporium on the docks in Campbell River.

These days, halibut features as prominently as wild salmon on West Coast menus. Whether you prefer yours poached or grilled, two of the best places to savour this benchmark dish are the Rockwater Secret Cove Resort (www.rockwatersecretcoveresort.com/ ), north of Sechelt, and the Woodstone Country Inn (www.woodstoneinn.com/ ) on Galiano Island. The Rockwater’s executive chef, Steven Ewing, formerly of Vancouver’s Raincity Grill, is the only classically trained chef de cuisine on the Sunshine Coast, and the results on the plate bear this out. At the same time, the Woodstone’s proprietor and chef, Gail Nielsen-Pich, is no slouch either, with her nightly four-course semi-fixed table d’hôte menus. When compared to similar offerings sampled by the Straight at a variety of fine-dining rooms from Vancouver Island to the Okanagan Valley, halibut creations from both chefs won approval.

As spring arrives today (March 20), farmers markets will gradually become weekly occurrences, first in smaller market towns like Vernon and Courtenay, and later in larger urban centres. One of the earliest to blossom is in Duncan, in the heart of the Cowichan Valley on southern Vancouver Island. This largely rural region is quickly developing a reputation for high-quality produce and locally grown wines, ciders, and cheeses. Duncan’s Saturday farmers market runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., March to Christmas, in Market Square beside the red-brick City Hall. (A summer produce market is also held on the west side of Highway 1, just south of the Cowichan River bridge.) At this time of year, stalls feature preserves, locally raised lamb, knit wear, and handcrafted furniture, among other items. One of the most popular vendors offers Dutch-style baking, including almond cakes, butter tarts, and mouth-watering apple-cranberry pies. When shopping for road food to accompany a picnic in nearby Cowichan River Park, the Straight found Duncan’s open-air “deli” the most convenient—and convivial—market of all.

Wedged between Skaha Lake to the south and Okanagan Lake to the north, Penticton advertises itself as “a place to stay forever”, which is surely the fervent hope of its retirement-age citizenry. By far the biggest draw for Vancouverites is the wide range of outdoor activities, such as skiing at Apex Mountain Resort, scrambling around Skaha Bluffs, or biking the Kettle Valley Railway Trail. There’s something about breathing in the fresh Okanagan air that naturally stokes an
appetite for local food and wine and guarantees a good night’s sleep.

One of the 455-kilometre Kettle Valley Railway’s prettiest sections runs along a scenic 40-kilometre stretch between downtown Penticton and Chute Lake. Along the way, the KVR passes through the Naramata Bench, the site of intensive viticultural activity and home to over a dozen wineries, whose patios provide ample opportunity for cyclists to rest and imbibe. It’s difficult to overstate the appeal of this section of the KVR, particularly if you detour into Lake Breeze Vineyards (www.lakebreeze.ca/ ), where the Straight found such inducement to relax over grilled dishes from a wood-fired oven that getting back into the saddle was almost an afterthought. Good food, good wine, good cycling—a benchmark for measuring any adventure.