Kathryn Calder (photo: Jenna Shouldice)
Interview by Megan Cole
Traveling the world as a solo artist and a member of The New Pornographers (and former member of Immaculate Machine), Kathryn Calder has tasted a lot of food. But no matter where you go, there’s something about the taste of home that is always the best. Calder talked to Rice and Bread about her hometown, Victoria, BC, and the food that she’s drawn to.
Your hometown happens to be my hometown, so I’m kind of interested to hear from you about what you like about Victoria food, and what you love about your hometown. Where are your favourite spots in Victoria?
For those from Victoria, I know it’s a very popular restaurant, but one of my favourite places to eat is Ferris’ Oyster Bar upstairs. It just never disappoints. I go to other restaurants and sometimes I feel like they are too rich, or I end up with this weird stomachache at the end of it. Sometimes food can be overdone, and I don’t mean overcooked, I just mean over-treated, and at Ferris’, especially upstairs for a nicer dinner out, they make great drinks, the food is great and the service is always awesome. I love eating and drinking there. It’s my favourite restaurant in town. There are so many good ones, though. That’s the great thing about Victoria, despite how incredibly small we are, there are a lot of people who are great cooks and interested in trying different things, and it’s cool that we have lots of different styles of restaurant.
I’ve noticed that Victoria has gone through this sort of maturing. It seems grown up to me now. It went through this phase where all the good restaurants were like Cactus Club or Earl’s, but now there are so many choices. Have you noticed that Victoria has evolved as far as its restaurants and food?
Definitely. I love the new ramen place on Broughton, Foo Ramen. It’s a cool little ramen bar, and I know we have lots of other ramen places, although I haven’t tried them yet, and they’ve been there longer. I am trying to be so inclusive [laughs]. I love that there are so many different styles and kinds of food; there are so many different kinds of Asian food from all over the continent of Asia. Sometimes I just feel like pho, and I love that we have so many pho restaurants, especially Pho Vy. Victoria is great for food, and coffee. Even though I don’t drink coffee, I’ve heard we are really good for coffee [laughs].
And beer, and so many other things.
No kidding. Beer! And you know [Victoria musician] Lily Fawn, her teas, Earth’s Herbal, are really good. That’s a local company and that’s so cool that there are so many people out there just trying to bring quality in food and drink to Victoria.
The New Pornographers‘ Brill Bruisers is available now on Matador Records.
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