Stage Wine Bar in Fernwood Rates High Praise from Foodies

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I am an unabashed foodie. So is Honey, and there are few things we enjoy together more than an excellent restaurant meal. So when I tell you we had one of our top three meals of all time Saturday night, you know that Stage Small Plates Wine Bar in Fernwood is something special. 

Air Canada’s enRoute magazine certainly thought so when it named Stage to its top 10 list of Canada’s best new restaurants in 2008. The wine bar’s popularity hasn’t wavered since.

In the past year, Honey and I have tried to get a table at Stage a couple of times, without success. Just up the block from the Belfry Theatre, the 50-seat bistro takes reservations only for groups of eight or more; for smaller parties, it’s first come, first served. Last Saturday night, looking for a late dinner after an art reception at the Parkside Resort, we scored a two-seater by the window.

And so it began. We started with a piece of Langos Fried Potato Bread ($4), a treat we remembered from our previous visit. Puffy, pull-apart white bread, hot from the fryer, sprinkled with sea salt and rubbed with a garlic clove. Oh, the self-restraint to order only one piece to share!

On the recommendation of our gracious server, we ordered the Grilled Haloumi with Local Tomatoes & Herb Vinaigrette ($10). As promised, the haloumi cheese—made from a mix of goat’s and cow’s milk—was firm and tangy, salty but not too salty. It was a perfect partner to the lightly dressed bed of fresh organic greens and perfectly ripe Saanich tomatoes.

Next up was a sublime small plate of Sooke Trout, Pancetta, Green Beans & Smoked Almonds ($12). I’ve never enjoyed a piece of fish more: tender flakes of local trout, crisp steamed beans, with little nibbles of salty pancetta and the delicate crunch of smoked almond bits. Genius. I’d certainly come back sometime to try the delicious-sounding Cortes Mussels Cooked with Coconut Milk, Lime & Chipotle ($12).

There were at least a dozen wines by the glass chalked up on the daily board; patrons can choose either three- or five-ounce pours. I took a chance on the Blasted Church merlot and was rewarded with a superlative glass of red. Honey beamed when the waiter produced a German Warsteiner as the house’s non-alcoholic beer. We sipped at these as we sampled two selections from the menu of local artisan cheeses. Again, aided by our knowledgeable waiter, we enjoyed the pungent Stilton and a buttery double-cream brie ($5 per cheese).

I could have stopped there, but Honey had his eye on the Goat Cheese Cake with Preserved Sour Cherries & Fennel Biscotti. Bless my sweetheart’s sweet tooth. This creamy, melt-in-your-mouth, sweet-’n'-sour cherry cheesecake dessert was the star in a heavenly night of unpretentious yet exceptional food.

Even if we have to dine at 11 pm on our next drop-in, I won’t let another year pass before we eat at Stage again.

• Stage Small Plates Wine Bar (250-388-4222; http://stagewinebar.com), 1307 Gladstone Avenue, Victoria, B.C.