Jan 27 - Beloved restaurant finally returns

Good morning !

Last summer, one of Esquimalt's longest running and most popular restaurants shut down. Now it's back, with a new lease on life and a new lease—this time in the heart of downtown. Speaking of new leases on life, we also cover the latest numbers on transplants saving lives in BC.

That, and an update on UVic carbon research, below.

— Cam

Today’s approx. read time: 7 minutes

🌡️ Weather Forecast

Today: ☀️ 7 / 1

Tuesday: ☀️ 7 / 0

Wednesday: ☀️ 6 / 0

7-day forecast

NEWS

Beloved Esquimalt restaurant Blue Nile returns tomorrow—in downtown Vic

After 20 years in Esquimalt, the popular Ethiopian and East African restaurant Blue Nile closed last June. It now returns, almost exactly a year after it first announced that its landlord would not be continuing the lease long-term. When the restaurant shut a few months later, it vowed to find a new space. That new space is in the heart of downtown, in the former The Hallway and Northern Quarter space on Douglas, across from the Public Market.

Island's longest-running African restaurant

Blue Nile is known for a variety of well-spiced traditional vegan dishes and a few tender chicken and beef dishes. All of it is served with injera, a sour fermented flatbread made mainly from a nutrient-packed grain called teff. 

This return—and high-profile location—comes 21 years after Michael Isaac opened the restaurant with two broken arms and a baby on the way.

Founder fled war and made it to Victoria

Isaac was born in Ethiopia, as a university student he fled as a refugee during the conflict with Eritrea. He worked as a mechanic in Sudan before managing to move to Victoria, where his aunt lived. On a trip back to East Africa, he met his eventual wife—and head chef—Asmaret. In 2004, after Michael was laid off from his job in senior care during a wave of privatization, the couple decided to pursue their dream of opening a restaurant.

Opening day, with broken arms & a baby on the way

Since Victoria lacked African food spots, they decided to not only open one but to make it a buffet so that locals could get to know more of the cuisine on first visit. But just before opening day and baby daughter Delina’s due date, Michael fell from a ladder while hanging art in the space. His aunt, brother, and cousin came together to help pull off the opening, and Michael got himself discharged from the hospital early so that he could attend the opening (in double casts). 

On Tuesday, the family will host a second grand opening—and this time, its founder will be able to shake hands. 

Read more about the family’s story and its new reopening (and its food) at Tasting Victoria.

⚠️ Capital Bulletin

Rain expected to resume on Thurs., ending this current streak of sun.

New boardwalks in Uplands Park should be fully installed by end of Feb. [Oak Bay News]

Current construction & road work in Victoria: See the map here.

Driving today? Check the current traffic situation via Google.

NEWS

Protected seabeds could help store carbon, says new UVic study

A new UVic study concludes that using marine protected areas to preserve natural carbon storage in key locations on the seafloor could be an additional strategy to help limit climate change.

Until recently, interest in natural carbon storage within the ocean, often referred to as “blue carbon,” has typically focused on mangrove forests, salt marshes, and seagrass meadows. The study led by UVic postdoctoral fellow Graham Epstein argues that seabed sediments may hold greater potential for carbon storage and should also be considered for protection.

“The soils on the ocean floor may seem empty and unimportant, but they actually contain a unique, diverse, and often fragile group of species, and they are vital to marine ecosystems,” said Epstein. He is also a member of Blue Carbon Canada, a UVic-led national research coalition that is evaluating the current and future capacity of natural carbon storage across Canada’s marine habitats.

“Seafloor sediments are the final point in the marine carbon cycle, and since they cover the majority of the ocean floor, they make up one of the planet's largest stores of carbon, dwarfing mangroves, seagrass meadows and salt marshes.”

As Capital Daily has covered, UVic has for years been researching ways to take atmospheric carbon and sequester it into stone and the ocean floor.

The new study estimates that Canada’s current network of marine protected areas encompass just 11% of the carbon contained in the seafloor down to depths of 2,500m, and only around 13% of the carbon hotspots. Working closely with Julia Baum — a UVic special advisor in climate and an expert in marine ecology and conservation — Epstein and partners at Oceans North and Fisheries and Oceans Canada found that Canada’s current proposed expansion to MPAs would provide protection to an additional 9% of the total seafloor carbon, and 6% of the carbon hotspots.

Story from Victoria Tech Journal. Read more on the study at UVic.

NEWS

At local hospitals last year, 11 donors posthumously helped save others' lives via transplants

Overall 481 British Columbians received a life-saving organ transplants in 2024, according to new numbers from BC Transplant.

BC Transplant said that 90 living and 118 deceased donors contributed to 309 kidney transplants, 47 lung transplants, 25 heart transplants and 13 pancreas and islet transplants in 2024. There were no local statistics available, although 11 of the deceased donors were at Victoria-area hospitals, BCT said.

Beginning this year, BC residents will see a check box on their annual tax return asking if they would like to receive information about registering as an organ donor.

SPONSORED BY OLIVE FERTILITY VICTORIA

Navigating Parenthood with Professional Growth⁠ event

Join Olive Fertility and Maturn for a virtual event designed to help mothers and mothers-to-be navigate the intersection of career and family-building.

Date: February 20 | Time: 6:30pm - 8:00pm PT

Explore tools and strategies to:
· Address the "Motherhood Penalty" and potential career impacts.
· Safeguard your career during fertility treatments or maternity leave.
· Understand how “AGE” affects fertility and preservation options.
· Build a personalized fertility insurance plan for informed decisions.

Featuring leadership coaches Jen Murtagh and Sonja Baikogli Foley, alongside fertility expert Dr. Niamh Tallon, this event offers insights to balance professional growth and parenthood aspirations.

⭐️ Capital Picks

🗞 Enjoying our newsletter? Help us make it even better! Become an Insider member and help support our local journalism—plus get access to the full Sunday edition all year.

❄️ Winter skin looking dull and tired? Pure Day Spa has cutting-edge facials, advanced globally researched skincare, private, lavish treatment rooms, stunning courtyard views, and free parking. Renew, revitalize, recharge.*

🔮 Mysterious globes of ice photographed around sunrise at Gorge Park. [Facebook]

🚗 Keep your licence. The experienced lawyers at Acumen Law Corporation will give you the strongest legal defence to keep you in the driver’s seat.*

🦅🦅 2 eagles on a rock at Willows Beach. [James MacDonald]

🌼 The Butchart Gardens Job Fair is February 5, from 5:30pm-7:30pm. Come and meet department representatives and learn more about upcoming spring and summer job opportunities!*

*Sponsored Listing

🗞️ In Other News

North Saanich cooking-supplies company Epicure shuts down
The company's web and social information have been wiped, but an update is expected this week on its closure after 34 years. Epicure began with its founder selling at farmers markets in Victoria, and had sales of $50M per year just a little over a decade ago. Its model came to rely on “home party” sales similar to Tupperware or Avon. [Times Colonist]

After Langford man’s toxic drug death, sister launches sibling support group
Five years ago, Stephanie Harrington lost her brother Ian during early Covid days and struggled to process the loss. Two weeks ago she ran her first meeting, through Healing Hearts Canada, for bereaved siblings like her. [CBC]

6 candidates running for mayor of Ladysmith
Voting for the byelection will happen in mid-late Feb. The role opened up last Sept. when the mayor for the past decade, Aaron Stone, left to become CEO of the non-profit South Island Prosperity Partnership (SIPP), based in Victoria. 

After 20+ failed attempts at affordable housing development, Salt Spring acreage being sold
First rezoned in 2009 for 10 affordable housing units,  with a covenant and housing agreement attached, the Brackett Springs land has never gotten its various proposals off the ground and is now set to go into private hands. [Driftwood] 

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🗓️ Things to do

🍽 Dine Around & Stay in Town: Enjoy bites from 50 of Victoria’s top restaurants, with three-course menus set at deliciously low prices. Through Feb.9. [Info]

🧠 Trivia at Ross Bay Pub: Test your knowledge and win prizes during Monday trivia night presented by Sixty Watt Trivia. [7pm today]

🤔 Trivia Night at Swift Beer: Test your knowledge and grab a drink. [Tomorrow 7pm]

🎶 Miguelito Valdés and band: Visit Bard and Banker for a fun night of live Latin music. [Tomorrow 8:30pm]

👀 In Case You Missed It

Sunday newsletter: Indigenous leader Bill Wilson dies; Wild ARC rescues 2,000+ animals. [Jan 26]

CORRECTION to Sunday newsletter: Wilson was the second Indigenous grad of UBC Law, not the first.

A perfect 5-star rating for Egyptian take-out restaurant on Cook. [Tasting Victoria]

What is BC?: Jeopardy! question on former MLA.

Vic council debates whether Crystal Pool referendum ads are neutral enough. [Capital Daily]

Pamela Anderson misses out on Oscar nom for the Golden-Globe-nominated role she chose over pickling in Ladysmith.

Gonzales Hill view, all the way to Mt. Baker. [Doug Clement]

Nudibranch eggs on the dock. [Owl & Bear]