MicCHEK

In this episode we offer up a comment on a commentary and explain why we believe, despite all of its problems, Victoria is a great city.

Our conversation with the next Mayor of View Royal, Sid Tobias.

In this episode we sit down with the man who defeated Stew Young to become the next mayor of Langford. Who is Scott Goodmanson? Why did he want the job? And what does he have planned for Langford?

In this episode Joe and Kyle lay out five food recommendations they think people would enjoy this fall season. Three of them are new spots that have opened within the last year. Enjoy!

MicCHEK returns with a conversation with Vancouver Island's beloved columnist, Jack Knox. (Jack's interview starts at 23 minutes into the episode) For decades islanders have woken up to his humorous takes in the Times Colonist on all things Vancouver Island. We chat about Jack's new book, plus get his thoughts on the current state of Victoria and why he's taken a break from Twitter. Also, Joe and...

In this episode, the guys sit down with the owner of Wandering Mollusk to chat about all things Oysters. How are they harvested, how do you shuck them, eat them, and are they truly an aphrodisiac?

For only the second-time in MicCHEK history the guys hit the road and head out to Langford to see first-hand why people are raving about the Langford Station. Located at 720 Station Avenue, the Langford Station combines some of MicCHEK's favourite things all into one strip: food, drink, local businesses and music. In this episode you'll get to hear from the people involved in Langford's new arts a...

We know it's not soup weather just yet. But after the soup Joe recently had at the Deep Cove Chalet in North Saanich, he just HAD to discuss soup. In this episode, Joe gets you ready for the fall season with five of his favourite soups in Greater Victoria.

In this episode we sit down with Jess Gibbard who has set out to help transgender people around the world find their voice.

You'd be hard-pressed to find a place in the world that loves Lucky Lager more than Vancouver Island. Somehow it's become synonymous with the hard-working folks who called the island home. In this episode, we get the story behind the brew.

Filipino ice cream, a cafe in a curling club, and a trip to the South Pacific via Fisherman's Wharf. Those are three of the local gems contained in Joe's most recent list of five restaurants you should check out in Greater Victoria.

Just because you don't like something doesn't mean you shouldn't learn about it. That's our motto heading into a conversation with the man behind a local hot sauce company. In this episode we sample the hottest sauce he has to offer and learn everything there is to know about hot sauce and why people love extreme heat.

After receiving several requests from listeners we've decided to tackle SUSHI. Who makes the best sushi in Greater Victoria? It's a tough question but we've lined up a few experts to help us out. Enjoy our 15 recommendations for great sushi on the south island.

We sit down with three Victoria residents who have concerns and questions regarding Victoria's Missing Middle Housing Initiative. Ken Roueche is a homeowner in Fairfield, Bob June is a homeowner in the Rockland neighbourhood, and Susan Simmons is a renter in James Bay. All three have been following the discussion around this housing plan and share their thoughts in this episode.

In this episode we chat with Nanaimo's Whitney Wood about what it was like competing on Jeopardy!

In this episode we get a crash-course in missing middle housing. We've asked an expert in housing development to explain what he thinks are the five biggest myths about Victoria's missing middle housing initiative.

In this episode Joe and Kyle sit down with the man who opened Santiago's in James Bay. Tim Strachan explains how he wanted to bring small-plate tapas to the city and discusses the ups and downs of running a restaurant over the years.

In this episode Joe gives us five restaurants in Greater Victoria that have impressed him over the last month or so. He'll break down what dish to try and we'll even hear from some of the restaurant owners.

In this episode we take a look at the hundreds of illegal Airbnb operators in the City of Victoria and find out why the city is struggling to regulate this industry. We sit down with Laura Brougham and Nicholas Pescod, the two digital editors at Chek who spent months digging into this issue to learn about the problem, how it's playing into Victoria's housing crisis, and what the solution to fixing...

In this episode MicCHEK kicks off "Top Slice Victoria", the search for the best pizza by the slice in Greater Victoria. Listen as our panel blindly tastes, discusses, and scores the first slices in our hunt for a champion (First slice gets tastes at the 14:00 mark). Slices will be scored based on five categories: taste, toppings, crust, appearance, and value. In the end we'll have a winning pizza...

In this eye-opening discussion, Joe and Kyle learn about one family’s connection to the earliest days of Victoria. Fern Perkins’ ancestors were the first Métis family to call Victoria home. Her great, great, great, grandfather Charles Ross was friends with Sir James Douglas and helped build Fort Victoria for the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1843. In a surprising twist that Fern didn’t realize until lat...

Who sells the best pizza by the slice in Greater Victoria? That's the question we're preparing to answer as MicCHEK launches its first official food ranking. The plan? To have a panel of culinary experts taste, then score every slice of pizza in Greater Victoria that can be purchased by the slice. In this episode, Joe and KC Kyle ask award-winning CBC journalist Justin McElroy (BC's #1 expert in a...

In this episode we pick up where we left off last episode with an idea for one of Victoria’s most underrated buildings that doesn’t get a lot of attention. Situated where Humboldt, Government, and Wharf Street collide you’ll find Victoria’s Tourism Centre. It used to be an auto shop and an Esso Station and if our guest had his way, it would have been home to Club Balisage, the hottest jazz club on...

It was one of the biggest events ever held on Vancouver Island and if one local architect had his way, it would've been on a barge. Actually multiple barges. In this episode we learn about the plan that helped Victoria land the 1994 Commonwealth Games. In the end though, it was just too costly and too extreme to pull off.

In this episode we sit down with North Saanich mayor Geoff Orr to chat about his decision not to run in this fall's municipal election. We also discuss some of the challenges he encountered as mayor and the big issues that North Saanich residents are currently grappling with. Plus, Geoff opens up about what it's like being a politician in the CRD and offers up advice for anyone thinking about runn...