Be Love

“Pure nourishment,” reads the tagline for this wheat-, meat-, additive-, processed-sugar- and dairy-free almost-vegan restaurant. You could add to that “pure taste,” because despite all the things chef Heather Cunliffe’s food does not have, what it does have is loads of vibrant, Asian-influenced flavor. She and her brother Joe also run one of Victoria’s other favorite vegetarian restos, Café Bliss on Pandora Street. But Be Love takes vegetarian dining up a big notch with exceptional cocktails, a respectable wine list, and savory dishes like the Carmanah bowl with wild nettles, shiitake, kale, quinoa, seaweed, sauerkraut, and miso-ginger-sauce. All served in a gorgeous space filled with light, rustic furniture, and original art.