Relish

Not the pickled and chopped condiment but a new eatery.

Opened about four weeks ago by chef Jamie Cummins, the light and airy - and tidy - space with soaring ceilings, salvaged wood counters and tables is a welcome change to the neighbourhood plagued with a down-on-its-luck vibe.

It's strictly breakfast and lunch five days a week and Cummins packs in a lot of hours in those five days baking breads and morning pastries, smoking meats, making sausages and preserves, and generally whipping up flavour packed, healthy fare. Like the savvy chef he is, he draws from local producers, and from lessons learned working with chefs Edward Tuson (formerly of Sooke Harbour House and now owner of Edge) and George Szasz of Stage fame.

Mornings start with buttermilk scones, muffins and cookies, and sturdy breakfast sausages served on a housemade bun with farm eggs, tomato and fresh arugula.

I dug in to a light lunch of quinoa salad with cilantro and a hint of smoked paprika, a bowl of summer minestrone and the daily sausage on a bun.

The sausage in the bun today was chicken with sundried tomato, preserved lemon and basil, with the right amount of flavourings, fat and salt.

That's housemade relish by the way.

I missed the onions or sauerkraut for .50 each but I'll be back.

I'd also like to point out the bun that Cummins has crafted specifically for the sausage.

I have a fond childhood taste memory of crusty buns from a German deli, and Vancouver Portuguese buns, the kind that were made in the late 1980s. This specimen was a combination of those two, and was nothing short of brilliant.

Look at that crust! It crackles perfectly without falling apart, and the bun size shows you it can handle extra ingredients without spilling out onto your designer blouse.

Cummins also features larger lunch plates, anything from flank steak, chicken confit, salmon, handmade pasta or smoked pork loin, all around the $10 range.

There are also wonderful looking focaccia rounds, made from a very cool round silicon form that he proudly showed me.

Next time, I'm in for one of these babies of grilled pepper, eggplant and herbed goat cheese. Now that's a sandwich.

It's great to meet a chef so obviously content cooking the food he loves. Perfectly cooked food imbued with fresh flavours, this is lunch you'll relish for a long time.