A Noodlebox location has opened in Duncan, the first in the city, bringing the number of Noodle Bar franchises on Vancouver Island to six.
Franchise owner Ryan Vidal opened Duncan’s Noodlebox, located at 352 Trunk Rd., on April 17, and there’s been a line up to buy its unique and flavourful dishes ever since.
The Noodlebox concept was born out of a small food cart in Victoria, B.C.’s Chinatown in 2001.
The unique style of Southeast Asian street food became so popular that people were willing to wait hours in the rain to get their fill.
In 2003, Noodlebox opened its first store in downtown Victoria, with many more opening throughout B.C. and Alberta to keep up with demand since then.
“Business has been great so far and the feedback we’re getting from our customers is phenomenal,” Vidal said, while staff members moved quickly to keep up with the constant flow of customers.
“Many are saying that they’ve been waiting for a Noodlebox to open in Duncan for some time.”
You’ll give Two Hoots about these specialty mugs
Two Hoots Gift Gallery is presenting Marvellous Mugs, a show and sale of distinctive clay mugs by seven distinguished Vancouver Island potters, on June 1-17 in Cobble Hill.
The event will showcase Two Hoots resident potter Michael Giles of Cobble Hill; fellow Cowichan Valley clay artists Cathi Jefferson, Bronwyn Arundel, and Franziska Ditter Ebbesen; Victoria potters Mary Loria and Sarah Leckie; and Sooke artist Vincent Fe of Dirty Dragon Studio.
Their artful mugs include a variety of special surface treatments, from salt glazes to photo transfers, hand-built rivets to sgraffito artwork, fanciful robots and charming animal illustrations.
“Join us for a special opening night on June 1, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., to meet the contributing artists and see the full mug collection at Two Hoots Gift Gallery, located at 1490 Fisher Rd. in Cobble Hill,” said gallery owners Michael Giles and Anita Willis.
Sportsplex takes prize at Commercial Building Awards
The Cowichan Sportsplex placed third in the Community Amenity category at the 11th Annual Vancouver Island Real Estate Board Commercial Building Awards for its track and turf resurfacing projects.
Maintenance manager Chris Iverson oversaw the approximately $800,000 project and attended the awards ceremony last month.
The ambitious project was completed last summer and included resurfacing the facility’s eight-lane track and two water-based turfs.
Iverson said the long jump and triple jump were also completely renovated and a judges’ station at the track’s repositioned finish line has been installed.
“This was truly a team effort as community volunteers contributed more than 400 hours to help our registered charity save on cost, and local business sponsored the project with in-kind services,” Iverson said.
“Each of the three local governments also contributed to the project, while donations and legacy funds amounted to nearly 70 per cent of the total cost.”