It was in fine dining that Ray Bear made his reputation—one he has spent a lot of time cultivating since his Gio days in 2006. After the closure of Bear in 2009 there was a lot of curiosity about his movements, which got interesting last summer when he announced the opening of MIX Fresh Kitchen in the former Capital City Diner space.
My first visit to MIX is for an early dinner. The restaurant is busy, humming with conversation and servers zig-zagging through the impressive dining room on various tasks. Our server is pleasant and honest with his recommendations.
We decide on “when pigs fly” ($12), a pork back ribs and buttermilk chicken wing combo, as an appetizer, and the mac and cheese ($10) and MIX burger ($14) as entrees.
The ribs and wings are plated beautifully, with a brush to apply the sauce, served on the side. Both meats are dry and flavourless. We leave them half uneaten. The mac and cheese is better—thick and creamy—but relies too heavily on the smokiness of Oulton’s bacon for flavour.
The MIX burger ($14) also features meat from Oulton’s Farm, this time ground beef. The patty is tucked into a house-made grilled bun along with jalapeno havarti, guacamole, tomato, lettuce, salsa, grilled red pepper, spicy mayo and more of Oulton’s bacon.
The toppings come across everything-but-the-kitchen-sink-y, but work very well together. Unfortunately, the patty is overcooked, and the bun—a so-called brioche—is heavy, dry and bland, sapping what little moisture there is out of each bite I take. The generous portion of accompanying homecut fries are nicely seasoned, and very tasty.
The pesto chicken pizza ($12) is a simple pizza with basil pesto from Four Seasons Farm, an organic producer in Maitland, combined with smoked mozzarella and chicken confit. It’s a delicate mix of flavours that tastes good, but feels flat without much sweetness or acidity to punch it up.
We leave thinking that Mix is by no means a great restaurant, but solidly good. It doesn’t really have the distinct personality of a restaurant with a well-reputed chef, but it does have decent prices, a menu that heavily features local products and friendly service. In a word, it’s fine.
I return for weekend brunch a few weeks later. Service is, again, wonderful.
I re-try the burger. It’s a little better, but the patty is still a little too charred for me, and needs all those toppings for moistness.
The mac and cheese on the brunch menu adds locally harvested lobster to the mix. It’s really good, creamy and luxurious with the slight sweetness added to the smokiness. The accompanying house salad is, on the other hand, hideous. The vinaigrette is aggressively acidic, to the point where we each wince upon taking a bite. Mealy tomatoes dot the salad, and a brown, wilted leaf sits on the top.
We also try the Eggs Benedict, which feature applewood smoked back bacon and corn-ricotta cakes in place of ham and English muffin. The eggs are wonderfully cooked, with a slightly runny yolk. The little corn pancakes are a delightful alteration; they are airy, but heavy enough that they are not lost against the bacon and egg. They make the dish feel special. Crispy homefries round out the plate.
If I separate Ray Bear from the equation, perhaps I would have a different impression of MIX. But when someone works so hard to cultivate a reputation, is that what he really wants? Ultimately, he’s gone from fine dining to “it’s fine” dining. But if that’s fine for him, it’s fine for me.
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This article appears in Jan 13-19, 2011.
Capital City Diner? Wasn’t it the Crown Diner? Did I miss something?
i think chef bear isn’t as good as he lets on…ive dealt with him in the past and he is flying by the seat of his pants…all talk,shallow action
Thank you for this review. Finally someone is pointing out how totally middle of the road this place is. The FUSION Halifax yuppies love this place because the plating is beautiful and Bear uses small amount of ingredients people heard about on top chef (“Oh wow! Chicken confit!”) which lets them feel like they’re big shots. This place is about stroking the ego of not only Ray Bear, but also his target clientele of people desperate to live well above their means and who place an emphasis on style over substance.
Food was fine and decent for the price but it is definitely not at the level that some people (including a notoriously dishonest reviewer in another publication) want to make it out to be.
My husband and I have eaten at Mix several times. We love it as well as our friends. The food is good quality as well as priced right. Ray Bear has come to our table each time we were there asking us how our meal was etc. He is a tremendous chef, uses all local produce and is always there to please his customers. Thats why MIX was voted best restaurant halifax side of 2010!!! Obviously there is a reason. People are always quick at judging!!! I will be back and highly recommnend this restaurant to others.
Good but not great?? they are less than 4 months old. Mix is casual dinning, not GIO. The food is excellent and priced right. I will be back without a doubt!!!
A colleage and myself were at Mix on the weekend for the “mix burger” and it was the best burger I’ve had in years. Whether you call it “fine dining” or “it’s fine” dining, the food was delicious.
Halifax has a lot of “high end” places that are actually just kind of average. I’m glad Buote is not cowed by celebrity.
Just went there for my birthday with eight other people. Four entrees were deemed delicious, three were just so-so and two were bleck. (My Thai beef salad had four specks of beef as big as your eye and an abundance weird, crunchy rice noodles with a distinct lack of “salad”.) The weirdest thing was the parsnip soup. It was really tasty but they served a white soup in a white bowl with a white biscuit without one hint of garnish for colour. The nachos are nothing special but the corn bread is to die for. The service was excellent.
It’s good to see someone who doesn’t deify chefs the way other publications are known to do. I’ve never quite seen what the fuss is about Bear, except it’s typical of Halifax to fawn over ‘foodies’ and quasi-celebrity chefs without knowing what good food really is.
Completely agree with tralyta! I’m sure it will take a bit of time to work out the kinks (as it does with many new spots), but Best in Halifax? Not yet.
I took my boyfriend to lunch there over the Holidays as a special treat and was thoroughly disappointed in the space. After hearing so many wonderful things about the decor I was horrified to see peeling wallpaper, tables that wobbled, fixtures that were falling off and a paint job that looked like it’d been done by children.
Certainly not what I expected from all of the hype. The food was just OK in my opinion. There are many other places in the city I would rather spend my money.
Don’t know who Ray Bear is (new to halifax) but thought the food was just OK. The place itself is not very appealing and looks a bit run down for a new restaurant. I am a burger nut so that was my selection for the evening. Have to agree with the reviewer, the burger was dry and the bun was too thick. The fries were hot and crispy though. The server was not very friendly but efficient enough I guess. Nothing overly special going on here.
More over rated offering from Ray Bear!
Yes, the decor is terrible, the duct tape on the cheap bentwood chairs appalling.
Both my wife and daughter had intestinal issue from the salad.
My buger seemed like it was cooked on Thursday and reheated.
Not sure why the bottom of the bun had been cut into cubes and re-assembled on the plate.
Home fries were in fact the small bits of the french fries only fried once then reheated, a soggy lump in a bowl.
I guess I thought he should be given a second chance?
There is no expectation of fine dining here, but the expectation of quality for price should be.
The waiter could have had the class to polish his shoes, or at least wipe the salt stains off his footwear, I am sure there is some vinegar in the kitchen?
We now see there are plans for another Bear fine dining effort, be sure I won’t be trying it, and adivising my friends to save thier money!
My friend had a medium-rare burger served to her. Even worse it came back a second time still not fully cooked in the centre. Even worse…when we complained to a supervisior he argued hambuger could be served that way. We left and called the Dept. of Agriculture’s Food Safety Division. Scarey!