I want diversity, you want it, we all want it: That’s a modern culinary conjugation. Problem is, while we say we want the taste of other cuisines, often it’s a case of us managing our own expectations over another person’s taste. For instance, northerners often expect hot from the equator. Don’t be shy, turn up […]
Andy Murdoch
Andy Murdoch is an awesome guy.
Posted inNews + Opinion
Granite Brewery Beer Store opens
Because summer feels like it’s here already this news ought to make you happy: the new Granite Brewery Beer Store is now officially open! Located at 6054 Stairs Street in the north end (between Kempt and Massachusetts), the new Granite Brewery, is open for business even if it looks, according to manager Joe Keefe, “not […]
Posted inBest of Halifax
Best Vegetarian-friendly Restaurant
Owner Lil MacPherson likes the moniker friendly rather than full-on vegetarian. “Dad can have his pizza and beer and the vegetarian kids can have what they like,” she says. It’s family-friendly. The menu is not just friendly to vegetarians, vegetables are creatively involved in this well-considered menu. Vegan tofu pie (chocolate and maple syrup swallow […]
Posted inFood + Drink
Bear Restaurant wins Best New Restaurant in Best of Food 2009
[Editor’s note: This story is one of a package of three of Andy Murdoch’s articles selected for Honourable Mention in the Food Writing category of the Association of Alternative Newsweekies’ 2010 awards. See all three here.] 3:30pm An hour and a half before Halifax’s Best New Restaurant opens, server Sarah Guthman walks in. She and […]
Posted inFood + Drink
Sea Choice guide wraps up sushi problems
Let’s face it, your average sushi plate is about as vapid as a fistful of colourful pills wrapped in papery seaweed. Reliably available, uniformly identical, cut up, cubed, it tastes as stolid as any other fast food. Somewhere in our rush to be healthy, fish stopped being fish and became a product. Tony Soprano loved […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Sidewalk patios come out this week, but few take to the streets
Pull the tarp off the Camaro and take off your shirt, it’s time to troll along Argyle Street to celebrate Patio Day. In the past, Patio Day landed on May 1, but this year, thanks to the Downtown Halifax Business Commission, patio season starts April 21. What is Patio Day? It is the day our […]
Posted inFood + Drink
Fid reopens!
After a six week wait, Fid pre-opened to media and fans last night. The new reno is modest and sets the tone for a more casual approach by the owners, Monica Bauché and Dennis Johnston, to their ten-year old fine dining institution. A banquette between the fireplaces, a redone bar where you can sit and […]
Posted inFood + Drink
Bear country
For a while, it seemed like we nearly lost him in the wilderness. For the last year or so, Haligonians wondered what happened to the former Gio chef, Ray Bear, when he struck out on his own. Answer: After a Valley hibernation, he opened every chef’s dream restaurant, Bear. Bear is a destination spot. A […]
Posted inFood + Drink
Growlers filled with wheat
Don Harms, brewmaster for Propeller, pours bottles of Propeller’s new wheat beer, Hefeweizen*, into glasses. He places them on the bar. Daniel Girard, Garrison Brewer, puts his nose right up to the sudsy glass and takes a huff. Banana and cloves, that’s good. Lorne Romano, Rogue’s Roost brewer, takes his glass over to a window […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Sugaring off on Allan Street
Who are the mysterious local sappers setting up a sugar shack in the city? We counted six taps in trees along Allan between Windsor and Harvard. Milk jugs were attached and sap was-a-flowing. So who did this? We knocked on several doors and one nice lady who didn’t want to be identified said off-handedly, “oh, […]
Posted inFood + Drink
Seaport looks for new markets
For anyone wondering how the Halifax Farmers’ Market will fill up its new 42,000 square-foot space seven days and seven nights a week, the seeds of the Seaport Market are germinating in a new project sponsored by the market, called community connectors. “Everything we do is local, personal and direct,” says general manager Fred Kilcup, […]
Posted inFood + Drink
Brewing from field to glass
In England, they refer to a pub that has an exclusivity agreement with a brewery as a tied house. Although many breweries would dream of deals like this, it’s illegal in Nova Scotia to tie a bar to a brand of taps. The Port, a gastropub—a pub that serves high-quality food—on the red banks of […]