Spaghetti carbonara Mappatura, 5883 Spring Garden Road, $12/$22 Carbonara is a dish that so many restaurants make, but so few seem to nail. From cream sauces that claim to be carbonara to sauces with scrambled egg to thin, watery undercooked sauce, this supposedly simple dish can also easily be botched. Mappatura chef and co-owner Terry […]
Jessica Emin
A toast to our ocean playground: the best three Tidal Bays of 2018
P icture it: You’re sitting in a folding chair on a country lawn somewhere in the Annapolis Valley. You got a lot of sun at the cherry U-pick in the afternoon, and your skin is still radiating. You are satiated with lobster rolls and potato salad. The sun is making a mix of Creamsicle hues […]
Recipe: Boost and balance breakfast bowl
Naturopathic doctor Tara Lapointe knows how to start the day on right foot, with a balanced breakfast. Written with her wisdom in mind, here’s an easy recipe for feeling good, energized and stuffed to seize the day. Begin with a base of steel cut oats—pick them over quick-cook or processed oats. “They’re a complex carbohydrate and […]
The joy of Annie Brace-Lavoie
It’s 9am when Annie Brace-Lavoie starts her day. The coffee maker is trickling as she begins to pull containers and produce from refrigerators. A tray of nest-like wheels made of praline-flavoured choux pastry make its way into the oven. After baking they’ll be cut horizontally and piped full of hazelnut creme. Desserts are always done […]
The edible art of Laura Jean Fraser
Laura Jean Fraser carefully places a crown of handmade buttercream flowers on top of a vanilla layer cake iced with strawberry buttercream. Using buttercream, and making flowers with it, used to scare her. Watching her now, you would think she has been doing it for years. Once the icing is done Fraser’s flower-adorned cake is […]
The patience of Janie Bogardus
“Mark is an inspiration, I’ve wanted to work with [him] ever since I was in culinary school,” says Janie Bogardus, about her current boss and owner of The Watch That Ends the Night, Mark Gray. The Dartmouth restaurant and bar opened in November 2017 and Gray, who was the opening chef, recently bought it from […]
Tidal bae: the best three Tidal Bays of the 2017 vintage
You pull a bottle out of a cooler of mostly melted ice, water drips down the label and onto the dock. You pour the almost clear, cool liquid into glasses for you and your friends jumping off the floating raft in the lake. The sun is behind the trees. Apple blossom petals float on the […]
Where I work: Field Guide
WHO HE IS Justin Floyd is a chef. It’s something he has worked at, studied and now takes pride in, but it wasn’t always like that. “I’ve been cooking for a decade,” he says. “In the beginning it was just work, I didn’t see it as a career.” But moving to Halifax from Quispamsis six […]
Where I work: Stephanie Ogilvie
WHAT SHE DOES Stephanie Ogilvie—a petite, soft-spoken redhead with piercing blue eyes—is a chef. When most kids weren’t even allowed in the kitchen, she was already making meals for her family and watching Julia Child on television. Being a chef, Ogilvie says, “is pretty all consuming—if we’re not two steps ahead, we’re three steps behind,” […]
Sweet unions: four ice cream sandwiches to make at home
Grandma’s House Dee Dee’s Ice Cream’s vanilla ice cream, Helen B’s Preserves’ strawberry rhubarb jam and Smith’s Bakery ginger cookies Cocoa-loco Humani-T Cafe’s dark chocolate gelato, 24 Carrots Bakery’s chocolate-dipped shortbread and coconut flakes Sweet Enough Common Confections’ salted caramel dairy-free frozen dessert, LF Bakery’s milk bun and toasted sesame seeds Pool Party Scanway Catering […]
Your seasonal eating check list
Summer in Nova Scotia brings about a whole crop of incredible edibles. They’re here, then gone, faster than you can say “product of Mexico,” so indulge in the local fresh fruits and vegetables at markets and grocery stores. RHUBARB Your backyard is full of it, or if you’re not packing your neighbour might be. Enjoy […]
Bay watch: the three best Tidal Bays of 2016
Tidal Bay has quickly become a staple of Nova Scotian patios and cottage parties. The new vintage, the wine that was made from summer 2016’s grapes and bottled in the last month, is ready for you to put on ice. Tidal Bay is not a grape, or a wine region—it’s a style of wine unique […]

