There is something quietly compelling about the North End of Halifax right now. It is not just the restaurants that get the big headlines, but the smaller, more personal spaces that feel discovered rather than marketed. Places that rely less on spectacle and more on craft. Tucked into that North End rhythm is Michelle Ashley’s […]
Mark DeWolf
Mark DeWolf has been a fixture in the Canadian food and wine scene for more than 25 years.
Posted inFood + Drink
Public: Walking the café and bistro line
In the light-filled space that once housed Fawn at 1589 South Park Street, Public Café, Bakery and Bar has emerged. According to Shannon Bruhm of RCR Hospitality, the team behind Public, the goal was straightforward: “We wanted to create a comfortable community watering hole where people can drop in for coffee, pastries, lunch, dinner, or […]
Posted inFood + Drink
Following a culinary dream with a pinch of Saffron & Salt
For many people who love food and hospitality, the dream of one day opening a space dedicated to cooking, sharing knowledge, and celebrating great ingredients quietly lingers in the background. For Nicola Gillis, that dream eventually took shape in Halifax with the opening of Saffron & Salt, a thoughtfully curated cook shop and cooking class […]
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Halifax’s restaurant winter woes
It’s late February. The winds of winter are blowing. Standing at the corner of Barrington and Blowers streets, you would be hard-pressed to see Obladee Wine Bar. The 15-year-young operation is wrapped in snow- and ice-laden scaffolding, metal poles, plywood and mesh, obscuring what was once one of downtown Halifax’s most recognizable windows. It is […]
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Chef Colin Bebbington’s Tribute: where anticipation met reality
Every city has a restaurant that becomes a talking point within food-obsessed circles. It is the reservation everyone tries to secure, the menu everyone watches evolve, the chef everyone is quietly rooting for. In Halifax for the past year, that restaurant has been Chef Colin Bebbington’s Tribute, located in the Cunard Residences on the Halifax […]
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Mark DeWolf’s favourite food and drink of 2025
If there is a common thread running through my favourite food and drink of 2025, it is intention rather than excess. Like many people, I have felt my discretionary food and drink budget shrink as global pressures continue to push costs upward. That reality has meant eating out less frequently and thinking more deliberately about […]
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Annapolis Fine Cheese reaches the podium in Canadian cheese contest
There are moments in our province’s food story when a single win feels like a symbolic turning point, the kind of recognition that doesn’t just reward one producer’s hard work, but signals that something bigger is happening across our culinary landscape. This month, Nova Scotia had one of those moments. At the 2025 National Cheese […]
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Preparing for the Holidays with Sweet Cheesus Charcuterie
Few things say celebration like a beautifully arranged charcuterie board. Good ones are colourful, abundant and designed to be shared. For Amanda Martin, founder of Sweet Cheesus Charcuterie, boards have become more than just edible art. They are an expression of creativity, resilience and Nova Scotian pride. Martin launched Sweet Cheesus in 2021, a time […]
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Margaree’s Magical Woodroad Restaurant
Destination restaurants often live off the radar of awards. In a recent article, I questioned whether lists like Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants or Air Canada’s Best New Restaurants explore fully enough the dining gems hidden at the end of our country roads. While Halifax has no shortage of great restaurants, ask many seasoned diners where […]
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Devour! set to take a bite of Montréal in Wolfville
Fifteen years ago, Devour! The Food Film Fest began as a small but spirited idea: pair the stories we tell on screen with the flavours we love on our plates. Today, the world’s largest food film festival celebrates a milestone with a week that feels like a love letter to Canada’s culinary present and to […]
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Tribute, Mystic, Rabble: Air Canada recognizes three Atlantic restaurants
There is a long tradition of companies benefiting from travel giving out culinaryawards. It makes sense. How many of us judge our travel experiences by the quality of the food we enjoyed? The Michelin Guide is undoubtedly the world’s most recognized authority on restaurants, with its coveted one-, two- and three-star ratings regarded as globally […]
Posted inFood + Drink
Frabjous: Where gourmet comes with a story
When Inge Kiss and her husband, Marshall Parker, boarded a flight to Croatia a decade ago they had no idea the trip would reshape their lives. At the time, both were busy professionals in Boston: Inge working as Chief Sales Officer for a French engineering consultancy covering North America and Asia-Pacific, and Marshall as financial […]