For many, National Doughnut Day will just be any other day, but this year nine cafes and bakeries in Halifax are hoping it will be busier than usual. The first Halifax Doughnut Crawl will start and end on June 7, to coincide with and celebrate the legacy of deep-fried dough covered in icing. Organized by Scanway Catering and Grafton Street Cafe (1567 Grafton Street) the hope is to get more people out and about to their favourite local spot and to "highlight the growing foodie culture in Halifax."

Die-hard apple fritter and Dutchie purists may feel like there is no need to reinvent the wheel, but hate it or love it, doughnuts have now become experiments in design and flavour combinations. Although it is safe to say that Tim Hortons enjoys its steady dynasty, doughnuts are gaining popularity with smaller coffee shops, becoming more Instagrammable as the topping combinations get more artistic.

All participating businesses will try to outdo each other via the creation of one specialty doughnut for the crawl—and half of the proceeds from the sales of these speciality doughnuts will be donated to the Phoenix House.

Competitive local foodies know the drill: There will be a passport and stamps to be collected. One location, one doughnut, one stamp. The most ambitious and adventurous of stomachs who can knock off each location, and collect all nine stamps will be entered to win a $500 goodie bag. Completed passports can be handed in to the Grafton Street Cafe by June 10 for the draw. For a full list of participating spots (from Rinaldo's to LF Bakery) find the event on Facebook.

• “Uplifting the female bartending community is something I didn’t know I was doing,” says Chick.
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Drink Atlantic
drinkatlantic.com

"Even if you're the best bartender in the world, if you're a shitty human, no one wants to sit at your bar," says Evelyn Chick, frankly, over the phone from Toronto. The decorated bartender and boss behind Pretty Ugly (a "chill Parkdale gem" that was recently named number four on Canada's 100 Best Bars list) is gearing up to head to Halifax for Drink Atlantic (presented by The Coast, if you didn't know) where she'll share her expertise at industry seminars on cooperative, safe workplaces and booze-less cocktails.

From the drinks she makes to the atmosphere she fosters, Chick's end goal is making sure every person in her bar feels supported, comfortable and heard. ("We have a ton of female clientele come in to Pretty Ugly alone because they feel safe in that space," she says.) A groundbreaker, boundary-pusher and inspired leader, her creativity behind the bar goes well beyond flavour profiles and garnish. Take Pretty Ugly's placebo cocktail menu—a much better name for a mocktail—for instance.

"It all stems from wanting to make the space really inclusive. A lot of bars are missing that, so we created a menu that's not only for people for who are nerdy about cocktails but anyone who comes in," says Chick, who plays with texture and complexity to create non-alcoholic drinks with depth. "Why should someone who isn't imbibing sacrifice the experience? It's also stigmatizing when you order a mocktail."

She says keeping inclusivity top of mind makes her bar strive to be better—it's not just a watering hole where people get drunk. Providing that supportive culture isn't a stretch for Chick, who's inadvertently become a mentor for women in the industry, working with Speed Rack (a female-only cocktail competition) and alongside bartender Christina Veira (a fellow Drink Atlantic presenter) to help push women further in a fairly dude-dominated industry.

"Uplifting the female bartending community is something I didn't know I was doing, but now I have the responsibility to really be listening and really find out what the the issues the community faces are. I'm socially responsible to make sure everyone's voices get heard," she says. "I think it's just opening the line of communication and getting people talking is a great start."

This weekend, she and Veira will dig into the importance of having real conversations about the realities of the bar biz via Cultural Mise-en-Place, a seminar on building a progressive hospitality community.

"Christina and I—we just really need people to be woke," says Chick with a laugh. "Everyone can hone in on their craft—yes it's your job, yes it's your career—but you are still just people. You need to be good, functioning people in society."

• “I have something to offer that isn’t being done,” says Daoust of her treats.
• SYD DAOUST

Syd Delicious
Alderney Farmers' Market
2 Ochterloney Street
Saturdays, 8am-1pm

Few things can match the comforting goodness of a warm cinnamon bun, fresh out of the oven. But finding this thrill outside of your own kitchen can prove a challenge. Syd Delicious, the Alderney Farmers' Market's newest vendor, is filling that void.

"I have something to offer that isn't being done—cinnamon buns right out of the oven. I have my own oven and takes 20 minutes to make a batch," says Syd Daoust, the brains, namesake and magic baking hands behind Syd Delicious. "I know why people don't do it—it's time-consuming, you need to make them the night before to double rise, it's tricky keeping them cold at the market—this is why people aren't doing it, but it's great and worth it."

Daoust's first market day was last Saturday, and business was booming—the stall sold out of most items by 9:30am. In addition to hot cinnamon buns, Syd Delicious also sells vanilla and chocolate cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies and brownies. It's a compact little menu.

There's something else setting Syd Delicious apart from other treat stalls, but Daoust doesn't really advertise it while she's selling: All the items are vegan. "There's been a growing need for vegan food, it's popping up all over the place," she says. "I have no vegan friends. My whole family, we aren't activists in any way, we just enjoy it, we aren't judgemental. On our table we don't have it listed as vegan, it's not a secret, but from my own experience, when I say I made vegan cupcakes, some people steered away," she says. "I want the food to be good—not just good for being vegan. Some vegan groups came on Saturday to support me, but some people were just walking through and got a cookie and I didn't say a word."

There are no secretly healthy ingredients in Syd Delicious' roster, no hidden veggies or tofu. It's just an indulgence, and if you can't clock it as vegan, then all the better. "We had a test market at our house and it was great, a lot of people didn't know it was vegan. I'd tell them and they'd say, 'No way!'' says Daoust. "I just want people to enjoy my food."

• daniel dominic

Cafe Lara is calling all coffee geeks to its launch party of Cafe Fest, a week-long celebration of all things coffee, local and independent from May 5-11. "I like bringing the community together," says Lara Cusson. "I've been trying to get the coffee community together as much as possible—I think it's important that we all support each other."

Cafe owner (and namesake) Cusson reached out to fellow coffee people in the HRM to participate. Nineteen coffee shops got on board, all of which will be handing out coffee passports to their more adventurous patrons.

Haligonian coffee enthusiasts will be traveling from the Cottage Cafe in Dartmouth, to the Raven Espresso Boutique Coffee in Spryfield, Dilly Dally on Quinpool and Trident Booksellers in the south end, collecting stamps for a chance to win "highly caffeinated prizes." The goal is to get people talking about—and hopefully walking into—their local coffee shop. Maybe even inspire them to wander into a new coffee shop, in a new neighbourhood.

The idea originated with small batch coffee roasters Barista Microtorréfacteur in Montreal. They wanted to support other independent coffee shops, but also wanted to have a little fun, and thought festivals were the best way to get people involved in a little bit of both.

• daniel dominic

The festival has been gaining traction for the past four years in Quebec and has expanded in number of participating shops, special events and now, thanks to Cusson (who's originally from Montreal), its first east coast appearance.

The fest's closing party will coincide with Open City on May 11 and be dedicated to hardworking baristas. Cusson encourages loyal customers to come out and support their favourite barista for some "very silly, very friendly" competitions, including a blindfolded late art challenge and announcing the winner of the photo competition to win a full year's worth of coffee.

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This Nova Scotian wine perfectly expresses our spring. Its rich, velvety, dark red berry flavours are the soft wool scarf you still need to wind around your throat to bury your chin before stepping outside. Its sweet heat is the wood fire that has been going since November, eating up your now dwindling supply in the woodshed. Its fresh acid kick is the bite of winds reminding us that cold, in these parts, is king.

Get cozy with Petite Riviere Vineyards' 2016 Mighty Maroon because this wine is all about skin contact. The grapes Leon Millot and Lucie Kuhlmann are fermented in their own skins, in a process called carbonic maceration. In this process, grapes are not in contact with oxygen during fermentation, but carbon dioxide instead, resulting in a fresh, fruity style of wine. After alcoholic fermentation, the wine—still on its skins!—went through malolactic fermentation, which converts astringent malic acid into softer lactic acid.

This delicious south shore wine is then fortified with the winery's own grape spirits (distilled by Ironworks Distillery), resulting in a velvety, mouth-filling, sweet, strong and beautifully balanced Port-style wine. The Mighty Maroon—available at Petite Riviere's winery, the Halifax Seaport Farmers' Market (1209 Marginal Road) and Alderney Landing Farmers' Market (2 Ochterloney Street)—will ease you into spring. After all, winter is in no hurry to leave.

• KYLEE NUNN

Tako Loko (3248 Isleville Street) opened its doors last Wednesday to a hungry crowd of north enders. Keeping the menu simple, the 20-seat restaurant offers seven types of tacos: Chicken, carne asada (grilled steak), chorizo, carnitas de Puerco, suadero (brisket), fish and veggie. Customers can also choose between beans, rice, quesadilla and guacamole and chips.

"This is my language, my meat, my flavours, my colours," owner Vicky Ruiz says.

Tako Loko has labelled itself an authentic Mexican restaurant in order to let people know they won't find Tex-Mex tacos—you know, the ground beef, cheese, lettuce and sour cream kind—here. In Mexico, a taco is a soft corn tortilla with meat, onions, cilantro, lime and salsa.

Ruiz and her children, José, Daniela and Enrique, moved to Halifax from Mexico more than 15 years ago. Minus a few exceptions, like Mexico Lindo in Fairview, they were hard-pressed to find restaurants that served the food they loved and missed.

In an effort to make sure Tako Loko had a look as representative of Mexico as possible, she chose all of the restaurant’s vibrant colours and decorations. Green and yellow walls are adorned with a chalkboard menu and yellow coat hangers that look like garden spigots. Four lights are suspended from the ceiling with knotted hemp rope. On a shelf behind the cash, a rainbow donkey piñata relaxes – just out of reach.

As we sit in the restaurant, four separate groups of people knock on the door. Each time, José tells them politely, "We open at five tonight."

Apparently, this has become a common occurrence. Ruiz isn't sure how word has spread so quickly—she's already gone through 1,500 tortillas. She says several people have been by twice, and often stay for more than one round of food.

Luckily, service is fast-paced as tacos are easy to prepare and quick to disappear.

"This has been my dream for many, many years," Ruiz says.

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It may not count towards daily vegetable intake, but who cares? Boxing Rock Brewing Company just released a beer made with carrots.

The aptly named 14 Carrot Gold is a collaboration with Square Roots, a social enterprise formed by Enactus Saint Mary's, working toward reducing food waste and increasing food security. For example, Square Roots buys imperfect produce (or "seconds produce") that would normally be thrown away, then sells it in inexpensive 10-pound bundles. Boxing Rock's 14 Carrot Gold contains locally supplied seconds carrots.

When Boxing Rock owner Emily Tipton first met up with Square Roots, she was unsure how to tackle the key ingredient. "Vegetables are not normally an ingredient that you would put in beer," she says, because "they don't actually have a lot of usable sugar." But 1,100 pounds of carrots (and some help from The Juice Press) later, the team made it work. The result is a mild, earthy pale ale with herbal hops, honey malt and just a hint of carrot flavour. Tipton says the Square Roots folks "were so incredibly enthusiastic and really got involved with the whole process" and she's hopeful Boxing Rock will be able to donate some of the beer proceeds to Square Roots' token program.

Sehmat Suri, the director of strategic partnerships for SMU's Enactus groups, says it's been a fulfilling experience for everyone involved.

"It was just so important to start that conversation about food waste and about looking at the amazing ways that you can turn food that you think you can't use—not just nutritional aspects," she says, "but also something fun."

The beer is expected to be on the shelves of most NSLC stores by April 1. On April 2, Boxing Rock will be hosting its monthly beer tasting and food pairing—featuring 14 Carrot Gold—at its Halifax bottle shop inside the Local Source Market (2530 Agricola Street).