• An oreOMG in all its glory

Punny folks and cafe connoisseurs Saf Haq and Lisa Brow are whispering sweet nothings into south end ears this month. The pair—who worked together at Two If By Sea—are opening their own cafe and bakery, Tart & Soul Cafe at 6389 Coburg Road, where Springhouse (formerly Fruition) recently closed up shop, in mid-June.

“We both were seriously craving the need to create something to call our own and we were lucky that it happened for us almost simultaneously,” says Haq of the well-timed vacancy. “We have worked together a lot already so it’s nice to have your business partner also be someone who can kill it in the kitchen with you. Lisa actually trained me so she’s definitely the real deal. We have kind of been waiting for this moment since we met in baking school in 2014.”

The cleverly named cafe will be all about the baking, serving cookies (see the pictured oreOMG, a shortbread/cheesecake sandwich, for instance), scones, squares, bagels and plated desserts alongside Anchored Coffee and another local roaster, says Haq. Once things get rolling, you can expect Tart & Soul to serve lunch as well, and sell wholesale goodies.

• North Brewing Co's hardware
• Rozina Darvesh

Rozina Darvesh and Peter Burbridge struck gold last weekend. The co-owners of North Brewing Company took home two gold trophies with their first-time entries at the Canadian Brewing Awards, which took place in Ottawa. North’s Gus’ 65m Ale was the victor in the Belgian Abbey/Pale category and its Midnight Glenora Barrel-Aged in the Wood and Barrel-Aged Beer (dark) category.

The awards are Canada’s premier competition among beer and cider manufacturers. This year marks 15 years since the Canadian Brewing Awards started judging the finest beers the country has to offer. This year’s awards weren’t just a win for North, but Nova Scotia, too—the event will take place in Halifax for the first time in 2018. To the folks at North Brewing, having the event take place here puts Nova Scotia on the map in the world of craft beer. “It shows just how the industry has evolved,” said Burbridge. “Halifax now has more breweries per-capita than anywhere else in the country.”

Starting a brewery was a way for Darvesh and Burbridge to stay and build roots in Nova Scotia. The art of making beer helped combine the food science degree Darvesh received from Dalhousie University with Burbridge’s MBA into a family business. The two beers that took home gold in Ottawa were conceived by the couple in the company’s first year. “They’ve been with us since the beginning,” said Darvesh.

Gus’ 65m Ale is a Belgian-style “patio beer”, blonde with citrus notes, created and named for North’s neighbour Gus’ Pub and the 65-metre distance between them. Midnight, a strong brew with tones of cherry, dark-chocolate, whiskey and vanilla is barrel-aged in Cape Breton and bottled in Halifax.

Three other Nova Scotian breweries—Uncle Leo’s Brewing, Boxing Rock and Propeller—took home awards over the weekend as well, while Bulwark Cider and Sid’s Cider took multiple honours in the cider categories.

Darvesh says she is pumped to show what Nova Scotian craft brewers are capable of at the awards next year. “We, as a brewing company, get to showcase what we do to the rest of the country,” she says, “open our doors and show-off our province and reciprocate the welcome we received in Ottawa.”

• The soon-to-be location of this summer's newest patio bar, The Rooftop
• Riley Smith

“We really believe in the downtown core of Halifax and we want to add something that’ll help make downtown Halifax a destination,” says Geir Simensen. He and his Stubborn Goat Gastropub co-owners Joe McGuinness and Kyle Drake are putting wheels in motion this summer to add not just one new place to eat and drink downtown, but two.

First, The Rooftop. In the next week or so, the literal rooftop above Blowers Street’s Sicilian Pizza—which has operated as an outdoor space for Scanway in past summers—will re-launch as one of the sunniest new patios in the city. The Rooftop will serve a small menu of “flavourful, tasty and seasonal” barbecue-style eats, all cooked on the roof, says Simensen, as well as craft beer, cider and wine.

“It’ll be very different from the Goat experience,” he says. “We don’t want to offer the same experience in two places.” Once summer winds down, the Goat family will prepare to launch another new restaurant—this one indoors—in the renovated former home of The Foggy Goggle (1667 Argyle Street), which will overlook both Argyle and Barrington Streets.

“The concept is Mexican. It’s not going to be Tex-Mex, it’ll be authentic. Joe, Kyle and I all share an appreciation for that style of food,” says Simensen, who’s been spending time exploring Mexico, its culture and its cuisine for nearly 20 years. “It’ll be nice, simple food. Fresh masa tortillas. Real Mexican products.”

The restaurant—which doesn’t have a name just yet—will seat about 120, and aims to open in late September. Think Spanish music, good tequila, homey atmosphere and flavorful food.

“We like to stay very true to our concepts. With this one, we feel like there isn’t this being done anywhere in Halifax and we think it’s going to be a great addition to what’s downtown already,” says Simensen.

“I want people to smell the fresh masa when they walk into the place.”

• Jessica Best spreads her wings with Birdie's
• Dylan Chew

Dartmouth is on a roll thanks to Jessica Best. She is well on her way to opening Birdie’s Bread Co. at 380 Pleasant Street in Woodside. “We’re getting closer. I say that every day, but oh my god there is still so much more to do,” says Best.

The plan is to open Birdie’s in the last week of May. “But that might be a little ambitious,” Best says. Just last week a grain mill—“a logistical beast to try to sort out,” she says—arrived, an enormous crate, so at least the biggest piece of the puzzle is in place.

Best started her baking career at Auntie Crae’s and Raymonds Restaurant in St. John’s before moving to Halifax where, as head baker, she helped Renee Lavallée open The Canteen. You can currently find her roster of sourdoughs—along with other goods like croissants, cookies and muesli—at the Alderney Landing Farmers’ Market (2 Ochterloney Street).

The new bakery will focus on fresh-baked breads, like the sourdoughs, whole wheat, rye and Eastern European-style breads, and freshly milled flour. “And I would really like to be able to do some fresh pastas in-house for retail,” Best says. “Anything flour-related I’d like to play with and see if people will buy.”

Birdie’s will also have a small cafe space with pastries and drip coffee. And Best’s bread will also be available at Little C To Go, the new takeout-focused sister restaurant of The Canteen, which should open in June.

“Jess and I have had an amazing relationship for almost four years now and I want to support her as much as I can and vice versa,” says Lavallée, who uses Best’s bread in dishes at The Canteen.

Little C will open in the small space directly next door to the restaurant. It will serve up prepared sandwiches, soups and salads that are geared towards the grab-and-go lunch crowd.
“Just like everything in our lives, we didn’t plan it,” Lavallée says of Little C. “A lot of our original customer base wasn’t pleased with the long wait for takeout in the new space. And we don’t want to lose the people who made us what we are.”

“We want to make sure that if you’re getting takeout from Little C you’re getting a great experience and if you’re staying in The Canteen you’re also getting a great experience,” says Lavallée’s partner at The Canteen, Doug Townsend.

Until 5pm Little C will act as a take-out spot, turning into an overflow room for The Canteen, complete with a patio, at night. The hope is to be open for Switch Dartmouth on June 5, though you may find them slinging soft-serve during Open City in May.

• via Ace Burger

“Whenever you hear a chef is leaving, people are like ‘Oh my god what happened?’” says George. “‘What’s the drama?’ ‘What’s going to happen to the restaurant?’ But Mark actually created an extremely well thought-out exit strategy. He was here to oversee the rollout of lunch. And he’s passing on a lot of responsibility to Andrew Shannon, who is the sous chef.”

Shannon will work closely with chef Andrew Prince of Ace Burger Co. (2605 Agricola Street). Together they will develop the new lunchtime Ace Burger menu at Battery Park along with what will be a singular dinner menu.

Ace Burger launched at Battery Park during Burger Week—“Dad and I are kind of suckers for punishment from one perspective,” George says with a laugh, “but it gave us a really good opportunity to create as much awareness as possible”—and is now open daily, both as an eat-in lunch destination and as a take-out counter.
“Five years of doing Gus’ Pub has given us an idea of where Ace Burger can go,” says George. “And I think one of the things we kind of learned from our partnership with Bearly’s is that if we work better when we have full control. So this has been working out really well.”

With Shannon and Prince working together, the Christakos’ are excited to push their limits.

“We’re going to get to explore Andrew Prince’s cuisine outside of burgers,” he says. “At Bearly’s we just began to explore how would Ace do ribs, how would Ace do curry and chips, how would Ace do donair hot pockets—super fun, kinda gritty, messy food. And I think it’s really in sync with who me and my father are as restaurateurs and what we know we are comfortable with. And it definitely makes sense at Battery Park. I’m pumped.”

• A peek via il Mercato's Facebook
• via Facebook

After just over two weeks of hard work, Bedford’s il Mercato (1595 Bedford Highway) debuts its new look this week. The 14-year-old Bertossi Group favourite has undergone what Stephanie Bertossi calls “a spring re-do” that will result in some fresh decor, a massive new bar, a second-floor patio and some sprucing up in the menu department (hello, meatball burger!). “It’s the quickest one yet,” says Bertossi, who’s been working with Bertossi Group owners Dean Leland and Hakan Uluer as a consultant on the project.

“I’m known for the fast renos but this one was really fast.” She says the inspiration remains il Mercato—blending old with new to make sure the lively, family-friendly atmosphere of the restaurant remains. The new second-floor, flower-filled patio will seat 50, while the marble bar will make room for 20. “All of the restaurants in the Bertossi Group, they always evolve,” she adds. “Hakan and Dean really embrace the change.”

• Summer 2017 will NOT look like this on Argyle
• Riley Smith

“It’s bittersweet. I hate the idea of moving out, leaving this but as you know, I’m not making any money here,” says Economy Shoe Shop (1663 Argyle Street) owner Victor Syperek matter-of-factly of his decision to sell the iconic Halifax bar after 22 years on Argyle Street.

He dropped the bomb that he was handing over its keys to Toothy Moose owner Brad Hartlin live on CBC’s Mainstreet last week. Now, he’ll zero his focus in on his Gottingen Street ventures, The Seahorse, Marquee Ballroom and The Local.

“The final straw was tearing up the road this summer. I cannot survive with no business this summer, and I think it’s going to kill everyone on the street,” he says of the plans to kick start the Argyle Street streetscape project this summer. “They’ve put the nail in the coffin.”

They, Syperek says, are both the developer and the city, both of whom he says have been inconsiderate and then some.

“The entire schedule is wrapped around the convention centre and not the people who’ve been here for years,” he says. "I think the city could have been a lot more proactive in this whole thing."