Sometimes I think lobby doors scare people off,” says Luis Clavel, nodding toward the bright lobby of the Atlantica Hotel. These aren’t the gilded lobby doors of hotels from Toronto to New York and Paris to Hong Kong, doors behind which you’re not surprised to discover some of the best restaurants in the world. The […]
Food
Top 3 new restaurants of 2011
Dozens of delicious places opened their doors this year, which is great for the city but bad for the task at hand. Choosing just a few outstanding restaurants from such a large field of contenders is hard work. Tasty, enjoyable work maybe, athough still difficult. Add to that the whole “one person’s meat is another’s […]
Welcome to the supper club
What do you think about holding a dinner here one night? Renée Lavallée pitched that to the owners of Dartmouth’s Two If By Sea Cafe a year ago. Neither Tara MacDonald nor Zane Kelsall had professional restaurant experience, but they loved the idea. The rest, as they say, is history. Not only do these three […]
Can the bird
As the weather grows colder and the leaves start turning brilliant shades of red, orange and gold, we tend to turn to heartier comfort food. No time does this ring more true than over the Thanksgiving holiday when turkey sales skyrocket, cans of pumpkin puree fly off supermarket shelves and adventurous cooks finally dare to […]
Atlantic surprise
Nova Scotia has had a commercial wine industry since the late ’70s, early ’80s when Roger Dial opened the original Grand Pré and created some head-turning, palate pleasing wines that surprised the rest of Canada. But the industry didn’t exactly explode after that. Recently, though, the fuse seems to be have been relit and, if […]
Viva Italia on Agricola
Okay, close your eyes and picture north end Halifax as Italy. You’re drinking a bottle of Chianti, walking the narrow cobblestone streets, the smell of fresh focaccia wafting through the air…alright, so it’s a stretch. This weekend, though, is the closest Halifax gets to being Italy. The annual Italian Weekend (put on by the Italian […]
Incredibly yummy
I first heard about the Incredible Picnic four years ago. A member of the Department of Agriculture had just come home from a trip to France where they celebrated the country’s bounty by having a same-day, nationwide picnic featuring local food and drink. And what better way to herald the flavours of Nova Scotian products […]
Guerilla dining
When I received this issue’s assignment, it generated an uneasiness that lasted throughout the week. I was slightly nervous about going to an open BBQ, listed on Facebook and hosted by people I didn’t even know. But when Friday evening rolled around, while getting ready to head out, I gave myself a serious reality check: […]
Cold comfort
Nothing beats stinking heat and humidity (or cures the rainy, misty blues) like a heaping ice cream cone. And as it turns out, this town isn’t just bursting with bars, but a sweet selection of ice-cold summer snacks, too. We hit the streets, braved ice cream headaches and mapped out the creams of the crop. […]
Boundary war
After years of complaints by educated wine consumers about the illogical illegality of buying booze from out of province, the lobbying efforts of wineries, the media, a nifty website called freemygrapes.ca and several wine-loving Western politicians are starting to be noticed by average Canadians. And this is making some folks at the provincial liquor boards […]
Berry, berry good
We can hear the sounds of traffic whizzing down the 102, as we clamber up the rocks behind the Bayers Lake IMAX to a grassy bank of earth. The snow has thawed, revealing shredded plastic bags clinging to the bare branches of trees, old decomposing department store flyers and scads of wild blueberry bushes. Decked […]
A Grand meal
It’s the middle of the week and we’re looking for a place to have lunch, so my friend Rachelle suggests stopping by Grand Finales, a small homestyle diner tucked into one of Burnside’s many pockets. The food is standard diner fare—cheap and good—she says, and their homemade tea biscuits are worth a trip into the […]

