While microbreweries and craft beer locales pop up all over the city, The Muse Cafe and Pub (1252 LeMarchant Street) is taking a step back from drinking culture, opting instead to fill the role of safe-space. The rebranded Dalhousie student-owned and-operated venue—formerly The Grad House— launched in September, coinciding with the debut of the building’s […]
Shoptalk
Local shopping, small business & consumer news
Posted inNews + Opinion
Jeska Grue’s lasting impression
Jeska Grue has always been inspired by the forgotten, the discarded and the left behind. The now Sackville, New Brunswick-based seamstress and designer grew up loving pre-loved clothing, sparking her imagination by sifting through the colours, patterns and fabrics of piled-high Frenchy’s bins. As a rural-living teen dealing with anxiety and depression, she says fashion […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Check out this Swiss Army knife for weed
Brett Evans wants to squash the stigma around cannabis and do away with the stereotype of lazy “potheads.” He’s invented the DoobTool, a product meant to cater to cannabis users with active lifestyles. “Here’s a tool that will allow you to go hiking and camping,” says Evans, who is based in Halifax. He’s also the […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
SHOP THIS: Creative Mind, Happy Soul
Two years ago, feeling smothered by a too-hectic life, Melissa Lloyd started doodling aimlessly. No pressure to create, no goal in mind, just pencil and paper. “I love to be busy but I came to a place and I thought enough is enough, I’m not feeling those moments,” says the designer and creator of local […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Saying so long to Steve Armbruster
It was more than the coffee. Steve Armbruster, the Steve behind Steve-O-Reno’s Cappuccino, left an impression on staff and customers that could outlast any caffeine buzz. And after over 20 years of slinging the hot stuff and cracking jokes from three locations, that’s a lot of impressions left. Armbruster—an adventurous outdoorsman and pioneering entrepreneur in […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Little India’s big plans
When friends Elakkia Priya Sakthikumar and Thiyagarajan Balamuthuvel couldn’t find authentic south Indian food in Halifax, they decided to start making it and selling it themselves. “We were looking for those foods. So we thought we should just start this. There are only a few Indian restaurants here,” said Sakthikumar, who comes from Chennai, India. […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Please don’t fire whoever runs the Scotsburn Dairy twitter
OK Agropur, you huge bummer, you’re laying off hundreds of Atlantic Canadians who work in the dairy industry, and you’ve just acquired Scotsburn Dairy so I’m sort of scared shitless that you might decide to axe the wonderfully bizarre, borderline offensive person who populates the Scotsburn Dairy twitter account (@ScotsburnDairy, please smash follow with the […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
7 Peppers Grill brings familiar flavours to Quinpool
After four years at its Brewery Market (1496 Lower Water Street) location, unsung buffet hero Aleppo Cafe closed up shop back in March, promising we hadn’t seen the last of its plentiful offerings. The restaurant—which originally opened in 2008 on Quinpool Road before moving in 2012—has reinvented itself as 7 Peppers Grill, and will make […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Yu Yo makes space for craft
Local craft supply shop and teahouse Yu Yo Craft Supply + Tea House (1498 Lower Water Street) is encouraging people to learn an art form or craft by offering old and new creative workshops every month. Yu Xia and Mengnan Qu opened the shop last April, where they teach classes in bookbinding, Chinese calligraphy, tea […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Tin Pan Alley takes it inside
This winter, beloved frite-slinging food truck Tin Pan Alley is getting a permanent address—no generators required—and opening up shop in Scotia Square Mall’s ever-expanding food court. “This past fall we started looking at a couple of bricks-and mortar-places, and it snowballed from there. We saw places all over,” says Karl Warme who will run the […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Mind Hack opens in Hammonds Plains
Matt Hall loved escape rooms so much that he decided to open one of his own—even if it meant giving up his all of his free time. His Mind Hack Room Escape (1410 Hammonds Plains Road)—the city’s fifth escape room— debuted quietly December 18, providing a little friendly problem solving for folks looking to keep […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Drones for the holidays
Views from the two just got a bit more epic thanks to the opening of Dartmouth’s The DJI Store by Dr. Drone (250 Baker Drive). Looking out for both recreational and professional drone operators, the store—Canada’s only DJI retailer—opened last weekend, offering a large range of gear as well as a place for repair. “We […]