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The Coast | News, events, restaurants, concerts and Burger Week for Halifax, Nova Scotia
Home of the Best of Halifax Reader's Choice Awards, the award-winning independent newspaper covers the Halifax news, politics, events, concerts, movies, restaurants, and nightlife scene.
He didn’t notice me noticing you from across the room. My heart leapt and I lost my appetite and concentration entirely. No one makes me tremble the way you do—this context was no different. I’ve been wondering how you’re getting along and recalling why it is I chose not to be there for you as…
Twenty seventeen was a momentous year for Nova Scotia wine. At home, we organized a successful Atlantic Canada Wine Symposium, hosted the WineAlign National Wine Awards and launched our 2016 Tidal Bay, the sixth vintage of our appellation wine. Our wineries released innovative new styles like Pétillant Naturel and excelled with new-to-us grape varieties like…
Spindrift Brewing’s Killick Session Lager You knew this was coming. The BrewCast-proclaimed beer of the summer and a staple of every list we compiled. Refreshing, crushable and in an adorable 12oz can, this one had to be here. BrewCast consensus Big Spruce Brewing Co’s One Hundred This beer takes being local very seriously. One hundred…
“The whole idea came from a running joke on the podcast that I had wasted my Children’s Wish,” says Jeremie Saunders. In 2002, when Saunders was given the opportunity to make one wish, he chose a shopping spree. Many teens would do the same. Now he deeply regrets the decision, and that remorse has motivated…
Regional council approved an agreement Tuesday to sell the former Red Cross property on Gottingen Street to the Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Society. Terms and conditions of the deal are contained in a confidential report that wasn’t released to the public, but what is known is that the sale will be at market value and is…
To the girl studying in the Starbucks on Saturday night. I couldn’t help but overhear the long phone conversation you were having with your friend about you and your boyfriend breaking up. You mentioned that it was the weekend right before your Monday exam, and that you had talked about looking forward to seeing him…
Before he died on November 7, 2016, the great poet Leonard Cohen offered a moving, prophetic warning in his final album’s title song: “You want it darker / We kill the flame.” As we near the northern hemisphere’s longest night of the year, it seems like a monumental challenge to keep the flickering flame from…
A former Halifax firefighter is expected to receive an apology for the gender discrimination she faced while working at a station in Herring Cove almost 20 years ago. Liane Tessier was granted a hearing from the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission last year, after fighting for nearly a decade to have her case heard. Tessier…
“Lucky Cat is everything you love about your grandmother’s basement,” says co-owner Logan Hawkes of the homey space as he capes a customer. It’s the barbershop’s (49 Kings Wharf Place) opening day and its couch is already full of eager Dartmouthians. Patsy the pug happily greets customers at the door. Lucky Cat has a sleek minimalistic…
Hey my handsome pants…Don’t know if you read these as much as I do…But, just wanted to stop by and say I love you ma Chris-tofu. —Yo Gal
A post shared by Earth Goddess Shop (@earthgoddessshop) on Dec 10, 2017 at 5:22am PST After eight months in business, Shannon MacGregor and Sandy McInnis were told their shop’s building had been sold. While Earth Goddess Shop has been attracting customers to the little establishment in the Hydrostone (5528 Kaye Street), plans to tear the…
Shout out to the fella always working evenings at the North Street grocery store self check out desk. We’re always happy when we see you’re working and leave with a smile. Show this message to your boss because you deserve a raise. —Always Snackin’
When you talk so much about eating local and drinking local, and then buy the cheapest bacon money can buy from your local Walmart, you come off as more than a little two-faced. Halifax is full of so many great food suppliers and yet you fill your fridge with meat and produce from big box…
Confronted with the single most important planning document for the future of transit, walkability and accessible living in the entire Halifax Regional Municipality, councillor Matt Whitman had nothing to say. When it came time later in the same meeting to protect a niche tourism business, the Hammonds Plains–St. Margarets representative couldn’t stop talking. Whitman didn’t…
The city’s new active transportation priorities don’t have a lot of traction when it comes to improvements for the Hollis Street bike lane. On Thursday HRM’s Transportation Standing Committee voted to continue the ongoing planning process for a permanent, protected “all ages and abilities” bike route in the downtown, which will either enhance or replace…
Starting next year anyone 19 or over will be able to use, purchase and possess cannabis products in Nova Scotia, which will be legally sold online and through existing NSLC stores. The much-anticipated details were released Thursday by the province. According to the government, the number of liquor stores that will stock pot is yet…
10 Point Pleasant Park shoreline cleanup Sunday Meet fellow eco-warriors and get some Vitamin D while you brave the chill to help Point Pleasant’s shorelines get plastic-free. Meet at the park’s lower parking lot, near Black Rock Beach. 9 Les Rois Mongols screening Friday Set in the height of Quebec’s 1970 FLQ crisis, this flick…
The Disaster Artist is a film about a film, a bad one at that—The Room, the cult hit from 2003 that has become a hipster totem of irony over the past 14 years, with makeshift cinemas worldwide charging a few bucks for the apparent joy of collectively mocking someone’s heartfelt, yet terrible, art. (It’s essentially…
Here’s our annual round-up of the openings and closings that changed the small business landscape this past year. We’re happy to report the hellos (103) far outweigh the farewells (58) in 2017! As usual we’ve left out big box shops and mall news to concentrate on locals (save for IKEA because it was probably the…
Bar Kismet 2733 Agricola Street Tue-Sun 5pm-12am One of the biggest downsides of writing about a restaurant that you really love is the potential to ruin your chance of ever getting a table at that restaurant ever again. When there are only a few dozen seats, you kind of want to keep every single one…
The Weather Station w/Bernice Friday December 8, 7pm The Carleton, 1685 Argyle Street $20 Near the beginning of “You and I (On the Other Side of the World),” from her self-titled, fourth album as The Weather Station, Tamara Lindeman sings what could be taken as a distillation of her music: “I love because I see.”…
1. The Shoebox ProjectThe Shoebox Project for Shelters began in Toronto in 2011 and the Halifax branch started up the following year. Since then, it’s continued to grow. The idea is to decorate shoeboxes and full them with toiletries and little luxuries women living with low-income or living in shelters can’t always afford. The deadline…
Seven nogs. Many Dixie cups. One completely amateur blind taste test. In the name of holiday imbibing we got to the bottom of the standard egg nog selection and discovered both minor and complex differences in the flavour profiles of the yellow (or supposedly yellow) elixir. The resounding winner? Scotsburn’s classic Holiday Nog. But there…
Zaum Saturday December 9, 8pm The Seahorse Tavern, 2037 Gottingen Street $12 The experimental doom duo Zaum is turning up the lights and bringing some friends on stage to wrap up a year of globe-trotting. Zaum has travelled the world in support of Eidolon, an album with two sprawling, dark, ambient and meditative tracks that…
As soon as she became aware of the Christopher Garnier trial, Laura says a familiar feeling began to sink in. “Here we go again,” she says. “Here’s another person using BDSM to cover up abuse.” A Dartmouth member of the BDSM-embracing Society of Bastet, Laura (not her real name) says the narrative playing out over…
As social media defies geographic borders, many Canadians scrolling through their timelines are flogged with anti-Black sentiments coming out of the United States. But before basking in the centuries-old falsehood that Canada is nowhere near as racist as the US, you may want to read Montreal activist and author Robyn Maynard’s debut book, Policing Black…
A Holiday DuetTwo best friends, Melody and Harmony, head to the movies on Christmas. One of the girls is too poor to afford a ticket so her BFF grabs her hand and they sneak into the theatre. It’s joyous. MONTAGE: The girls grow apart. Melody gets into college and moves away, becoming a successful businessperson…
Christmas is coming, it just can’t be stopped With trappings and trippings and Christmas tree stuff. From Black Friday to Eve, shopping stores in a frenzy Blasting one type of music for two months too many. They want whosists and whatsits, phoneXs and trumpets. Going into Who-debt as tall as Mount Crumpit. Proclaiming that only…
Ristorante a Mano, 1477 Lower Water Street When inspiration strikes it’s best not to ignore it, Ristorante a Mano’s chef Jeff Rideout knows this. It was thanks to couple of rum and egg nogs and a well-timed gift of a pannetone cake—an Italian Christmas tradition—that an iteration of this dish was born. His at-home version…
The Armview Restaurant & Lounge, 7156 Chebucto Road There are many a bitter winter night where we all wish we could be whisked away to somewhere a little bit sunnier and sandier with a temperature in the pluses. And while The Armview’s Colin March can’t promise to up your vitamin D levels with this creation,…
Mother’s Pizza, 5710 Young Street This time of year has Tyson Wachter–owner of Mother’s Pizza–thinking about his grandfather, who was not only a baker (bonus!) but the host of his family’s seasonal shindigs.“All of the grandkids would be in the basement watching movies while the adults cooked and got festive in their own way,” he…
Station Six, 247 Herring Cove Road It’s been just over a year since Station Six opened its doors to Spryfield, paying tribute to the fire station next door and aiming to offer folks a dining option that doesn’t take them out of the neighbourhood. With chef Stephanie Cheverie at the helm, the cozy 70-seater serves…
Snowballs A strange but wonderful winter-inspired candy, this spongey, coconut rolled mallow ball is a step above the marshmallow Santa, but still basically a blob of pure sugar. Treat hack: Bob one on top of your hot chocolate, slice it up and use it in lieu of tape while you’re gift wrapping or sub it…
Asado Wood Fired Grill 100 Ilsley Avenue, Unit A Um, turkey who? That’s what Asado’s Mike Yould has us wondering with his melt-in-your-mouth porchetta, a winning alternative to your usual seasonal bird. “I personally love this roast. It’s spicy, savoury and herbaceous,” he says of the meaty masterpiece. Follow the smell of smoke to find…
The Foggy Goggle, 2057 Gottingen Street Foggy Goggle founders Natalie Dugie and Julie Streight have been making the lives of vegetarians and vegans easier since 2008 with their fryer-free comfort food, so it’s no wonder they’d have the dairy-free folks in mind during the holidays, too. This simple, coconutty version of the classic winter drink…
Le French Fix Pâtisserie, 5233 Prince Street Not all of us can be Geoffroy Chevallier, but we can sure as hell try. The French pastry chef took his talents around the world before landing on Prince Street five years ago, where he brings desserts, confections and pastries fit for royalty to his wee cafe daily.…
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Sagittarius (Nov 22-Dec 21) As far back as ancient Egypt, Rome and Greece, people staged ceremonies to mark the embarkation of a new ship. The intention was to bestow a blessing for the maiden voyage and ever thereafter. Good luck! Safe travels! Beginning in 18th-century Britain and America, such rituals often featured the…
For the co-worker who’s always stealing your favourite mug JAW Pottery mug, $38 The Trainyard General Store, 53 Portland Street Sattva Boutique, 2453 Agricola Street For the homesick ex-pat JAMPY baltic birch ornament, $12.50 ($45 for set of 5 designs) jampy.co For the analog lover Keephouse Calendar Tea Towel, $28 Made in the Maritimes, 5527…
Christmas celebrations and the Christian faith are not exclusive to the western world. Practicing Christians in the Middle East, Africa and India have traditions that don’t centre on egg nog, Santa and shopping. These non-western traditions are widely celebrated, even here in Halifax, yet are rarely considered in the mainstream narrative. Nurse practitioner, poet and…
Q I used to be a fan of your column, Dan, but something happened to you. Maybe it’s stress, the current political climate or some other issue—I don’t know. I used to look forward to your columns because they were fun, smart and helpful—but I don’t enjoy what I’m seeing now. If something did happen…
Our bad example I hope our esteemed mayor and council were tuned in to the respected CBC Radio program Ideas last Tuesday night. It featured several world-leading architects assembled at the Central Library for the panel discussion “Building Tension: When to tear down and when to build up”—using Halifax as an example for the most…
Unchained Kitchen, at Chain Yard Urban Cidery, 2606 Agricola Street These aren’t your auntie’s sticky, marshmallow-packed Rice Krispie squares. Kind of like souped-up caramel corn, but with a spicy kick, chef Lawry Deneau’s UK Spice Krispies are one of Chain Yard Urban Cidery and Unchained Kitchen’s classic bar snacks—designed for pairing with a cool, crisp…
It was last year around this point in the season that Coasters Stephanie Johns, Tara Thorne and Allison Saunders took their “walk down Quality Street to dissect the residents of the holiday season’s most iconic coffee table treat.” The story they wrote, “The original tin,” became a foil-wrapped flashpoint for debate. This year, our NSCC…
10 Have Yourself a Gothic Little Christmas Saturday // Sunday The eighth annual Forum bazaar of fairytale, medieval, steampunk, gothic and anime items means you’ll be gifting outside-the-box goodies to those on your list. 9 Bad Luck Woman & Her Misfortunes w/Fraser Melvin Friday Toronto blues/R&B outfit Bad Luck Woman & Her Misfortunes draws inspiration…
