Paper pleasures Before there was the internet, there was Atlantic News (5560 Morris Street, 429-5468), full of newspapers and magazines from around the world. The legendary newsstand remains a destination for your periodical needs—often going directly to the publisher to get titles you’re looking for—and more besides. Co-owner Michele Gerard shows us the new stationery […]
Category Feature
Posted inNews + Opinion
Go local on Spring Garden Road
Strolling down the most popular shopping district in Atlantic Canada, from Robie down to Brunswick—including side-streets bristling with boutiques—the sheer number of vital businesses provides an embarrassment of riches for Shoptalk. More than anywhere else in our fine city, we slam up against the limitation of space on this page. A street that provides a […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Go local on Quinpool Road
This Saturday, September 19 is the Quinpool Road Fall Fair, running from 10am to 2pm, a family event to feature an inflated bouncy pirate castle, food, games, costume contests face painting and the like, with crafts provided by The Clay Café (6413 Quinpool Road, 429-2994). Quinpool has a lot going for it at the moment. […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Go local on Agricola Street
Stretching down from the north end, Agricola Street is a series of pauses, movements and environments. North of Young is the largely residential energy of the Hydrostone, but points south you’ll encounter the dominating presence of the Oland Brewery (3055 Agricola, 453-1867), then the distinguished formality of the antiques district just around Almon. Further south […]
Posted inFood + Drink
Ultimate beer mash ups
At home: The best way to improve the taste of a cheap beer is to mix it with a quality beer. Take Fruli, the Belgian strawberry beer, and put a shot in a king can of Alpine Max. It becomes alcopop. Likewise, add strong ginger beer or a dash of lime cordial into some Wildcat, […]
Posted inFood + Drink
Dark Matters
Guinness The most famous. A dry, bitter, opaque stout from Ireland that is also low in alcohol. Murphy’s is very similar. It’s a Cork-Dublin thing. Dry Irish stouts are old-school beers, full bodied and far from wimpy. Where: every Irish bar in town. Rogue’s Roost Imperial Stout Big, powerful, stick to your tongue, gums & […]
Posted inFood + Drink
Brewing from field to glass
In England, they refer to a pub that has an exclusivity agreement with a brewery as a tied house. Although many breweries would dream of deals like this, it’s illegal in Nova Scotia to tie a bar to a brand of taps. The Port, a gastropub—a pub that serves high-quality food—on the red banks of […]
Posted inFood + Drink
House beers
For the diehard beer hunter always looking for a new taste, there is a decent selection of blended house beers poured out in bars and restaurants across the city. Propeller currently has the most specialty blends on tap in and out of the city. “It’s not practical to do a single batch of beer for […]
Posted inFood + Drink
Shing a shong
The bartender tells me Fridays and Saturdays are the busiest nights. People drink lots, ’cause they are doing the karaoke. Laurie the Guy hosts 300 karaoke shows a year; he’s done it for 18 years. His first time onstage, at Big Leagues, he was totally sober—a sure indication he was born to sing in front […]
Posted inFood + Drink
Another skill testing question
The second biggest beer drinking activity we imported from Britain, right after fighting and passing out, is the pub quiz. It’s more a civilized, cerebral form of combat performed in teams. Everyone knows teamwork increases your trivia response rates and collective IQ. Teams increase beer consumption, too. Basically, the pub quiz is a great way […]
Posted inFood + Drink
Snuggled in
T om’s Little Havana (5428 Doyle) is the coziest downtown pub and always wins a Coast award for Best Place to Drink Alone. It’s a welcoming, well-lit bar and there’s booths in back for a tete-a-tete. Then there’s Freeman’s (6092 Quinpool), open till late, with high, well-worn old Naugahyde booths. Sure, your butt might stick […]
Posted inFood + Drink
Hop on up!
Since starting work at Pumphouse Brewery in Moncton last year, Greg Nash—the man who brewed Garrison’s first batch of Imperial India Pale Ale in a plastic vat—has waded even further into the deep end of extreme beer making. “My mouth is still in shock and awe,” he says, after tasting a batch of his triple […]
