Summer sunshine means the bumpy tangle of country roads in Hants County is dotted with rust-tinged yard sales and rickety signs advertising fresh eggs and homemade jams and pickles. On our drive up to Summerville we pass cows leaning lazily into the wind-rustled grass and horses, bored and dozy in the sunshine, serenely staring at […]
Restaurant Review
Posted inFood + Drink
Primal time
The first restaurant that I really loved in Halifax was The Libertine Cafe. My memories of it are hazy now, like all good memories of the late 1990s. I remember sunny warmth in the decor, paintings by local art stars on the walls, a friendly red-haired server, the shy smiles and awkward, fumbling compliments of […]
Posted inFood + Drink
Seaside Shanty retreat
A drive down the Lighthouse Route on the south shore is never a terrible way to spend an afternoon, so this weekend my friends Sarah, Megan and I wandered out to Chester Basin. Our destination: a Maritime postcard of a restaurant, the Seaside Shanty. Sitting right on the edge of the Chester Basin, the Shanty […]
Posted inFood + Drink
The Loose Cannon Scottish Public House isn’t about the food
It seems like Argyle Street is finally living up to its name, with the addition of The Loose Cannon Scottish Public House to the row of restaurants flanking the curbside. Heading to the pub, I hope for tams and knickers and maybe a vault full of gold that I could swim around in; I expect […]
Posted inFood + Drink
Moxie’s provides classic chain reaction
If I were prone to exaggeration, I would say that going to a big-box chain restaurant is the culinary equivalent of being at the bottom of Jame Gumb’s well. If someone surreptitiously brought me to a Jack Montana’s East Side Pizza-type restaurant, the parking lot would have a trail of claw marks and broken fingernails […]
Posted inFood + Drink
Caribbean Twist makes us shout
An open space with a scattering of tables, Caribbean Twist has a modest, take-out joint feel. The walls are bright yellow and orange. Potted palms and other greenery weave around the tables, and a bank of windows at the front of the restaurant offers a bright wash of natural light. All together, there is a […]
Posted inFood + Drink
Good Gracious Indian, no!
In the chill of December, a warm, smoky aroma can quickly turn into cloudy cartoon fingers beckoning me toward the delightful heat of a spicy meal. So as the wascally wabbit in 1944’s Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears is lured into the house of the titular bears by the steamy pull of sweet carrot […]
Posted inFood + Drink
Good Food, indeed
I was almost ready to believe The Cure’s Robert Smith had somehow looked into a crystal ball and forecast this rainy week in 2009 when he wrote “Monday you can fall apart,” because the events of Tuesday broke my heart. Tuesday was the sad day that two of my pals and I decided to head […]