JOEL PLASKETT + POSTCARD FROM vietnam + LE CAVEAU
a big weekend adventure just outside the city
visiting one of nova scotia's premier destinations
HALIFAX PRIDE The scotia festival of music ETC. PRess
Terroir and Passion Why Benjamin Bridge Is Winning Over Wine Lovers Everywhere
Spring 2015
downtown HALIFAX's newest lunch spot
Contents Issue Number 13, Volume 4 - Spring 2015
Wine & Travel
ISSUe
Issue Number 13, Volume 4 - Spring 2015
Why Benjamin Bridge Is Winning Over Wine Lovers Everywhere
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Has Halifax Pride lost touch with its political roots?
A big weekend adventure just outside the city.
halifax pride
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Downtown Halifax gets another solid lunch destination.
A Q&A with Joel Plaskett.
lunching at obladee
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destination wolfville
Visiting one of Nova Scotia's premier food & drink destinations.
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south shore road trip
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le caveau
EClectic troubadour
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scotia festival of music
Nurturing Halifax’s cultural heritage for thirty-six years.
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for the love of pho
A look inside one of Nova Scotia's BEST local eateries.
Indochine Banh Mi owner's culinary adventure to Vietnam.
LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Spring 2015
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Editor's Message
Hello, springtime!
T
raditionally speaking, winter is the time of the year when we wait for spring, and although there's often lots going on through the winter months, especially here in Halifax, we tend to reserve our energy for greener pastures. We tend to wait for spring. But guess what? It's spring right now! And so we usher in another spring season with our now annual Wine & Travel Issue. It's that one time of the year when we look a little closer at what's on tap in our province and dig a little deeper. For this year's Wine & Travel Issue, we've revisited two regions we've explored previously, the Annapolis Valley and the South Shore. Both are an hour's drive from the city, or possibly less depending on your driving style. Both feature an amazing collection of restaurants, takeout joints, wineries, breweries, distilleries, retail shops, farms, farmers' markets, tourist activities, hotels, bed and breakfasts, and a great many things to distract you along the way. They make for the perfect excuse for a road trip, but they're also ideal places to put down the anchor and settle in for a weekend.
Before finishing this issue, I decided to take a little road trip of my own and headed to the South Shore for a an entire weekend. I've been to the South Shore many times, predictably revisiting my usual spots when I'm out that way, but this time I thought I'd mix things up a bit. On this trip, which is featured on page 46, I gave my some of favourite spots a miss and replaced them with a few new ones. The result? Amazing! Using recommendations made by this very magazine's go-to experts, I mapped out a weekend of activities, and in the end felt I won the sweepstakes. It resulted in my discovering of new places, each of which I'll definitely be revisiting again in the near future. I also found travelling this way to be a little refreshing and I also now see the South Shore as something bigger and better than I thought it was in the first place. It looks like another weekend trip is now in the cards. Very soon, too. With another issue in the bag, the rest of my spring is looking fairly open. After #NSCraftBeerWeek, I don't have any Local Connections events to worry about until September, so my plan is to take advantage of this time and sneak in a few more road trips, explore our beautiful downtown a little, and maybe attend other peoples' events (instead of my own).
Here's to a great Nova Scotian spring!
Alexander Henden Owner, editor-in-chief, local connections Halifax
Our contributors
LOLA AUGUSTINE BROWN
LIA RINALDO
RILEY SMITH
BRENDEN SOMMERHALDER
Our senior features writer. 19 years freelance experience including work for the Toronto Star, Globe and Mail, Canadian Living, Canadian Family, Today's Parent, Fashion, and Flare.
Senior food writer, blogger, food enthusiast, and events veteran. One half of Devour! The Film Food Fest and our resident expert on all things delicious.
Chief photographer and world traveller. Riley has photographed many a Coast cover, as well as all of ours. Our main man since day one.
Came from away and proud to be here. Curious about how our community works. Comms guy, craft beer enjoyer, social geek, local booster, and boss at Halifax Bloggers.
TIFFANY THORNTON
kathleen Higgins
MICHELLE DOUCETTE
TRACY PHILLIPPI
Nova Scotia based entertainment journalist, and freelance writer loves watching the written word evolve. She covers music, travel, and theatre for a number of publications.
Toronto born, Nova Scotia raised. Honours graduate from King's College, and freelancer for The Coast, Tidings, Visual Arts News, and Pink Noise. Our go-to A&E girl.
Lifestyle and portrait photographer based in Halifax. Rides a lime green vintage Vespa. Organizes her social life around local foodie events.
Craft beer writer, Certified Beer Judge, Ladies Beer League founder, Canadian Brewing Awards organizer, and home brewing dabbler. An all around crusader for local craft beer & lover of fine cheese!
PHIL OTTO
LINDSAY BURNS
RODNEY HABIB
EMILY FORREST
CEO and Senior Brand Strategist at Revolve Branding.
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Small business consultant, marketing mind, travel enthusiast, local supporter, animal snuggler, food lover, optimist & proud Nova Scotian.
LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Spring 2015
Award winning pet nutrition blogger, podcast/radio show host, magazine writer, local pet health shop owner, and more importantly, a pet parent and advocate.
Local enthusiast and owner of Local Tasting Tours. Playwright, performer, and producer of the Local Tasting Tours podcast on iTunes.
The Big Pants
alexander henden Contributing Editors
JORDAN WHITEHOUSE Freelance journalist and communications consultant who's work has been featured in such publications as Atlantic Business Magazine, Progress, Halifax Magazine and The Coast.
LAURA OAKLEY Food and travel writer with a background in hospitality. Specializes in content marketing and social media management.
lola augustine brown lia rinaldo brenden sommerhalder Jordan whitehouse laura oakley Kathleen higgins tiffany thornton tracy phillippi amy savoury christine white Chief Photographer
riley smith
Contributing Experts
AMY SAVOURY Wine enthusiast, certified Sommelier, and Tourism & Culinary Arts instructor at NSCC. Dedicated lifelong learner with an unquenchable thirst for all things local and a passionate promoter of our distinctive Nova Scotia wine culture.
Christine white Communications and Events Manager for Taste of Nova Scotia. Over 10 years’ experience in the culinary tourism sector. Passionate supporter of Nova Scotia’s local food and drink community.
phil Otto, lindsay burns, rodney habib, emily forrest, chris dewaal Special Thanks to
Chris Aucoin John p. Rudolph Taste of nova scotia Postcard from Abroad
Liz Smith
Closing Note
George Christakos Photography
Michelle doucette Illustration
Scott macdonald CHRIS DEWAAL Entrepreneur, farmer, butcher, public speaker, and champion of not only “local food” but a “local mindset”.
SCOTT MACDONALD Animation designer with over 12 years experience, full time animation designer at DHX Media Halifax, freelance illustrator, character designer, artist, animator, cartoonist, walker, cyclist and dog Owner.
local connections halifax is a free magazine with a frequency of 5 issues/year. all 30,000 copies of This magazine were printed at tc media in dartmouth, nova scotia for magazine advertising: advertising@localconnections.ca For all other inquiries: magazine@Localconnections.ca
f LocalConnectionsHalifax l ConnectionsHFX
Local DISCOVERIES
Rise of the sausage! 2015 marks this magazine's third year of hosting Sausage Fest, and this year's program will be a whole heck of a lot bigger, and better. The theme this year is: "Rise of the Sausage", which speaks to the overall size and depth of this year's festivities. The entire culinary program will be a curated one, as will our events program. We're also going to have an official mobile-friendly website to help you get all the sweet hook-ups. We'll have three "Official Beers of Sausage Fest" available in bottles and on tap at participating restaurants and bars, two very handsome T-shirts (a logo T and a custom design by our own Scott 'Skoodle Dandy' MacDonald), and a bunch of other awesome stuff, all of which we'll announce at our June 30th press launch.
sausagefesthfx.ca
local cream liquer This spring Nova Scotia got its first ever cream liquer when local winery Domaine de Grand Pré released its Pomme D'or Apple Cream Liquer. Having recently picked up bottle ourselves, we can tell you it's a stunner! Excellent on its own, but exceptional on ice. Also works well in lattés, or in a martini with Vodka. A must-try product and perhaps an early favourite for Taste of Nova Scotia's Product of the Year. You need this!
shop.grandprewines.ns.ca
happy hour at the brasserie
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Halifax Forum Farmer’s Market Prix-Fix
Aside from being one of the best places to eat in the city, Agricola Street Brasserie has become a choice destination for a pint of craft beer. About the time you are reading this, Agricola Street will have added another six taps, greatly expanding their range of local craft brews. Throw in the fact that every day from 4 - 6:30pm is Happy Hour, where a 12 oz. draft is only $4, glasses of feature white or red wine are $5, and feature cocktails are also only $5, and you have yourself a winner.
The Brooklyn Warehouse is throwing a spin on Saturday lunch at the restaurant. They’re offering a prix-fixe lunch option to get your weekend started right. 35$ gets you a sparkling cocktail, 3 oysters, BW fried chicken sandwich with a sunnyside egg, and their feature crème brulée for dessert! Long Live the Weekend!"
agricolastreet.ca
brooklynwarehouse.ca
LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Spring 2015
taste of nova scotia to launch the good cheer trail You've heard of the Chowder Trail, but now there's the Good Cheer Trail as well. Due to launch June 1st, the GCT will be your access pass to Nova Scotia's muchloved wineries, craft breweries, brew pubs, and distilleries, from Yartmouth, all the way up to Cape Breton. There will of course be a passport book to guide you along the way, making it easy for you to plan out your adventures. Once on the trail, you'll have access to an exciting mix of tours, tastings, and special events. Now you have yet another excuse to make that Nova Scotian roadtrip.
goodcheertrail.com
i heart bikes adds two new tours This coming season I Heart Bikes is adding two new guided tours to their program, giving you two new and interesting ways to experience the Halifax and Lawrencetown. The Allin-One city tour is a 4 hour adventure through downtown, the South End, and North End, where the second tour starts on the outskirts of Lawrencetown Beach and finishes off in Fisherman's Cove.
iheartbikeshfx.com/routes
Local DISCOVERIES
SPIRITED AWAY In lunenburg This October 16th - 18th, a collective of local spirits producers and a few of the region's best bartenders will be hosting Spirited Away, Nova Scotia's first ever spirits festival. This weekend event will take place in Lunenburg and will feature a spirits dinner on Friday, fun workshops during the day Saturday, followed by a happy hour, spirits crawl, and live musicin the evening. Sunday will feature a closing brunch reception. This event is also likely to be a very popular one, so if this is up your alley, it might be time to start looking at and booking hotel rooms right now.
nsspiritfestival.com
Morris East wins in las vegas What happens in Vegas doesn't always stay in Vegas. This year, while attending the International Pizza Expo, Morris East Chef Tim Andresen added another award to his mantle, placing third in a pizza making competition, going up against some of the best pie makers in the world. Their winning pizza featured Blomidon Baco Noir poached pears, maple tarragon aioli, Urban Blue cheese from Blue Harbour Cheese, prosciutto from Ratinaud Charcuterie, roasted shallots, and microgreens on a thin crust.
morriseast.com
Down east Devour! returns for Season three After a fun and successful year two, Devour! The Food Film Fest is returning to Wolfville November 4th - 8th, 2015. The organizers are currently working on the programming for the event, but now would seem like the right time to book those holidays and lock up those hotel rooms.
devourfest.com
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LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Spring 2015
When it comes to using environmentally friendly detergents and home cleaning products, it's nice to know you can also buy-local as well. Bebbington Industries in Dartmouth produces a line of products under the Down East label, which can be purchased at number of retailers including Sobey's, Superstore, and the Halifax Seaport Market.
Bebbingtonindustries.com/down_east
WHEN YOU ARE
READY
Stubborn goat Craft beer dinners Ever wanted to host a dinner party, serving terrific food and drink to your guests, but didn't want to do any of the cooking and cleaning? Well, now you can! The Stubborn Goat is now hosting Craft Beer Dinners for groups of any size. All you need to book it and show up. How simple is that?
collaboration brew from Three local breweries During the first-ever Nova Scotia Craft Beer Week, three local breweries (Tatamagouche, Propeller, and Big Spruce) will be releasing a collaboration beer, more specifically, an American IPA named Cerebrus. The beer will be released officially at Bar Stillwell on May 9, and will be available at each of the three breweries while supplies last.
contact: Evan@stubborngoat.ca
WHERE THE SPENT GRAINS GO Ever wonder where all the spent grains from the brewing of beer goes? Well, on the South Shore the grains are being used to make bread. Delicious bread in fact. Finest Kind Bread Co. uses spent grains from Boxing Rock to make a number of varieties including: Fig & Honey, Roasted Garlic, Cranberry & Nut, and many others.
finestkindbread.ca
hfx forum gets a farmers' market Scheduled to open on May 2, an all-new farmers' market is set to open in the Halifax Forum complex. Spear-headed by John Sipos, a plant vendor at the Seaport Market, the new market will open its doors with approximately 50 vendor tables, consisting of a mix of farmers, crafters, and folks selling prepared foods. The idea is to start small and build it up as the season progresses. For fresh foodloving folks living in the North and West End, this has to be exciting news.
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LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Spring 2015
From Consumer to Urban Farmer C h r i s D e Wa a l
f getawayfarmbutchershops l meatmongers
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id you know that Nova Scotia has the highest number of farmers’ markets per capita in Canada? That’s right. There are over fifteen hundred producers selling at over forty markets across the province, a number that has doubled since 2004. That is great news for a province whose government wants to see 20 percent of its food consumption sourced locally by 2020. We are lucky eaters in Nova Scotia given the access we have to fresh, local products and the relationships we can develop with those who produce our food. The South Shore and Annapolis Valley are home to over half of the farmers’ markets in the province. The Wolfville Farmers’ Market is a perennial favourite of urbanites seeking refuge from the city, and it’s become a flagship market right in the heart of one of Nova Scotia’s premiere agricultural regions. The Lunenburg Farmers’ Market has been in operation for over thirty years and pumps over $60,000 into the local economy on any given market day. The relatively new Bridgewater Farmers’ Market boasts the highest sales per person of all farmers’ markets at $21 per person, and it already contributes on average $42,000 to the local economy each week. These markets have a critical role to play in our continued efforts to support local food and local economies, but what impact will our recent winter have on the producers who frequent these markets? It is a scary time to be a farmer in Nova Scotia. Facing the fallout of a winter of biblical proportions, producers are scratching their heads wondering what their farmers’ market seasons are
going to look like. Vegetable producers are faced with terribly late planting, livestock producers are scrambling to find feed and bedding to see them through what will likely be a very late pasture season, and many producers are dealing with the realities of severely damaged infrastructure. Many barns and greenhouses have collapsed as a result of astronomical snow loads and roadside fences lie in shambles all across the province hidden under piles of snow. As the snow finally begins to recede, the full effect of the winter’s abnormal weather remains to be seen. Nova Scotia farmers are a hearty bunch and have weathered difficulties before, however, and our farmers’ market communities put us in a unique position to support our producers. Farmers’ markets offer us a prime opportunity to connect urban and rural communities. Where else can the university professor and the apple producer meet on a weekly basis and not only share food but also share life’s
struggles? As a farmer myself who has spent countless weekends at farmers’ markets, I can tell you that sharing the life of the farm with those who eat its bounty is one of the most rewarding aspects of market life. Being able to share the struggles and successes of farming with those who support it has made the highs far greater and the lows far less discouraging. This spring, as you explore the vast array of Nova Scotia’s farmers’ markets, take the time to hear the stories of the local farms. Sharing the ups and downs of farm life is one of the greatest rewards of being a farmers’ market vendor, and showing an interest in not only the products of the farm but the farm itself invests us all in a shared responsibility for our food. Wacky winters aside, we have a great deal to celebrate in Nova Scotia when it comes to our food and our communities. Let’s make this market season one to remember—not for the struggles but for the joy of sharing in food and life. █
LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Spring 2015
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NOVA SCOTIA A Warm-Hearted Province Emily For rest
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’ve learned that the people of Nova Scotia are a warm-hearted people. They constantly seek to welcome visitors, to invite new people into their world. Without a second thought, they jump to offer a place at their table, the shirt off their back. They want to share their stories, their home and what they’ve learned about life here on the east coast. I speak from experience. A few years ago, I walked the perimeter of Nova Scotia in one summer—three thousand kilometres in three months. Without a support vehicle, I relied entirely on the generosity of others to help me out with food and shelter along the way. Within a few months of planning, I had offers of meals and places to stay for every single night of my journey. The Nova Scotia Bed & Breakfast Association put out a call to its members, and before
I knew it I had a dozen nights proffered at gorgeous residences all across the province. The word spread on Facebook, and avid walkers who had heard about my project offered to host me. Retired couples came forward to provide nights in tidy bedrooms where their children used to sleep. One of my partner’s customers called up his mom in Glace Bay and set up a night and a meal. A gentleman who spotted me when I was training in Bedford invited me to stay with his family in Clam Harbour. One woman I had never met arranged to have the neighbours open up her cottage on the Mira River for me while she was in the city. I have a special place in my heart for the Annapolis Valley. I went to Acadia and still pine for some of those Wolfville essentials: a visit to The Box of Delights and the Coffee Merchant, a long walk
down Main Street and out onto the dykelands, a bike ride at dusk into the quiet Gaspereau Valley. I stayed on for a few years after I finished university and grew to love it even more. In the spring and fall, I would take long drives down the Valley, drinking in the scenery along the Annapolis River and visiting the old-fashioned towns, park sites, used clothing stores, museums and markets. When I revisited the Annapolis Valley on foot that “walking summer,” I once again got a special feeling about the place. There were changes, so many changes since I had lived there—new wineries and shops, new markets and condos. But the people were still so very warm, and truly exceptional. A fourteen-year-old boy walked forty-six kilometres with me in one day from Annapolis Royal to Middleton, raising money for Brigadoon Children’s Camp. A friend of his mother’s decided she would set herself the same challenge and came with us, taking time to introduce me to her beautiful family and closest friends. While I was in the Valley, three different families of old Acadia friends gave me a place to stay, the folks at the Union Street Café in Berwick offered me refreshments, and the Kings West MLA walked me through Kingston and told me all about the annual Steer BBQ. The Valley Trekkers walking club joined me on the road and gifted me a hand-carved walking stick. Everyone I met wanted share the beauty of their town and let me know how proud they were to live there. I can see why. This province is really something. It’s a special part of the world. █
LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Spring 2015
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LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Spring 2015
A retail cleansing Phil Otto
i ca.linkedin.com/in/philotto l brandguy
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hat do mass retail giants Target, Sony and Future Shop all have in common? Besides the fact they are all exiting Canada, they all sell pretty well the same crap at the same prices. Coincidence? Not at all. This middle stratum of retailers will not survive because they don’t have strong enough points of differentiation. This is why we are also seeing a retail cleansing in the U.S. on a much larger scale. Some retailers think cheap goods and best prices are what they need to succeed. The truth is, however, consumers only shop for the best price when there are no other differentiating factors to attract them. If you’re old enough to remember Wacky Wheatley’s TV and Stereo, a local retail chain that sold on price—and only price—you’ll remember how quickly they became extinct when the large electronics chains came to town with even better prices. Those at Wacky Wheatley’s simply had
nothing else to position their brand around. Sadly, the same occurred with Mahone’s Stationery. While 15 percent of consumers spend their entire life chasing the cheapest loaf of bread, 85 percent of consumers will pay more for quality, for convenience, for a great retail experience, for selection, for the brands they trust or for some combination of these factors. Walmart owns consumers’ share of mind for best price because they are tyrannical about taking cost out of their system. We see this clearly in both their labour and product procurement practices. The biggest retailers aren’t always the smartest, they’re not always the trend setters, and they certainly aren’t nimble and agile. If you try to beat them at the price game, they will outgun you quickly and arrogantly. To stand out, don’t be afraid to be different—noticeable, memorable and ownable difference is the foundation of every great brand. Just look at Pete’s, Sportwheels, Duggers, Kept, The Trail Shop, Touch of Gold, Sweet Jane’s,
Thornbloom, P’lovers, 31 Westgate, All Dressed Up, Liquid Gold and Biscuit General Store. Every one of these retail brands is successful, many even coveted. And while consumers know they will receive great value at these places, not one of them promises the best price. That is the power of a strong brand. More importantly, every one of these businesses is a vital part of Halifax’s culture. But if experiencing and supporting the culture that they add to our city isn’t enough to persuade you, remember that only a very small portion of every dollar spent with a multi-national corporation stays in the local economy. Contrast that to how well local business promotes cultural and economic prosperity in our community. Small business is the backbone of our economy, and the retail cleansing taking place right now, which has way more to do with a lack of differentiation than the economic climate, is opening the door for our own local retailers to grow and thrive. █
LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Spring 2015
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Our Community
HALIFAX PRIDE Article by: Jordan Whitehouse · Photo: Alexander Henden
Halifax Pride is now the fourth largest Pride event in the country, but has it lost touch with its political roots?
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C
onsider this sobering fact for a moment: twenty-five years ago in Nova Scotia you could be refused service at a restaurant, denied a lease from a landlord and left with no hospital visitation rights if you were gay or lesbian. Back then, the Nova Scotia Human Rights Act still hadn’t protected sexual orientation, and beyond this legal battle, there were very real physical battles for the GLBTQ community as well. Like the one faced by John William Tha Din, who was beaten to death in 1988 at Camp Hill Cemetery, a known gay cruising area. With so much on the line by being out, it’s not surprising that when some from the province’s GLBTQ community heard about what many now call the first official Halifax Pride march the same year Din was murdered, they were scared to attend. “Before the march I was worried I was going to get there and be the only one who showed up,” said Eric Smith, the gay teacher in Shelburne County who was removed from his teaching position in 1987 after it was
revealed he had HIV. But Smith wasn’t alone when he showed up at the southeast corner of the Halifax Common that July 1st. About seventy-five others were there, some with signs and banners that reflected the theme of that first Pride Week, “Out of the Closet & Into the Human Rights Act.” Fear was still very much in the air, however, as the march began. “The scariest moment was when a car in the oncoming lane took a run at us,” recalled Anne Bishop. “It . . . screeched to a stop a couple of feet over the line, the young man laughing as people scattered.” Contrast that scene with what Halifax Pride has become in recent years: a citywide, ten-day, corporate-sponsored celebration that’s now the country’s fourth largest Pride event. It welcomes about one hundred fifty thousand people who are free to take in or take part in theatre, concerts, dances, lectures and way more, including the focal point, the parade—no longer a march. “It’s grown into a festival where everything goes, anyone can feel accepted,” says Willem
LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Spring 2015
Blois, the chair of the Halifax Pride Society’s organizing committee. “You always have this feeling that nothing can go wrong, nothing will actually dampen our spirits, because everyone is there to celebrate love, to celebrate diversity.” But if you’re aware of the history of Halifax Pride and the struggles the GLBTQ community still deals with, including the marginalization and violence faced by transgender people, you might also have a couple of questions: How did Pride evolve into a celebration, and what was lost along the way? To answer that first question, I caught up with Chris Aucoin, who researched Pride’s history for its twenty-fifth anniversary in 2012 and provided the quotes you read above from the people who were at the march in ’88. He says Halifax Pride began to morph into more of a celebration in 1991, when sexual orientation was added to the list of protected grounds in the Nova Scotia Human Rights Act. “That made it easier for people in the community to feel they could be more public, so you really
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started to see the numbers climb after that, and I believe by 1992 they started calling it a parade instead of a march, which was when it began to blur into less about a political statement.” That blurring didn’t sit well for those who were politically inclined, however, says Aucoin, and even to this day there’s debate about what Pride has become. One organization at the centre of that debate is Rad Pride Halifax, which organizes an alternative to the city’s Pride celebration. Their event has included self-defence classes, a queer and feminist porn screening, and the Dyke & Trans March. No one from the organization could be reached for comment, but Jude Ashburn, a founding member, told Metro News in July: “We need to be proud of the fact that we’re not the same as other parts of society, and our struggles are not going away. They can’t just be slapped into the rest of the world and tolerated for a day with rainbows.” Willem Blois says the Halifax Pride Society is aware of these concerns. “That
kind of controversy—the move to be more celebratory and away from politics— has existed in a lot of Prides around the world, and we’ve received a lot of feedback from our community that they would really value an acknowledgement of where we come from.” Although Blois couldn’t provide any specific details about how they’ll acknowledge those political roots at this year’s Pride (July 16-26), he did say they’re planning events “that will create spaces where we can celebrate our heritage.” We’ll wait and see if that will be enough for Rad Pride Halifax and others questioning the direction of Halifax Pride, but even if it isn’t, it’s hard to argue the event hasn’t played an important role in this city. “It’s given us visibility,” says Aucoin, who’s been attending Halifax Pride on and off since 1990, “but visibility isn’t the only thing we need. We still need to change people’s attitudes. And Pride helps do that; it helps to say we aren’t some scary monsters out at a distance. It helps to humanize.” █
Our Community
Halifax Pride History Timeline
“We recognize the importance of making known our history, so much of which has been lost or stolen...”
Halifax Pride Timeline and graphics by: Chris Aucoin · Photo: Rebecca Rose
- Opening of the resolution creating "Pink Triangle Day" (Feb. 14th) as a national Canadian “gay” holiday. Resolution written and proposed by Robin Metcalfe, delegate of Halifax’s Gay Alliance for Equality to the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Rights Coalition national meetings, July 1, 1979.
Bill C-150 In December of 1967 federal Justice Minister Pierre Trudeau introduces amendments to the criminal code. The bill tackles a variety of issues including abortion, divorce and “decriminalizing” homosexuality. In 1967 “sodomy” is still a Criminal Code offence, carrying a 14-year prison term. "It's bringing the laws of the land up to contemporary society I think.” says Trudeau. “Take this thing on homosexuality. I think … there's no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation."
The Stonewall Riots In the early hours of June 28 1969, police raid the Stonewall Inn in New York City: targeting it because it is a “gay” bar. Such raids are not new, but this time the local community responds with three nights of rioting, and within days “Gay Power” graffiti appears in the neighborhood. While not the first protest of its kind, ‘Stonewall’ galvanizes and inspires an already frustrated community. Within months “gay liberation” organizations begin forming throughout North America.
The First “Pride” Marches Almost immediately Stonewall begins to be memorialized in the US. The first commemoration march is held in New York just two months later. By June 1970 the phrase “Gay Power” is replaced with "Gay Pride" and used for New York’s first “Pride” weekend and Christopher Street Liberation Day March (the Stonewall Inn was located on Christopher Street in New
20
York). Many LGBTQ communities hold Pride festivals in the last week of June to celebrate the Stonewall anniversary.
Nova Scotia's First “Gay Liberation” Group In August 1969 Trudeau's amendments become law. With this major legal shift, and the Stonewall Riots a few months before, Canadian “gay liberation” organizations begin forming across the country. Halifax’s Gay Alliance for Equality (GAE) begins meeting in March 1972. GAE sets up the Gayline information phone-line and starts publishing a newsletter. In March 1973 GAE presents its first human rights lobbying brief to the provincial legislature – making it the first “gay” group in Canada to present to a legislative body.
Nova Scotia's First Pride A national coalition plans the first Canadian “Gay Pride Week” for August 1973 (the August date chosen to commemorate Bill C-150 becoming law in August 1969). The theme: "Sexual Orientation in Provincial Human Rights Codes". Halifax's GAE participates by holding a "gala picnic" near Peggy's Cove on Sunday, August 19. Ten people enjoy hot dogs, toasted marshmallows and floating around in an inflatable rubber dingy. Fifteen years will pass before the next official Nova Scotia pride event.
Halifax Hosts National Conference… and First Pride March?
LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Spring 2015
The Sixth National Gay Conference is hosted by GAE June 28 - July 4,1978. The conference has 41 workshops covering numerous topics over five days. As a sidebar to the conference, the inaugural production of The Night They Raided Truxx is performed at GAE’s The Turret bar. As well, two hundred attendees protest through the rainy streets of Halifax. Contemporary documents do not call this a “Pride March”, but some who were in attendance consider it to be Halifax’s first one.
Halifax's First (Official) Pride March In the summer of 1988 GAE, along with other community groups, organizes a week of Pride activities. The schedule includes workshops, films, women's dance, art show, variety show, safer sex 'fuck-aware party’, and Halifax’s first official "Pride March" on July 1. The protest march theme is “Out of the Closet and Into the Human Rights Act”, and seventy-five people march. There are conflicting reports that five do so with paper bags over their heads for fear they will loose their jobs.
Halifax Pride Week #4 + Human Rights Changes! The theme is "Growing Out of Bounds" (June 22 - 30, 1991). Reports say 140 people march. On the Thursday of Pride Week the provincial government gives third and final reading to amendments to add sexual orientation to the Nova Scotia Human Rights Act (though the changes do not come into effect until October).
The new act also protects those suffering from illness - including AIDS, and wipes out exemptions that had existed for most volunteer groups.
Adoption In 2001 the provincial Adoption Act, which prevented same-sex couples from applying to adopt, are found to be unconstitutional. The challenge came about when one member of a lesbian couple sought to adopt the biological child of her partner. In 2007, Birth Registration Regulations under the Nova Scotia Vital Statistics Act authorize samesex partners/spouses to be registered on birth certificates as “other parent,” eliminating the need to undertake costly adoption proceedings to be legally recognized as a parent.
Gay / Lesbian Marriage In September 2004 the Nova Scotia Supreme Court rules that banning same-sex marriages is unconstitutional, effectively changing the definition of marriage in the province to "the lawful union of two persons to the exclusion of all others." In December the Supreme Court of Canada rules that the federal government can change the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples. The following July Bill C-38, the federal law giving same-sex couples the right to marry, receives royal assent and becomes law.
The Halifax Dyke (and Trans*) March During Pride 2010 about 85 people
participate in Halifax’s first “Dyke March”: “a political demonstration where we … promote visibility and create space for queer women and trans people …” Allies are encouraged to support from the sidelines. Organizers originally name it “Dyke and Trans* March”, but that decision is criticized as token since it is done without much trans* input. Even so, the event is inclusive of significant trans* participation, and renames itself “Dyke and Trans* March” the next year.
Human Rights for Trans* People After years of lobbying by NSRAP and other community groups, the government passes the Transgendered (sic) Persons Protection Act, which amends the Human Rights Act to include “gender Identity” and “gender expression”. The bill passes on Nov. 30 and becomes law on Dec 6, 2012. Many trans* activists see the passing of the amendments as merely symbolic, and far short of getting access to sex reassignment surgeries (SRS), which they viewed as far more meaningful for many trans* people.
create a more inclusive series of events and spaces for people to come together. Events are all-ages, dry / substance-free, barrier-free, free of charge, and some offer childcare.
Sex Reassignment Surgery (SRS) In June 2013 the provincial Health Minister announces NS would not cover SRS. A searing social media campaign garners enough support and mainstream media attention that the Minister meets with community representatives just a week later and reverses his position. However, before that could be implemented an election would change the government. During the campaign NSRAP seeks and receives a written commitment from the (expected) new Premier to follow through on the SRS promise. On April 1, 2014 SRS coverage in NS is finally announced.
Rad Pride Billed as an alternative festival for members of the queer and trans* communities, Rad Pride emerges in 2013. Building on the Dyke and Trans* March, it is an inherent and explicit critique of how mainstream, commercial and apolitical Halifax Pride has become. The younger and heavily politicized “queer and trans*” activist organizers seek to
LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Spring 2015
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Food & DRINK
Lunching at obladee Article by: Laura Oakley · Photos: Michelle Doucette and Laura Oakley
downtown halifax gets another solid lunch destination
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here are just two other tables at Obladee, A Wine Bar when I settle in for a quiet lunch, seated at a hightop wooden bar in front of a large window facing Sackville Street. It’s the perfect perch for solo dining. Obladee’s new lunch offering is dainty and selective, yet I find it hard to make a decision. Everything sounds delicious. The wine bar started serving lunch in early November, after months of planning. “There was a real desire to stay very regional when possible, and seasonal. So a very small but focused menu with really special food that’s also memorable,” says Obladee co-owner, Heather Rankin. With the help of my delightful server, I choose the three-cheese and leek pressed sandwich, and a side soup. Grilled cheeses are so hard to deny. The menu offers wine pairing guidance: ideal characteristics of both reds and whites for each dish. Wishing for a white wine, my server quickly suggests one from the “fruity and aromatic” vein, a Riesling from Alsace. When my lunch arrives, Iit is quickly realized that she’s not led me astray. Pressed between two toasty pieces of Le Vendéenne dried fruit bread is perfectly oozy, melty Emmental, a duo of aged cheddars, and a buttery mixture of Muscat-caramelized leeks and onions. The slight tartness from the fruit helps offset the richness of the caramelized leeks, and melted cheddars. The leeks have an pleasant complexity that’s, due to the subtle sweetness of the reduced Muscat. Served alongside the sandwich is a very
LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Spring 2015
important accoutrement: chipotle-tomato jam. The sweet-tart acidity with a touch of smokey heat is just what the sandwich needs to balance the hefty flavours. I spread some on each bite. A Hardy Wares dill pickle also helps to cleanse the palate. The soup of the week that I am simultaneously enjoying is a maplecarrot that showcases such an earthy depth of flavour, it tastes like a carrot just pulled from the ground; maple adds a very subtle sweetness. The velvety, off-dry Rolly Gassmann Riesling stands up to the dish in a few ways: it is deliciously full-bodied, features enough acidity to cut through the buttery, cheesy sandwich, and has a touch of spice in the nice, dry finish. It really elevates the dish. (Point in case: We should all drink more wine at lunch.) Rankin opened Obladee nearly five years ago, with brother and business partner Christian. They’ve been lucky enough to establish a loyal, consistent clientele whothat are looking for a nighttime wine bar experience. So why start offering lunch? “We saw a need to provide a real, nourishing, affordable, quick lunch in the downtown,” says Rankin. “We really saw ourselves as being that go-to, between the restaurant and the grab-and-go counter.” The menu certainly achieves that, staying in the realm of delicious sandwiches, bright and, fresh salads, and flavourful soups—; all driven by a farm-to-table concept. It’s a quick way to grab a made-from-scratch lunch between 11:30 a.m. and 3
p.m. four days a week; (later in the spring, it will be offered every week day). Rankin describes a desire to help bring “back some kind of lunch in the downtown,” and get people away from eating at their desks, more often. It’s a sentiment that seems to be echoed by many restaurant owners in the downtown core. “The response has been wonderful,” adds Rankin, “but we haven’t reached a huge population for lunch.” “As a small business owner, you’re working all the time,” says Rankin, elaborating on the decision. “We’re here, we might as well open the doors.” They started working with a chef well in advance of launching the lunch menu, to elevate the food experience both atin the nighttime and during the day. “You do need a professional in there with training, who understands food, who will cook in a commercial environment.” Chef Brock Unger is in the kitchen, executing with artistry, and precision, and, yes, experience. The entire menu is changed up monthly, and is sourced directly from local suppliers, mostly from the Halifax Seaport Farmers’ Market, where Rankin is lucky to have established personal relationships. “It’s a better way of doing business. The food, as a result, it really benefits.” On another visit to Obladee, a Saturday afternoon before opening hours, Rankin and Unger were nice enough to present me with a new menu idea, a take on Niçoise salad featuring house-made Newfoundland cod rillette. The salad was served on duck fat confit fingerling potatoes, and had warm marinated olives and capers. The rillette, atop bright, fresh local greens, just melted in myyour mouth; a cider- mustard vinaigrette rounded out the dish. It was topped with a perfectly soft-boiled egg, and decorated with nasturtiums. “This should be on the menu,” I told Rankin, after practically licking the plate. If this is lunch in downtown Halifax, I’m definitely leaving the office more often. █
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Destination Food & WOLFVILLE DRINK
Article by: Christine White · Photos: Taste of NS, Riley Smith, and Lia Rinaldo
Destination wolfville visiting one of Nova scotia's premier destinations N
estled along the Bay of Fundy, home to the world’s highest tides, surrounded by kilometres of agricultural dykes built by the Acadians in the 17th century, you’ll find the town of Wolfville—the perfect destination for culinary adventurers. “Wolfville is the centre of agricultural heartland in eastern Canada,” says David Hovell, executive director of the Wolfville Business Development Corporation. “The wine world, terroir, agriculture, geography, temperate climate, the connections to tidal breezes . . . Mother Nature has been good to us. Wolfville is a natural place for food and creativity to be born. It’s not contrived or planned, it’s a gift given to the region.” It’s easy to taste the bounty of this part of Nova Scotia. Hop on the Magic Winery Bus, grab a spoon and hit the Chowder Trail, or sip and swirl your way through the Good Cheer Trail. In Wolfville, you’ll find farmers’ markets, vineyards, craft breweries, artisanal products and u-picks around every corner. From July 2nd to October 18th (Thursdays to Sundays) you can drink in the spectacular views of the Annapolis Valley by travelling fourteen-feet off the ground on the double-decker Wolfville Magic Winery Bus. It’s the most memorable way to get around town. The bus picks passengers up in downtown Wolfville and stops at four local wineries: L’Acadie Vineyards,
Gaspereau Vineyards, Domain de Grand Pré and Luckett Vineyards. Tickets are $20 or $25. As you visit the local wineries and breweries in Wolfville, be sure to pick up your Good Cheer Trail passport. Canada’s first winery, craft brewery and distillery trail is inspired by Samuel de Champlain’s Order of Good Cheer, the oldest social club in North America (1606). The Good Cheer Trail continues a long tradition of hospitality and pride for the agricultural riches of Nova Scotia. From Yarmouth to Cape Breton, the trail weaves through stunning landscapes, heritage sites, beaches, cities and farmlands. In and around Wolfville, you can visit eleven of the passport stops. It is a self-directed trail, and officially runs from June 1st to October 31st. If Wolfville is your destination for a culinary weekend getaway, start your Saturday morning with a walk around the Tangled Garden in Grand Pré. Wander through the magical gardens and try decadent hand-crafted jams, jellies, ice cream and liqueurs. Then head to the Wolfville Farmers’ Market for a local breakfast and to sample and purchase products from passionate local chefs and producers. Take a short drive to try sparkling wine at L’Acadie Vineyards, and then stop at Luckett Vineyards’ Crush Pad Bistro to order seafood chowder and get your first stamp on the Nova Scotia Chowder Trail passport (a collection of LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Spring 2015
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Destination Wolfville over sixty restaurants across the province). Enjoy a wine-paired lunch as you take in the stunning panoramic views from their restaurant, located on the vineyards’ crush pad. Next, swing by The Port Pub and Bistro in Port Williams for a Blue Heron Extra Special Bitter or Rojo Mojo Red Ale, and then retire for the evening with a romantic dinner and overnight stay at the historic Blomidon Inn. In the morning, start out by taking a walk or bike ride along the dykes (easily accessible from Blomidon Inn). When you’re ready for some coffee, Just Us! Café on Main Street is set up in the lobby of the old Acadia Cinema building, a beautiful and pivotal part of Wolfville’s history. For lunch, a quick trip to Halls Harbour Lobster Pound and Restaurant is a delicious experience. Choose your own lobster from their tank and carry it right to the pot. Enjoy your lunch on their patio or on the rocks along the beach, which overlook Hall’s Harbour fishing village. It’s a prime location to see a spectacular view of the Annapolis Valley and to witness the drastic changing
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of the tides as the fishing boats rise and then sink to the ocean floor with changing water levels. On your way back to Wolfville, stop at Fox Hill Cheese House in Port Williams, a sixth generation family farm, to try local cheeses, yogurt and gelato. A day without a glass of wine in the Valley is pretty much unheard of, so stop at nearby Planters Ridge Winery for a glass of Quintessence White or Tidal Bay. The view from their tasting room makes it easy to see the inspiration for their wines. Depending on what you are craving, for your dinner finale try lamb kabobs at Troy Restaurant, dine at Privet House with Chef Jamie Smye or relax under a canopy of grapevines at Le Caveau with Chef Jason Lynch’s seasonal menus paired with Grand Pré wines. Be inspired by the landscape. Taste the terroir. Meet the talented artisans who call Wolfville home. It’s easy to fall in love with this picturesque town, and it’s easy to find a reason to come back again and again. █
“Wolfville is a natural place for food and creativity to be born. It’s not contrived or planned, it’s a gift given to the region.”
Destination Cover STORY WOLFVILLE
Terroir and Passion Article by: Lola Augustine Brown · Photo: Riley Smith
Why Benjamin Bridge Is Winning Over Wine Lovers Everywhere
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hen I moved to Nova Scotia in 2008, I had no idea that the province had wineries, let alone that it produced quality wines. A few months after my arrival, I was at a fancy press dinner at The Five Fishermen Restaurant, seated next to Gerry McConnell, owner of Benjamin Bridge, and being handed a glass of Nova 7, a sparkling white wine quite unlike anything I’d tasted before. It was delicious, and at the time I didn’t know it was one of Benjamin Bridge’s first commercial releases—and I certainly wouldn’t have guessed that to be the case. Jean-Benoit Deslauriers, head winemaker at Benjamin Bridge, moved here that same year, seduced away from winemaking in Santa Barbara, California, to come here, work in an emerging wine region and be part of something new. Seven years on, Deslauriers is just as excited as when he arrived. “By all standards, we are still an emerging wine region in a stage of infancy; there is nothing about our industry right now that is mature or plateaued,” he says. “There is still so much growth to come and so much ahead of us. If I was to be jaded at such an
LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Spring 2015
important time, I don’t know what could excite me!” I caught up with Deslauriers in Edmonton, where he was showcasing Benjamin Bridge wines at the Northern Lands wine festival. Although the winery’s products are available in all Canadian provinces, there are still lots of people Deslauriers meets who have no idea that we make wine here in Nova Scotia. That said, many do know, and they are very excited by what we’re making. “Being here, for example, at Northern Lands, with BC producers and producers from Ontario, it’s palpable, you can easily relate to a level of surprise and excitement that’s still very real,” he says. “We’ve been meeting with lots of people who have been passionate about our wines for a long time, and it’s been great, very refreshing. I love that there is interest for Nova Scotia wines out west.”
A Family Affair Gerry McConnell started Benjamin Bridge with his wife Dara Gordon in 1999, and from the get-go they were absolutely
committed to creating a premium product. “Gerry and Dara were very clear: if they were not going to make a world class wine that the entire community would be proud of and benefit from, they would abort the project,” says Deslauriers. “From day one, everything has been aligned to ultimately come to that reality.” Although Gordon passed away in 2009, Benjamin Bridge is still very much a family business. The couples’ twin daughters, Ashley and Devon McConnell-Gordon, are the general manager and vice president of the company, respectively. Coming into a close family business wasn’t a hardship for Deslauriers. “I can think of a few families that I wouldn’t want to work with, but this business is composed of a family of amazing Nova Scotians, and the intrinsic values that they bring to the table are not something commonly found in the wine industry,” he says. “Everything that they do is in the best interest of the wines, and that has enabled us to make an impactful product that will compete internationally with the best product out there.” And compete it does. Nova 7 has come a long way since I sipped on a glass in 2008, when Benjamin Bridge produced only two hundred cases, all of which sold out within hours. “There was quite a bit of anticipation and word of mouth surrounding the project. It didn’t take very long for those bottles to disappear,” says Deslauiers. Every release of Nova 7 was greeted with the same thirst, selling out and causing mass dismay when it was no longer available. “There are elements of almost a cult following, which is always a humbling experience.” In 2013, Nova 7 was the highest selling wine product for all categories and countries combined at the NSLC. Deslauriers says that this was the first time a local artisanal product ever outpaced international wine factories. “There are wine regions in Canada that are definitely more mature and larger in size than Nova Scotia,” he says, “but there’s never been a terroir wine that outpaced the popularity and sales of wines like Yellowtail and Fusion and other industrial wines that are flooding the market.”
Quality Control Despite what common sense would dictate, Nova 7’s popularity has remained steady even as its production has increased over the past few years. Deslauriers is aware of the stereotype that if quantity goes up, then quality goes down. “We’ve seen that model so many times, where family businesses become chains, and all of a sudden it’s not the matriarch that’s cooking in the kitchen, and it’s not what it used to be,” he says. “But last year we made arguably the best Nova 7. [It was] received with the most praise, the highest scores and the highest critical reception from the public. And yet we made the most volume as well.” This, he says, is the result of the family’s dedication to taking extra steps to create a product that became even more artisanal as volume went up. And what exactly is it that makes Benjamin Bridge wines so special and so enduringly popular? Deslauriers says it’s all
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Destination Cover STORY Wolfville
about how the wine is connected to the place it comes from. “Nova 7 tells a story of our specialized environment. What we have in Nova Scotia is a micro-climate that’s moderated by the Bay of Fundy, and it’s a region that’s absolutely unique in the world. It enables us to ripen the grapes in a way that is similar to a slow-cooking process, and that preserves the acidity. We can pick with unspoiled pristine acidity in the later stages of the fall and basically tap into a level of freshness that is unlike any other product on the face of the earth.” Embracing the attributes that are indigenous to our growing environment is what Benjamin Bridge products are all about. “The freshness comes directly from the vineyard; you can literally taste the saline, that maritime coastal brightness,” says Deslauiers, adding that their other wines similarly tell the story of their growing environment. “There is one common denominator between all fascinating wines on the face of the earth, one trait that they all share, and that’s that they all they all point transparently to the fundamental attributes of their growing regions. We have a highly specialized micro-climate here, so the portfolio at Benjamin Bridge is going to be highly specialized and be either a traditional method sparkling wine or an aromatic wine.” No matter the volume produced, Nova 7 is definitely still an artisanal product. And Deslauriers knows that of course every winemaker will tell a story about craftsmanship, but he swears that it really is the honest truth for them. Besides, you won’t often find Benjamin Bridge’s craftsmanship story used in advertising or marked on
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the sides of bottles. The reason, says Deslauriers, is all about the wine speaking for itself. “The proof is in the pudding when it comes to assessing success, and critical assessment and consumer demand are two elements that should be privileged over what we have to say about our wines.” Just so you know, though, Benjamin Bridge grows organically, and they follow many steps when creating their wines that most wineries just don’t pay attention to. “There are things in Nova 7 like indigenous fermentation, where we try to make some of the blending components as pure as can be, and [we] would not tolerate the introduction of even a single third party product that does not come from the vineyard, such as a commercial yeast strain,” says Deslauriers. “We don’t necessarily brag about these things, but if a product is going to increase in quality as it increases in volume, then you’ve got to do something pretty eccentric to make that happen, and we search out ways to do that.” With Nova 7 sold in stores and restaurants across Canada, Benjamin Bridge, and Deslauriers himself, are fine ambassadors for Nova Scotian wines and the growth of the industry as a whole. Each release only increases the cult status of the product, which I recently witnessed during a frenzied Twitter exchange between a few people desperately trying to source a bottle or two after their local NSLC had sold out as soon as it hit the shelves. Benjamin Bridge is unique in their approach to winemaking in Nova Scotia and is rightly a source of pride for wine lovers and tastemakers alike in our province. █
join the club True devotees of Benjamin Bridge wines can join the Benjamin Bridge Club, an exclusive opportunity to access small lot wines and micro-cuvées from the winery’s private cellar, and to attend private membersonly events and tastings. Numbers were capped, and there was a wait list for quite some time, but Benjamin Bridge is opening it up for a few more memberships. Interested? Email bbclub@benjaminbridge.com for more information.
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Food & DRINK
LE CAVEAU
Article by: Lia Rinaldo · Photos: Riley Smith
a look inside one of nova scotia's BEST local eateries
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can come up with a million reasons why you would want be in the culinary epicentre of our province. Le Caveau Restaurant at the Domaine de Grand Pré Winery is one of them. There’s something special about this place in the approach; the landscape shifts to dykelands, fields and settlements on hillsides. Steeped in regional history—Grand Pré is a UNESCO World Heritage Site—the area was first established by Acadians in the late 1600s. As you walk onto the property, you’re kind of smacked with an old-world feel combined with new-world flair, and then it’s up to the tasting room and retail shop, the main house, and, finally, the restaurant. Founded in 1978, this was the first winery in Nova Scotia, and parts of the vineyard overlook the Bay of Fundy.
LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Spring 2015
Once inside, light pours in through large windows, yet you can still tuck into a cavernous bank of seats. Cracking open that wine cellar door and delving a little deeper, I begin to discover what I knew to be true: a tightknit family with an underlying, life-long love of food and community. They’re not just passionate about the award-winning wines they’re pumping out here; they have a united outlook about the place they’ve chosen to put down roots, in spite of all the personalities in the mix. They’ve set the stage for our burgeoning wine and food scene in rural Nova Scotia, and until very recently Le Caveau was the only winery in the province that offered a full wine-and-dine experience. When Hanspeter Stutz first came to Nova Scotia from Switzerland, he had a vision, not a dream. “I saw opportunities,” he says more than once throughout our discussion, only shifting
Destination WOLFVILLE when describing the present. “I see opportunities.” I’m not sure there’s much that can stop him when he’s on a roll. “When my father first purchased the property in 1993, I really had no idea what he was doing; he was always about fifteen steps ahead of us,” affirms his daughter and manager of Le Caveau, Beatrice Stutz. Three factors came into play when Hanspeter considered the transatlantic move. At the time, there were no real Nova Scotia wines, just a thriving rum and beer culture. Secondly, coming from Switzerland, where there is a Michelinstarred dining option every twenty kilometres, he found that level of fine dining didn’t exist outside of Halifax. And finally, he saw a huge potential for tourism. While he admits this is no Majorca, he was profoundly touched by the beauty of Nova Scotia, from the South Shore to Cape Breton to the Valley, each location with its own unique face and regional specialties. But one thing he knew for sure: he couldn’t do it alone. He needed his family to come with him. “You’re gonna need all day for my personal history,” Beatrice says as she laughs while simultaneously counting on her fingers. “This is the sixteenth season for Le Caveau! How’d that happen?” This also marks the ninth running the restaurant with her husband Chef Jason Lynch. Beatrice has an enthusiasm that is downright infectious. In fact, I can’t recall a moment when she didn’t have a big smile on her face in every encounter we’ve had through the years. Her path into this place with her family was not a direct one, but it has inimitably come full circle. She has fond memories of growing up in a household that loved to entertain, with her father cooking, her mother hosting and her own self-assigned role serving guests. You read that right; from the time she was about eight years old she remembers setting up their living room as a restaurant, happily interacting with imaginary customers. Hanspeter reinforces his continued love of cooking by hosting a men’s cooking club—something he’s done for fifteen years—whose members include the likes of Pete Luckett. Slow Food Nova Scotia was founded around his kitchen table. Beatrice and her brother Jürg grew up in Grabs, a predominantly German part of Switzerland. When she graduated at nineteen from a four-year drugstore apprenticeship, she scored a full-time job and salary, coupled with a case of wanderlust and an incessant desire to work in the culinary world. She moved to Lucerne, where she landed a job in an Italian restaurant with absolutely no experience.
It was here that she flourished, and customers loved being served by someone Swiss who obviously loved what she was doing. She admits the passion for it was inexplicably always there, much to her father’s chagrin. A year in, tragedy hit the family when they lost their mother to a battle with cancer, and Beatrice moved home to help out. However, Lucerne still beckoned, and she was able to return, promising her father that she would not work in restaurants but continue her pharmaceutical pursuits. She mostly held true to this but still filled her extra time with restaurant backshifts. By this time, her brother Jürg was well into his studies in winemaking, and Hanspeter’s vision of a winery in Nova Scotia was jettisoning into a reality. It was hard for her to imagine her role in the project until she married her then chef boyfriend, and her father, recognizing this synergistic moment, officially invited them to Canada to open the restaurant. Both siblings and their young families made their way to Nova Scotia together to join him. Enter Jason Lynch. You probably thought this story was about him. Jason grew up in the Annapolis Valley on a poultry farm minutes away from the winery. His love of food stemmed from hanging around his grandparents’ restaurants as a child. At fourteen, he started baking and selling his own food at local farmers’ markets, and, unlike Beatrice, his parents supported his career choice from the beginning. He left Nova Scotia to attend Le Cordon Bleu in Ottawa and returned to Nova Scotia to help on the family farm after his father’s heart attack. He soon found himself back in the culinary world as a chef at Acton’s in Wolfville. He joined Le Caveau’s team in 2003 and became executive chef in 2007. When he first took over the kitchen, the menu was geared towards northern European cuisine. Fine dining was diminishing in Nova Scotia, and he felt it had an unjust reputation for being expensive and inaccessible. With that, he gutted the menu and started from scratch. Jason laughs, admitting there were a few family arguments during this process, citing the cultural differences in how restaurants are run in Europe versus North America. Chalking up countless accolades, including being named one of the world’s twenty best winery restaurants by Wine Access magazine, Jason shies away from the word “local” and prefers to describe what he does as “seasonally-driven”; his is a terroir-based menu. Over 80 percent of the restaurant’s ingredients have been farmed nearby, with the exception of seafood, which is really not all that much farther. Quality is key, LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Spring 2015
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Destination WOLFVILLE and with over twenty producers showing up at the kitchen door, he turns away product if it doesn’t meet his standards. His basic philosophy for cooking is clean and simple—let the ingredients speak for themselves. He’s managed to work in casual lunches to counteract the fine dining at night. There’s an emphasis here on wild, foraged and preserved foods; an attempt to reduce waste; and a focus on using every part of the animal by offering non-traditional cuts of beef like brisket and hanger steaks. One of his tougher battles has been moving away from a wine list that featured only Grand Pré wines to one that includes almost seventy international wines. They now sell more of their own wines than ever before. “We excel at whites in Nova Scotia from L’Acadie Blanc to Riesling—crisp, light, with the right amount of acidity to pair with our seafood,” adds Hanspeter.
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On top of all of this, Jason still finds the time to work on other projects, including publishing his first cookbook, Straight from the Line; developing a line of retail products, such as bacon jam, bitters and mustards; helping to overhaul the national Red Seal certification program for chefs; running his consulting business, which includes long-term clients like The Black Spruce Restaurant in Newfoundland; and, with full disclosure, working as the culinary coordinator for Devour! The Food Film Fest. “We need to be a little more vocal, because we have a lot to be vocal about here in Nova Scotia,” says Jason about his desire to see the culinary community grow. He has his own vested interest in place and spends a lot of time trying to promote the talent in this region. I’ve witnessed this at Devour! He certainly has the respect of his peers across Canada.
Beatrice feels like the restaurant is an extension of her home; she prides herself on delivering a level of service that is unpretentious and engages every table in conversation. They’ve been striving to strike a balance between a family of three boys at home and their business, and were only just married in Newfoundland this past summer during a hurricane. There’s a clear division between the kitchen and the front of house at Le Caveau. One thing that strikes me as funny, and that reinforces this division, is that the only direct communication between the kitchen and the front of house staff during service is via telephone and a classic dumbwaiter. When the pergola patio gets rolling in the summer months, Beatrice often finds the servers fraternizing with the kitchen staff because they’re just not used to being in such close proximity. The restaurant opens its doors the first weekend of May and runs to the end of October, and it also hosts special events like weddings and the increasingly popular Icewine Festival (picture après-ski in Switzerland). A team of seven service staff returned to the front of the house this year because, honestly, who wouldn’t want to work alongside Beatrice? The menu will shift with the seasons three times during this period. A little sneak preview of the kinds of dishes you can expect: roasted beet and Ran-Cher Acres goat cheese salad with pumpkin seeds and apple vinaigrette; cavatelli pasta with mitake mushrooms, leeks and pecorino; and, one I had the pleasure of tasting recently at another event that we worked on together, torchon of local rabbit with fennel salad, potato gnocchi, dried ricotta and rabbit jus. Recognizing that it’s not easy to run a family business, it’s remarkable to watch them lead in this space. They extoll the virtues of this beautiful place, transforming a piece of history into a part of the future for generations to come—and always with the big picture in mind. This is about local prosperity and how seemingly small steps will bring this whole region and industry to the next level. They’ve set the bar high. █
Vintage Cuvée Rosé Nova Scotia’s
Top Scoring Bubbly Our traditional method Certified Organic Vintage Cuvée Rosé earned Top Scoring Sparkling and Gold Medal at the 2014 Atlantic Canadian Wine Awards. “A very loveable and dry sparkling rosé, with a bright, slightly flinty nose that also shows apple and toasted brioche. It’s tasty and crisp, and I’d love to have more, please.” - Rémy Charest - National wine writer and judge. Available at select NSLC stores, Bishop’s Cellar and our winery in the Gaspereau Valley where we have a full selection of our award winning, certified organic wines. 310 Slayter Road, Gaspereau, Nova Scotia (902) 542-8463
visit us at: lacadiewine & lacadievineyards
www.lacadievineyards.ca
6027 North Street, Halifax
THE ALL - DAY HAPPY HOUR
$2.50 FOR A GLASS OF BEER MONDAYS - WEDNESDAYS 6024 Quinpool Road, Halifax • 474- 4152 • L RelishHRM
Destination WOLFVILLE
A LIST OF EXCUSES YOU NEED TO HOP IN THE CAR AND GO TO THE VALLEY
12 Tides - A wine tasting event AT THE MARRIOTT HARBOURFRONT Thursday, June 4
Discover Nova Scotia’s premium white wine, Tidal Bay. For the first time, taste the new 2014 vintages of Tidal Bay side by side. Challenge your palate at the blind tasting bar, enjoy award-winning Nova Scotia seafood and hear from special guest speaker, Tony Aspler, accomplished wine educator and Canada’s leading wine writer. Each winery will be pouring their 2014 Tidal Bay along with two other exciting new wines. See why Nova Scotia is blazing the appellation trail and unveil your senses with wine and food while overlooking Halifax Harbour.
winesofnovascotia.ca/events
EDIBLE SLIDESHOW June - October
Enjoy exciting Mexican cuisine from the Edible Slideshow Food Truck every Saturday during open season.
lacadievineyards.ca/events
First & Second Thursdays
vine side patio featuring rotating local musical talent, wine, and snacks. Takes place every Saturday.
brigadoonvillage.org/events
These nights at Domaine de Grand Pré are legendary! Enjoy live music, martinis, mojitos, and tapas on the outdoor patio every Thursday, weather depending of course (it's outdoors).
AVONDALE ART FAIR Saturday, June 20
Artists will again fill Avondale Sky Winery's beautiful vineyard grounds on Saturday, June 20th. This fair is always held the third Saturday in June. You can be sure to find exceptional juried art (including paintings, jewellery, pottery, glass, sculpture, fiber, leather, photography, iron work and more) at this event. Food vendors will entice you with their unique fair offerings and a talented array of local musicians will perform on stage throughout the day. The fun begins at 10 am and runs until 5 pm.
avondaleartfair.com
Summer Celebration on the Hill Saturday, June 27
Sommelier lead exploration of the wine world with emphasis on cool climate wines, five modules altogether - wine 101, food & wine, Tidal Bay appellation, NS hybrid grapes, Dessert & Specialty wines, contact us at info@ gaspereauwine.com for details.
You asked, we answered! Party Bootsis back to help ring in the new season at the vineyard! It was a long, hard winter and we want to rock out in the summer heat! Tickets include admission, dinner and one glass of select LV wine or Sea Levelbeer! Bring your comfy shoes and stretchy pants because you won’t be able to stay off the dance floor!
dcw.vocalocal.ca/events
luckettvineyards.com/events
Brigadoon's Wine & Dash
Saturday Night's main event
June - November
Sunday, June 14
Participants will complete a 10 mile route on foot by running, walking or both
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and have an opportunity to experience Nova Scotia vineyards in a new way, by enjoying different flavors of Nova Scotia wine along the route! Domaine de Grand Pre, Luckett Vineyards, l'Acadie Vineyards, Gaspereau Vineyards, located along the route, will host a wine experience and water stop.
June 27 - September 5
Join Gaspereau Vineyards on their
LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Spring 2015
dcw.vocalocal.ca/events
music under the vines July 2 - August 27
grandprewines.ns.ca
Blues on the Hill Saturday, July 18
Come to our beautiful venue to enjoy the wonderful sounds from renowned Blue’s singer Thom Swift rocking out on our patio for a night of great food, fabulous wine (and beer!) and swingin’ tunes. Tickets include admission, dinner and 1 glass of select LV wine or Sea Level Beer.
luckettvineyards.com/events
Roll Up Your Sleeves Vineyard and Winery Experience Tours
Saturday, July 18
Enjoy a half hour wine tasting in the vineyard – rain or shine – then after getting a brief lesson on what you’ll be working on in the vineyard, you’ll spend a half hour between the vines doing hands on work. This isn’t hard labour. Nor, is it busy-work. You’ll be shoot thinning, cluster thinning, tucking, cluster positioning, whatever needs to be done during the time you’re here. Your next half hour will be spent in the winery, learning about wine making practices and, of course, sampling.
avondalesky.com/news-events
SWIng under the stars
SAUSAGE FEST 2015
Dance, sing, and swing the night away under the Valley sky after a fabulous dinner at Luckett Vineyards.
Sausage Fest returns to the valley for a third year, this time with a completely new and terrifically exciting program. Details coming June 30.
Saturday, August 22
luckettvineyards.com/events
DEVOUR! The food film Fest
Saturday, September 26
sausagefesthfx.ca
Nova Scotia Wine Country Ride
ANNIVErsary pig roast
Sunday, August 23
Sunday, October 4
Visit the Valley vineyards on two wheels in support of Feed Nova Scotia! The NS Wine Country Ride is a non-competitive 60 km loop with regular stops at local wineries to sample and taste your way through the Annapolis Valley.
Come celebrate Avondale Sky Winery’s fourth anniversary. We’ll have complimentary wine samples and vineyard tours. Then feast on our slow roasted pork, side salad, cookie and soft drink. All profits go to the Building Fund of the Avondale United Church.
nswinecountryride.ca
Avondale Garlic Fest Saturday, September 19
Stroll through the vineyard to find a great assortment of the specialty and one-of-a-kind items in one location! Talk to artisans about their craft. Talk with growers to learn more about growing garlic. Talk to chefs to discover new cooking techniques. Shop and Eat and Drink and Enjoy all things Garlic and more!
avondalegarlicfest.com
BLUEGRASS BBQ & CORN BOIL Saturday, September 19
What better way to celebrate the bounty of our beautiful Valley by dancing the night away after satisfying your hunger with amazing food and quenching your thirst with our award winning wines and our selection of great local beers.
luckettvineyards.com/events
national organic week celebration at L'Acadie September 21 - 23
Come to the valley and celebrate National Organic Week at L'Acadie Vineyards.
lacadievineyards.ca/events
November 4 - 8
This November join Devour! in Wolfville, Nova Scotia for five jam-packed days of film, food and wine. They will be serving up the latest from the world of culinary cinema, paired with wine tours, tastings, pop-ups, and industry sessions. Not to mention the fabulous gala dinners featuring renowned chefs celebrating the very best of local and international food and wine. DevourFest. Eat it up!
devourfest.com
avondalesky.com/news-events
Experience wolfville on a wine tour! Here's a trio of wine tour operators you might want to check out:
wolfvillemagicwinerybus.ca
winetoursns.com
novascotiawinetours.com
Food & DRINK
german reislings
Article by: Amy Savoury · Photo: Happy Alex
getting to know the german style of wine made here in nova Scotia
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mong wine geeks, wine enthusiasts and sommeliers, Riesling is a star. It is a grape capable of producing awe-inspiring wines for many reasons. For one, it is versatile. Not only does it get produced into an amazing range of styles—from bone dry, to slightly off-dry, to sweet balanced (ice wines)—but it shines when paired with food. Riesling also has an astonishing ability to reflect a sense of place in its wines—to taste like where the grapes were grown. Riesling likes it cool, and a cold climate allows the fruit to ripen slowly, developing a perfect balance between sugars and acids. There are few places in the world that can grow Riesling grapes with success, and therefore they will never be as ubiquitous as other varieties. It is an expressive grape, and aromas can range from stone fruit and citrus to flowers and honey, all with a pronounced mineral edge. The result is wines that can be cellar worthy, able to age for decades. All of these characteristics make this grape and the wines produced from it loved and appreciated by some, but amongst many it has a tarnished reputation. It is misunderstood, a victim of grape prejudice. To understand, we need to take a quick look at the history of this stellar grape by going back to its homeland, Germany.
LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Spring 2015
Riesling: A Brief History Riesling is a grape with a storied history. It is one of the generally accepted “noble” grape varieties of the world, and notably the only one that is not native to France. The first reliable recorded reference to Riesling is in Germany around 1435 on a sales receipt for vine cuttings. During this time it was the church and nobles who owned the land and carefully tended the vines. They were the first to adopt Riesling as a true German gem. It was so praised, in fact, that by the late 1700s it was declared that only the Riesling grape would be planted in certain vineyards. Now that is dedication to a grape. It may be surprising to hear that by the turn of the 20th century Riesling wines were some of the most expensive in the world, and were held in the same regard as top growth Bordeaux and grand cru Burgundy wines. All seemed to be going really well for Riesling, but like all great stories, there happens to be a tragic turn of events. Out of popularity and a change to the wine laws in Germany in the early 1970s, Germany started to flood the market with low quality, sweet wines. If you are of a certain vintage, you just might remember drinking some of it. Many of these wines weren’t even made of the Riesling grape, or they were a blend with just some Riesling, but they were
German. And due to Riesling being directly associated with Germany, the grape’s reputation was quickly tarnished by the gluttony of sugary, sweet wine in the market. Eventually, consumers’ tastes shifted towards drier styles of wine, but consumers remembered, and many believed that all Rieslings were sweet wines. It’s been hard for the grape to shake this notion. Many still paint all wines made from the Riesling grape with the same sweet brush, and this is unfortunate. Especially because the grape is so versatile, capable of producing such a wide array of wines. Luckily for Riesling, in recent years some folks have been reconsidering this grape. It is time to take a new look at Riesling; you will be pleasantly surprised.
German Wine Regions Great wines are hard to make, and they are often made in the vineyard. It is the place where the grapes grow, sometimes struggling, that makes the wine great. It is this symbiotic relation between grape and place that makes a wine distinctive. Germany and Riesling is a perfect example of this relationship, and the wines produced here are like none other. Germany, by all accounts, is a difficult place to grow grapes. It is a cold climate, which presents many challenges for most grape varieties. But for Riesling grapes, this climate is ideal; they do best with a cool, slow and long growing season. But by no means is it easy for Riesling grapes in Germany. To help, Mother Nature provides microclimates, which are created in Germany by water and elevation. Germany has thirteen recognized wine growing regions, all tucked in the southwest of the country. Most regions are nestled along a flowing body of water to moderate temperatures, and vineyards are planted on slopes, facing south to the sun. But it is along two rivers in particular, the Moselle and the Rhine, and the vineyards in these regions, that Riesling shines the brightest.
Mosel-Saar-Ruwer The water carved out steep slopes along the Moselle River and its two tributaries, the Saar and Ruwer. It is extreme grape growing here, where picturesque vineyards line the steep slopes of the south side of the river banks. So extreme are some of the slopes that the vineyards are on as much as a seventy-degree angle to the river. The soil is rocky here, unfit for most crops but perfect for Riesling. Riesling loves the slate, excelling among its rocky texture. And the exposed rock helps retain some of day’s heat. The river allows for the sun to reflect off its waters, beaming the sun’s intensity up onto the waiting vines. The steep slopes, the reflective nature of the Moselle River and the slate-filled soiled produces a distinctive Riesling. It is charming, floral and light, with an exciting spark of acidity.
Rheingau The Rhine, a stunning river, winds its way through this spectacular German wine region. This is a distinguished area rich in tradition and quite arguably one of the world’s best. Its steeply sloped vineyards are superior, and Riesling dominates. It is hard land to work, but the rewards are great. The Riesling grapes produced here are some of the noblest, and are concentrated and complex. The wines are rich and spicy with a mineral edge and bracing acidity—pure expressions of the Riesling grape at its finest.
German Wine Labels: Finding a Dry Wine The labels that adorn the bottles of German wines are some of the most confusing to understand on Earth. German wine laws are complicated, and one could write an entire novel on the system. All that being said, to get you started, here are some German terms you may find on a German wine label that will always indicate a drier style of Riesling: “Trocken”: A dry wine with no perception of sugar. “Classic”: A dry wine made from a single grape variety. “Selection”: Denotes a dry wine made from a single grape variety that must come from a specific individual vineyard.
Nova Scotia Riesling: A Rising Star There are many things about Nova Scotia wine to celebrate and get excited about. It is a growing industry adding positive economic impact to the province. The industry is a huge tourism draw and a catalyst for the agriculture sector. The climate has also certainly changed for grape growing in Nova Scotia in recent years. One just has to reminisce to the Septembers we have been enjoying as of late. It tends to stay warmer longer, and that has extended the growing season. The winemakers and grape growers are also constantly taking risks, pushing the boundaries of our climate by experimenting with different grape varieties. And they are getting creative in the cellars, producing new styles of wine each year. Thank climate change or not, but longer seasons help Riesling here, and last year was a big year for these grapes in Nova Scotia. All that said, it’s still not easy to grow Riesling grapes in Nova Scotia. They are planted on the sunniest slopes and are reserved for the best places in the vineyard. They also need extra care to get ready for winter, and even still you have to hope the season is long enough—and that the frosts holds off—to allow all the beautiful aromatics and the sugars to develop. █
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South Shore Road trip
South shore
road trip
Article & photos by: Alexander Henden
a weekend adventure a stone's throw from halifax
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t’s the middle of April and Mother Nature is finally loosening her grip. The snow is melting and I’m en route to the South Shore for a much-needed weekend getaway. Weather conditions on the way down are not promising. The skies are grey and it’s raining pretty good, but I’ve been looking at the forecast online for two weeks, and I know that I will be greeted with sunshine come Saturday. The stars are aligned. My first South Shore destination is Lunenburg, and I’ve managed to cut town early, which means I should be checking in just before 5 pm since Lunenburg is less than an hour’s drive from Halifax. And it’s actually quite a nice drive, to be honest, even during this time of the year. At 5 pm, right on schedule, we arrive at the Brigantine Inn, our hotel for the night. It’s off-season, so it’s pretty quiet in town, but that suits me just fine. For those unfamiliar with the Brigantine Inn, this is the hotel that sits atop the Grand Banker Bar & Grill on Montague Street. It’s also under the stewardship of Adam Bower, a Lunenburg original, who also happens to be a good friend of the magazine. So we’re in good hands. Being off-season, we end up grabbing our keys downstairs at the restaurant, which coincidently is where we will be dining in the evening. Keys in hand, we head upstairs to our suite,
LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Spring 2015
which is a good size for the three of us, and which features a very nice view of the harbour. I give the bed a quick test and confirm that we’ll be sleeping in comfort tonight, but first things first—we need to eat! A quick jaunt down two flights of stairs sees us in the Grand Banker. Even before Adam took ownership, I always thought of this place as an anomaly. Dating back to our first visit in 2012, I remember settling for the Grand Banker only because Fleur de Sel Restaurant was closed, but we discovered that day that this place was not any kind of tourist trap. The food is actually pretty fantastic. We’ve since visited the Grand Banker many times for lunches and dinners, but since Adam’s takeover of the restaurant, we have new motivations to dine here. At the forefront of this is the Lunenburger, conceived last year during a meeting between chef and owner that may have involved numerous local beverages. It’s a delicious beef burger with a huge chunk of fresh lobster on it, a piece of mozzeralla, smoked bacon, hollandaise sauce and tarragon butter. And it’s topped off with a bacon-wrapped scallop on a stick. A burger of this magnitude needs no side, but there’s no stopping us from ordering the house chips. The fries at the Grand Banker are just fine, but this is the go-to side. Looking at the menu, we also spot the Hell Bay fish and chips,
so we’re having that too. And of course the selection of local craft beer is supreme as well, so I order the feature cask beer from Granite Brewery. The dinner, as always, was satisfying. It’s comfort food at its best here, and “comfort” is the word that best describes how we’re feeling. With dinner out of the way, we head upstairs to settle in for an early night’s rest. Around 10 pm, my phone vibrates on the desk in our room and I know what it says even before I look at it. Adam Bower has hooked up a fresh keg of Garrison’s newest (Cranberry Hibiscus Wit Ale), and he’d like me to join him for a pint. I may be in bed already, but this is Nova Scotia, and I believe that it’s criminally punishable to turn down an offer like this. So I quickly whip my clothes back on and head downstairs for a pint or two. Since it’s a working holiday of sorts for me, I don’t end up going on a tear. Next morning we’re up nice and early for our trip further down shore. Our first destination, one that’s been in the cards for some time, is The LaHave Bakery in LaHave, which is just outside Bridgewater. This place is legendary, and one that our own Chief Photographer Riley Smith has been on me about for some time now. And for good reason. The building that houses LaHave Bakery was built back in 1896, and was originally used as the LaHave Outfitting Company, a ship’s chandlery and a fish processing plant. Today, it’s home to Homegrown Skateboards, a small pottery shop, a gallery for art exhibitions and, of course, the bakery itself. It's quite the complex. When it comes to eating at café/restaurants in small towns, I always think back to my experiences living in Alberta. The food was never good, but so many have insisted we try this place, so here we are, ordering our first meal of the day. I’m super hungry, so I order a breakfast wrap. My expectations are reserved, but when the food arrives, I find myself amused. My wrap comes with a side of ripple chips instead of, say, some nice home fries, but once I dive in, I realize that this plate isn’t about the chips at all. This breakfast wrap, which is topped with the freshest and most refreshing salsa I’ve ever had, is a stunner. Full of so many tasty things, and absolutely spot on for size, this is how you make a breakfast wrap! This will definitely hold me over until dinner. LaHave Bakery has won my affection. Following breakfast, we head to our next destination, White Point Beach Resort. We’re arriving early, so there’s no guarantee that we’ll be able to check in right away, but we’re also too early to head down to Shelburne, so we roll the dice and see where we land. For some time now, White Point has been on my Nova Scotia bucket list. I’ve visited there before, but I always wanted to stay overnight in the hotel and dine at Elliott’s Dining Room. When we arrive, we’re in luck. Our room is ready, and the hotel clerk is all over getting us settled in with all the sweet hook-ups. She is very friendly, knowledgeable and quickly understands that we’re fairly prepared in terms of our South Shore experience. She doesn’t miss showing us where the rabbit feed is, though, and we’re quick to grab a couple of bags. What’s with the rabbit feed you ask? Well, the hotel property is home to a large number of rabbits that can be seen as you pull into the parking
South Shore Road trip lot. They’re friendly rabbits, nothing like the one from Monty Python, and you can actually feed them out of your hand, which is super cool. After feeding a couple of bunnies, we head to our room. We open the door and right away feel right at home. The room is well-appointed and very welcoming, and after a quick test, we confirm that the beds are indeed comfortable here, too. That’s two for two on comfortable beds! Before heading off to Shelburne, we go for a quick stroll on the beach, which is, frankly, one of the main reasons folks come to White Point. The tide is in at the moment, but enough of the beach is exposed for a nice stroll. It’s a whopping eight degrees Celsius out, so you don’t see too many people lying in the sand, but it’s still a perfectly lovely day to be out on the beach, watching the waves crash in. By noon we’re in the car and headed off to Shelburne, with our first stop being the headquarters for Boxing Rock Brewing Company. The brewery is just off the highway, and we’ve arranged to meet with owner Emily Tipton, with the idea that we might get a bit of a tour. I’ve visited here before and am familiar with the place, but it’s always cool to get a behind the scenes look at where some of Atlantic Canada’s best beer comes from. The timing of our visit is also very good, as this evening Boxing Rock will be in Halifax at Bar Stillwell for a Ladies Beer League event, where they will also be releasing a collaboration beer (Cinnamon Spin, a robust porter) for the first time, a beer available to me on this visit. On top of this, I find another beer I’ve yet to try (The Next Chapter, a rye India Pale Ale), so this simple visit has turned into a beer shopping experience. Following our visit to Boxing Rock, we’re off to the Black Loyalist Heritage Centre, which is so new that it’s not yet open to the public. We’ve been invited, though, and we’re super excited and curious. The story of the Black Loyalists is not one we’re familiar with, and we’re certain it will be an interesting experience. Once inside, we realize that we’re going to be here for some time. The building isn’t overly huge, but there’s a good assortment of interactive displays with a seemingly endless supply of history, all presented in just the right amount of text and photos. We find ourselves tracing the roots of African culture before slavery became legal in Britain, and we end up
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LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Spring 2015
learning how so many blacks actually became Loyalists. It’s a very strange period in history, especially by our own standards today, but it’s good to know this history and to be reminded just how possible it is for societies to get almost everything wrong. One of the main features of the Black Loyalist Heritage Centre is the Book of Negroes, which recently became more famous after the CBC made a miniseries out of the novel of the same name. It’s an interesting book, to say the least. It really highlights just how much people we’re treated as objects back then, and reminds me how fortunate we are to have all the freedoms and opportunities we have today. Taking in all this history, the experience isn’t a downer in any kind of way; it’s actually inspiring and motivating, and one that every Nova Scotian should take the time to do. After our visit, we head back to the hotel, where we have dinner reservations at Elliott’s Dining Room. It’s a hotel dining room, so a lot of the menu items are standard hotel stock, but good hotels can work within these parameters and still serve inspired burgers and such. We’ve also heard good things about Elliott’s, so we’re keen to give it a try. Arriving at the restaurant, we are immediately seated by the window, as per my reservation request. The view is spectacular. If the food is just okay, we’ll be fine, but as it turns out, the food is much better than okay. My daughter opts for the buffet ($16 for kids, $32 for adults), which is loaded with fresh pork loin, roast beef, salmon and a great selection of sides. I opt for some menu items instead, which include ribs (juicy), barbecued shrimp (fresh, and served with a killer sauce), meatloaf (sounds boring but is far from) and some salmon. Despite being 'hotel food', everything is spot on, making this place is a well-deserved entry on our list of “Local Eateries You Just Have to Check Out” (see page 44). For our last hurrah this evening, we’re headed back to Shelburne. Tonight, at the local theatre (Osprey Arts Centre), a group of arborists are putting on a lumberjack show. It’s community entertainment in its truest form, giving us the most authentic local experience possible. While we are very likely the only folks from Halifax, the theatre is packed—and for good reason. At $12 per ticket ($8 for students), this is some of the best valued entertainment on the planet. The evening starts with local musicians performing songs written about Shelburne, followed by some wild axe-throwing and tree-chopping right on
stage in front of the crowd. After the intermission, we’re treated to a short film about local lumberjacks, which, shot in the 1970s I believe, is fun, informative and a piece of authentic history that nicely ties everything together. For the final act, they have a girl from the audience do a moose call, and much to the delight of the audience, the moose, which had been constructed with paper and another construction materials, can’t fit through the door leading to the stage. It actually gets stuck, and everyone just loves it, ourselves included. The next morning, we wake up late and feed some bunnies before heading off to breakfast at Elliott’s. Once at our table by the window, we’re offered menus, but we’re gravitating towards the buffet, which is priced at an incredible $16 (including juices and coffee). There are probably some healthy choices on the menu, but I am having none of that. I load my plate with bacon, sausages, scrambled eggs, hash browns, hash browns with some kind of meat, and toast. There’s enough food on my plate for a family of three, and that’s how I’ve chosen to start my day. Following breakfast, we check out. We’d had a wonderful stay, but now were headed back to Lunenburg and Mahone Bay for some shopping. As anticipated, many of the shops are still closed for the season, but a lot of them are open for business. Between the two towns, there’s a really great little shopping destination to experience. A good mix of crafts and trinkets, stuff for the home, clothing and, in Mahone Bay, the biggest shoe store in Nova Scotia. There are also lots of great places to check in for lunch, but our lunch plans lay elsewhere. By two o’ clock we find ourselves in Chester, which is just forty minutes outside of Halifax. I was certain I’d visited Chester before, but nothing looks familiar. It’s a quaint little town, and it has a very warm look and feel. The pub across the street is packed, but we’re headed to another spot on my Nova Scotia bucket list: The Kiwi Café. Inside, it’s busy here, too. Clearly, this is the place all of the locals come to, and I’m hoping it lives up to its reputation. And it does. I order the soup of the day (tomato) and a B.L.A.T. (grilled panini roll filled with bacon, lettuce, avocado, tomato and garlic mayo), though I suppose I could have also ordered breakfast, which is served all day. The tomato soup is very easily the best tomato soup I’ve ever had; refreshing and delicious. The sandwich is also excellent, though admittedly difficult to get into my belly after the Olympic-level breakfast I had earlier. Still, I'm loving it. Leaving town and headed for Halifax, we promise to return to Chester again soon, perhaps for brunch next time, and we’ll definitely take the scenic route down (Trunk 3), which is such a delightful drive. Once home, I unpack, and I’m quickly on my sofa drinking beer I’d picked up on the trip and reminiscing about the amazing weekend adventure I’d just had. I’d visited some old favourites, tried some new spots, and had an authentic South Shore experience. You can indeed experience the South Shore in a weekend, but you probably need many more weekends to see and do everything. So I’ll be back again for sure. █
now serving
lunch!
1600 Barrington St . obladee.ca
Le Caveau
kiwi cafĂŠ
Featured in this issue of Local Connections Halifax (page 32), Le Caveau is one of Nova Scotia's very best local eateries. Starting July 2, you can also experience the magic of Le Caveau at their Music Under the Vines event every Thursday (weather dependant).
Just a 40 minute, and very scenic drive (if you take Trunk 3) from Halifax. Breakfast all day, and lunch too. One word sums this place up: Delightful. Just hop in the car and go!
11611 Hwy 1, Grand PrĂŠ
Elliot's dining room This is the hotel restaurant at Whitepoint Lodge. It's a fairly big restaurant making it great for large groups, but still intimate enough for couples looking to dine while taking in the breathtaking view. They also have great buffets worth checking out. 75 White Point Beach Resort Road
fleur de sel Rated one of Canada's best (#15) restaurants. It's fine dining at its best. Open for dinners only, and you'll need a reservation if you're keen. 53 Montague Street, Lunenburg
grand banker Home of the legendary Lunenburger and Hell Bay Fish N Chips, the Grand Banker is a great spot to settle in for lunch or dinner. The menu has an excellent variety of deliciously local plates to choose from, plus a great selection of local craft brews on tap. 82 Montague Street, Lunenburg
19 Pleasant Street, Chester
Lahave bakery One of Nova Scotia's hidden treasures, located in the old Lahave Outfitters building. The space itself is worth the trip, but the simple yet delightful food offering just throws everything over the top. Box 92, LaHave, Nova Scotia
lincoln Street food A modern coastal neighbourhood kitchen, this is Chef Paolo's (formerly of Jane's on the Common fame) new spot, which opened last year in Lunenburg. Accessible, casual fine dining and open for dinners only. 200 Lincoln Street, Lunenburg
Luckett Vineyards The Luckett Vineyards patio has probably the best view in the province. This year's menu will feature many new items, each worth giving a whirl. Sit back, relax, and enjoy a glass of wine, or a beer from Sea Level Brewing. After lunch, head down to the phone box to call mom to let her know you are eating well. Top of the pops. 1293 Grand Pre Road, Wolfville
mateus
salt shaker deli
One of Mahone Bay's little treasures. A nice little spot to check in for lunch or dinner. Casual fare with a strong focus on local ingredients.
Salt Shaker Deli is part of Chef Ruiz Salvador's trio of Lunenburg eateries. Much more casual than Fleur de Sel. A great spot for lunch, where you could order anything from the menu and win.
533 Main Street, Mahone Bay
privet house Another dining must in Wolfville. A broad range of locally-inspired selections for brunch, lunch, and dinner. Fine dining, right on Main Street. 406 Main Street, Wolfville
quarterdeck
124 Montague Street, Lunenburg
south shore fish shack The name pretty much says it all. You go there for fish n chips or other deep fried seafood treats. Delicious Propeller beer on tap, and one heck of a patio overlooking the harbour. 108 Montague Street Lunenburg
An oceanside view with an appropriately seafood-focused menu. Colourfully memorable decor to match the vibrancy of the plates. Also comes with the option of staying in the hotel overnight or for the entire weekend.
trellis cafĂŠ
Summerville Beach, Port Mouton
22 Highway 3, Hubbards
Rebecca's
wool n tart
Another must try local eatery in Mahone Bay. Charming location with a nice selection of local eats.
A favourite local eatery of our own Editor-in-Chief Alexander Henden. It's a quaint little wool shop with a kitchen inside, and the home of Chef Steph Levac. Best bagel sandwiches in Atlantic Canada, which you always order with the soup of the day. Always. It's the perfect lunch-time combo.
619 Main Street, Mahone Bay
rhubarb on the oceanstone A well-priced seasonally-inspired and very accessible menu from a local eatery that couldn't be closer to Halifax. There's no excuse not to go.
Taste of Nova Scotia's "Restaurant of the Year" in 2012, and just 30 minutes outside Halifax. Accessible, well-priced fine dining with a focus on local fare.
458 Main St, Wolfville
8650 Peggy's Cove Road, Indian Harbour
rime Located in the old Tratorria della Nonna spot, Rime adds yet another layer to Lunenburg's very impressive roster of dining venues. 9 King Street, Lunenburg
RUM RUNNER INN Another Lunenburg staple with a strong focus on seafood and local fare. Dining experience also comes with a lovely view of the harbour. 66 Montague Street, Lunenburg
COMING NEXT ISSUE: This time it's halifax's turn! we'll share our recommendations for local eateries in town. (this list will include dine-in and take-out spots)
Nova Scotia Wine
Wine Tasting Event at the marriott
Uncorked by Amy Savoury
TIDAL BAY WINES A tidal wave is on the way and it is going to hit you right in the palate. There is no doubt that Nova Scotia as a wine region is like none other in the world and to express the uniqueness of our terroir through-out our province, we have Tidal Bay. These premium Nova Scotia white wines are guaranteed by specified standards, held to strict quality assurances and approved by an independent tasting panel to be fresh, crisp and sincerely expressive of our region. Officially launched in 2012 as Nova Scotia's appellation wine, Tidal Bays are produced by many wineries. However each varies as the talented winemakers of our province have the creative freedom to interpret the standards and like any artist put their signature on the wine. One thing is certain about all Tidal Bays, they are distinctively Nova Scotian and all are the perfect regional pairing to the seafood’s that Nova Scotia is famous for.
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Mark June 4th on your calendar, the 12 Tides tasting event is taking place and it is going to be a time to celebrate the Nova Scotia terroir and indulge in the wines that are crafted by it. At this inaugural tasting hosted by the Winery Association of Nova Scotia you will have the opportunity to taste the new 2014 Tidal Bay releases at the same time and in the same place, overlooking the Halifax harbour. This event will be worth every penny of the ticket price just for the opportunity to taste the 2014 Tidal Bays side by side but this evening is packed with much more. Not only will each winery participating be pouring their Tidal Bay but they will also have on hand two additional new wines for you to sample. That’s 33 of some of the provinces most exciting wines to taste at one event! To complement and highlight the Tidal Bay wines, award winning seafood purveyors will be on hand to pair some of Nova Scotia’s best lobster, scallops and oysters. If you’re not a seafood lover, no worries, there will be artisanal cheese and an array of appetizers to satisfy all appetites. In addition, the wonderful folks from Bishops Cellar will be on hand to challenge and educate your senses with a guided blind tasting of Tidal Bay flights. To top this wine and culinary adventure off, Tony Aspler one of Canada's best and most acclaimed wine writers will be on hand to speak to the crowd. This is an action packed wine event surely not to be missed! A limited number of tickets will be available at the participating wineries or can be purchased on-line at halifax.strangertickets.com. Tickets are $65 plus tax and if it is more information that you are looking for the Winery Association of Nova Scotia would be happy to hear from you by sending your e-mail inquiries to, info@ winesofnovascotia.ca.
LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Spring 2015
Nova Scotia Wine
the wines of spring house selections
Avondale Sky, 2014 Bliss A real crowd pleaser, it is easy to see why this wine has received the Taste of Nova Scotia Prestige Award Consumer Choice product of the year two times running. Bursting with ripe mango and kiwi aromatics that jumps right out of the glass. This wine finishes with sun kissed fruit sweetness and a lifting acidity. An approachable wine that is sure to delight the senses while relaxing in the sunshine. Benjamin Bridge, 2014 Tidal Bay A wine that is as fresh and clean as clothes hanging on the line. Impeccably balanced and complex with bright fruit aromas, delicate floral notes and an ease of minerality, revealing a true sense of place. Pure, focused and perfect, this IS Nova Scotia in a glass.
Domaine de Grand Pre, 2014 Tidal Bay Winemaker Jurg Stutz does it again with his signature blend of L'Acadie, Seyval, Vidal, Muscat and Ortega grapes in this brilliant expression of Tidal Bay. Ripe, juicy stone fruit on the nose with a lush, exotic mouth feel. Ending with refreshing acidity, like a cool coastal breeze on a hot day.
Gaspereau Vineyards, 2014 Tidal Bay Stunning to look at in the glass, bright and reflective with a hint of rose gold. Equally as inviting on the nose with fresh lemon curd, lime zest and wet shore rocks. Perfect for a picnic shore side and would be the alternative to a slice of lemon with any seafood, why squeeze your acidity when you can drink it?
Blomidon, 2013 Rose Just the ideal wine when you are looking for the crispness of a white wine but the subtle structure of a red. This delectable rose gives you just that. Wild strawberries and rhubarb on the nose, follow through to a dry, refreshing finish. This is a versatile wine to always have on hand. Equally enjoyed sipping on a patio with friends or alongside with food, perfect for all occasions.
Luckett Vineyards, 2014 Tidal Bay Beautifully floral on the nose, reminiscent of wild meadow flowers gently blowing in the breeze. This wine follows through with grace on the palate delivering subtle hints of candied grapefruit with a crisp, mineral balance. Charming and intriguing, this wine will leave you wanting more.
Planters Ridge, 2013 Tidal Bay A unique blend of L’Acadie, Seyval, Muscat, and Frontenac Gris, this is a wine full of character. Honey, melon and lemon drop candy on the nose is integrated with a soft briny edge. A distinctive Tidal Bay that is as enthralling as the history and view from this stunning new winery.
L’Acadie Vineyards, 2010 Sparkling Rose One thing is certain after tasting this impressive sparkling; we need to drink more pink and more bubbles. No need to wait for a special occasion to pop the cork on this wine, it is perfect any day, anywhere. Elegantly made from whole cluster Marechal Foch grapes, aged on its lees to add depth, ripe cherry and rhubarb on the nose, it is versatile and enjoyable on its own or with a wide range of foods. Drink it now and drink it often.
Pick up your bottle of deliciously local wines at the NSLC, Bishop's Cellar, Rockhead, Port of Wines, Harvest Wines, or Cristall Wine Merchants.
LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Spring 2015
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Nova Scotia CRAFT BEER
North Brewing Company Gets Funky
brew bits by Tracy Phillippi
Halifax’s king of Belgian Brews is upping the ante with an exciting new project featuring brettanomyces yeast, or “Brett” for short. Unlike your traditional lager or ale yeast, Brett will impart funky notes of barnyard, wet hay, or musty basement in a beer. While these bizarre descriptors may send even your seasoned craft beer nerd running, Brett is actually a desirable characteristic in many Belgian beers. If you’re up for the Brett challenge, North Brewing is currently aging four different strains of the yeast strain in different test batches of their Saison. Once the magic is complete, North will be hosting a special event where participants can experience the results and vote on their favourite. The winning Brett Saison will be bottled and sold for your tasting pleasure. Stay tuned to North’s social media channels for details as they emerge.
Spindrift Brewing Company comes to Dartmouth:
THE Beers of Spring Well, after this Winter (which we shall never mention, again!) the sun is shining again in Halifax. So get ready to fill up your pint glass with lagers, wheat beers, and a few bitter gems. Rockbottom Brewpub - Session IPA Rare Bird Brewery - Maple Ale and Spruce Ale Big Spruce Brewing - “Conspiracy Brew” with Barnone Brewing, “SMASH” IPA, “Because She’s Maibock” Lager with Ladies Beer League, “Crazy Ivan” Imperial IPA, and British IPA Sea Level Brewing - Summer Blonde Pilsner North Brewing - “Halifax Common” Dry-Hopped Hybrid Lager, Glenora Barrel Aged Strong Dark Belgian Uncle Leo's Brewery - Vohs Weizenbier Tatamagouche Brewery - Maple Squash Ale, Oyster Cloister Stout, Horns Over Hooves Double IPA (a Stubborn Goat Gastropub collaboration) Garrison Brewing - “In Session” ISA, Sugar Moon Maple, “OBEY This Brew” Propeller Brewering - Irish Red
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Fill up that growler at Rockhead Wine & Beer Market For ten years, Premier Wine & Spirits on Dresden Row was known by beer lovers for their glorious selection of craft brews from Nova Scotia and around the world. With a shiny new image, Premier became Rochhead Wine & Beer Market and moved into the Sobeys on Windsor Street in the North End (are you noticing a trend – The North End has become the craft beer destination!). Now, in addition to their unique selection of craft and imported beer, Rockhead has become the first private store to offer growler fills from your favourite Nova Scotia breweries like Garrison, Boxing Rock, School House, Uncle Leo’s, Tatamagouche and Sea Level. Rockhead will sell you a branded growler that you can refill at every visit, or you can bring a clean growler from home; either way, Rockhead can fill all your craft beer needs!
LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Spring 2015
You may have heard the rumors around the beer fridge... We are happy to share that Kellye Robertson, former superstar at Garrison Brewing Company, is taking the reign as Brewmaster at Dartmouth’s Spindrift Brewing Company. Opening this summer, Spindrift promises to bring fresh and unique styles to Halifax’s growing craft beer scene. While we will have to wait patiently to learn more, we can confirm that Sprindrift will open with a big sudsy splash this summer or fall, with beer available in the NSLC, beer bars and at their headquarters on 21 Frazee Ave in Burnside.
Nova Scotia CRAFT BEER
when 3 bffs friends open a brewery a Hop Bomb is about to Drop We all remember those libation-fueled fantasies of our college days… Move to Paris, buy a houseboat, open a brewery… And yet, here we are in 2015 in the “real world”. Well, all of us except Angus, Doug, and Josh, owners of the latest brewery in town – Good Robot Brewing Company at 2736 Robie Street. With a retail outlet and a taproom opening this summer, GR is currently crafting a Gose, Stout, Citrus Ale and Steam Beer. You’ll find their “experimental and eccentric” beer on tap at The Wooden Monkey (Halifax), Brookyn Warehouse, Stubborn Goat, Stillwell, Lion & Bright, Auction House, 2 Doors Down, Bishop's Cellar, and Finer Diner, as well as in growler format at the retail store. “Beer isn't exclusive - it brings us together. Beer isn't pretentious - it's fun. Beer helps us laugh and dance and joke the way social stimulants should. So relax. It's beer.” – GR Gents
You’ve most certainly tasted his beers. Whether it was from Rockbottom Brewpub or one of the many maritime brewers he mentored, Greg Nash’s legendary beers are oozing with hops! Bright, bitter, and boozy, these HOP BOMBS are about to take Halifax by storm. Coming very soon to Halifax’s North End, “Unfiltered Brewing” will launch with three core beer styles and will ‘bang out’ a few seasonal and specialty brews as time permits. Unfiltered brews will be available at the brewery retail store and ‘Tap Room’ (coming soon!) at North and Robie, and select bars and restaurants in Halifax and beyond. Die hard hop heads can also join the “Growler Club” for exclusive perks and great beer. Check them out @hoppyasballs.com, sign up for the newsletter, and let the good beer flow!
The official beers of Sausage Fest to be announced June 30, 2015! For this year's Sausage Fest, Local Connections Halifax has partnered with three local breweries to produce a summer suite of custom brews dubbed "The Official Beers of Sausage Fest". The beers will be available during Sausage Fest (September 19 - 27) in bottles, and on tap at participating restaurants and bars.
Ask us about our craft beer dinners. Any number of people. Contact evan@stubborngoat.ca Any time. for more details and reservations. www.stubborngoat.ca 1579 Grafton St. | 902-405-4554
LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Spring 2015 WINE
BEER
COCKTAILS
FOOD
LIVE MUSIC
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Arts & ENTERTAINMENT
a Q&A with joel plaskett Q&A by: Tiffany Thornton 路 Photo: Riley Smith
Canadian rock musician and songwriter Joel Plaskett has yet again reinvented himself with his spirited new album "The Park Avenue Sobriety Test". Plaskett, who has been making music for over two decades, is a master of successfully mixing genres. The new album is reminiscent of time and place, the past and ruminating on the future. Local Connections Halifax chats with Joel on lamenting his thirties, the fun he had making the album with old friends, and how he can't wait to hit the road on his Canadian tour.
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LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Spring 2015
Selkie is back! Introducing Selkie 2014.
You've had such a varied career and you really enjoy producing music. Did you miss that all when you were making this new album?
Named for the alluring creatures of maritime myth, Selkie is inspired by our ocean breezes and unique Atlantic terroir.
I've been doing a bunch right now. I am finishing a second record with Sean McCann who used to be with "Great Big Sea"; we’re mixing. To be honest I am little burnt out on the studio right now. My record was super fun, and the last few projects have been great but I am about ready to tour. The winter is a good time to make records and be indoors. Everyone wants to make records in the winter, I tend to get asked a lot then when people want to hunker down and make music. I am the same way. I am really looking forward to the stage right now. The record’s out there and what I am looking forward to the most is people getting to know the songs and the new material on stage so we can have a new show.
Selkie’s playful frizzante-style effervescence and balanced sweetness tingle your taste buds with lingering notes of golden kiwi, lily of the valley, and white peach. Its bright acidity and enticing depth, have the seductive power to transform any occasion.
You seem to always have focus and direction, which is not the case with many musicians. How do you maintain that? I've been in the game a long time. I had the support of my parents at a really young age. I never really felt like what I was doing made me want to be rebellious. If I was going it be rebellious I would have been a banker working in finance. My dad plays music and my parents are left leaning socially conscious people. They never questioned what I wanted to do.
Here’s to making it in Nova Scotia!
I've had times when I wondered, “Is this going to work?” It took years to feel like there was any stability in what I was doing, but I never really had another option. I felt like music was the thing I was compelled to do, and the momentum never evaporated Selkie_Ad_Local_Connections_Halifax_04_15.indd for me. People recognized my drive; I had support and a good infrastructure around me. It really pushes you to compete. You realize it’s like a business and people are relying on you. Not like my band, where they don't make a full time living on this. I’ve been really lucky that both Dave (Marsh) and Chris (Pennell) have prioritized playing with me. They both work their lives around their desire to make music. So when we can go on the road for six months when it’s busy and make a living its great! I've been really fortunate with these guys in the band - they make it work.
#SelkieWine SelkieWine.com
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2015-04-24 3:04 P
Yum!
Will you take some time after the tour to really decompress? I am not really good at relaxing. I love heading out in the summertime if I can and going to Cape Breton. Some place you can getaway for about four days and it feels great. It’s hard to schedule time so I find it where I can grab it. I really enjoy nights when you can sit back with your friends, have a conversation put on your favourite records. Have some drinks and you are kind of reminiscing, but your also creating a new reminiscence. It’s like you’re having a night that you would have had with all these different stages. To me it’s like a crew. Like with the new album all these friends were around and it’s not like we were partying the whole time. It was just really satisfying. Records are work but when you can put something social around it I could really hear that on the record. I really love that part of the journey.
19 Pleasant Street, Chester • 902-275-1492 www.kiwicafechester.com
Arts & ENTERTAINMENT
Was this record a collaborative effort, or more of a solo one? I was thinking of doing the record on my own or with the core Emergency guys, but I kind of wanted to dabble more, because I have done it both ways on past records. I really wanted more personalities on this record. I called Ian (McGettigan) who was in Thrush Hermit with me and who also played in the emergency. He comes on tour a lot with me and is based in Toronto. Then our old bass player Kenny who lives in town came and played on some tracks. Mo Kenney is on the album and Erin Costello played piano. About twenty people play on it. Half of the record is live off the floor, including vocals, which is something I've never done. I've done moments of it but for the most part I am usually over dubbing things to compose the recordings. I set up in the lobby of the studio and had the guys in the main room so I could see them through the glass. I cut live vocal tracks so I could have control and I had enough isolation so I could still make a high-fi sound. When I listen to the record it feels a lot livelier than other albums. Even though there are some more melancholy songs, the rocking songs are a little more freewheeling. It’s a real mix of personalities and a bit of improvisation in there. We would start jamming on a riff and then slip into song. It was really fun to make.
What was the inspiration behind the title "The Park Avenue Sobriety Test"? It came from our neighbour Roy Logan, who has since passed away. I was walking my young son to school one day and this guardrail was all smashed up by the park. A car had come down Victoria Street and jumped that square and smashed the guardrail by the cemetery. I saw Roy later on and I said, “Hey did you see the smashed guardrail?” He said, “Between that and the King Street Turn, that’s the Park Avenue sobriety test.” I thought wow! That’s a wicked name and I loved the sound of it. It’s not a record about drinking really in the grand scheme of things. Things in the record are about nostalgia and things in the past that you may reminisce about. Remembering the good ole days with your buddies, and the kind of sobering presence in life.
What can the inferences in the the song “The Park Avenue Sobriety Test” be attributed to? It’s a fun song about guy who had nothing going right for him. No one wants anything to do with him. He is just in on a drunken night by himself. At the end of the night he walk across the bridge in the rain. He gets to the park and he plans to get home, but he has to walk through the park and it’s sketchy and it’s late and he has to go through it or go around it. It’s like at the end if the day you’re kind of left to your own devices. You have to deal with yourself, and deal with your decisions. You can have things going right or wrong for and the world will have pressures on you. What it boils down to at the end of the day is you have to face yourself or your own fears you can't run forever. One of the
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LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Spring 2015
lines in the song is "When your one of a kind you can't get on the Ark". It’s like, you thought you’re special, but you’re not even allowed on the Ark because it’s only twos.
You like to base yourself within Canada when you tour. Did you ever want to branch out? I've done that in the past and I have such a great fan base here. I asked myself a while ago how much do I want to tour? Not to say I am giving up on the international touring market. I have had fun shows there but at this stage I have a family, a young son that I want to see grow up. If I want to break into some of the international places, at this stage the amount of work may not be the kind of work I want to do. I would rather be making other people's records; I would rather see Mo Kenny over in Germany behind something that I was involved in. She's young and has got the energy. I have been on the road for twenty-two years.
Your dad loves to perform with you from to time. Will he be popping up on stage a bit? I don't know. Maybe later in the year when I get in to some acoustic stuff but, this tour is with the Emergency and with Mo Kenney opening the show. Part of why I wanted Mo on the show is for selfish reasons - so I can get her on stage with us. I am hoping that I can have her be part of the band for a chunk of the show.
Are you going to explore all the musical genres that you do on the album on this tour? I always have a part of the show where it just comes down to the acoustic guitar and me, partly to give the audience a break and to give my voice a bit of a break. It’s kind of dependent on the venue, like if you’re in a standing rock club the shows tend to be more rocking. If I am in a theatre when it’s easier to quiet it down then I take a little more time on my own.
What are some of your favourite spots in Halifax? The Carleton is a great venue. Before the Carleton there wasn't really a place that you could have a real quiet intimate show in a small venue. I love the Wooden Monkey in Dartmouth for some healthy food options. I really like the neighbourhood feeling.
Who is someone you would love to work with? Burton Cummings. I want to produce a song for Burton Cummings. You never know one can dream! That to me would be the ultimate iconic Canadian talent. I would love to bring some element of my aesthetic to a record with him. I think we could put a wicked band together in Halifax if Burton came to town!
Joel's latest album, The Park Avenue Sobriety Test is now available on iTunes.
some Albums to check out (to name but a few)
Park Avenue Sobriety Test
scrappy happiness
2015
2012
three
ashtray rock
2009
2007
ladeda
truthfully
2005
2003
down at the kyber
in need of medical attention
2001
1999
Arts & ENTERTAINMENT
Article by: JKathleen Higgins · Photo: Scotia Festival of Music
Nurturing Halifax’s cultural heritage for thirty-six years
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LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Spring 2015
W
ith the explosion of new buildings going up downtown and new restaurants and independent businesses popping up all over Halifax's north end, it's easy to get caught up in the city's bold new look and offerings. But this particular renaissance didn't come from nowhere; it's been inspired and nurtured by the incredible cultural heritage that has grown and developed in Halifax over the decades. We are a city that loves music and festivals, and the Scotia Festival of Music, taking place from May 25th to June 8th, is one of the oldest and most prestigious events we’re lucky enough to have right here in our own backyard. Celebrating its 36th year of bringing world-class chamber musicians to Halifax, the Scotia Festival of Music has been described by violinist Giora Schmidt as “the best little chamber music festival in the world.” Chris Wilcox, the festival's managing director and one of its founders, shared this tidbit with me with pride as he explained that what started as a passion project for a group of musicians from Dalhousie and the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra has evolved into a two-week festival boasting over a dozen performances, master classes taught by some of the world's most talented and respected chamber musicians, and an educational program that takes music into schools and communities around the province. It’s where Haligonians are treated to innovative new works and classic favourites, and musicians, from students to veterans, can come together for two weeks in a city by the sea and play. Many of them, like conductor and cellist Kenneth Woods, start out as students, only to return year after year. “I was doing the math the other night, and I think the first time I was there was 1993,” says Woods. “I went and had an absolutely amazing time, and went back for three or four years as a student. I stayed in touch with Chris and the gang over the years, and then started
coming back as a faculty member later on. It's comfortably over twenty years since the first time I set foot there.” Part of the appeal for performers, beyond the fantastic lobster party held for them mid-way through the festival, is the sense of community that has been fostered by organizers for the last thirty-five years. “At Scotia Festival, your teacher's not behind the door anymore,” says Woods. “They're your stand partner in the orchestra. It's one thing to go and have a lesson with someone like that, but to sit with them in a professional situation as a colleague and to see what it really takes, that's the sort of level of real world experience that's really transformative.” This unique experience draws students from around the world and professionals from some of the best known and prestigious orchestras. Wilcox credits their ability to attract such impressive talents as Pierre Boulez and Giora Schmidt to the festival's stellar reputation among players around the world. “Artists are curious to see what is the magic of Scotia Festival, what attracts them,” he says. Beyond the benefits to musicians and the young artists who come here every summer to study with them, Scotia Festival's year-round educational programming takes music and musicians into schools around the region. Dr. Airi Yoshioka, a frequent performer at the festival, takes visiting artists into local schools to perform, inviting students to play along and create artwork as they listen to music. The student's artwork is collected, and each year one piece is chosen as the cover for the festival brochure. Wilcox sees the relationship between the festival and young, local students as a vital and mutually beneficial one. “Every poster for Scotia Festival is an original work of art, and we get those kids to come to an open rehearsal or a concert. So we get free posers and they get two concerts; everybody wins!” Woods, who has performed in schools with the festival, agrees. “Chris is very committed to engaging the community and getting the music out there and getting young people involved. It's a great resource for enriching the lives of young people as well as the larger community.” The Scotia Festival of Music has a bit of a hidden-gem quality to it. Wilcox explains that they advertise very little outside of the province because loyal local audiences sell out their concerts easily. This comes as no surprise to Woods, who thinks that the festival “really highlights that Halifax is capable of delivering cultural output of really international standard and of lasting historical importance. And it's something that everyone in the community can rightly feel very, very proud of.” Chris Wilcox explains the magic of the festival with a quote by composer Pierre Boulez: “His definition of a masterpiece is the unexpected which has become necessary, and I think that sums up what Scotia Festival is.” █
Ticket and program information for the Scotia Festival of Music can be found online: scotiafestival.ns.ca
DOWNTOWN DARTMOUTH All together eclectic DOWNTOWNDARTMOUTH.CA
Local
Business
etc. Press Article by: Jordan Whitehouse · Photo: Michelle Doucette
How a local printing company survived the loss of its biggest client, a recession, and the supposed “death of print”
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id Richdale has a knack for picking careers that later seem to be on the ropes. First it was the record business in the 70s and 80s, when he was in retail development for now-defunct A&A Records. Now it’s the printing business, which has been wrapped up under the “print is dead” banner since the dawn of the internet. Yet the death chants don’t appear to faze the part owner of Etc. Press, the digital and offset printing company at 3600 Kempt Road, and one reason is that in an anxiety-inducing digital world, tangibility’s value is on the rise again. “Printing isn’t a career that many want to work towards,” he says, “but the record business is coming back. Like twelve-inch vinyl—I have a house full of them. I think printing will do that again.” A bigger reason might be even simpler, however: his business, which he owns with his wife, Joan Warren, has survived. It has since he and Warren moved to Halifax from Calgary in the summer of ’88 and opened it that January in what is now Sylvan Learning at 6440 Quinpool Road. They stayed there for the next seven years, until moving up the street to 6112 Quinpool, the retail stretch that’s to be redeveloped into an eight-story, mixed-use building. There they had their biggest boom, expanding into 4,400 square feet and employing ten people. It was also the location of one of their biggest busts. The main cause of both was ITI, an IT school that once had ten locations across Canada and the U.S. Etc. Press was their curriculum printer and accounted for 40 percent of Etc.’s business. “They would give us a sheaf of originals at five on a Friday afternoon,” says Richdale, “and on Monday we’d start printing it, which would sometimes use a ton of paper—two hundred thousand sheets.” By Thursday, the books would be out the door. The good times lasted until ITI’s schools collapsed with the IT industry in the early aughts. It was obviously a major blow to Etc. Press, but Richdale says they survived by tightening the purse strings. “This place is so tight it squeaks,” he says. “We don’t spend more than 14 percent of sales.” The industry average is 35 percent. But they never compromised on quality through that tough period, he adds, mainly by not compromising on the people he hired. “It boils down to having people with experience and paying them enough that they can earn a living wage.” Today, there are five of them—not including Otis and Henry, Warren and Richdale’s resident dogs—with 148 years of combined printing experience between them. “They’re like working with
LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Spring 2015
my family. They’re all dedicated; I don’t have to tell anybody how to do anything. They walk in, go to work and produce. And that’s a great thing.” I didn’t want to just take Richdale’s word for how good they are, however, so I talked to Jeanne Cain, the production and shop manager with Shambhala Media, an Etc. Press customer for a couple of decades. “We tend to give them work where we’re particularly concerned about quality, because they’re a small shop and very, very particular about the quality of their work,” she said. “When you’re in production, what you want is a supplier that you don’t need to look over their shoulders and that can guide your decisions in terms of having a product that looks good but not overpaying. They do that.” Yet even with loyal customers like Shambhala Media in
Etc. Press’s corner over the years, they wouldn’t be enough to get through the recession of 2007 and 2008 without some serious gashes. One of the deepest: Etc. is now doing half the business it did in 2007. “I drew an analogy for a dentist one time that would explain what’s happened,” says Richdale. “I said, ‘Imagine that in 2008 everyone’s dental health improved 8 to 12 percent every year, which brought a corresponding decrease in your sales of 8 to 12 percent every year. Where do you think your business would be right now?’” He drew another analogy, however, when I visited Etc. Press’s new location on Kempt Road a few months ago, even though he didn’t know he was making it. In the back was a Heidelberg GTO two-colour press, one of the most resilient out there. “You could take this thing, stick it out in the desert on a concrete pad, run a leather belt to a turntable with a couple of donkeys, and you could run it.” Not that Richdale or his team are donkeys, of course—you need some smarts in the printing business—but, judging from the struggles they’ve overcome, they could likely keep printing no matter where they set up shop. “Our success is that we’re here, that we’re alive,” says Richdale. “I’m not doing this to get rich; I just want somewhere to go five days a week.” █
Because “Rental Sweet Rental” just doesn’t have the same ring to it.
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time to spend dollars on some local treasures Lindsay Burns i ca.linkedin.com/in/lindsaybest l lindsaybestbiz
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fter a long, long winter, many of us are delighted to see some sunshine and above zero temperatures in our lives again. For those of us who have been hibernating, it might mean spending a few more of our disposable dollars on recreation, travel and fun. Let’s explore some great reminders of how you can have the best vacation (or stay-cation) while supporting the local communities you are visiting. To find the local gems when you are travelling, start by hopping online and doing some research. Look into local shops, restaurants and walking neighbourhoods. Up and coming districts may be more difficult to discover than established tourist attractions. Find online forums or blogs frequented by locals, and quiz them on their opinion of not-to-be-missed areas and overrated tourist traps. This realtime information will help you make more informed decisions on how you may want to spend your valuable time,
as many guides can become out-dated rather quickly. When you arrive, keep a somewhat flexible schedule; sometimes it isn’t until you’re on the ground that you discover the best shops, restaurants and experiences. This is not to say you should skip all of the major tourist stops in a new city, but it’s always nice to know the best pho place in town or the perfect location to view a sunset. Mix and mingle with the staff and local patrons and find some fun organically. Most people are very happy to chat and offer suggestions for your next adventure. You may find that the most memorable experiences are the ones that are unplanned. When spending your dollars remember that the locals appreciate your business and find creative ways to give back to their communities. Know you are making a difference when you purchase a local treat for an upcoming birthday or enjoy the local produce at a restaurant operated by someone who is
personally invested in the community. Travelling locally gives you the best chance of having our contribution reach the people who deserve your support the most - those who created the experience for you in the first place. Consumer demands are what shape the tourism industry and the local movement is gaining momentum around the world. The decisions you make when you travel will ultimately impact what experiences will be available for future visitors. This can be seen as an opportunity to develop a unique experience, as oppose to a massproduced holiday. Your support keeps people employed and helps preserve and nurture local culture. Whether at home or on the road, travelling locally will ensure a rich and authentic experience, while positively impacting the people you meet and the communities they live in. The choices you make may seem inconsequential, but they all add up to make a big difference. █
LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Spring 2015
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Why Nova Scotian Kale Needs to be in Your Pet’s Diet Rodney Habib f PlanetPawsPetEssentials l PlanetPawsNS
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e are facing the greatest public and pet health crisis of our time. Over 55 percent of pets and humans are overweight, and not only in our province but in all of North America. What do we do about it? It’s time to cut out as much processed kibbled or canned pet foods, which are loaded with inflammatory, high-glycemic carbohydrates, and start feeding our pets fresh, whole foods! Even a teaspoon a day of something fresh in your pet’s bowl is one teaspoon less a day of something processed. Looking for something easy, fresh and local to add that isn't meat? Then why not try Nova Scotian kale! It’s a low-calorie food you can add to your pet’s diet with a ton of benefits. The dark, vibrant greens in kale leaves are rich in carotenoids, which travel throughout your pet’s body (and yours!) to scavenge free radicals and clean up the bad stuff that might be floating around inside. And according to renowned holistic veterinarian Dr. Deva Khalsa, “Kale is also rich in elements that reduce the risk of cancer. Scientists have found that certain specific compounds found in kale clear carcinogenic substances more quickly. One study found that when dogs with cancerous tumors were fed kale, their tumors were smaller and grew more slowly than those in dogs not fed kale.” Kale is a low-calorie, high-fibre and nofat food. It’s great for aiding in digestion and elimination due to its great fibre content. It also contains 121 milligrams of omega-3 fatty acids and 92.4 milligrams of omega-6 fatty acids. These essential polyunsaturated fats contain antiinflammatory properties.
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To support even newer fresh food science and confirm the benefits of kale in pet nutrition, Dr. Jean Dodds’ new book, Canine Nutrigenomics: The New Science of Feeding Your Dog for Optimum Health, has the following entries: • “Certain compounds in cruciferous vegetables have demonstrated the ability to stop the growth of cancer cells for tumors . . . Cruciferous vegetables including broccoli cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and bok choy and kale.” • “Isothiocyanates are phytochemicals that exert anti-cancer effects on the epigenome by inhibiting cancer cell proliferation and inducing apoptosis. Isothiocyanates are found in cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collards, kale, radish, turnip and watercress.” Now of course this doesn’t mean you should feed bucket loads of kale to your pets either! We need to be careful, as kale
LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Spring 2015
contains oxalates. Oxalates are present in many fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, including green leafy vegetables like kale. Too many oxalates in one’s diet can cause calcium oxalate crystals and potentially form into kidney stones. But we’re talking a lot of kale here! “Many people warned against feeding green leafy vegetables to dogs due to the presence of oxalates,” writes Dr. Dodds. “However, few ‘experts’ on this topic mention that many other foods, such as sweet potatoes, certain types of beans, beets, brown rice, buckwheat, and peanuts also contain high levels of oxalates, as do corn, wheat and soy, which we know are all found in commercial pet foods!” The moral of story: If by adding just a spoonful of something fresh to a potentially highly processed diet can help reduce the cancer risk that is soaring in our pets today, would it not be worth it? █
“Efficiency Nova Scotia helps us find energy solutions that are right for our business.”
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RODNEY HABIB?
Rodney is a multiple award-winning blogger, writer, lecturer, teacher, founder of the Top Canadian Retailer Award-winning Planet Paws and, more importantly, a pet parent. Today, Rodney stands on the frontline amongst pet owners who demand a change in the everdeclining world of pet food. With his work, he hopes to inspire pet owners to ask more of their manufacturers. His social media presence has gained him worldwide recognition, as he was honored with the 2014 Petlynx’s Urban Summit Communicator of the Year award, and Facebook recently recognized and honoured him for having one of their top pages, which allows him to spread his message to over ten million news feeds. Once the host of the number one radio show in Canada, In The Dish, he is currently filming a television show about pet obesity to be aired on Animal Planet. He is also the editor at large/writer for Dogs Naturally Magazine and a contributor to other publications.
efficiencyns.ca | 1 877 999 6035 |
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Rodney has made numerous social media headlines, as well as television, movie and radio/ podcast appearances on such outlets as ABC National News, BBC London and Global National News TV. He also appeared in the pet food documentary Dog Food Mythbusters.
Article & Photos: Alexander Henden · Car Courtesy of O'Regan's Lexus Toyota Halifax
2015
Weekend WeekendDRIVE DRIVE
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very time I hear the name “Toyota Corolla,” I'm immediately reminded how this car company, and with this model specifically, turned the automotive industry on its head. What Toyota did, starting way back in the early 1970s, was raise the standard of build quality so much that every manufacturer in the world, even ones like Porsche and BMW, took notice and followed. They were the benchmark, and perhaps still are today. In looking at this latest Corolla, the eleventh generation, what strikes me as odd (in a very good way), is that this car actually looks very attractive. For the longest time, auto manufacturers believed that giving certain cars too much personality, especially high volume models that needed to appeal to a broader audience, would hurt sales, but this car, with its current sales numbers is proving that theory wrong. For my test drive, I'm given the keys to the S model (“S” meaning sport), and the one I've got is in a warm and perhaps mature-looking Barcelona Red Metallic. With black and metal alloys, it's actually quite the looker. The car also has a nice aerodynamic, sporty look, which might have more to do with fuel consumption and crash regulations than anything, but I like it. As I hop inside the car, I'm immediately pleased. The sporty seats and leather-wrapped steering wheel are infinitely adjustable, making it easy to find the perfect driving position. Forward, side and rear visibility is very good, and if you’re one of those folks who fights with the outer dimensions of your vehicle, this car (save the CE model) comes with a backup camera as standard. So there’s a little more safety here and perhaps fewer embarrassing moments in the parkade. After inspecting the cabin, I insert the key and fire the ignition.
LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Spring 2015
As I pull off the lot, I immediately begin using the paddle shifters available on this S model. It's a strange option since this is not a true sports car, but the systems work very well. This becomes a more impressive point to me later when I discover this car has a CVT transmission. How they made the two work together so well is beyond me. I guess that's progress for you. Off the line, the 132 horsepower motor is a little exposed. It's not a drag racer by any means, though once the car is up and running, say, around 30 km/h, the power delivery is actually excellent and seemingly endless. This comes from having dual variable valve timing intelligence (“Dual VVT-I,” as Toyota puts it), which is standard on all models. It certainly inspires confidence. Overtaking on the highway really isn't out of the question. Driving around town, I can't help but notice how planted the car is. The steering is missing some feedback, but at the same time it is deadly accurate. Aggressively steering the car highlights its overall composure and has me wondering why Toyota isn't making a 230 horsepower R model, in white with white rims, of course. Brake feel, which is a deal-breaker for me, is spot on, too, and the seats, which are heated, are still feeling nice and comfortable. Eventually I switch from paddle shift to automatic, and don't find myself missing any of the action. If it were up to me, I'd opt for the six-speed manual, but for what it's worth, the auto system works very well in both modes. Gear changes are smooth, and outside of that initial push to 30 km/h, there aren't any flat patches. The car also doesn't feel too big either, which is a real challenge for car manufacturers who have to deal with today's very intense collision standards. One advantage of the new collision standards, however, is
the overall increase in usable interior space, and this really hits home when I pop the trunk. It's huge. There may be enough space for eight cases of Nova Scotian wine, so it's more than I could make use of (the trunk space that is). With a little time left for my test drive, I end up playing with the Bluetooth system. For me, this is a necessary option, but I often find myself fighting with the interface. To my surprise, the Bluetooth in this car, which is a standard item by the way, is extremely simple to set up, and you can actually program it to recognize as many as five devices. Perfect. Another key feature, which is often an upgrade on most cars, is the LED headlights. As the driver of an older car, I often find myself frustrated on dark roads, like the one from Halifax to the airport. These systems work so much better in lighting up the road and really should be standard on all cars. In the end, I return the car, having driven the first “sexylooking?” Corolla. Everything worked well as promised, and it's easy for me to see why this car is on pace to become Canada's newest bestseller. █
Vehicle Specifications Model
Toyota Corolla S
Engine
1.8 litre, 4 cylinder. DOHC, 16 Valve
Power
132hp @ 6000rpm
Torque
128lb ft @ 4400rpm
Fuel Economy (city)
8.6L/100kms
Fuel Economy (highway)
6.5L/100kms
Seating Capacity 5 Base price (CE model)
$15,995
Price as tested (S model)
$19,600
Get where you want. Recruitment & Placement Specialists AdministrativeStaffing.ca
INTRODUCING CANADA'S FIRST WINERY, CRAFT BREWERY AND DISTILLERY TRAIL Discover new favourites as you explore the Nova Scotia Good Cheer Trail. Sample locally produced wine, beer and spirits from over 30 locations across the province. Meet passionate Nova Scotia artisans and taste local cuisine paired perfectly with your drink.
Launching June 1st. Pick up your Good Cheer Trail passport at a participating location.
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Please enjoy the Good Cheer Trail responsibly, and always use a designated driver.
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Postcard from ABROAD
FOR THE LOVE OF PHO Story and photos by: Liz Smith
indochine banh mi OWNER'S CULINARY ADVENTURE TO VIETNAM
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hile waiting for an overnight bus trip to begin, my husband and I spotted a unique sign on the station wall that read: “No durian on the bus.” I knew about the reputation of the large spike-covered fruit, aka the “smelly fruit,” but I had never tried it. As we rattled our way through a twenty-twohour, crowded sleeper bus ride, I was grateful for that sign and the absence of durian. This was the start of a journey of amazing sights, tastes and sounds—our first visit to Vietnam. Arriving on New Year’s Eve, we were thrown into the local Tết celebrations. Crowds filled the ancient cobblestone streets of Hoi An (a small city located on the coast, midway between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City). We were surrounded by beautiful French colonial architecture, the aromas of incense and street food, and colorful lanterns illuminating the scene. We were drawn to Hoi An because it is known as Vietnam’s culinary
capital and home to the best bánh mì. We had to visit to find out for ourselves. Markets and street food vendors were everywhere. I was overwhelmed by the seemingly endless and meticulously arranged displays of fresh fruit, vegetables and herbs. This beauty was starkly contrasted by some of the more surreal sights just around the corner, including buckets of skinned rats, frogs, entrails, balut (fertilized eggs boiled and eaten in the shell) and vast quantities of fish. Ready-to-eat foods were also abundant. Street vendors there sell everything from noodle dishes, such as cao lầu (a local speciality made with udon-like noodles, pork and fresh greens), to bánh mì, pho, sweet pastries, and a variety of grilled skewered meats and seafood. There we discovered an open air food court but couldn’t spot an empty seat. A gathering of locals on the side of the street smiled politely as we joined them. Seated on tiny plastic chairs, we ate warm silken tofu smothered in a sweet
LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Spring 2015
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Postcard from ABROAD
ginger sauce. Used bowls and cutlery were wiped with a rag before reuse, but we had decided early on to try not to think too much about street food safety along our culinary journey. In our search for the best bánh mì, we started with Anthony Bourdain’s recommendation. He cited the shop Banh My Phuong as his choice. Unfortunately, the holidays meant it was closed, so we moved on to another highly-acclaimed vendor, the Banh Mi Queen. Their Vietnamese-style baguettes were light and crispy. The pate and meat fillings were flavourful, and the vegetables and herbs fresh. Overall, a tasty sandwich, and, after sampling many others, it turned out to be our favourite. Dalat, located in the central highlands, was our next stop, and it provided cooler temperatures and perfect growing conditions. Crops included grapes, strawberries, asparagus, cauliflower, avocado, herbs and multitudes of flowers in greenhouses blanketing the landscape. It appeared to be an agricultural powerhouse for the entire country. While in Dalat, we visited a coffee plantation and sipped the prized and pricey “weasel coffee.” Weasels (civet cats) eat the coffee berries, and their digestive enzymes remove the bitter taste of the bean. Beans are separated from the waste, washed, dried and roasted to produce a full bodied, yet smooth cup of coffee. From Dalat we journeyed south to the Mekong River Delta. We took a water taxi through the pre-dawn darkness and were greeted by a floating market at sunrise. Vessels were laden with produce such as pineapples, coconuts, mangoes, watermelons, tomatoes and cabbages. Smaller vessels darted in and out with made-to-order coffee, noodle soup and bánh mì. We sampled vu sua (aka “breast milk fruit”), purple dragon fruit and the infamous durian. Turns out the bus station sign was justified;
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LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Spring 2015
durian smells awful. The flavour: a combination of onion and garlic, but not in a good way. We also attempted to make rice paper with the help of an eighty-four-year-old lady who had been in the trade for seventy years. Producing up to one thousand sheets a day, she made the task look easy. It was anything but. The busy Mekong Delta highways are lined with produce vendors. On the way back to Ho Chi Minh City, we tried steamed-winged water chestnuts collected from the rice paddies. After mastering the technique for breaking into the moustache-shaped outer shell, we found the crunchy centres as addictive as peanuts. Crossing the streets in Ho Chi Minh City was another challenge. The traffic was as overwhelming as the food choices. The city offered international and local cuisine, coffee and fast food chains, craft beer bars, high-end ice cream shops, French bakeries, bustling markets, and more street vendors. It was an amazing journey of the senses and a lot to absorb. Experiencing so many new things—even durian—was good for both the mind and the soul. █
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5 years of pho
It's good to know that you don't have to fly all the way to the other end of the earth to get a bowl of tasty pho. With locations in downtown and the South End, Indochine Banh Mi, which is celebrating its 5th Anniversary, serves some of the best take out in town including pho, a wide range of delicious banh mi sandwiches, rice noodle bowls, fusion tacos, fruit salad boxes, fruit smoothies, and bubble teas. The food is at or close to excellent, and so is the pricepoint.
f Shop online at t allthingsolive.ca Where nothing beats fresh.
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Trade-mark CAA logo is owned by and use is granted by Canadian Automobile Association. Trade-mark Show Your Card & Save® is owned by and use is granted by American Automobile Association.
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City Perspectives
Cities Are Society’s Change-Makers Article by: Brendan Sommerhalder · Illustration: Alexander Ze;nitskiy
It’s time to give them the tools they need
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ur cities offer us the best hope to live in a sustainable way,” wrote Frank Lewinberg in a foreword to the book Urban Structure – Halifax: An Urban Design Approach, published in 1998, just two years after over two hundred communities amalgamated to create the Halifax Regional Municipality. “Rejuvenated, our downtowns offer us the best hope for the future,” he continued. “Lucky Halifax, it seems that interesting times lie ahead.” Lewinberg wasn’t wrong. In the coming years, Halifax’s downtown could be made in spectacular fashion, and it could also be broken. On either side of the debate are two opinions about how cities should be built. On one side is a philosophy made possible by automobiles and highways that suggests we could reinvent the city as an orderly place where there are separated districts for working, shopping, dining, entertainment and living— the dispersed city. The opposing philosophy is older, and it was used to build Halifax. It suggests that activity should be concentrated in the centre with a mixture of uses overlapping and coinciding. The first Halifax plan, sketched by Moses Harris in 1749, centred on what is now the oldest public square in Canada: Grand Parade. The dense, mixed-use, downtown-centred version of Halifax held sway for most of our city’s history, but as the dispersed city idea took hold across North America in the latter part of the 20th century, it influenced developers and policymakers here. This idea, paired with lots of concrete, large machines and public investment, gave us business parks, vast suburbs and
LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Spring 2015
scars to our urban fabric like the Cogswell Interchange. With everything separated, we began spending less time with each other and more time in cars, and the historic heart of our city was threatened. In the nearly two decades since Lewinberg called downtown Halifax’s future “interesting,” our city has made something of a pivot through various bumps and grinds. There is and will always be tension between history and progress, but the municipal conversation has turned back toward whole communities and a dense urban core. The extensive urban planning effort called “HRM by Design” came into effect in 2009, and it seems to have righted the ship. Our downtown is on the mend. Once again Halifax’s downtown is the economic and cultural hub for the city, province and region, and this doubling down on our founders’ bet is in full swing right now. Among a strong roster of existing downtown businesses and destinations, there is a fleet of cranes in the sky writing this new chapter, and all the while the public treasures originally built into our city, like Grand Parade, Citadel Hill and the Commons, remain as incubators for social activity. The mood is good, and so are the prospects. In the battle over whether to build cities for cars or for people, the prospects for people are looking better and better. But as all cities continue to grow, including ours, we have begun to realize that cities do not only have
responsibility for themselves. As Lewinberg pointed out in the introductory sentence above, as go cities, so too goes the world. The next fight for cities to win is not with themselves, but for themselves, and their ability to control their own destinies. In Canada, as in many jurisdictions, many of the most important issues we face, such as healthcare, the environment, infrastructure and economic development, are thought to be areas of concern for federal and provincial levels of government. This is paradoxical given that cities are in the best position of any level of government to create meaningful change in these areas. According to the latest census, 65 percent of Canadians live in the thirty largest urban areas in the country. Yet these cities are allocated relatively minuscule influence over our most important issues in terms of public dollars and decisionmaking authority. Instead of allowing cities to find their own regional answers to these big questions, they are left handcuffed and begging their provincial and federal counterparts. By virtue of their large and growing populations, cities have learned to take responsibility for issues that their founders never could have imagined. And they have adapted. The solutions to our largest societal problems, too, will be played out in cities. It is time the Canadian governance system adapts to this reality and arms cities with the tools and resources they need to triumph again. â–ˆ
be the change you want to see If urban planning interests you, perhaps consider getting in the game yourself. Here's a shortlist of volunteer-driven organizations that you could check out online and possibly get involved with:
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Dear Haligonians by: John P. Rudolph
Closing NOTE
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Dear Haligonians part II, I t all began rather innocently with an invitation from a good friend who had made the move from sunny, taxfree Alberta a few years before. My friend had waxed eloquently about the walkability, the bucolic charm and the off-the-beaten-track pace of life, the friendly people, and the great sausages and beers of Halifax. I had no idea that Halifax is actually a giant cult. Apparently, joining the Halifax Cult meant he was required to recruit others to join the Cult by whatever means necessary. In retrospect, this made perfect sense. That's what cults do. All happy and friendly at the start, just like you people. I have to admit that using tartan instead of white robes at the secret initiation ceremony was a nice touch. I was almost in – my friend even introduced me to Jules Chamberlain, the world's friendliest realtor. You people were working me from all directions. There was that Sausage Fest thing. Nice try, Halifax. God made Germans to make sausages and beer, and to run machines that make things like cars and oil wells ... so how could it be that you people have the best sausage and beer I've ever had? Considering that the highest point of Halifax still has a gun in place that fires at noon every day – specifically to scare off the Germans – I was more than a bit curious to see how the kilted crowd approached the holy arts of wurst-making and beer-brewing. I wondered how you pulled off such a magnificent show. Perhaps you have some Germans hidden here about whom you're not telling the rest of us? Cults always have captives hidden away somewhere, who do the work they can't or won't do – work like sausagemaking and beer-brewing. When a relative from East Germany had visited Canada for the first time, we must have shown him the parts of our town set up by the government specifically for propaganda purposes, to impress foreigners. It worked. But now I see right through Halifax's game, and so I ask, "Where are the Germans you have cleverly hidden away to make your sausage and beer?" This past January, I decided to doff my standard
LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Spring 2015
lederhosen and stetson – which would totally reveal my true dual identity – and returned to Halifax incognito to get to the bottom of this friendly little sham. Edmonton's -33C weather versus Halifax's +7C ... your world-class restaurants ... maybe the best supermarket in the world ("Pete's") – none of these factors informed my decision to return. Since I had cleverly disguised my genetic roots in my last column – although my stubby legs gave away a certain Scottish/ English background we won't talk about here – I blended right in. However, I worried a bit that my cover might be blown when I overheard a woman agreeing with her friend that Halagonians could always identify people from outside by how they were the ones who could not snow-ski down-hill on icy sidewalks. No joke, I really did overhear that conversation! I arrived just in time for the Craft Beer & Local Food Celebration event at "The Halifax Club." This turned out to be yet another extremely well-organized and suspiciously-friendly piece of Halifax propaganda. You were working hard to sell me, weren't you? 425 ridiculously charming, civil and friendly people crammed into the equally charming and civil Halifax Club, eating and smiling their way through great food and suspiciously incredible sausage and beer. The Halifax Club is a cozy space that also happens to have Canada's oldest and possibly very coolest washrooms hidden in the farthest corner of the basement. It has more levels than the Eiffel Tower, except that unlike Eiffel, your dear club has no elevator! Who needs a membership at a snooty gym when it's a 400-calorie burn from the banquet to the biffy? Clever fellows, your city fathers were. This might help explain why so many of you are so skinny. My trip was not entirely unfruitful as I actually needed to lose a few pounds. I still haven't found the German sausage and beer slaves, but I know you have them. Don't fool with me, my Halagonian friends: sausage and beer = German. I will return, and I will find them! And stop being so nice to me. I know there's something fishy going on in your town. █
FOUND
Llama Saddle
To the experienced llama wrangler visiting Halifax from Uruguay who recently dined Downtown. After ordering 8 roasted potatoes and a side of fresh rutabaga, then leaving in a frenzy screaming “LIONEL THE LLAMA IS LOOSE!” – you left behind your 100% Peruvian leather saddle. It’s waiting for you here at Obladee. We really appreciate you choosing Downtown Halifax for lunch and hope you’ve found Lionel.
COME DOWNTOWN TO FIND WHAT YOU’RE MISSING. Over 400 places to shop, eat, and see.
downtownhalifax.ca