Local Connections Halifax - Late Summer 2015

big day downtown - pirates of halifax edition

a two part feature looking at halifax's tubesteaks scene

New headquarters, new greenhouse, new hope

the coastal cafĂŠ cecilia concerts 2015-16 season the italian OIL job

devouring Lia Rinaldo catching up with the managing director of Devour! the food film fest

Late Summer 2015

Everything you need to know about september 19 - 27

Contents Issue Number 13, Volume 4 - Spring 2015

Celebrate the City

ISSUe

Issue Number 15, Volume 4 - Late Summer 2015

catching up with the managing director of Devour! the food film fest

8

32

Our regular selection of new things happening in Halifax.

A legendary North End breakfast and brunch spot.

LOCAL DISCOVERIES

28

22

36

An update on the youth-led social enterprise.

Everything you need to know for September 19 - 27.

hope continues to bloom

12

the official guide to sausage fest 2015

24

54

Catching up with the Managing Director of Devour! The Food Film Fest.

A look at the 2015-16 season.

lia rinaldo

16

Coastal cafe

28

cecillia concerts

68

tale of two argyles

Sausage in the city

How two cities are giving their Argyle Streets back to people.

Spotlights on four Sausage Fest 2015 participants in Halifax.

LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Late Summer 2015

3

WOLFVILLE

•

NOVA SCOTIA

•

CANADA

PACKAGES ON SALE NOW! TICKETS ON SALE SEPT 18TH

Devour! The Food Film Fest is the world’s largest film festival dedicated to all things culinary.

Come celebrate cinema, food and wine with us in Canada’s Secret Foodie Destination (The Hollywood Reporter) and the New Napa of the North (Gusto TV).

NOVE M B E R 4–8, 2015

DevourFest.com #Eat ItUp

Editor's Message

Long live Summer 2015!

W

ow! What a summer it's been! As always, Downtown Halifax, and the whole province really, came to life and reminded us why we all chose to make this place our home. We experienced a bunch of new additions to Downtown Halifax, the North End, and Dartmouth too. New restaurants and bars, new breweries, wineries, distillers, and some terrific new retailers popped up this year. We witnessed the transformation of Argyle Street into a magical public space, and many of us took advantage of the strong program of summer events throughout the city and province. But summer isn't over yet!

As we now move into the month of September, that magical time of the year when the new students arrive and the local folks get back into the swing of things, we have so much to look forward to.

At the top of this list should be Sausage Fest 2015. This is this magazine's third annual event, and this year we went all in. Saturday, September 19, is opening day and night, and we're hosting two back-to-back events at the Olympic Community Centre (Sausage Throwdown and Sausage O' the Night). On the same day, and right through to September 27, many of our region's our best local restaurants, bars, and markets will be offering something very special in store. Nine days of pure sausage madness, strictly featuring local ingredients and made in Nova Scotia.

Sausage Fest 2015 will include many, many special plates and sausages created specifically for this year's event by our province’s best producers and chefs, all available for you to enjoy. There are three Official Beers of Sausage Fest by Boxing Rock (Kerfuffle APA), Garrison (Hammerschlagen Brau), and Propeller (Wind Swell Wheat), and one Official Cider by Bulwark (Hopped Citrus Cider). We'll have loads of pop-up events happening all around, including a big one hosted on the Halifax waterfront bu Garrison Brewing on September 25 (Hops & Brats). We’ll also be running a very special contest during Sausage Fest where you can show off your sausage swagger with a chance of winning one of two absolutely wizard DIY Sausage Parties, courtesy of our friends at Select NS. On top of this, there's also Oktoberfest on September 26 (again on the waterfront), a first-ever spirits festival in Lunenburg from October 16 - 18 (Spirited Away), and of course Devour! The Food Film Fest in Wolfville (November 4 - 8).

All you need to do is check out some websites and start grabbing tickets for whatever tickles your fancy.

Alexander Henden Owner, editor-in-chief, local connections Halifax

#Nova7cocktail

Ice 1 sprig of lavender (or rosemary) 3/4 oz Grey Goose Vodka 1/2 oz Cointreau 1 oz grapefruit juice 3 oz chilled Nova 7

visit benjaminbridge.com/nova7cocktail for more details.

the NOVA 7 cocktail

Issue Number 15, Volume 4 - Late Summer 2015

On the Cover The Big Pants

alexander henden Contributing Editors

lola augustine brown lia rinaldo brenden sommerhalder Jordan whitehouse laura oakley Kathleen higgins tiffany thornton jessie harrold angeline maclennan amy savoury Photography

Liam henessey riley smith michelle doucette JulĂŠ Malet-Veale Scott Thieu Contributing Experts

phil Otto, lindsay burns, rodney habib, emily forrest, chris dewaal Special Thanks to

the Pirates of halifax!

Holly rudolph Postcard from Abroad

Bill Mcarthur Illustration

Scott macdonald Sales Director

SARAH NIXon-miller 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 transcontinental in dartmouth, nova scotia for magazine advertising: advertising@localconnections.ca For all other inquiries: magazine@Localconnections.ca

f LocalConnectionsHalifax l ConnectionsHFX

This issue's cover story is none other than our own Lia Rinaldo. Lia is a local food ambassador of the highest order. She, along with friend and business partner Michael Howell, was awarded Taste of Nova Scotia's Culinary Ambassador of the Year in 2015. We consider ourselves privileged with her presence in this magazine and wanted to celebrate her in a special way, so we rustled up a handful of Nova Scotia's top local chefs and brought them into Applehead Studio for a pre-lunch photoshoot.

Starting far left is Chris Velden of Flying Apron Cookery in Summerville, followed by Craig Flinn of Chives, 2 Doors Down, and soon-to-be Temple Bar, Next are Geir Simensen of Scanway Catering and The Stubborn Goat and Mark Gray of Brooklyn Warehouse, and now Battery Park in Dartmouth.

Each one an accomplished chef and a culinary ambassador in their own right, and overall a great mix of people to bring in to the studio celebrate one of Halifax's greatest home-grown treasures, Lia Rinaldo.

Local DISCOVERIES

Prestige awards voting now open

Key piece added to the lot six roster It was during the Taste of Argyle event on the weekend of August 21 that we happened to run into an old friend of the magazine, Derrick Johnston. As things would have it, Derrick was in the midst of a transition into his new role as chef of the newly opened Lot Six Bar & Restaurant. For us, this is very exicited news because we are quite familiar with Derrick's enthusiasm towards working with local ingredients and food in general. We think this will be a great fit and are looking forward to seeing him put his stamp on the menu.

The voting stations are open and it's your chance to decide who will win Taste of Nova Scotia's Prestige Award for Restaurant of the Year, Culinary Ambassador of the Year, and Product of the Year. It's time to show some love for your local favourites, but you gotta be quick because voting closes September 15.

tasteofnovascotia.com/prestigeawards/

lotsix.ca

September 4th- 6th, 2015 1593 Argyle street

8

The big dance gets bigger this january

New spot on cunard

This coming January, on the 14th to be exact, we are moving the Craft Beer & Local Food Celebration down the street to the Halifax Marriott Harbourfront.

The reason for the move is that we need more space. The event sold out a full month before the event last year, but this added space means more available tickets, but also more craft breweries, cider makers, and restaurants to choose from. Also new will be our lounge area, where you'll get to enjoy the Mike Cowie Quartet, right from comfy chairs.

Details for the event, in terms of who will be there, will start to be posted throughout September, but don't wait too long on getting your tickets, as 10% of them are already spoken for.

The West End's about to get a new local eatery, and we're super keen to give it a try. Sometime in September, our friends Chef Ray Bear and Saronn Pov are set to open Studio East Food + Drink.

The focus is said to be on casual world cuisine, with a bit of a focus on Asian flavours. Based on our experience with both of their cooking, we think this is something to get very excited about.

localconnections.ca/events

studioeastfood.ca

LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Late Summer 2015

proudly pres ents

MARITIME

Downtown dartmouth is about to get awesomer We finally got ourselves some more info regarding the new collaboration between the owners of Brooklyn Warehouse and North Brewing. Battery Park will be opening this October in Downtown Dartmouth, in the old Nectar space on Octerloney to be exact. Magazine favourite Chef Mark Gray will be in charge of the ever changing menu, which will be focused on delivering smaller plates with a bit of a beer focus. Obviously there'll be some beer to be had, but already we know that this will include growler fills as well.

So, as we wait impatiently for this thing to spring to life, we find ourselves in front of yet another creative crowdfund campaign.

For those unfamilar with crowdfunding, or more specifically, how George Christakos does crowdfunding, average folks like you and me will be able to go online and pre-purchase stuff like dinners, beer, tickets to the ultra-exclusive opening night event, swag, or even 5 years worth of $25 gift cards.

If this crowdfund campaign is anything like the last two for Brooklyn Warehouse, you'd best hop on board now.

batterypark.ca/crowdfund

MUSIC FESTIVAL V I N T A G E 2 0 15

IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE

CELTIC TRIO

DARREN MCMULLEN, RACHEL DAVIS & BRAD DAVIDGE

LENNIE GALLANT HEATHER RANKIN J. P. C O R M I E R

BRUCE GUTHRO ANDREW DOYLE BAND HOSTED BY BRUCE GUTHRO

SATURDAY

SEPTEMBER 19 NOON-8PM AT 11AM DOORS OPEN

JOST VINEYARDS 48 VINTAGE LANE, MALAGASH NS

TICKETS $25* ADVANCE $35* AT THE DOOR AGE 19 + *plus taxes and applicable service fees

For tickets & event information call

1.800.565.4567 press 9

stompfest.ca A Devonian Coast Production

Dear Haligonians

W

hen my parents visited Halifax for the first time last summer, their immediate and overwhelmingly positive stream of texts was an exciting surprise.

As the product of a Manitoba mother and a west coast dad who settled in Alberta, my childhood memories of our Canadian travels consists of a few fuzzy visits to the flat farmlands of Southern Manitoba, camping in the Rockies, and the cold Pacific water of lower mainland BC beaches. As an adult, my own family has strayed South, spending most of our family holidays in Southern California and Hawaii.

But with children starting to reach school with (high season) holiday dates and a weak dollar, the news of a fun, friendly, and affordable holiday on Canadian soil pushed Halifax up our list of must -visit places.

Not to mention, after my dad returned for a second visit less than six months later with yet again nothing but positive reviews bordering on babbling ecstasy, I felt that a little East Coast reconnaissance to ensure he hadn’t been sucked in by a mind-altering Haligonian cult was in order.

The suspiciously Pleasantville-like experiences began almost immediately upon arriving. At the behest of the parents, we skipped the hotels and booked our accommodations through Air BNB—a good way to be immersed in a real neighbourhood, and for the price of a decent hotel room, have a homey base for our explorations. The place was stunning.

I double checked my app to confirm we hadn’t accidentally booked something way out of our price range, but I wasn’t too surprised when I found out later that the home we stayed in had been featured in an architectural magazine. This

10

LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Late Summer 2015

deepened my suspicion that somehow our experience was being orchestrated to turn us into raving Halifax evangelists like my parents.

Our four days were a whirlwind of experiences. We visited Halifax Public Gardens, which are older than most cities where we come from, immersed ourselves in history at the Maritime Museum and Citadel Hill (psst…$3 for all day parking there! Best deal we found), had some science fun at the Discovery Centre, and took a Harbour cruise on the Tall Ship Silva. On our last day, we took a day trip to see the Peggy’s Cove lighthouse and soaked up the sun at the fantastic Crystal Cresent Beach Provincial Park. We ate copious amounts of fresher than fresh seafood (including stumbling onto $1 oyster night at Agricola Street Brasserie—a good thing too as my three-and-four-year olds tried to out eat us on this one!), and were continually shocked by the great value that we found.

I’m pretty sure our bill at Brothers Meat & Delicatessen was at least 50% lower than it should have been. Even a sick day with one of the kids in the middle couldn’t dampen our experience!

Overall a wonderful, welcoming city with plenty to keep visitors busy, and I’m pleased to report to my brothers (we were a little worried about the inheritance), no evidence of a Haligonian cult set out to recruit middle-aged hipsters. Like the best salespeople, Halifax needs no gimmicks—it sells itself.

When we were out East, and talking to friends at home, the question we heard over and over about our trip was “are you visiting family?” This demonstrates what the general western Canadian perception of the Maritimes is—a place to go visit out of obligation, but not by choice. And that is a sad thing. █

The backdrop INT HOTEL – FILM FESTIVAL HOSPITALITY SUITE 2AM The crowd is winding down. There’s a loud knock on the door. Lia Rinaldo, the only member of the management team who wants the party to keep rolling, peers through the peephole.

MORE RESPONSIBLE COLLEAGUE (with authority) No one else is coming in. We’re closed.

LIA (breathlessly) Oh. My. God.

MORE RESPONSIBLE COLLEAGUE

Article by: Lia Rinaldo · Photos: Julé Malet-Veale and Lia Rinaldo

n o i t i d e x a f i l a h f o s e pirat

(exasperated) C’mon Lia, who’s there? Seriously, our license.

LIA (opens door to quickly assess and slams the door to face the room with glee) Pirates! (pause) Pirates are storming the suite. We HAVE to let them in!

12

LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Late Summer 2015

T

his is a scene from the 2009 Atlantic Film Festival verbatim. And this kind of scenario, if you’re open to these kinds of things, happens reasonably often. In a role like mine—building and hosting large-scale events sometimes in other parts of the world—you get set on a track of creative yet high stress environments where you work hard, play hard and make fast friends. Add to that a penchant for being drawn to strong personalities. Then put those characters in authentic, 99 per cent screen-accurate pirate garb with all the layers of artisanal detail, beautiful tailoring, custom-made leathers and boots . . . and bam! Boy, do we have an interesting night ahead of us.

I finally received an invitation to participate in the Downtown Halifax Business Commission’s Big Day Downtown promotion this year, where they give writers $100 to spend on local businesses and talk them up. I did some research and decided I didn’t want to do something staid or that you’d expect, and the only thing that popped into my mind was: I’ll do this, but I’m doing it with a pirate given Halifax is a major port of call and has a history of rum-running. So, I charted out a course, changed my $100 into 100 shiny loonies at the bank and contacted a motley crew: the Pirates of Halifax.

I wasn’t prepared. I wasn’t able to strong-arm them into exactly what I wanted them to do. I couldn’t get just one of them; they insisted on remaining together as a crew of five. They set the tone and pace. They called me out. They were, in fact, acting like pirates. But what I wasn’t prepared for was how much I would actually like them in the moment. We met at the Halifax Brewery Market, and after some self-directed photos with impressive props we sat down for a couple of beers at the Red Stag Tavern

for the interview (not officially part of my Big Day Downtown).

This merry and ruckus little band— Captain Hector Barbossa, Captain Jack Sparrow, Captain Davy Jones, Captain Edward Teague and Gunner Skully— claim they all had a little pirate in their blood when they came together in 2008.

Having met through various friends over the years, they were hired for their first official gig by the Halifax Waterfront Development Commission to man the boardwalk in front of the Bounty for the Tall Ships festival in 2009 (and again in 2012). They’ve been heckling and thrilling crowds ever since and reckon they are probably in hundreds of thousands of photos worldwide, including one officially acknowledged and hanging on the wall at Walt Disney Pictures.

“When we walk into a bar, it’s like we’re the Rolling Stones.” No doubt.

“It’s like a study in human psychology.”

They regaled me with stories of festivals, concerts, corporate gigs, weddings, birthday parties and parades, declaring that their favourite moments are often the random ones (stealing brides at weddings and storming the legislature to hold a sword to the premiere’s throat,

Big Day Downtown for example), and nights can often take a debaucherous turn. In seven years they have never been late to a gig, and they all have day jobs. They weren’t friends or actors in the beginning, but they certainly are now, often hanging in each other’s pirate-themed man bars at home on nights off. And as you’d expect, a few of them sail, and they’re all avid rum drinkers and collectors.

As we chatted, I examined their faces —the guyliner, the crafted facial hair, the artfully drawn mechanic’s hands, the hair extensions. It’s impressive. Captain Barbossa explained that it’s two hours of prep time, and, after a full day, the outfit nearly walks itself off.

And like true entertainers, they rely and feed off the energy of a good crowd.

They’ve impacted the lives of kids and parents alike, and do a fair amount of charity work. It’s been challenging at times, as they have had to become really good at reading people and situations.

And for the record, they cited that Halifax’s most pirate-friendly bars tend to be the Celtic ones — the Lower Deck, Celtic Corner, The Old Triangle and Durty Nelly’s. They also have their respective modern pirate roles: the manager/booker, the masters of props and arms, the social media pirate, and the charmer. They feel like something’s

missing if they aren’t all together. Having experienced it first hand, I’d say they’re a cohesive little unit with a somewhat arresting presence.

They remained relatively in character for the duration of the interview, but I suspect that if I were to land the gig as ghostwriter for their tell-all book, Fifty Shades of Piracy, I’d draw those unmentionable tales out. I did, in fact, hear a few on this particular afternoon.

I’ve never conducted an interview with five people at once taunting and teasing each other, where every second line was “That’s off the record, luv” or “I’ve got my eye on that pen” or the best one: “Go easy with the dirt, mates, it’s not a competition.”

When we hit the boardwalk it was with a swagger, and on a sunny holiday weekend it was pure mayhem. The guys took on their swarthy characters, brash but without arrogance, towering over the crowds. They greeted fans with all the patience in the world — goodnatured, fun and charming as hell. As they had impressed upon me, people’s reactions ran the full gamut, from those who giggle and stare to those who were absolutely game.

As we wrapped up, I accepted a trinket from Jack Sparrow not once thinking about the fact that I may have actually

been press ganged in the moment. A situation I would welcome if you haven’t got me figured out by now.

Here was my Big Day Downtown game plan with just one pirate: Stillwell’s Beer Garden for seafaring local ales on tap, Bishop’s Cellar to sample select rums and grab mini growlers from their new beer station, Rum Runners for classic rum cake, and, to finish it all up, Dark ’n Stormies and fresh oysters at Lot Six Bar & Restaurant.

Here’s what actually happened: seven pitchers of grog (draught beer) at the Red Stag Tavern clocking in at $106.16 before tax and tip. We effectively freaked out the busy staff at Bishop’s Cellar, resulting in no rum tasting, and when they sampled the rum cakes a little too joyously at Rum Runners (those hands!) I purchased one to replace what they ate for $7.49. So, in essence, I failed at the Big Day Downtown experiment, but I wouldn’t change a second of how it all played out. My face still hurts from all of the laughter, plus I got to experience Downtown Halifax in an entirely new light.

Mark your calendars, mates. On September 19, the Pirates of Halifax will be hosting an event at the Celtic Corner in Dartmouth in celebration of International Talk Like a Pirate Day.. www.piratesofhalifax.com.

anything can happen in Downtown Halifax

14

LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Late Summer 2015

60 BAKER DRIVE, UNIT - D 902-465-7500

oreganshyundaidartmouth.com

our Local food & Drink Scene Illustration by: Scott MacDonald

C h r i s D e Wa a l f getawayfarmbutchershops l meatmongers

I

was recently in Lunenburg enjoying a fine local craft brew by the water’s edge when I overhead a couple at the table next to us talking about how impressed they were with the local nature of Nova Scotia’s food and drink scene. So being the shy guy that I am, I struck up a conversation with these obviously intelligent visitors from Alberta and I was once again reminded that our province has a lot going for it when it comes to food and drink.

These folks were blown away with how frequently they ran into food, wine and beer that were proudly Nova Scotian. Not just in Halifax, mind you, but clear across the province. They had started their visit on Cape Breton Island, and everywhere they visited on the way to Lunenburg had some focus on Nova Scotian product.

They were quick to admit that Alberta doesn’t have near the support for local food as Nova Scotia does. I was proud.

Local Nova Scotian food and drink has come a long way since starting as a trend in urban restaurants, and now all of that local flavour is one of the province’s distinctive qualities that visitors can’t help but notice.

I was struck by similar thoughts as I looked over the list of participants in this year’s Sausage Fest. The annual event that makes much of local product in tubular form has itself grown into something that represents far more than when it started. It’s no surprise to see perennial local champions like Ace Burger (of noble Brooklyn Warehouse lineage), Meadowbrook Farm, Morris East and Pete’s Fine Foods participating this year. These folks have been hard

at it for years and have helped lay the groundwork for what the local food and drink scene has become. This year the stalwarts are joined by their peers from the new wave of local eateries and providers, such as Agricola Street Brasserie, Lion & Bright, enVie and Vessel Meats. Seeing such an abundance of restaurants and purveyors in Halifax fighting for the cause is a testament to how prolific local food has become.

But it’s not just the urban core that is waving the banner of local food. Just as the local food and drink movement has spread out from the core, so has the representation from Sausage Fest participants. Bedford and Dartmouth are well represented with Esquire, True

North Diner, Piez Bistro and Redwood Grill. Even the South Shore and the Valley are getting in on the action, with the Grand Banker and Luckett Vineyards both showing off some local sausage love.

Sausage Fest 2015 is a picture of what is happening with local food all across the province. It’s no longer a trend relegated to fine dining restaurants downtown.

It is quickly becoming the new normal.

Everyone is getting involved and everyone is doing their part to see Nova Scotian food, beer and wine thrive. From the urban to the suburban and on to the rural, local products are gaining ground everywhere. We even have “Buy Local” license plates now. I don’t ever remember seeing those in Alberta. █

LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Late Summer 2015

17

Live at the Market:

Farm to Table Market Fresh!

WWW.HALIFAXFARMERSMARKET.COM

Open Monday to Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. & Sunday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

we're in this together

Illustration by: Scott MacDonald

E m i l y F o r r e s t f localtastingtours l LocalTasteTrs

I

have always noticed a particularly strong sense of community in Halifax. It’s impressive. As I’ve developed different food tour routes around the city and met more business owners, chefs and managers, I’ve learned again and again that this city is much more about the spirit of collaboration than competition. There’s always another story of an experienced business owner helping out the new guy on the block, chefs working together on fundraiser menus, downtown business folk coming together to figure out how they can all participate in launching a new event.

World Tea House owner Phil Holmans says entrepreneurs often have a common goal—to simply bring more people to their area—and he says they all know that the most efficient way to do so is to combine efforts. The selfconfessed tea geek has been a member

of I Love Local HFX since he first set up shop five years ago, and is happy to participate in city-wide initiatives like City Harvest each fall, when local businesses provide demonstrations, special offers, tastings, live performances and more for one day to encourage locals to get out and explore their own city. He’s taken part in events like the Taste of Argyle street fair and Feel Good Fridays in Bedford, and hosts tea tastings, or “cuppings,” at the Halifax Public Library and also onsite at other spots like Smiling Goat Organic Espresso Bar. He has a “Chari-Tea” on his roster every month, and sends proceeds to small, local non-profits.

And Phil’s certainly not alone.

Speaking of the Smiling Goat, owner Geoffrey Creighton recently dreamed up all kinds of events for his Bishop’s Landing location, such as local live music soirees and a collaboration with North Brewing Company that featured samples of the brewery’s Coffee Infused Milk Stout. He also works closely with Bishop’s Cellar, and will literally run across the courtyard to fetch premium wines for customers who are yearning for a little vino. That’s thinking outside the box.

Forget about cutthroat competition and a race for the top — our Halifax chefs

work side by side every year on events like the Nova Scotia Slow Food Spring Supper, Devour! The Food Film Fest, the Ecology Action Centre’s Perfect World, Switch Halifax, Gold Medal Plates, Quinfest, Local Connections Halifax’s Wine & Spirits Gala, and so many more. The turnout for these occasions is spectacular. I’ve also seen popular restaurants like enVie and Ratinaud’s The Kitchen Table invite outside chefs to “take over” their kitchen and run the show for a night.

And look at the exploding craft beer industry—there’s plenty of collaboration, with brewers teaming up regularly to launch hot new beer and food events. Sausage Fest 2015 is the perfect example, where local brewers creating unique, one-time brews to pair with delicious tubular offerings by local chefs. Propeller has been brewing up their incredibly popular Nocturne Dark Lager for a few years now, donating a portion of sales to the Nocturne: Art at Night festival itself.

Sugah! makes a beer and pretzel brittle with tasty Garrison Brewing suds.

And then there’s the much-awaited joint venture by North Brewing and The Brooklyn Warehouse soon to open next to Two If By Sea in downtown Dartmouth. (I mentioned this recently to a sizeable tour group, and there was an audible, lusty sigh of contentment all round.)

There are hundreds of small business owners collaborating right now on fabulous initiatives to keep things moving forward in Halifax, Dartmouth and beyond. Let’s support them. █

LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Late Summer 2015

19

BEER ON TAP 路 SANDWICHES & BURGERS 路 GOOD TIMES

finding your brand purpose Illustration by: Scott MacDonald

P h i l O t t o i ca.linkedin.com/in/philotto l brandguy

W

hile logo colours, fonts and icons are the skin of a brand, vision, mission, values and brand purpose are the soul of a brand. And it’s the soul of a brand that provides long-term value and sustainability—the combination of reputation and expectation.

Brand purpose can be viewed in two ways: functional, in which the purpose of the business is to make money; and intentional, which focuses both on making money and doing good in the world. While making money is important to every business, consumers admire brands that focus on more than just profitability. When defining your brand’s purpose, realize that while making money is a priority, it does nothing to differentiate you from every other business in your category.

And think about the difference between asking employees to show up for work to achieve a financial effect and showing up for work to help change the world.

Patagonia’s purpose is to build the best product while causing no unnecessary harm. Google’s is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible. Starbuck’s is to inspire and nurture the human spirit. Nordstrom’s is to give every customer the most extraordinary shopping experience possible.

Such an approach provides a moral compass for an organization—and the filter by which business decisions are

made. A well-articulated and wellunderstood purpose lets employees know exactly who they work for and what they are trying to achieve in their daily efforts. It becomes the bedrock for the corporate culture.

Design shops and ad agencies are often asked to design a logo and develop ad campaigns, and when asked, many businesses can’t articulate what makes them truly different from their competition. Think about those brands you purchase from over and over, even when there are cheaper options available. Do you buy your coffee from the same shop every morning? Do you generally recommend the same restaurant when asked by an out-oftowner? Do you generally fly the same airline? Are you loyal to a specific vehicle brand or clothing brand? The reason most consumers stay loyal to particular brands is their shared values and purpose. The best brands strive to

combine physical, emotional and logical elements into one exceptional customer experience. When you successfully create an emotional connection with customers, most stay loyal for life, which increases overall profitability by decreasing customer acquisition costs and builds a solid foundation of brand loyalists and promoters.

A clear and vivid purpose is demanding. It stalks an organization with a conscience. It explains why people come to work every day. It calibrates and guides thinking. It is the benchmark by which all actions are measured.

If you haven’t taken the time to articulate your brand’s purpose, do it. Spend time talking to employees and customers. Engage a facilitator if necessary to help ask the right questions and interpret the answers.

Brands with a powerful purpose can change the world. █

LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Late Summer 2015

21

Our Community

Hope keeps blooming

Article by: Jordan Whitehouse · Photos: Michelle Doucette

New headquarters, new greenhouse, new hope—an update on the youth-led social enterprise

22

T

he last time we caught up with Hope Blooms, it was for our fall 2012 issue, and back then the group was just starting to bud. In five years they’d grown to 42 members, built a thriving community garden in the north end, and began a salad dressing business that was supporting their scholarship fund and community programs. Since then, they’ve just kept blooming.

In 2013, six members appeared on CBC’s Dragons’ Den and walked away with $40,000. Last year they grew 2,500 pounds of fresh produce and sold 8,900 bottles of salad dressing. And this year, they’re breaking in a new headquarters and a new year-round greenhouse. All of it has meant more hope for the young people who created this success and an entire community.

New Digs

A new anchor for that hope is their new headquarters at 5527 Cornwallis Street.

The group moved in in December after having the former store renovated by tradespeople and community members who donated their time. The space now has a commercial kitchen for making dressings and hosting cooking classes, an office area, and plenty of comfortable seating and space to hold more than 50 people.

“It’s great to have somewhere you can call home—and a nice place,” says Alvero Wiggins, a program coordinator with Hope Blooms. “It’s not run down, it makes you feel good when you come in, there’s good people here and always the sound of blenders in the background. So I just feel gratitude when I come here.”

LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Late Summer 2015

More than $60,000 was donated to the project, including funds from their famous Dragons’ Den win. In November 2013, they appeared on the CBC show asking for a $10,000 loan in exchange for five per cent royalties until the loan was paid back. Instead, they walked away with a $40,000 gift, $10,000 from four of the five dragons (yes, Kevin O’Leary was the holdout).

New Greenhouse

The intention was to use those Dragons’ Den funds to build a greenhouse in Murray Warrington Park near the community garden to grow herbs for their dressings year-round. But then Build Right Nova Scotia, a partnership between unionized contractors and the building trades, stepped up to donate all of the supplies and labour for the

greenhouse.

“I’d been watching the Dragons’ Den episode, and it struck a chord,” says Jon Mullin, a director with Build Right Nova Scotia. “We said, ‘Why don’t we let these kids keep their 40,000 bucks?’ They’ve got a lot of great ideas, and if they have a little bit of money, they can do a lot.”

The design Build Right Nova Scotia came up with, along with members of Hope Blooms, incorporated innovative features like a structure made of concrete and wood chips, which allows the building to retain heat better than other materials, and windows that automatically open and close as the temperature rises or drops.

“The plan is to test it out this winter because we haven’t really grown through the wintertime,” says Kolade Boboye, one of the Hope Blooms youth who helped design the greenhouse. “So it’s going to be a kind of crash course to see what happens. We hope it goes well and that we’ll be able to keep heat in there.”

New Hope

If they can keep that heat in, it’ll mean a boon to the salad dressing business, and just like the new headquarters have done, it’ll also mean a renewed sense of hope for this group and the north end community many of them are from.

“Uniacke Square and our community hasn’t always had a good reputation,” says Alvero Wiggins, “but what I’ve seen is Hope Blooms take that stigma and pre-judgement and destroy it. People now recognize our community as a place where goodness exists, where normal people exist, where people who have hopes and dreams and wishes exist.”

One reason for that recognition is the number of community outreach programs Hope Blooms has launched, including community suppers, a Friday morning garden workshop for young kids, and a collaborative initiative with “Empowered Women Blossom” that involves making soups and distributing them to elderly people in the area.

All of that recognition does come with its challenges,however, adds Wiggins. “A lot of people, when they see us, they think we’re ready to take Hope Blooms to every other city in Canada.

That’s a challenge because we want to nurture what we have here, maintain our integrity, and not branch off and forget about home base. And yet we do want to expand, we do want to be bigger.”

How they deal with this challenge in the years ahead will be interesting to watch, but in the meantime there are garden plots to tend, fresh produce to distribute to the community and salad dressings to make. For now, it’s all about keeping the hope alive and flourishing. █

This September, during Sausage Fest 2015, some plates from our Official Participants will be raising money for our friends at Hope Blooms. Dig in!

Be so cool you’re hot.

We carry unique eyewear & quality sunglasses.

902.453.6100

New Patients Welcome.

Complete eye exams in a comfortable setting.

Appointments Monday to Saturday.

5550 KAYE STREET (@ Hydrostone Mkt.)

Cover STORY

24

LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Late Summer 2015

Cover STORY

Article by: Lola Augustine Browm · Photos: Liam Hennessey

Catching up with the Managing Director of Devour! the Food Film Fest

I

f your first experience with Devour! The Food Film Fest was last year’s event, when culinary superstar Anthony Bourdain opened the festival and it brought more than six thousand people to Wolfville, you may be surprised to find out that the festival only really got started in 2013.

“Back then we had one thousand people come through the doors, and there was a budget of $15,000, compared to last year’s budget of $400,000,” says Lia Rinaldo, managing director of Devour! But, if you know anything about Rinaldo and the work that she has done in film in our province, you wouldn’t be surprised to hear how she has driven the festival to such levels of success in such a short amount of time.

Rinaldo has always loved film. By the age of sixteen, she was working at Wormwood’s Dog and Monkey Cinema (a much loved Halifax indie movie house) selling popcorn, and then later she became the youngest licensed projectionist in Nova Scotia there. Rinaldo learned on the old carbon arc projectors, “which are the ones where you basically start a flame and adjust the picture and do changeovers, totally like Cinema Paradiso,” she says. At nineteen, she got an entrance scholarship to Concordia’s film school, but quit the first day, then ended up working in restaurants in Montreal (but in the kitchens, because her French wasn’t good enough to work front of house).

When she came home, Rinaldo returned to Wormwood’s Dog and Monkey Cinema, and within seven years was running the place and in charge of programming (while still in her early twenties). That’s when she started taking contracts with the Atlantic Film Festival, and later she ended up running that too (she was festival director for eleven years, but spent twentytwo years with the organization). So, as you can see, Rinaldo certainly had the chops to turn any fledgling film festival into a

roaring success.

Leaving the Atlantic Film Festival was no easy decision for Rinaldo. “It was one of the hardest things that I’ve ever done in my life. It’s hard to leave something that you’ve built up, but I instinctively knew that it was time to go, and that somebody was going to do a better job if I left,” she says. It was through the Atlantic Film Festival that Rinaldo met her Devour! business partner Michael Howell, who had been running the Slow Motion Food Fest in Wolfville since 2009 as a means of getting people interested in the slow food movement but also to make things busier in the town during a slow time of year (Howell owned popular restaurant The Tempest at the time).

Howell was looking for a partnership with a larger event and some form of mentoring around building film programs.

Rinaldo was immediately interested in what he was doing, joined the board of Slow Food Nova Scotia in a volunteer capacity, and jumped in to help out where she could. “I just wanted to see the event come to life. We became friends, and kept talking. Then after my fortieth birthday I thought, ‘That’s it, I’m jumping in and going whole hog,’ but I think from that first meeting I knew that was it, that was what I wanted to do,” she says. Then Howell sold his restaurant, Rinaldo left the Atlantic Film Festival, and by early 2013 the pair was striking out to set up Devour! “We put together an advisory board of half film community and half food community with some marketing expertise built in, rebranded the whole thing Devour!, and that’s where it started,” says Rinaldo.

I should add that Rinaldo has always been involved in the food industry too, in one way or another. Her father Salvatore Rinaldo set up Salvatore’s New York Pizza here in the 80s, and her brothers both work in the food industry (they recently set LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Late Summer 2015

25

up the hugely popular T-Dogs hot dog stand with a partner). “I grew up close to food, there’s definitely a family food connection, but I didn’t want to do that as a career,” she says.

Anyway, back to Bourdain. From its inception, the plan for Devour! was always to have a celebrity opening event where that celebrity would choose their favourite food film of all time (which, in Bourdain’s case, was Ang Lee’s Eat Drink Man Woman). Rinaldo and Howell had a wish-list of celebrities they wanted at Devour!, and Bourdain had been at the top from the start. “The event is such a mashup of culinary and cinema, we thought he perfectly straddled those worlds,” explains Rinaldo.

It took two years to get him there, with the pair wooing chefs that he had great relationships with in order to try and get him to the event. Ultimately, their hard work paid off, and it was absolutely worth the effort.

“Because of his schedule, Bourdain was barely here for twenty-four hours, but from the minute he showed up he gave above and beyond,” says Rinaldo. “Originally he was only going to do one interview, but he ended up holding a mini press conference and speaking for half an hour. We had culinary students from NSCC, and he had them backstage signing things for them, and he was very generous with our audience too,” she says. “At our grazing session, we ended up with sixteen chefs and crews, because of Bourdain being there everyone wanted to be there, and we had a forty-five minute private walk-through of the Nova Scotia food scene with just him. And I think that was one of the best moments we’ve had because all of these people were meeting their hero, it was super cool.”

On the topic of who will open this year’s festival, Rinaldo is keeping tight-lipped, saying only that each year Devour! will flip between a major film personality and a major chef, and that right now three invites have been sent out.

The festival is set to grow again, with more screenings, tasting tours, parties, workshops and events, as well as an official festival lounge with something going on in it all times. However, part of the appeal of Devour! is the intimate atmosphere it provides, and Rinaldo doesn’t want that to be swallowed up by the festival getting too huge. “I don’t see it

getting bigger than five days in Wolfville; it’s the perfect size for the place. If, in a couple of years, we had ten thousand people coming in five days, that would be wonderful. One of our guests said to us this year was, ‘Keep it small, keep it exceptional, keep it connected,’ and I always gauge everything I’m doing through that,” she says.

When Rinaldo and Howell started planning the fest, the long-term goal was always to be the Sundance for food film.

“We want it so that anybody who is launching a new food film would want to do it with us first on the world circuit,” says Rinaldo. “I say now that I’d like us to be the South by Southwest of food and film—I’d love a mix of food, music, technology and film, that’s where I see us going.”

Devour! hosts many smaller events throughout the year, such as film screening and food evenings in Wolfville, but Rinaldo and Howell have also had several successful Devour! events outside of Nova Scotia, which have helped build the profile of the festival in the U.S. and beyond. Back in March, Rinaldo was invited to be a juror at the Sonoma International

3rd Annual AvondaleGarlicFest

Where wine, food and service perfectly align for an unforgettable experience.

Tasting Room and Tours Daily 10am - 6pm D’Vine Morsels Open Daily 11am – 4:30pm Now booking private functions!

80 Avondale Cross Road, RR#2 Newport Landing

Saturday

Sept. 19, 2015 10 am to 5 pm Food ~ Fine Art ~ Music All Things Garlic Avondale Sky Winery, Avondale, NS

www.avondalegarlicfest.com

6999224

Film Festival, and decided to do a Devour! profile event in Los Angeles whilst there.

“We had two board members and some friends too in L.A. that helped us build a one-night event that we coined ‘Devour!

Los Angeles.’ We packed Bob Blumer’s [The Surreal Gourmet, who has become a friend to Devour!] home in the Hollywood Hills with seventy-five food writers and filmmakers, and hosted a profile event about us in Nova Scotia,” says Rinaldo.

“One of our partners is Sober Island Oysters, and they flew themselves there, donated product and shucked right there in this guy’s backyard, just out of excitement. We’re trying to do all these little things with no money, we just make them happen. People are excited to come with us, because they see the potential I guess.”

Devour! also made it to the Bahamas last year, and not surprisingly that’s a profile event that Rinaldo would love to see happen on a more frequent basis. Howell is consulting executive chef for a small resort in Green Turtle Cay in the Abacos (a chain of small islands in the Bahamas), and in 2013 he and Rinaldo organized a three-day festival they called “Devour the Beach.”

“We had about five hundred people attend five events over the three days, and it was wonderful,” says Rinaldo. “We’d love to make it a biannual event. That’d be the dream.”

Rinaldo’s enthusiasm and love of everything she is doing with Devour! shines through when you talk to her, and she just loves the impact that this fledgling fest has on others. “When guests, chefs and filmmakers hang out all week together in Wolfville, really wonderful things have happened, and a lot of people remain in contact. It’s like a weird summer camp that you can’t escape,” she says.

Devour! is certainly an asset to Nova Scotia, and watching Rinaldo’s steer it, and by proxy our province’s food scene, onto the international stage is thrilling, whether we’re involved in the industry, like to watch foodie films or just adore the food culture here. █

Food & DRINK

Sausage in the city Article by: Lia Rinaldo · Photos: Riley Smith

Part One - Checking in with four Sausage Fest participants who are actually making sausages for this year's event

A

h, the sausage life. Go ahead, try to get the lowdown on sausages in the city with a straight face. Strive to ask pertinent questions without giggling and stumbling over unintentional innuendos. All this goofiness aside, it turns out Halifax is eating a lot of sausages, and there’s a pretty interesting crew making them.

I struck out to get the scoop on the two winning sausages from the Pete’s Chef vs. Sausage Makers Competition, held on June 25 and part of this year’s Sausage Fest. Ten local competitors put their best sausage forward to a team of Local Connections Halifax judges. Competitors had to use one common protein— pork from Meadowbrook Meat Market—and then could take off in any flavour direction. After much ado, aka pitchers of craft beer and a whole lot of sausage, this year's panel of judges crowned two winners: Ace Burger’s Asian-fusion Hmong Sausage and The Stubborn Goat Gastropub’s Hellfire Sausage.

For the entire month of September, these two sausages will be produced by Pete’s and be on sale there.

placed on Maclean’s 50 best restaurants in Canada list. He’s been with the Goat since they opened. Funnily enough, Dan dabbled in sausage making over the years but his first real introduction was knocking out the breakfast bangers at the Goat.

The Hellfire Sausage, as he describes it, has a burn-yourface-off spice profile and is based on the Goat’s Hellfire Burger, originally created by general manager, Chef Tyler Smith. What’s the secret behind that hot heat? Anything hot in the moment, but especially habanero peppers and, for a surprising finish, sweet gherkins. Their sausage will also be featured at The Stubborn Goat two ways: on a bun with smoked jalapenos, sweet pepper relish, sriracha aioli and spicy grainy mustard; and also on a pizza loaded with even more hot peppers, if you can stand the heat.

Chef ’s tip: Don’t hold back. Basically do anything you would normally do with a sausage, but this one lends itself especially well to pizzas and pastas.

Ace Burger Company

Does it surprise you that one of the city’s best burger purveyors hit it out of the park with an Asian-inspired sausage this time around? And that the only time sausages have ever ended up on their menu is for Sausage Fest? Hence last year’s German currywurst and the year before a classic American Cheese Dog. And it just so happens that Chef Andrew Prince has been working at Ace Burger for the past two years. He cut his teeth making the breakfast bangers at Fid Resto and believes that you need to go all out, because no good story started with a healthy sausage.

This time he drew his inspiration from another far away cuisine in Southeast Asia. This Hmong sausage is the ultimate in Asian-fusion with Thai, Vietnamese and Chinese influences, and, as Andrew explains, this is just not a ketchup kind of dog.

Bold and unexpected, this sausage has lime, green onions, basil, galangal and Thai chili peppers, and at Ace, it’ll be served up on a bun loaded with fresh cilantro and basil.

Chef ’s tip on how to cook at home: You can go the “way of the bun” or serve on a bed of seasoned rice with fresh herbs and kimchi.

The Stubborn Goat Gastropub

Before he landed in Halifax, The Stubborn Goat Chef de Cuisine Dan Price was working with his longtime chef girlfriend at the Blue Door in Fredericton where, under their watch, they

28

LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Late Summer 2015

Pete’s

I have to admit that I breathed a sigh of relief when I finally met up with Peter Reilly, manager of meat and fish at Pete’s, the man who will be responsible for delivering the two winning Chef vs. Sausage recipes to the masses. At this point, I’m invested in the ideas of these two winners and wanted to ensure their their

integrity was maintained through this process. Peter couldn’t agree more—the recipes will be made exactly to the chef’s specs.

Peter has made a lot of sausages in his career, cooking his way across the country from Banff to Fox Harb’r Resort. They’ve developed a robust sausage following at Pete’s by perfecting and standardizing their roster of about nine sausages. Their team is excited to focus on the promotion side this time around, giving these new sausages a voice, showcasing these chefs to a wider audience and just generally blowing up the culinary scene in Halifax. It’s a sausage spectacular! And everything keeps turning up banger.

Chef ’s tip: No sausage is safe. It all depends on your mood and what you’re cooking. Andouille, lamb or spicy ginger pork for the barbecue; Italian for pastas and pizzas; chorizo for soups and stews; and a good banger for breakfast.

Getaway Farm Butcher Shop

On top of this year's Chef vs. Sausage winners, I simply had to check in with another of the city’s best sausage makers, Getaway Farm Butcher Shop. Chef Steven Galvin is a Sausage Fest newcomer, but he’s pulling out the big guns with a Fiesta Sausage featuring a Mexican, Tex-Mex flavour profile. He’s taking his inspiration from their Huevos Rancheros Breakfast Pie, stuffing his sausage with beef, pork, smoked bacon, smoked paprika, cumin, lime and chili powder.

Chef Steven is a well-seasoned pro, having worked his way from coast to coast and then abroad, spending years in Italy as the chef for the Canadian ambassador and then here in Nova Scotia cooking for the lieutenant governor. Getaway owner Chris de Waal was one of the first producers Steven connected with, and when Steven saw the opportunity to grow along with Getaway he jumped in; and the rest is history (or just about to be) with some very exciting developments on the way.

Chef ’s tip: Serve it up on a bun with Pico de gallo, fresh cilantro and basically anything you would put on tacos.

Food & DRINK

Sausage in the city Article by: Jordan Whitehouse · Photos: Michelle Doucette and Riley Smith

Part Two - Halifax’s wiener wars heat up on Agricola, where Agricola Street Brasserie and T-Dogs vie for sausage supremacy

30

T

he front line of the battle for best sausage in the city right now might well be on Agricola between Charles and Willow streets. On one side, the always formidable, some might say Goliath, Agricola Street Brasserie, with its own sausage munitions factory. Opposite, in front of Nauss Bicycle Shop, David, aka T-Dogs, a hot dog cart with more experimental pork weaponry. I recently crossed no man’s land to hear about their approaches to sausage-making and how they’ll be waging war during one of this year's Sausage Fest flagships (Sausage Throwdown), and we're talking about freindly competition of course.

Agricola Street Brasserie

For Agricola’s head chef and part owner Ludo Eveno, making sausages is all about letting the pork do the oinking, which is somewhat surprising given he has what he calls a “Sausage Lab” in the back of the restaurant. There he and his team think up, test, make and taste all of the pork dishes that appear on the menu.

Still, as complex as a “Sausage Lab” sounds, simplicity is where everything starts and ends. “We try not to mix too much flavour into our sausages,” says Eveno, whose twenty-plus-year career in food has included a stint as a butcher in Europe. “We want to keep them as plain as possible to reflect the flavour of the pork. So what we’re looking for is something really clean with the right amount of fat and meat.”

Exhibit A: the Toulouse sausage that will appear on the menu during Sausage Fest. Made simply with pork, salt, fat,

LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Late Summer 2015

garlic confit and nutmeg, it’ll remind you of a pork chop on the barbecue with a bit of salt and pepper. Accompanied with sauerkraut, smoked bacon and potatoes, it’s a very traditional dish with eastern France and German origins.

Agricola’s other Sausage Fest dish will likewise go easy on the pretentiousness, but with a South American flair. Featuring homemade chorizo, a spicy tomato jus and clams, everything will be pan fried together and then presented on the plate with a bit of fennel on top.

“It’s always about the quality,” says Eveno of these — or any other—dishes that appear on Agricola’s menu. “Everything I learned from the industry I try to show when someone comes in. I want you to have a good meal, not over the top, nothing molecular. We just want good food that you can share with your friends. And, of course, we want to have the best sausage in the city.”

T-Dogs

Them’s could be construed as fighting words, but Tony Rinaldo likely won’t take the bait. That’s because he and his brother Sam, along with Patrick Lowe, are focussed on grilling up what some are already calling the best sausages in the city from their hot dog cart in front of 2533 Agricola.

Launched in June, the concept is New York-style with a few big twists: everything is handmade, they use high-quality local meat, and their variety of dogs is at least four times as diverse as anything you’ll find outside of Yankee Stadium.

Their stable menu includes a classic hot dog, a Texas Hot (an all meat chili dog), a veggie dog and a rotating weekly special that’s ranged from a Big Macinspired dog to a pulled pork hot dog.

“With our standards, it’s all about balance and simplicity, but a lot of the specials are just to go over the top and indulge and surprise people,” says Tony, who spent ten years cooking at Toronto’s Parts & Labour, Montreal’s Nora Gray, as well as in Europe. “You go to Montreal or Toronto or New York and there’s all kinds of cool options for sausages and hot dogs, and we just don’t have it here. The gourmet burger was huge here, and I think the gourmet hot dog could be the next thing.”

He and his two counterparts will be making a strong case for the rise of the hot dog at Sausage Fest this year, where Pizza Corner will be their inspiration. On the menu: a Shawarma Dog (chicken dog, pickled turnip, pickles, lettuce, tomatoes, garlic sauce); a Donair Dog (donair hot dog, tomatoes, onions, donair sauce); and a Pizza Dog (pepperoni hot dog, mozzarella, parmesan, tomato sauce, basil, chili oil).

They’ll hopefully continue strengthening the case for the gourmet hot dog even in the winter. The plan is to open a shop of their own, but whether that will be an Ace Burger-type situation or something else, only time will tell. In the meantime, it’s back to the trenches on Agricola. █

OUR BEER IS TOUGH According to local folklore, Boxing Rock is where bickering seamen were left by their captain to sort out their differences. Their choices were simple. Box until only one could return to the ship, or shake hands and share a beer.

Either way, they only had a few short hours until high tide.

We say drink up.

HUNKY DORY PALE ALE - THE VICAR’S CROSS DOUBLE IPA TEMPTATION RED ALE - CRAFTY JACK ENGLISH ALE

You can catch these two along with many others at the Sausage Throwdown and Sausage O' the Night on Septemeber 19th. Might be some local craft beer and cider kicking around at these events too!

sausagefesthfx.ca/events

Food Cover&STORY DRINK

The coastal cafE

Article by: Laura Oakley · Photos: Riley Smith

A legendary North End's breakfast and brunch spot

32

T

here’s a constant hum of conversation—at times louder than others— nside the small, lively dining room at The Coastal Café. Pots and pans bang around in the kitchen; tapping, pounding and hissing come from the espresso machine behind the counter. On my last visit —a rainy Friday —cars sloshing by on Robie Street would enter the mix every time the door opened and closed (which was often). The sounds of a busy restaurant. It makes you want to sit, for a long while, but really—you shouldn’t. Someone is waiting for your table.

Chef and owner Mark Giffin was born in Halifax but grew up in Vancouver. After moving here in 2001, he soon became head chef at the high-end and now-defunct Bish World Cuisine, where he stayed for six years. In 2007 Giffin had the opportunity to open his own place, a super casual restaurant with high-quality food—something that, despite his fine dining background, he had always wanted to do.

Missing the “greasy spoons” of Vancouver, Giffin says he “realized what this city needs is something a little different for breakfast.” Something a little different indeed. After eight years in business, The Coastal has long established itself as the go-to breakfast and brunch destination in not only the north end, but the city of Halifax. The combination of its popularity, and size (just 20 seats), ensure that there’s almost always a

LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Late Summer 2015

wait for your table. But the food is more than worth the delay, and it’s definitely worth the price.

“I’ve often said cheap is easy [to do]—value is the challenge,” says Giffin. A self-proclaimed “control freak”, Giffin runs the kitchen himself six days a week, no doubt the reason why people keep coming back for more. The hours are changed seasonally, but the café typically closes around 2 p.m., except Saturdays, when it stays open an extra hour. On the weekends only the brunch menu is served, and on the weekdays (right now they’re closed Wednesdays) breakfast is offered from open to close, but lunch is available starting at 11 a.m. The menu “used to be a lot more free-form,” says Giffin, but he found that method was financially,and mentally, draining.

The Coastal has since built up a loyal clientele by consistently serving customer favourites. Despite offering those few lunch items, “it’s always been a breakfast joint,” says Giffin, who admits his top three best-selling dishes makes up for 60 to 70 percent of what leaves the kitchen. The reigning champ, Durty Burd, consists of habanero buffalo chicken with two fried eggs, bacon ranch, Havarti cheese and guacamole inside an english muffin. That’s definitely something a little different. “The huevos rancheros is the only thing on the menu that was on the very first menu,” says Giffin of his third best-selling dish—

which also happens to be his favourite. His advice: “Get it with the buffalo chicken.”

When I did return a couple weeks later (for the huevos rancheros), I put my name on the wait list and loitered outside for about ten minutes in my raincoat. At The Coastal, you order at the counter, pay, then sit back down—something else that’s a little different for Halifax. “We found we could turn tables over faster,” says Giffin. “In the early days too, when it was crazy, we were getting a lot of dining and dashing.” The early days— just eight years ago—opening up shop in the north end was definitely a little different. “When I told people I was leaving Bish to take over a coffee shop in the north end… people thought I was nuts,” Giffin remembers. “There wasn’t much along here.

It’s changed a lot.” His location on Robie Street, between North and Almon, is now part of a vibrant, fast-growing business community.

The huevos rancheros arrives as a colourful, messy stack of Mexican goodness atop tostadas. The layers are: Guajillo rancheros sauce, cheese, Mexi-veg, fried eggs, chunky guacamole and habanero buffalo chicken (the add-on), topped with red salsa and drizzled mole crema. Giffin was kind enough to give further detail on some elements of the dish, like the rancheros sauce, which is made with fresh sweet peppers, onions, garlic and tomatoes, cooked down with herbs and spices; ancho chiles (dried poblano peppers) and dried Guajillo chiles are then added, plus a touch of honey. The Mexi-veg is like a hearty vegetable chilli made with corn and poblano peppers. The dish is an assault of textures and flavours— crunchy tostadas, gooey cheese, oozing egg yolks, rich avocado, spicy salsas. But the buffalo chicken is truly is a game changer.

It has the perfect sticky-yet-crispy coating, is tender and juicy on the inside, and has fiery heat that sneaks up on you. It’s my favourite breakfast—done just a little different. █

we’re lovin’ it in the north end! come check out our new home! fl 2553 Agricola Street | cyclesmith.ca | 902.425.1756

The Coastal Café is located on 2731 Robie Street.

Hours of operation are all over the map, so you'll want to check out their website to find out when they're open.

thecoastal.ca

DOWNTOWN DARTMOUTH All together eclectic DOWNTOWNDARTMOUTH.CA

Ace Burger co.

The coastal cafĂŠ

From one day pop-up, to burger legends. The baby brother of Brooklyn Warehouse rocks burgers like no others.

Get the Deluxe and the Jerk Chicken.

That's right, two burgers. You won't regret it.

A breakfast and brunch icon. You'll likely find yourself waiting outside for a table, and for good reason.

2605 Agricola Street, Halifax

Agricola Street Brasserie An accessible take on fine dining. Warm atmosphere with a true neighbourhood vibe. One of the best places to eat in the entire province and could be the best happy hour spot in the city.

2540 Agricola Street, Halifax

Bramoso Pizzeria A great little pizza joint with a strong focus on healthy, local ingredients. Lots of stuff on the menu, not just pizza.

Definitely worth a looksee.

6169 Quinpool Road, Halifax

Brooklyn Warehouse A true legend and pace-setter on the local food scene. Things never get tired at the Brooklyn Warehouse, which is a testament to their overall approach.

Lunches are fabulous and reasonably priced, while dinner service is on a whole other level. If you've never been, do yourself a favour and go!

2795 Windsor Street, Halifax

34

2731 Robie Street, Halifax

Dee Dee's ice cream Known for the best ice cream in Nova Scotia, but also famous for their burritos. We like the salad plate with a Propeller Ginger Beer. Filling, but leaves room for that double scoop of Mexican Chocolate.

5668 Cornwallis Street, Halifax

EDNA An immediate success, right from day one. It's as much a destination as it is a great place to dine. Perfect place for a girls night out.

2053 Gottingen Street, Halifax

envie - a vegan kitchen It's vegan food that non-vegans will dig.

The menu is always changing, and it's impressive on how creative the enVie team is in the kitchen. A must-try.

5775 Charles Street, Halifax

Epicurious morsels Another nice spot with an accessible take on fine dining. Great location too, right in the Hydrostone. Impressive menu for a small restaurant.

5529 Young Street, Halifax

The field guide

Salvatore's Pizzaiolo

2076 Gottingen, Halifax

They've been a great pizzeria for some time now, but the new renovations have transformed the place into a proper restaurant. They still do take out of course, and we recommend grabbing a Meatball Hero next time you're in.

Known for smashingly good cocktails and deliciously local eats. The Field Guide is another destination eatery on Gottingen. Perfect place to anchor down for an evening out.

Hali deli An old world delicatessen with a focus on simple food from Eastern Europe, Lithuania, Russia, and Hungary.

Something you'd expect to visit on a trip to Montreal, but this one's in Halifax.

2389 Agricola Street, Halifax

Heartwood Organic, local vegetarian and vegan cuisine. Lots of great stuff on the menu, and some tasty local brews on tap. Prices are also on the lower end of the dining scene. Give it try!

6250 Quinpool Road, Halifax

lion & bright One of the hottest spots in the city for the last year or so. The food was always good, but the new chef has pushed the bar higher. Great selection of craft beer on tap, too.

2534 Agricola Street, Halifax

mezza Mediterranean Grill The sit down family dining version of Mezza Lebanese Kitchen. The menu is also has more depth compared to the take-out joints. It's where you go when you want great Lebanese food for dinner.

5541 Young Street, Halifax

T Dogs These guys get us really excited. New creations every week! A bottomless pit of creativity, these guys are the newly crowned kings of the local hot dog scene.

Standouts so far include the T-Mac, Bahn Mi, The Nacho Dip Dog, and the Shawarma Dog (available during Sausage Fest 2015).

2533 Agricola Street, Halifax

TESS A nice little hideaway on Charles Street.

The new owners have kicked things up a notch. Don't forget to ask about the back terrace. Great spot for brunch or dinner.

5687 Charles Street, Halifax

wasabi house One of Quinpool Road's greatest treasures and the perfect place for a night out with friends. Mind blowing selection of sushi, but also loads of other great stuffs on the menu as well. Settle in for a full evening and just go for it!

6403 Quinpool Road, Halifax

6386 Quinpool Road, Halifax

Relish gourmet Burgers A nice little burger joint right with a focus on making delicious creations. Our Editor-in-Chief usually likes to rock the Cabo Diablo with a pint of Propeller, but don't forget the weekly specials.

6024 Quinpool Road, Halifax

COMING NEXT ISSUE: all the best eateries off-peninsula! FIND OUT WHERE WE'RE RECOMMENDING YOU EAT. (this list will include dine-in and take-out spots)

36

LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Late Summer 2015

Introduction

Welcome to Sausage Fest 2015! This year marks our third hosting this event, and we are absolutely thrilled with the quality of our program this year.

It all starts with this year's 40+ Official Participants, each of whom has created something special for you to try and enjoy during Sausage Fest. There's sausages, of course, but this year there's also three craft beers and one cider as well, each made specially for this event.

To make your job easier we've created a brand new mobile-friendly website (sausagefesthfx.ca). There you will be able to find our particpants and what they will be serving during Sausage Fest, access tickets and information from a wide range of events (some of which are free), track the activities of our Official Sausage Fest Bloggers, and even get in the game yourself. This year we've partnered with Select Nova Scotia in hosting a pretty sweet contest where you could win big.

There's also cool swag for you to grab including two T-shirts, buttons, and even some limited edition gold chains, just in case you wanted to turn your #SausageSwagger to max.

Smoke d Appl e, Jala & Ched peno dar Sa usage

We're doing some fundraising too, with funds raised going to our friends at Hope Blooms.

All in all, it's going to be one heck of a September, and we hope you are able to join in all the fun.

— Da Sausage Hustla'

urite ’s Favo Jimmie sage u a S o Tac

ALDERNEY LANDING - Open 7 days/week BERWICK MARKET - Mon to Sat 8:30 - 5:30

318 Pleasant Valley Road, Berwick & Alderney Landing, Dartmouth (902) 538-1106 · f MeadowbrookMeatMarket · L MeadowbrookMeat

meadowbrookmeatmarket.com

Sausage Fest 2015

Sausage Fest Flagship Events

Tickets for all three events are available online at: sausagefesthfx.ca/events

Join Local Connections Halifax on this fine September day for our first ever Sausage Throwdown. This event will be an all-out sausage and craft beer feast, with you judging the winner of the event (best sausage plate).

Your $45 ticket will include $20 in food tickets (for sausage plates and wonderful sides), 12-4oz. craft beer samples (4 glasses), a Belgian-style takehome glass, access to the event, and the full-on Karaoke stage hosted by none other than John Shadow.

Join Local Connections Halifax on this fine September eve for our first ever Sausage O The Night. This event will be an all-out sausage and craft beer feast, with you judging the winner of the event (best sausage plate).

Your $45 ticket will include $20 in food tickets (for sausage plates and wonderful sides), 12-4oz. craft beer samples (4 glasses), a Belgian-style takehome glass, and access to the event. Entertainment for this event will be the Mike Cowie Quartet and Devour! The Food Film Fest.

Hosted by our good friends at Garrison Brewing, on Friday September 25th from 6:00pm until 11:00pm, the Oktoberfest Site will be transformed into a Nova Scotia Beer Celebration, Sausage Fest Style! Breweries from across the province will present their top brands, while you get to enjoy your favorite Sausage themed food with live music. Entry is $16 and includes entry, 5 sample tickets and a souvenir sample cup.

38

LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Late Summer 2015

Contest begins September 19, 2015!

Pop-up Events

Lots of other events to attend as well!

In addition to our must-attend Sausage Fest flagship events, many of our Official Participants will be hosting smaller, more intimate events of their own, and there's quite a range of activity you can partake in. Things like sausage and beer dinners, market BBQs, The Downtown Haifax Sausage Crawl, sunset dinners, live music nights, and a great many more.

Like our flagship events, information for all Sausage Fest events can be found online at: sausagefesthfx.ca/events

Full details including how to enter, contest rules, and available prizes are now online at:

sausagefesthfx.ca

Sausage Fest 2015

Where to Get the Good Eats

This year's Official Particpants have created special dishes just for you!

Each of our restaurant, bar, pub, and hot dog cart participants have produced special plates for you to try, and the mix of what's available this year is utterly outstanding. We'll have many variations on the sausage on a bun theme, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. Our local chefs have also created amazing plated creations and some have even gone to the length of making their own sausages for their plates. Some of the dishes will be priced at $7, while a great many others will be fundraising plates, with a minimum of $1/plate raising money for Hope Blooms.

On top of this year's plated specials, our market/producer participants have created some custom sausages for you to purchase and cook at home. Some really wild creations in some cases. All you need to do is pop in to one of our participant locations, choose your meats, take them home, and play hero to all the friends you invite over to celebrate Sausage Fest at your place.

This year, many months before the Third Annual Sausage Fest kicked off, we hosted a sausage making competition, where our restaurant participants were given local pork from Meadowbrook Meat Market and were tasked with creating their interpretation of the ultimate sausage. Our winners this year were Ace Burger (Hmong Sausage) and The Stubborn Goat (Hellfire Sausage). These winning sausages will be available for purchase at both Pete's locations from September 1st through to 30th.

40

LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Late Summer 2015

featuring the best #NSCraftbeer & Cider

Saturday, September 19 11am - 3pm at the Olympic Community Centre t dogs · obladee Wine bar · agricola street brasserie pete’s · bramoso pizzeria · getaway farm · THE STUBBORN GOAT Boxing rock · Big spruce · Bulwark cider · Garrison good robot · north brewing · propeller · tatamagouche the john shadow karaoke experience + a few others ticket includes 12 - 4oz. beer samples (4 glasses), $20 in food tickets, a take-home Belgian-style glass, and entertainment.

hurry and get your tickets online before they’re all gone!

Sausage Fest 2015

The Beverages and the Swag Everyone knows that sausages are best enjoyed in good company.

There's nothing like a cold brew or a deliciously refreshing cider to wash down tasty meats, so this year we've partenered with three craft breweries and one cider producer in making the Official Brews of Sausage Fest. On tap at participating restaurants will be Boxing Rock's Kerfuffle APA, Bulwark's Hopped Citrus Cider, Garrison's Hammerschlagen Brau, and Propeller's Wind Swell Wheat. Just look for the custom tap handles and make sure to order all four! The three beers will also be available in growlers at each location as well.

The Official T-shirts of Sausage Fest have been available for some time now. There are two T's this year; our standard logo T which is available for $20 taxes in, and Da Sausage Hustla' T designed by our very own Scott MacDonald, which is available for $25 taxes in. Da Sausage Hustla's T is actually also a fundraising T, with $2/shirt going to Hope Blooms. All designs are printed on Anvil Sustainable Ts and are available at the locations listed on our website: sausagefesthfx.ca/schwag

On top of the Official Ts, we're also flogging nice little Sausage Fest buttons.

There is only one design and these buttons are only available at both Getaway Farms locations (Seaport Market and Hydrostone), and at Sausage Throwdown and Sausage O' the Night. Buttons are only $1 taxes in, with 100% of the proceeds going to Hope Blooms.

42

LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Late Summer 2015

SAT U R DAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 9 5:30PM - 10PM AT THE OLYMPIC COMMUNITY CENTRE T DOGS • OBLADEE WINE BAR • MORRIS EAST • GETAWAY FARM STUDIO EAST • PETE’S • DEVOUR! THE FOOD FILM FEST BOXING ROCK • BIG SPRUCE • BULWARK CIDER • GARRISON GOOD ROBOT • NORTH BREWING • PROPELLER • TATAMAGOUCHE MIKE COWIE QUARTET + A FEW OTHERS TICKET INCLUDES 12 - 4OZ. BEER SAMPLES (4 GLASSES), $20 IN FOOD TICKETS, A TAKE-HOME BELGIAN-STYLE GLASS, AND ENTERTAINMENT.

hurry and get your tickets online before they’re all gone!

Sausage Fest 2015

Get in the Game, Player!

We have some seriously sweet hook-ups waiting for you on our website.

For this year's Sausage Fest, we've partnered with Select Nova Scotia in bringing you the first ever "Enter to Win a DIY Sausage Party!". Sounds amazing already, doesn't it? From September 19th and 30th, all you need to do is take a selfie of yourself enjoying sausages or brews from one of our Official Particiapnts, and post it online using the hashtag #SausageFestHFX. We'll be giving out some very cool daily prizes, but two lucky winners will get themselves a brand new Weber 3200 BBQ along with a full supply of deliciously sausages, condiments, buns, beer, cider, a T-shirt, apron, and one of our very limited edition 50 Cent-style Sausage Fest gold chains. Full contest details can be found online at: sausagefesthfx.ca/contest

At this very moment, our brand spanking new and mobile-friendly website is up and running. It's there to act as a resource, helping you keep track of all the events, all the special plates and sausages, and to find out where all the action is. For the most part, the website will be complete by September 1, though we'll likely be adding some new information right up to September 19.

Also on the site is the Hot Diggity Blog. This is where you will be able to follow our Official Bloggers as they go on a tubular rampage.

During Sausage Fest 2015, we are going to switch from using the Local Connections Halifax profiles to using the ones we set up specifically for Sausage Fest. If you want to keep up-to-date, or simply want to share stuff with us, you'll want to like or follow SausageFestHFX.

Here's to a spectacular September 19 to 27!

44

LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Late Summer 2015

Event PREVIEW

Devour! The Food Film Fest Nova Scotia’s ultimate culinary mashup Culinary [kyoo-luh-ner-ee]: Of, or relating to, or used in cooking in the kitchen.

Article by: Jessie Harrold · Photos: Devour! The Food Film Fest

Mashup [mash-uhp]: Slang. A creative combination or mixing of content from different sources.

46

C

ulinary Mashup: One incredible culinary element or experience, combined with another one, guaranteeing a result that becomes the stuff of daydreams, favourite memories and bucket lists. See also, cronuts; Devour! The Food Film Fest.

Devour! The Food Film Fest, aka DevourFest, Nova Scotia’s very own internationally-recognized food film festival, is the cinema-loving foodie’s ultimate experience. Coming to Wolfville again this November 4 - 8, DevourFest has become the darling of the cultural scene in Nova Scotia and, unofficially, just about the only thing to look forward to during our dreary maritime November. Last year, Devour caught the attention of foodies, film buffs, tourists and locals alike by hosting celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain as a guest curator for the festival. This year’s festival promises to be no less thrilling, featuring a highprofile guest chef to be announced at the Toronto Film Festival on September 13.

I can hear the excitement in chef and co-founder Michael Howell’s voice as he describes the events of this year’s festival

LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Late Summer 2015

to me over the phone: “Devour is being noticed globally, highlighting Nova Scotia as a food and film destination. A few years ago this [movies about food] was a limited genre; this year we’ve screened 300 movies from around the globe, including fantastic Canadian and Nova Scotian films.”

Howell says his and co-founder Lia Rinaldo’s goal is to be “cultural contributors in Nova Scotia and to offer a platform for Nova Scotian filmmakers so they can meet with success here.”

With chefs from around the world and the culinary minds behind some of the best restaurants in Canada participating in DevourFest this year, there is no question the hard-working pair are succeeding.

At the heart of DevourFest 2015 is a carefully curated selection of nearly 30 feature-length films and dozens of shorts, including 55 international films. Each screening will feature a thematically-appropriate tasting experience included in the ticket price. Food Network-famous chef Bob Blumer will emcee many of the screenings this year, and will conduct the postscreening Q&A sessions with the stars of the films.

Of equal interest to the avid festival-goer are the workshops, nineteen in total this year, hosted by writers, producers, farmers, chefs and many other industry professionals with wisdom to share. The workshops are designed to cater to the professional chef looking to take his career from behind the stove to behind the camera just as much as to the home culinarian who wants to

6027 North Street, Halifax learn how to butcher a rabbit.

One exciting addition to the DevourFest roster this year is the inclusion of several culinary tourism experiences that will take participants to locations around Kings County and highlight some of the incredible restaurants and wineries in this area dubbed “Napa of the North.” To round out your festival experience this year, be sure to hop on the “All You Need is Cheese Express,” the “Cajun Express,” the “Crafty Beer Bus” or the “Bubble Bus.” There truly is something for everyone to enjoy at DevourFest, and Howell assures that the event is “not all about celebrity chefs and hundred-dollar tickets. There are also free events and ‘just go see a movie and have a bite of food’ experiences, too.” He cites the planned food truck rally and the Chowder Smackdown, where attendees can affordably sample all the great chowders Nova Scotia has to offer, as just two such events.

Folks from near and far can take in the various DevourFest events with just about any level of commitment and fervour they wish: there are a series of passes, including a day pass that will allow you to experience two films, a workshop and one of the culinary tours. Out-of-towners can take advantage of a package deal put together by the Delta Halifax, which, in addition to accommodations, includes a shuttle to and from Wolfville.

Tickets to each of the film screenings will be sold individually as well, including a $50 bracelet that will get you rush seating to any screening for the entire festival. This year there will also be a DevourFest bus running several times daily from Halifax for $20 per round trip—a great way to get to the festival if you don’t want to drive.

Whether you’re a devout Devour-goer waiting with your bags already packed, or you’ve never been to the festival and are considering pencilling it in for this year, DevourFest 2015 is a culinary mashup you won’t want to miss. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit: devourfest.com

sausagefesthfx.ca Get a-long little doggy, and check out what we can print for you today!

Local. Personal. Quality.

Event PREVIEW

spirited away in lunenburg Article by: Jessie Harrold

Celebrating a “tsunami” of local artisan distilleries at Lunenburg’s first craft spirits festival

I

magine: you’re cozied up in a little pub in Lunenburg and folks around you are swaying to the live music. The whole experience would seem pretty down-to-earth, but you’re sipping on a cocktail handcrafted by the best mixologist in the country, and muddled in it are cranberries from a farm down the road where you spent your afternoon learning about how they flood the field to harvest the berries. Your glass is sweating and your senses energized with sweet notes and tart notes and music notes alike.

Nights like these are what Ironworks Distillery owner Pierre Guevremont envisioned when he dreamed up the Spirited Away Festival several years ago. Coming to Lunenburg for the first time from October 16 - 18, the festival was created to celebrate and showcase what Guevremont calls the “tsunami of artisan distilleries in Nova Scotia.”

Most self-respecting liquor-drinkers in Nova Scotia know that our craft beer scene has been exploding over the past handful of years, but Guevremont bets that a good number of us aren’t aware of the sheer number of distilleries popping up all over the province. The Spirited Away Festival aims to change that.

Over the course of the two-day festival, five top mixologists will swizzle, stir, muddle and shake the spirits from eight

featured distilleries. It goes without saying that Glenora Distillery’s whisky will make an appearance, as will Ironworks’ famous pear eau de vie. Attendees might also be lucky enough to sample Tangled Garden’s cafe diablo liqueur or be one of the first to sip the brand new Coldstream Clear Distillery’s salted caramel concoction. The benefit for the local distillery business is twofold: everyday folks like you and me get to try enticing new cocktails, and some of the country’s best mixologists get to be excited about the inspiring spirits coming out of our beautiful province.

The Spirited Away Festival will have something to offer everyone, from the staunch whiskey-swiller to the martiniloving Bond type. On the Friday evening, there will be a welcoming gala featuring tasting stations where a mixologist will team up with each distillery to create a special cocktail.

Post-gala, festival-goers can hit up any number of participating Lunenburg venues for late night music and entertainment.

Guevremont suggests that the best way to take in the festival is to make a weekend getaway of it. Folks can buy a full weekend festival pass and take advantage of accommodation packages offered by six local inns. This makes Lunenburg the ideal setting for the festival, ensuring that visitors can have that second (third?) drink and meander their way back to the

Get where you want.

Recruitment & Placement Specialists AccountantStaffing.com

comfortable bed awaiting them down the street, rather than concerning themselves with a drive back to the city.

When you roll out of bed on the Saturday morning of the festival, you’ll likely be greeted by the sounds of clanging tall-ship riggings in the harbour and the pealing cry of a few intrepid seagulls. A hearty breakfast will help you shake off any lingering effects of the previous night, and then you can get on to choosing which workshops you will attend. You might want to learn the art of making the perfect cosmopolitan while wading through a flooded cranberry bog, board the tall ship Theresa E. Connor to discover Nova Scotia’s history of rumrunning, learn how to make your own gin, or take part in a workshop that will help you hone your own mixology skills.

Just in case you thought the festival was only about imbibing in the finest spirits the province has to offer, on Saturday night you will have the unique opportunity to sample incredible food dished up by famous local chefs and paired with feature cocktails, of course. After you’ve filled your belly, you can traipse through the salty mist down the main drag of Lunenburg, stopping in at local venues to sample cocktails and vote in the Battle of The Cocktails Sip & Dash, which is like a really sophisticated pub crawl, with voting.

The final day of the festival offers a head-clearing walking tour, a windup breakfast where the winning cocktails from the Sip & Dash will be announced, and an opportunity for amateur mixologists to wow the pros with their own concoctions.

The Spirited Away Festival in Lunenburg appeals to the connoisseur, the foodie, the cocktail geek and the good-times lover in all of us. There is truly something for everyone to enjoy. If artisan spirit drinkers had bucket lists, this experience would top them all.

To find out more visit: nsspiritsfestival.com.

YOUR WATERFRONT DESTINATION FOR HAPPIER HOURS. With a captivating ambience and equally inspired cuisine, harbourstone sea grill & pour house is designed for savouring every moment. Make our warm and welcoming environment your waterfront destination for catching up with good friends.

ENJOY SEASONAL, COASTAL CUISINE EXPERTLY CRAFTED BY OUR TEAM OF ESTEEMED CULINARY PROFESSIONALS, WITH EXECUTIVE CHEF TREVOR SIMMS AT THE HELM.

HARB OU RSTON E S EA GRIL L & P OU R H OUSE 1919 UPPER WATER STREET, HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA PHO NE 902.428.7852 WWW.HAR B O URSTO NER ESTAURANT.CO M TWITTER @HARBOURSTONESG

Nova Scotia Wine

Uncorked

by Amy Savoury

Avondale Garlic Fest This festival hosted at the beautiful Avondale Sky winery is a fun, free, action packed day celebrating all things garlic! Make sure you get there early on Saturday, September 19th as there is so much to see and do. From amazing local art and music, wine and craft beer tasting, food vendors, to of course, garlic. Garlic farmers, garlic food, garlic merchandise, garlic competitions, garlic cooking demos and even workshops on how to grow your own garlic. It will be an incredible day to celebrate Nova Scotia’s wine, beer, food and art. Informative, delicious and fun, the festivities begin at 10am and continue until 5pm. For all the details, be sure to visit: avondalegarlicfest.com

50

Lightfoot & Wolfville Inaugural Release August 7th, 2015 marked an important date in Nova Scotia wine history with the inaugural release of wines from the highly anticipated winery, Lightfoot & Wolfville. On this special day they released two wines, Ancienne Chardonnay and Ancienne Pinot Noir. It is safe to say that both wines exceeded the expectations of anxious wine lovers patiently waiting to get their first sip. Established in 2009 and officially expected to open in Spring of 2017, Lightfoot & Wolfville is adding extraordinary depth to our already diverse industry. Focusing on classic vinifera grapes they have over 35 acres of land under vine, planted on some of the valleys most intriguing soils, at vineyard sites that harmonize with our unique coastal influences. They are organic producers practicing biodynamic farming and hand crafting small lot wines in a holistic and sustainable way.

These are wines that are truly made in the vineyard and expressive of our Nova Scotia terroir. The wines are of limited availability and can be found at Bishops Cellar, pick up a bottle or a case today and be a part of Nova Scotia wine history.

LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Late Summer 2015

Harvest Festival 2015 Fall is a season ripe for celebration.

The harvest of our bountiful fields, orchards, and vineyards is certainly something worth celebrating. Lucky for us the wonderful folks from the Winery Association of Nova Scotia, the Craft Brewers Association of Nova Scotia and Taste of Nova Scotia have joined forces to create, Harvest Fest 2015. A celebration of food, wine and craft beer to deliver all the fall flavours for us to taste, sip and enjoy. Each participating craft brewery and winery will be pairing up with a chef to delight our taste buds with a perfectly paired fresh, local nibble to go along with their liquid offerings. The Mark Riley Band will also be on hand to entertain and when the tasting portion of the evening is complete they will keep the party going with their soul, funk, and blues. Harvest Fest is being held at the Wolfville Farmers Market on Saturday, October 3rd from 7pm to 10pm and is sure to be a true harvest celebration, one you won’t want to miss. Tickets can be purchased online at: eventbrite.com

the wines of late summer Nova Scotia wines worth celebrating

Blomidon Estate Winery, 2011 Woodside Sparkling The vineyards of Blomidon estate and winemaker Simon Rafuse sure know how to make impressive traditional method sparkling wines. Each new release is appropriately awarded with the hardware to prove it, most recently taking home a gold medal at the national Wine Align awards for their 2011 Cuvee L’Acadie. After tasting their newest offering, the small release 2011 Woodside sparkling, a magnificent blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris, there is no doubt that this wine will also find its time in the spotlight. Aging in the bottle for 30 months gives this wine refined toastiness, with expressive honeycrisp apple and lemon meringue. The finish is lively and bright, a distinct expression of their Woodside vineyard and talented winemaking.

L'Acadie Vineyards, 2008 Prestige Brut Estate We are so lucky that Bruce Ewert moved here from Bristish Columbia to invest in Nova Scotia wine country and to concentrate on making traditional method sparkling wines.

He was one of the first to recognize Nova Scotia’s potential for producing this style of wine and brought with him years of sparkling winemaking experience. The 2008 Prestige Brut Estate is an extremely special wine as this limited release celebrates the first harvest from his certified organic vineyard.

The uniqueness of his vineyard on the south side of the Gaspereau valley with its rocky soil shines through in this wine. Adding depth and complexity the wine it was aged for an extended period of 5 years. The result is opulant, with brioche and mineral aromatics balanced by delicate fruit.

Domaine de Grand Pre, Haskap Sparkling This limited release wine is an exciting partnership between two extraordinary products, traditional method sparkling wine and fermented haskap juice. Crafted with a blend of L’Acadie and Seyval sparkling with just the right dosage of haskap, they seem like natural partners in the glass. The result is elegant and a whole lot of fun. The wine is brilliantly pink hued with delightful berry and citrus notes followed by a creamy sparkling finish. With only 1000 bottles available you will certainly want to pick up a bottle to enjoy before it is gone.

Benjamin Bridge, 2011 Rose Sparkling Pretty in pink, this blend of Pinot Meunier, Pinot Noir, and Chardonnay is gorgeous in the glass. Equally as beautiful and complex on the nose with expressive strawberry shortcake notes, bringing together ripe summer strawberries with fresh baked biscuits. Elegant structure and richness on the palate, this wine is captivating and alluring. Another example of just why Benjamin Bridge is constantly receiving the accolades of producing some of Canada’s best sparkling wines.

Gaspereau Vineyards, Gina's Red Approachable with true varietal character, this red blend of Marechal Foch, Marquette, Triomphe d'Alsace and Lucie Kuhlmann by winemaker Gina Haverstock is absolutely delectable. It is a limited release wine made with artistry and care. Ripe berry aromas erupt from the glass integrated with soft spice notes of vanilla and anise. Exquisite structure and easy drinkability. This is a superb wine from a brilliant winemaker and an overall, magnificent woman.

Domaine de Grand Pre, TOM A wine paying homage to Tom Preston, one of Nova Scotia’s longest working vineyard hands who sadly passed away in 2014 shortly after retirement. I had the distinct pleasure of working with Tom at Grand Pre, he was passionate about Nova Scotia viticulture and had a light-hearted personality to be reckoned with. He would often exclaim after offering him a cold drink on a hot summer’s day "you are the jam in my jelly roll", he had the gift to make you smile. This special release wine, is delicate and charming with delightful jammy fruit notes yet is distinctively complex. An expressive red blend of Marquette, Cabernet Foch and Baco Noir made with love in Tom’s honour. It is a wine that will make you smile and certainly put the jam in your jelly roll.

Lightfoot & Wolfville, 2013 Ancienne Chardonnay One word, impressive! This wild fermented Chardonnay made in true old world Burgundian style is elegant, intriguing and absolutely spectacular. Layered and complex, this is a wine you will want to spend some time with to explore its nuances and get to know it better with every sniff and sip. Toasty, apple pie and butterscotch on the nose with an impressive, silky mouthfeel and just the perfect balance of classic Nova Scotia acidity. Watch out wine world, Lightfoot & Wolfville is here.

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 | Summer 2015

51

Nova Scotia CRAFT BEER

The Official Brews of Sausage Fest 2015

brew bits

Fresh local sausages with zippy condiments, local cheeses and gourmet buns. What more could you ask for? Well, maybe something to wash them all down with.

Sausages go so well with beer that having one without a brew just feels wrong. Salty foods are tamed by bitterness in beer, while the carbonation acts to lift the fat from your tongue, refreshing your palate between bites. Malt adds an earthy sweetness that finds resonance in the caramelized flavours of grilled sausage, while hops can give an herbal and spicy impression, complementing any herbs used in the sausage. Keep your eyes peeled and your mouth thirsty for these four official beers and cider of Sausage Fest, created specifically to pair with sausages:

by Angeline MacLennan

Beers of LATE Summer The summer heat keeps blazing on, so our good Nova Scotian brewers have been hard at work to keep us well supplied with some local, cold, craft beer!

Check out what’s new on taps around the province:

Boxing Rock – Kerfuffle American Pale Ale Garrison – Hammerschlagen Brau Propeller – Wind Swell Wheat

Good Robot Brewing Kentucky Common, 5%

Bulwark – Hopped Citrus Cider

sausagefesthfx.ca/brew

Big Spruce Brewing Tip of the Spear Spruce IPA, 6.2% Big Spruce Brewing with Stillwell Beer Bar – Gimme Citra Pale Ale, 5.5%

How Rad are Radlers?

Boxing Rock Brewing Bottle Blonde Blonde Rye Ale, 5% Boxing Rock Brewing The Darkness Cascadian Dark Ale, 6.5% Sea Level Brewing Summer Blonde Pilsner, 4.8% Sea Level Brewing Acadian Cross Extra Pale Ale, 5.5% Garrison Brewing Fluffernutter Brown Ale, 5% Garrison Brewing Honey Lavender Ale, 6.3% Garrison Brewing Trop Yard Radler, 3.4% Breton Brewing Stirling Hefeweizen, 4.6% Breton Brewing Black Angus IPA, 6.2% Breton Brewing Hector’s Brown Ale, 5% Propeller Brewing Downeast Northwest IPA, 7%

Food Truck Fridays Planning a road trip to Cape Breton this summer? Be sure to make Big Spruce’s Food Truck Friday part of your itinerary!

Every Friday from now until the Celtic Colours Festival in October, you can stop by the brewery in Nyanza between 11 am and 7 pm to relax on the screenedin patio, sample some of your favourite organic Big Spruce beers, and grab some grub from a local food truck onsite for the day. Then from 3:30 pm onward, there will be live music. Check Big Spruce’s Facebook page for updates on the food and entertainment for that week.

facebook.com/BigSpruceBrewing

Propeller Brewing Pumpkin Ale, 5%

52

LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Late Summer 2015

One of the hottest trends in the world of cold beer is the beer cocktail. It’s exactly what it sounds like: a beverage made partly with beer. You may already be familiar with beer cocktails (such the Irish Car Bomb), but a great summer beer cocktail is the radler. Also known as shandies in western Europe, radlers originated in Germany and consist of half beer and half carbonated juice, typically something citrus like lemonade or grapefruit juice. Literally meaning “cyclist” in German, these were a thirst-quenching and hydrating way for cyclists to enjoy beer without worrying about the effects of alcohol (they typically ranging from 2 – 3 per cent ABV). Garrison and Gahan have both created summer radlers that I’m excited to try! Garrison uses their Hop Yard Pale Ale with a blend of orange and lime juice for their Trop Yard Radler, while Gahan House mixes ale with grapefruit juice and pink peppercorns for a spicy zip.

Stillwell’s Still Sizzling

Breton Brewery Opens Sydney’s Breton Brewing is the latest to join the ever-growing family of Nova Scotian craft breweries. Using beer names that nod to Nova Scotia’s history, owners Bryan MacDonald and Andrew Morrow operate a truly local gem. Black Angus IPA is named after Giant Angus MacAskill of Englishtown, Stirling Hefeweizen is named for the Earl of Stirling who named Nova Scotia, and Sons of Hector Brown Ale is named after The Hector, the ship that brought Bryan and Andrew’s ancestors to Nova Scotia.

“We would just like to thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts for the support we've been shown. Long hours and days are well worth it when we get to see the smile on people's faces after trying our brews,” said Morrow. You can find them at Stillwell (Barrington and Beer Garden), The Stubborn Goat, Tom's Little Havana Cafe, and Lion & Bright. Sláinte!

bretonbrewing.ca

After a successful start to summer for the Stillwell Beergarden, the crew plans to stay open and slinging cold brews on warm days until mid-October. When asked about what sort of response the Beergarden has had, co-owner Chris Reynolds said they’ve received “many, many compliments, many surprised tourists and many happy Haligonians.”

In other Stillwell news, keep your eyes peeled for some fantastic tap takeovers at the Barrington Street location, including one set for September 1

by Texas’s Jester King Brewery and Quebec’s Brasserie Dunham. These two phenomenal breweries made a collaboration beer called Amicis Mortis, which will be pouring from a German gravity keg. Make sure you get out to try it; I’m sure it won’t last long!

barstillwell.com

Halifax Hootenanny The boys at Good Robot have been busy brewing up another historical beer style to join the ranks of their Gose and Lichtenhainer. Their Kentucky Common beer will soon be flowing in Halifax. So what’s a Kentucky Common?

It’s a pre-Prohibition American ale that had immense popularity in Kentucky, but has virtually disappeared since Prohibition. Along with malted barley, early American beer makers brewed with corn to lighten the body and cut back on the protein content. The Kentucky Common is particularly high in its use of corn, ranging up to 35 per cent of the grain bill, creating a light, grainy sweetness. Good Robot estimates its corn use to be around 25 per cent, which adds a “silky texture and very lovely cereal sweetness.” To mark its release in early September, Good Robot plans to throw a driveway festival that, in true hootenanny style, will include a pig roast and live music. Giddy up!

wroughtironbrewing.ca

Y O W LIVE EVIL ART TRA DANCE ECNAD

Arts & ENTERTAINMENT

Travel around the world and back with dance —We’ve saved you a seat!

Subscribe now !

Y H Z A R N Y U L EL ON HÖGLAN D / TENTAC LE TR IBE | PHOTO / YURA LIAM IN

A M S Y Y Z liveartdance.ca

2015 | 16 SEASON SPONSOR

54

LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Late Summer 2015

Arts & ENTERTAINMENT

Cecilia Concerts Article by: Kathleen Higgins · Photo: Scott Thieu

A look at St.Cecilia Concert Society's 27th season

I

n its twenty seven years, Cecilia Concerts (called “St. Cecilia Concert Series” until 2014) has hosted music luminaries and performers from around the world, including Canadian opera legends Ben Heppner and Measha Brueggergosman.

It has also proved to be an invaluable resource for emerging and established artists alike, presenting exciting, intimate concerts to a steadily growing audience of chamber music fans.

The Lilian Piercey Concert Hall, a bright, sunny room nestled in the Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts on Chebucto Road (a room whose acoustics Board Chair Jules Chamberlain describes as “delicious”), is home to warm, intimate Sunday afternoon chamber concerts, which often feature casual postconcert opportunities for audience members to chat with performers. Cecilia Concerts’ new executive director, Missy Searle, is more than excited about this years’ programming, which continues the tradition of showcasing Nova Scotia's world-class musical talent, established by founder Barbara Butler in 1989.

“I am excited about the whole year!” Searle explains happily, and it's not hard to see why. Kicking off in September with a presentation by artists in residence Philippe Djokic and Lynn Stodola called “Sonatas by Schubert, Clarke, Chausson and Schumann,” this year's series features everything from the music of the French Impressionists to a classical interpretation of famed film soundtracks by pianist Olivier De Spiegeleir. Sears is especially excited about Montreal's Jeunesses Musicales presentation of their touring opera, Romeo and Juliet.

This year also sees the return of a number of previous performers to Cecilia Concerts' stage. Dominic Desautels, principal clarinetist for Symphony Nova Scotia, proposed a series inspired by Brazilian choro and popular music in part because he so enjoyed his first experience performing with Cecilia Concerts in 2012. The trios by Glinka, Poulenc and Villa Lobos are a labour of love for Desautels and feature his wife Ariana Pedrosa on the bassoon, along with friends Simon Docking on piano and Suzanne Lemieux (last year's artist in residence) on oboe. Desautels and Pedrosa, who met in the Université de Montréal's orchestra and played together in Brazil's Orquestra Filarmônica de Minas Gerais, are excited to present the program as part of a series that provides the community with an experience like no other. “It’s exceptional. It means a lot, it’s for sure,” says Desautels about the importance of Cecilia Concerts to the local musical landscape. “It’s terrific that we do have a series like that.”

Also terrific are the efforts to make programming as accessible as possible to as many people as possible. Beyond the inexpensive concert tickets and discounts for members, seniors and students, the organization tries to bring music out of the concert hall and into the community, as well as connect student and emerging musicians with established artists. Cecilia Concerts' outreach programs make chamber music accessible to folks who might not normally seek it out in spaces around the city. In the past, artists in residence have visited schools and performed at public events, and this year they're expanding.

Chamberlain is excited to explain that the “outreach is growing to include pop-up short concerts designed to take classical music out of the hall and into public spaces.” Another example: their master classes for university students to receive private or focused instruction from established and virtuoso musicians.

These efforts are part of a concerted effort by Cecilia Concerts to share the incredible music they showcase—and the remarkable talent they attract and cultivate—with as many people as possible. As Chamberlain explains, “We wish to continue to make our concert opportunities financially accessible to a wide economic demographic. We are a smaller, more intimate venue, thus allowing for a more relaxing atmosphere. As our tag line says, 'Great music, warm hospitality.'”

A delightful result of Cecilia Concerts' outreach efforts has been overcoming a challenged faced by many classical music organizations: fear of the unknown. Their welcoming atmosphere and engagement with organizations like the Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts, Jeunesses Musicales and the Halifax Jazz Festival helps dispel some of the misconceptions many folks have about classical music.

This is a cause near to Desautels's heart, and one he's happy to help with. “I love to demystify, let's say, the concept of classical concert,” he says. “And I always find that people are kind of scared to go to a classical music concert or chamber music concert or even a symphony concert because somehow . . . I don’t know if it’s an image you know sometimes we see in commercials, but it's so much crap! I think that it’s a very accessible program for anybody.”

With so many different concerts on offer this year and so many dedicated, enthusiastic people working hard to present them and welcome veteran concertgoers and first-timers alike, Cecilia Concerts is the perfect place to discard your notions of what chamber music is and see for yourself the exciting, worldclass talent right here in our own backyard. █ LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Late Summer 2015

55

Arts & ENTERTAINMENT

A Q&A with four of the people behind The Healer, a film shot in—and about—Lunenburg IIt's not often that a film comes along with a touch of whimsy and a dash of magic; a Capra-esque inspired family film that carries a resounding message beneath its subtext. “The Healer” is just that. Spanish director Paco Arango knew he wanted to shoot the feature film in Nova Scotia because he needed a place that was “desolate, wonderful and beautiful". What better way to capture that essence then by bringing onboard top-notch Spanish cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe, who has worked on numerous feature films like the “Twilight” saga and “Vicky Christina Barcelona”.

Throw in a stellar lead cast of actor Jonathan Pryce (“Game of Thrones”), Oliver Jackson Cohen (“Dracula” TV series) and Camilla Luddington (“Greys Anatomy”), complimented by local actors & crew, and you have the makings of The Healer.

Q&A by: Tiffany Thornton

It’s a story of a disgruntled young man in England named Alec, with a major gambling debt and a repair shop that he can longer sustain. A mysterious uncle he has never known shows up offering to absolve his debt on one condition: that he moves to the small bucolic town of Lunenburg for one year. With much trepidation he makes the move and uncanny events begin to occur as people in the town seem to recover from their afflictions while he is there. In time Alec is confronted with the notion that he bears a "family secret" past down from generations. Local Connections Halifax sits down with the creative individuals behind the movie.

Q: What was the initial impetus behind the film The Healer?

Was it something you had been working on for a while with director Paco Arango?

Producer Enrique Posner: We had been looking to do another film, and it was a film that requires a large famous cast and we were having difficulties assembling everybody at the same time and getting everyone's schedules to work. Paco got frustrated and he said, “I am going to go off and write something and see what we can do with this other film.” He came out to Nova Scotia about a year ago with and idea in his head, looked around, started to think and then this idea for The Healer came to him. He wrote the script in a month and of course refined it and refined it, but we decided almost exactly a year ago that we would come and shoot it here. We had financiers that were ready to finance.

Q: You collaborated with local producer Michael Volpe, how did that come to be?

EP: Paco and I decided we would make this film, and that Nova Scotia would be the place. We needed a partner here that was very knowledgeable with the ways of working with the crews, etc. That is why we invited Nova Scotian producer Michael Volpe to join us.

56

LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Late Summer 2015

Q: What's your sense of Nova Scotia and how it fits into the film?

EP: We are telling a story about Lunenburg. The Lunenburg that we are describing is a bit of an idealized version, because one of the main characters, Alec, played by Oliver Jackson Cohen, comes under duress. He not interested in being here, when he is here he learns that the town is expecting him. It's all very strange, almost reminiscent of a Frank Capra movie. It's so perfect and beautiful and that adds to his frustration because he just does not want to be in the town or have anything to do with the people. Then when they tell him he is a healer and can help them he wants it even less. For us it was wonderful to be able to photograph Lunenburg in its true beauty, which was magical.

It will be a most beautiful postcard to the area. The director of cinematography Javier Aguirresarobe is a genius. In the film we are taking Lunenburg and distilling it into its essence.

Q: You spent some time scouting locations here about a year ago? Why here when you were living in Spain? What was the draw?

Director Paco Arango: I was between movies and I had The Healer written. I came out to Nova Scotia about a year ago,

June 2014. The taxes were one of the main reasons and we were working with Canadian partners. I needed a place that was desolate, wonderful and beautiful. I came to see it and it was great because I had actually written the scene for what I was looking at. I got really lucky while here I met a guy named Shawn Clark who is a Nova Scotian location scout. He is also in the film.

Q: As far as the evolution of the characters, did you already have it in your mind of who was going to be in the film?

PA: Yes I did. The great thing is I knew that I was going to be using a lot of Nova Scotian actors. I knew my four leads would have to come from abroad. I spent a year casting people.

Q: There is a real philanthropic angle to the film. Can you tell me a bit more about it?

PA: In 2000 I started volunteering in the children's ward in Spain and it took over my life. It was once a week to everyday.

In 2005 I founded my own foundation called Aladina. We now tend to 2000 children at their bedside every year. With my last film, “Maktub”, I built Europe's most sophisticated bone marrow transplant centre for children. We have done 200 transplants in two years; my dedication to these kids is absolute.

I was fortunate enough to meet Paul Newman and I was made a member of his board. I decided that this movie was going to help his “Serious Fun” camps. We have pledged a minimum of half a million dollars. We intend to make this a big thing.

Q: How did your role as the mysterious uncle Raymond come into fruition?

Actor Jonathan Pryce: It was the first time I had ever met Paco.

They literally just sent me the script and I read it and I had to read it again as I didn't get it the first time. Often with a script if

it comes cold and there is no background to it you don't know what kind of film it might be. This was a bit different than what normally comes through the letterbox. I really recognized more of the humour that's in there, trying to find the heart of the film. I liked it; at times it’s witty and it has a good heart.

Q: Had you spent time in this part of Canada before?

JP: No, it's one of the reasons I wanted to do this film - when would I go to Nova Scotia otherwise? And I knew about the fish.

I liked the script, and when I choose films all the different factors come into play. If the location is good and it's somewhere I have never been before then I'll want to do it.

Q: Had you interviewed for this role of Alec in The Healer from the onset?

Actor Oliver Jackson Cohen: No, I just got a phone call, I don't know why but here I am!

Q: Your character is in debt, down and out with a gambling background. Is this role a departure from other roles?

OJC: Yeah, this film is really light hearted; a warm film with little drama. Alec is a selfish man and so it's interesting that he moves somewhere, wants nothing to do with all of the nonsense.

He had lost his brother to cancer and then he meets this young girl in the film with cancer. She becomes the catalyst for him and starts to promote change in him.

Q: What resonated for you filming here in Nova Scotia as part of the role?

OJC: It's certainly beautiful here. We filmed in an isolated house in Aspotogan. I think it's helpful in that respect to feel a bit like you’re out of your element and it can fit into your character.

LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Late Summer 2015

57

Stay Open to Change to grow your small Business L i n d s a y B u r n s i ca.linkedin.com/in/lindsaybest l lindsaybestbiz

B

eing flexible and open to new opportunities is a competitive advantage that small businesses can have over larger organizations. But to capitalize on this advantage, business owners will inevitably need to make major changes in the way their company works. This is easier said than done.

Business change can come in many forms, such as entering a new territory, hiring new employees, diversifying products or simply moving to a new office space. Regardless of the type of change, more than one element of your business will to be impacted. What challenges might you run into along this uncertain path?

Internally, change can impact your employee’s satisfaction, your processes and your bottom line. When considering a new opportunity that may affect your staff, ask for their input and find out what benefits and challenges they foresee. They will appreciate that their opinion has been valued and you might find a different perspective you had not yet considered.

Externally, who do you need to communicate the change to? Your customers? Your suppliers? Your community? How will you effectively deliver this message to ensure a smooth transition? How you position this new opportunity to your clients will ultimately be the best measure of success. Pay

58

LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Late Summer 2015

attention to their reactions and feedback and make small adjustments along the way. It would be a rare case to get it 100% right on the first try.

With any change comes a certain level of uncertainty.

Making unnecessary changes will open you up to unnecessary risks. Knowing when not to make a change is just as important as recognizing when change is needed. For example, some companies can get caught in a cycle of re-branding when they do not see the results they expected with a recent strategic decision. Sometimes it’s not the logo’s fault, but a matter of a lot of factors converging. Pay close attention to your core business functions before taking on the expensive and time consuming task of rebranding.

If you want your business to be competitive, change is unavoidable. It can be scary to try something new, not knowing if it will make or break your business. Stay open to new opportunities, listen to your customers, weigh the risks, consider what it will impact and take the leap. If you get stuck doing things the way you have always done them, potential investors and partners might not see you as an attractive option. Start with a conversation and see where it goes. It just might be the innovative change you need to grow your small business.

Milk Thistle: An important herb to add to your pet’s diet

R o d n e y H a b i b f PlanetPawsPetEssentials l PlanetPawsNS

H

ave you recently checked out any of the herbal booths at your local farmers’ market? If not, you may be missing out on a very important herb that could really benefit you and your pet this time of year!

With nice weather comes a larger variety of fresh fruits and vegetables.

However, if you’re not purchasing organic veggies for you and the fur family, this could spell some trouble for all of yous—trouble in the form of pesticides and toxins.

The Environmental Working Group: “In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers looked for the presence of toxic chemicals in the umbilical cord blood of newborn babies. Of the more than 400 chemicals

60

tested for, 287 were detected in umbilical cord blood. Of these, 180 cause cancer in humans or animals, 217 are toxic to the brain or nervous system, and 208 cause birth defects or abnormal development in animals.”

What can you do to help remove some of these toxins, you may be asking? Let me introduce you to one of my top five most important herbs that need to be in your pet’s life, if it isn’t already: milk thistle! This herb has been used for over two thousand years to help fix a zillion different problems!

If you have recently done any of the following, you need milk thistle in your life ASAP! • Vaccinated your pet

LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Summer 2015

• Administered drugs to your pet • De-wormed your pet • Used flea, tick or heartworm preventatives with your pet • Had your pet hang out in an area with lawn chemicals • Anesthetized your pet Recently, scientists from the Radiological Physics and Advisory Division in India who were studying milk thistle found that silibinin, which is in milk thistle, programmed cell death in breast cancer. Adding to this finding is the University of Maryland Medical Center: “Early laboratory studies show that silymarin and other active substances in milk thistle may have anticancer effects.

These substances appear to stop cancer

cells from dividing and reproducing, shorten their lifespan, and reduce blood supply to tumors.”

Personally, though, I love milk thistle for its allergy-fighting properties. If your poor pet is constantly itching and scratching, milk thistle can help! According to Mark E. Richardson, a former health practitioner who has written about curing asthma and allergies through natural methods, “The liver has to process toxins and when it can’t do its job it stores them. If it stores them it also produces additional histamines to protect itself. If an allergen is present the brain sends a message: ‘Send out a few histamines! I think there’s an invader!’ and the liver proceeds it releases too many, and you have the allergic response. Cleanse the liver and maybe . . . you’ll become allergy/asthma free.”

(From Richardson’s article, “The True Cause of Allergies—It’s in the Liver”).

Detoxification is such an important process, not only for us humans, but also for our pets. We can be feeding our furry loved ones the best foods in the world, but pores clogged with toxins will not allow essential nutrients to pass, causing a weakened immune system. A pet’s weakened immune system equals a multitude of problems! Milk thistle is the boss of detoxifiers!

So what else can this rock star of an herb do?

• Aid in healing kidney disease or kidney damage and speed up the healing process • Help alleviate pancreatitis symptoms • Decrease the effects of some cancers in a pet’s body • Cleanse our skin • Help decrease the amount of insulin needed over time (due to its anti-hyperglycemic properties) in pets suffering from diabetes • Lower cortisol • Protect against oxidative stress • Protect against skin cancer and photo-aging induced by exposure to UV radiation • Prevent congestion in the kidneys, spleen and veins • Help stabilize cell membranes and control cell function • Aid in gallstones and support the gallbladder; can raise bile solubility, which encourages its circulation • Enhance and strengthen the immune system Dosages: use a quarter of a teaspoon per 20 pounds of body weight.

Remember, medicinal herbs shouldn’t be used for extended periods of time. As Gregory L. Tilford and Mary L. Wulff explain in their book Herbs for Pets: The Natural Way to Enhance Your Pet’s Life, “Despite much of the publicity that has been generated about this ‘wonder herb’, milk thistle should not be used as a daily food supplement. Milk thistle is a medicine that is best reserved for situations in which the liver is already under abnormal stress.” Most holistic doctors feel that milk thistle should be administered for 3 - 6 weeks with a 1 - 3 week break.

Known as one of the most powerful detoxifiers in the world and the liver’s BFF, milk thistle serves a zillion other functions when it comes to your pet’s overall health (and yours too!). █

Contest begins September 19, 2015!

sausagefesthfx.ca

2016

Test TestDRIVE DRIVE

Article & Photos: Alexander Henden 路 Car Courtesy of O'Regan's Hyundai Dartmouth

I

62

t used to be that SUVs were generally uninteresting to car buyers like myself, residing in the space between minivans for soccer moms and the cars I generally gravitated towards.

But that's all changed recently, with most manufacturers making a shift in design philosophy, giving their vehicles a more sporty look.

Case in point, this new Hyundai Tucson. In its Caribbean Blue paint, it's quite the stunner. It doesn't matter which angle you look at it from, it just looks right. More sporty looking? Yes, but perhaps a better way to describe it is; more alive. Even the alloy rims that come with this all-new Tucson, which are included in almost every trim level, look like they belong. No compromises, just great looks. In fact, this may be the best looking Hyundai yet.

Inside, things look pretty good too. The seats are more fitted, and again more sporty. Even the steering wheel is a pleasure to hold, and just as one would expect from a mid-size SUV, there's also lots of room inside the cabin for five to seat very comfortably.

Comfort aside, cargo space is very generous. In fact, as part of this test drive, we tested its capacity in popping by Home Depot to pick up two full sized BBQs for a contest we're holding this summer (for Sausage Fest 2015). Despite being initially impressed with the size of the cabin, I wasn't sure if both BBQs would fit on one run, but sure enough they did.

The rear seats folded down with ease and it didn't take much wiggling to fit the two very big boxes into the back. Impressive.

Driving the Tucson was also a bit of a surprise. Our tester was the 1.6L Turbo, which on paper had me wondering if it might be underpowered. 175hp may not seem like much in today's world, but power delivery is extremely efficient, making good use of the 195lb ft of torque available between 1500 and 4500rpm.

LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Late Summer 2015

It's not a firecracker, but there wasn't a point where I thought more power would be nice. On a couple of occassions I even put the pedal down to the mat, only to discover that the Tucson is willing and capable.

Handling is quite good, though I found there to be a bit of body roll. No problem for me. The roll is there as a means for vehicles to communicate to the driver. Some people see roll as a flaw in design, but a lot of good sportcar makers actually engineer a certain amount of roll into them to give the driver better connectivity. It's fun to play with if you know how, especially in the case of this tester, which comes with All Wheel Drive. I would love to have this thing on a snow-covered road if I could.

Ride quality is generally good. You aren't isolated from the road as in some vehicles, and the ride isn't harsh either. Between the steering feel, body roll, and suspension damping, everything seems to be in sync. The seats are on the firm side, which may not impress immediately, but as someone who has driven crosscountry (coast to coast), I can tell you that these are the seats to have. Your legs won't fall asleep on long road trips and you'll feel fresh after driving, even after many hours.

Looking at the dashboard, the number of controls are kept to near minimum, which is again something I prefer. You have your climate control, simple audio set up with steering mounted controls, and a Bluetooth hands-free phone system.

Everything is where it should be and each part works like it should.

Steering feel, like almost every other car or SUV outside of sportcars, is lacking in feedback, but the accuracy is definitely there. The only minor disappointment is in the brake feel. It's actually reasonably good, but a vehicle of this quality deserves

a little better. That said, minor flaws aside, it's hard to argue that Hyundai hasn't built a winner here. The idea that you can buy a fully-loaded mid-sized SUV with AWD for $31, 299 is kind of crazy really. It's tremendous value for the dollars.

Final verdict? Well, I really like it. I'd of course spend the extra bucks for the panoramic sunroof that wasn't on my tester, but outside of that, I wouldn't change much. If it were sitting in my driveway right now, I'd feel pretty good about it.

If you are in the market for a mid-sized SUV but don't quite have the budget for this beauty, might I suggest inquiring about the outgoing 2015 model. It may not have the same sporty looks, but it does come with an attractive $2500 manufacturer discount, plus a choice of dealer incentives. Being a Hyundai, you're also going to get the tremendous build quality and bang for your buck proposition. â–ˆ

JULESCHAMBERLAIN.CA

9028176007

AGENTIMMOBILIER/REALTORÂŽ

Vehicle Specifications Model

Hyundai Tucson 1.6T Premium AWD

Engine

1.6L Turbo-GDI 4-cylinder engine

Power

175hp @ 5500rpm

Torque

195lb ft @ 1500 - 4500rpm

Fuel Economy (city)

9.9L/100kms

Fuel Economy (highway)

8.4L/100kms

Seating Capacity 5 Base price (2.0L FWD)

$24,399

Price as tested (1.6T Premium AWD)

$31,299

Postcard from ABROAD

the Italian Oil Job Travelling to Italy with Myrna and Bill from Liquid Gold

Article by: Bill MacArthur of Liquid Gold Olive Oils & All Things Olive

I

64

like drives along the coast on a cool, overcast day.

Especially on days when you can smell and feel the North Atlantic’s ocean fragrance envelope you in something between great seafood and a wet dog. It’s the olfactory signature of this place.

So it was weird to drive beside the Adriatic Sea in the Marche region of Italy in November on an overcast, foggy day. It could have been Queensland, except for the smell of a just-mowed lawn after a rain. That’s what the crush of newly harvested olives serves up: it is an omnipresent smell of the colour green.

It is a verdant reminder that Marche may be by the sea, but it is defined by the land and the thousands-year-old olive oil traditions that are so connected to the very idea of Italy.

This past season, my wife Myrna and I were in Italy’s mid regions—Marche, Umbria and Tuscany—for the fall olive harvest. Tuscany is Italy’s smallest olive and olive oil producing region even though it’s the movie-set province for many things Italian. Italy’s heavyweight olive producer is Puglia, which comprises the heel and calf of the Italian boot.

Much of Puglia’s harvest is skewed industrial and is destined for the commercial grocery market. But Myrna and I wanted the artisan experience because we sell artisan extra virgin olive oils and we wanted to trace the chain of authenticity.

We planned to visit a couple of different producers— a traditional mill (called a “frantoio”) that serves a local community, and a state-of-the-art producer whose frantoio would be considered the standard for producing phenomenal olive oil.

Ironically, at a local restaurant the previous evening, Myrna

LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Late Summer 2015

and I had a lovely meal, except for the olive oil. The server could guess we were tourists. What he didn’t know was that we are both olive oil sensory evaluators, or sommeliers. Which explains his startled reaction to our mild rebuke. We told him that the olive oil he brought to our table was old, rancid and musty, with an unpleasant aroma and a very greasy mouthfeel.

We asked for his good stuff, the “olio nuevo,” the freshest oil from the harvest we knew was underway. He sheepishly removed the grease, offered an apology and returned with a bottle of pure glory. Evidently, slight-of-hand in olive oil isn’t restricted to North America.

Frantoio Della Rocca Beltrami is a mill serving a hillside community about 50 km from the ocean. Italian rural roads being what they are, it was probably only about 15 linear kilometres away. The aromatics were extraordinary in the warm and humid grinding and pressing room. Two vintage, five-ton granite grinding wheels circled in a metal race, pulverizing olives that had been delivered from a local family’s olive grove. This machine produced a light brown olive paste which was extruded like elephant-sized toothpaste onto round, synthetic mats which were then inserted in a stack of maybe twelve similar mats into a pneumatic press. The press took about forty-five minutes to gradually squeeze olive oil from the paste. The oil runs down a trough through a set of filters that removes the bits of stone, skin and organic matter that remains.

The warm, green, thick olive oil that resulted from this oldschool machinery was very good. It met our sensory standards for extra virgin quality, but we also knew it would not last long.

A better approach to banking

Mother Nature gives olive oil an average of fourteen months, but this oil would likely turn rancid much sooner because of the open-air, phenol-sucking, unsterile nature of this very old technology. But these families didn’t care. It was olive oil from their own land, for their own uses and they were thrilled.

We visited several other mills, both bigger and smaller than Frantoio Della Rocca, before we came to the modern mill at Convetino Frantoio in Monteciccardo. It was a revelation, and it took two days to take in. It looked more like a NASA control centre. The five-ton granite wheels were now a fully air-tight hammer mill about the size of a tractor’s transmission case.

The mats were gone, replaced by an argon-filled machine whose augurs slowly worked the olive paste for about fortyfive minutes so that the tiny bits of oil could coalesce. The old squeeze “press” was replaced by a centrifuge that sounded like a small jet engine that spun the oil out of the paste, rather than squeeze it. If, as a farmer, you care for your olives, then this is the technology you need in order to get the best oil from the fruit of your, and your trees’, labour.

And there was no aroma! The sensory overload of cut grass that carries across the landscape from old-style mills is now understood to come from an olive’s polyphenols escaping to the atmosphere. The new technology captures this “angel’s share” of real extra virgin olive oil’s health and flavour, and contains it within the juice.

Alas, even though Myrna and I truly love good extra virgin olive oil, after consuming more farm-gate olive oil than we had ever thought possible, I can’t tell you how good it tastes to settle into a cheeseburger and a beer, even in Italy. █

Make the switch today! cua.com/banklocal Join the conversation

Oktoberfest in FRANKFURT

Savoury German Sausage & Oktoberfest Magic Article by: BTiffany Thornton

A look overseas at the Godfather of all Sausage Fests

66

I

f anyone knows a thing or two about sausage, it’s the Germans, creators of the "wiener,", known around the world as the iconic "hot dog.". Germany boasts roughly 1500 fifteen hundred varieties of sausage — not a small culinary feat by any means. As my Condor flight touches down on the tarmac of the airline’s hub of Frankfurt, and I can still taste hints of the lovely Riesling offered on board. The vibe at the airport is buzzing; it's a busy time in Germany, with Oktoberfest running from September 19th to – October 4th. It’s one of the largest festivals in the world, where over six million litres of frothy beer are consumed and, paired with sausage, giant pretzels and other yummy goodness.

When in Frankfurt, it's almost mandatory to indulge in the famous "Frankfurter", a long, thin smoked sausage made of pork commonly served with bread, mustard and horseradish.

One of the best places to go for a fresh frankfurter is the Konstablerwache market, located in the city centre (Thursdays and Saturdays only). Make sure to pair it with a glass of one of Germany's specialties, Apple Wine, or “Apfelwein”, as it’s

LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Late Summer 2015

locally known.

Sausage was introduced as a way of preserving meat centuries ago. Some of the best sausage makers around the world were located in colder climate countries like Germany. The technique made for no waste of meat scraps, and was an essential part of survival during the dreary winter months. The word "wurst,", which means “sausage,” is seen everywhere throughout Germany—at restaurants, outdoor markets and festivals. From the Bratwursts to the Knackwursts, each region has its specialty and distinctively flavoured fare.

It came as no surprise to discover that in 2007, a German historian unearthed the oldest bratwurst recipe on record in the state of Thuringia. It dated back almost six hundred 600 years and detailed how "pure and unspoilt" the meat must be, or you would be fined a day’s wages. That standard still seems to ring true as I sit outside in one of Munich's oldest restaurants ordering the traditionally favoured Bavarian Weisswurst (white sausage), which is generally made of veal and pork. This deliciousness is served in a bowl of hot water along side a warm

2015 – 2016 Season

Sunday, 20 September

2:00 pm – Lilian Piercey Concert Hall

Sonatas in the Afternoon Season opener: our Musicians in Residence play Sonatas by Shubert, Clarke, Chausson and Schumann.

Sunday, 4 October

2:00 pm – Lilian Piercey Concert Hall

The Music of John Plant An intimate afternoon and celebration of the music of Canadian Composer John Plant.

Sunday, 25 October

2:00 pm – Lilian Piercey Concert Hall

Tour de France A tableau of works from early 20th Century French Impressionists from the Trio’s recent CD.

Sunday, 22 November (evenIng) 7:00 pm – Lilian Piercey Concert Hall

Brazilian Choro Music Trios by Composers glinka, Poulenc and villa Lobos, with an accent on Brazilian Choro Music.

Sunday, 29 November (evenIng) 7:00 pm – Lilian Piercey Concert Hall

Romeo and Juliette Rediscover gounod’s epic opera of two star crossed lovers swept along by a fate they cannot escape.

pretzel and sweet Bavarian mustard. Traditionally, the ends of the Weisswurst are cut off and the meat is sucked out.

The historic streets of Munich are filled with laughter as men and women clad in lederhosen and colourful dirndl dresses head towards the large Oktoberfest beer tents. The action is infectious, and the fourteen large Oktoberfest tents are packed to the hilt. Each tent is individually named, like the famous "Hackerbrau-Festhalle,”, which has room for 9,300 guests.

Inside, people from all over stomp their feet atop tables and singing American oldies. A mix of spit-roasted chicken and sausage smells permeates the air. I take a swig from my massive stein and join in the festivities, loving every minute of it. █

2015 – 2016 Ticket Prices Adult: $ 30

Senior: $ 20

Student: $ 15

6199 Chebucto Rd, Halifax, NS B3L 1K7 (902) 423-0143

lf CeciliaConcerts

| ceciliaconcerts.ca

City FEature

tale of two argyles Article by: Brenden Sommerhalder · Illustration: Alexander Zelnitskiy

How two cities are giving their Argyle Streets back to people

68

T

t turns out that city planning is just like everything else, and the old has become new again. At the founding of Halifax as a community in 1749, streets were configured to encourage a shared etiquette; buggies (and later, autos) were on the street alongside bicycles, strollers, and pedestrians—although they probably just called them “people”. The rule of the road was simply that people shouldn’t run into each other, and all of the people with their varying modes of transportation negotiated around one another to get to where they needed to go.

Eventually (and in the scheme of things, very recently), cities began reconfiguring to encourage people to go farther away and at a faster speed. Fast-moving autos broke their end of the don’t-hit-one-another deal, and a new feature started cropping up in cities: sidewalks. This was where the pedestrians would go now.

Now we are starting to realize the value in doing things the old way. Increasingly, the hottest destinations in cities around the world are pedestrian-centric streets, where driving cars is not allowed or if it is, the original share-the-road expectations are in effect. In these places the distinction between the road and the sidewalk is less clear or outright eliminated, and people take to the streets like they used to.

If it seems to you that a shared street concept is unworkable in today’s world or that it would kill business on the street, you’re not alone. Resistance to shared streets tends to come from concerns about safety and potential harm to business. The evidence from shared streets in several other cities, however, paints quite literally the opposite picture. For example when Kensington High Street in London, UK was converted to a shared street in 2003, causalities and injuries decreased 43%

LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Late Summer 2015

within two years. They found that people driving vehicles naturally go slower and are more attentive to their surroundings when they are driving on a shared street.

In 2007, New Road in Brighton, UK was rebuilt as a shared street, which led to 62% more pedestrian traffic and a 93% reduction in vehicle traffic, resulting in a 600% increase in “staying activity” on the street—exactly what the businesses needed and every business wants. People in front of a business are potential customers, and it’s a lot easier to get them to stop in if they are walking by rather than driving.

When shared streets are done well in the right places, they are safer, better for business and tourism, and downright more enjoyable.

Seeing Double: Two Shared Argyles There is a city you may have heard of. This past July, this city finally got to work on something it had been flirting with for a while: making its Argyle Street a shared street. It made sense for Argyle Street because people naturally walk through it, it has a high concentration of restaurants and destinations, and it wasn’t a particularly good route for vehicle traffic to begin with. The city? Chicago. Well, also Halifax.

As the universe would have it, the exact same week Chicago broke ground on making its Argyle Street its first-ever shared street, Halifax did the same on our Argyle Street. Coincidence is an understatement.

Argyle Street in Chicago is an ethnic cuisine hotspot with lots of pedestrian traffic, it’s the venue for largescale Chinese New Year Celebrations, and home to weekly night

markets. Like our Argyle Street, Chicago’s Argyle has been a somewhat-de facto shared street for quite some time, and the residents were calling for something more official. Halifax’s Argyle Street is pretty much identical; just replace “ethnic cuisine” with pubs and restaurants and “Chinese New Year Celebrations” with St. Patrick’s Day shenanigans (and yes, so much more), and you've got Argyle Street, Halifax.

But while the similarities between the stories of the two Argyles are striking, as usual, the intrigue is in the contrasts. In Halifax, our Argyle Street project is a seven week pilot, designed to test the shared street concept to see if it could become a permanent configuration. It includes only temporary changes such as movable benches, planters, and garbage bins placed for public use, and everyone’s favourite features: the blue-green-white argyle pattern painted on the street and sidewalks, and the regular street closures that make it pedestrian-only on the weekends. If you are reading this past mid-September, by now these temporary features have already been removed, with only the painted street remaining to remind us of how good a shared street feels.

In Chicago, they have already gone all-in. The work on their Argyle Street is a largescale streetscaping project that will see the street undergo several permanent changes to create a “plaza-like setting” with space for sidewalk cafes and street fairs. Curbs will be eliminated and the street will be level from building to building, increasing its accessibility value and eliminating the barrier between where cars and people go. The speed limit on the street is being reduced to 15 MPH (24 KPH), and several car-centric cues, such as traffic lights and signage, are being redesigned or removed to signal that Chicago’s Argyle Street is no longer the domain of cars.

At time of writing, Halifax’s Argyle Street experiment is just over halfway through, and business and public support has been nearly unanimously ecstatic. With the completion of Nova Centre on the street scheduled for late-2016, a largescale permanent streetscaping project on our Argyle is imminent.

When the next chapter of Halifax’s Argyle Street is written, will it continue to mirror that of our neighbour’s to the south with a bold, permanent redesign, or will we stop short? It is up to all of us to be vocal about our enthusiasm for giving the street back to people for good. █

a sweet place to celebrate AUTUMN

THE ALL - DAY HAPPY HOUR

$2.50 FOR A GLASS OF BEER MONDAYS - WEDNESDAYS 6024 Quinpool Road, Halifax • 474- 4152 • L RelishHRM

Closing NOTE

Article by: Alexander Henden

a delicious downtown Halifax sandwich

70

T

his summer something very special happened to Downtown Halifax. Created through a thoughtful partnership between Halifax Regional Municipality, Downtown Halifax Business Commission, Planning Design Centre, Argyle Street businesses, and many others, Argyle Street became a testing bed for a pedestrian (or we would say people-friendly) streetscape pilot project from late July though to midSeptember. The city added some fresh plants and trees, lighting, and public seating, while the street itself was painted in a very cheerful and very memorable green blue and white argyle pattern. The result was that the city's much-loved entertainment district was transformed into a true public space enjoyed by locals and tourists alike.

As part of this pilot project, called Mingle on Argyle, the organizing group also tested different uses for the space, inviting talented local crafters, community groups, business owners, and musicians to come in and help animate the space.

On the fourth weekend of August we saw Argyle Street restaurants and businesses come together in producing a street food festival under the name "Taste of Argyle", and by the time this magazine is printed, we'll have seen a few other noteworthy events, including a fashion show (August 28), a rugby celebration (August 28 - 30), an ETSY weekend market (September 4 - 6), plus another event for our returning student population the following weekend.

I was thrilled to be brought in to play a small role in helping put together some of this year's events programming on Argyle Street, and it was a remarkable experience for me to be on the scene for almost all of this year's activities. I got to see firsthand how the space was used and how the public and business community embraced it.

Overall, the result was unanimous. Folks simply loved it.

LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX | Late Summer 2015

I actually wish we'd had someone counting just how many people came down and took a selfie of themselves on the street, in many cases taking group selfies. All the comments I heard from visitors and passers-by were of the same enthusiastic nature. Whether it was locals who couldn't believe this was actually happening in Halifax (take note, City of Halifax), or tourists who now have something wonderful to share once they get home, there is no question in my mind that this project should not only exist next year, it should become a permanent and expanded feature of Downtown Halifax.

Imagine if you will that every year, from late spring to early fall, Argyle Street from Blowers Street to Prince Street was closed to vehicle traffic, creating a permanent pedestrianfriendly space—painted in that lovely Argyle pattern of course. Then imagine that for special events, like Taste of Argyle for example, we extended that footprint all the way to Duke Street, connecting one of the city's best yet under-utilized spaces, Parade Square.

It would be pure magic, no doubt. Hero time for the City of Halifax, and a good play overall.

As is stands our waterfront is already a huge draw and delight for local and tourists alike, but imagine what Downtown Halifax would look like if we moved forward in making Argyle Street into a permanent public space. We’d have what I will call a "Downtown Sandwich". Two vibrant, walkable public spaces framing the best emerging city in the country.

Just as the new library and oval have done already, the addition of Argyle Street as a permanent walkable public space with that already-beloved Argyle pattern would be yet another piece in the Halifax puzzle. If our goal is to transform our city and realize its true potential, from where I’m standing this one is pretty much an obvious decision. And if you ask around, you'll find that many others agree. Let's do this! █

FOUND:

Overhead Projector

To the well-dressed group of professionals who came in last week. You were all so psyched to deliver a big presentation about breaking down silos, paradigm-shifting, and snagging the low-hanging fruit. However, in your effort to move the needle, run ideas up the flagpole, and think outside of the box, you probably mistook us for an actual boardroom. Granted, we’re thrilled that you decided to stay and have your meeting, even if it did evolve into a heated session of Risk. Note: in your desire to take over the world, you did fail to take your overhead projector with you when you left.

COME DOWNTOWN TO FIND WHAT YOU’RE MISSING. Over 400 places to shop, eat, and see.

downtownhalifax.ca/found