Local Connections Halifax - Spring 2014

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The Stubborn Goat Gastropub Downtown Halifax's favourite new watering hole and local snackery haven.

Once Upon A Halifax

Roast Masters

The Story of Java Blend—Halifax’s Original Coffee Roasters

Late Spring 2014

A look back at Halifax’s very own Volvo car assembly plant.

est. 2012

BOLD & Beautiful

S h o w c a s i n g O u r B E S T f o r 2 Ye a r s S t r o n g !

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Contents Issue Number 9, Volume 3 - Late Spring Edition 2014

6

Local Discoveries

A look at some amazing finds from last quarter.

16

Community Builders Q & A with Cedar Festival and features on Tim Rissesco, and Sophia Horowitz.

22

22

Cover Story

The story of Halifax's original coffee roasters.

26

Local Flavours

Features on The Stubborn Goat Gastropub, Bramoso Pizzeria, and Alderney Landing Farmer's Market.

42

Postcard from Abroad

26

32

30 16

42

Join Lia Rinaldo in the Bahamas for Devour! the beach.

52

Once Upon a Halifax

A look back at the Volvo car assembly plant that once graced our shores.

LOCA L CO NNECTIO NS HA L IFAX | Spring 201 4

3

The Secret Recipe.

Editor in Chief

Alexander Henden

Contributing Editors

Lindsay Best, Chris DeWaal, Lola Augustine Brown, Emily Forrest, Rodney Habib, Phil Otto, Jordan Whitehouse, Laura Oakley, Lia Rinaldo, Veronica Simmonds, Brenden Sommerhalder

Chief Photographer Riley Smith

Photography

Meghan Tansey Whitton, Michelle Doucette, Samson Learn

Illustration

Scott MacDonald

Design & Layout Alexander Henden

Chef Uniform

Agricola Street Brasserie

Magazine Printing

Transcontinental Dartmouth

Connect with Us

f LocalConnectionsHalifax l ConnectionsHFX

Unless this is the first time you’ve picked up our magazine (which would be a super cool turn of events), you are probably fully aware of our passion for food. If you’ve taken the time to read some of the many articles we’ve written on local restaurants and producers, you’ll also be aware that our interest in food is a fairly specific one. As a magazine, our mandate is to showcase the best our region has to offer, and so we endeavour to connect you, the reader, to some of the best things you can put on your plate and the very best restaurants you can frequent with your friends and family. And while local is a big part of our focus, it's the emphasis on quality and the customer experience that is front and centre.

If there's anything we've learned from getting to know so many successful local entrepreneurs, it's that true success can only be achieved when the customer wins. When we put the customer first, it really changes the template for all our actions. It requires us to become considerate, creative, and in the end it makes us more competitive. It's the key to success, or the “secret recipe” as it were, and in this market it can sometimes offer us distinction over others.

So as this magazine continues to wave the local flag as it enters its third year in operation, we do so cautiously, always keeping an eye on the quality of what we are delivering to our readers. It's important that we never forget who are reader is (or might be), and that we never take them for granted.

Being local and supporting local is not a free ride. We need to be creative and competitive to produce something worth reading each and every issue. We are obligated to represent our region well, but we also need to concern ourselves with the well-being of our partners and our community.

It's the combination of all of these things that will protect the integrity of our brand and ensure that we are here in 2015 to kick off year number four.

localconnections.ca

? magazine@localconnections.ca

Alexander Henden Editor in Chief

Local DISCOVERIES

Pavia to Open in the New Public Library!

Waterfront lovers rejoice! Bishop's Landing has just added a new tenant which should make a big impact to what is already one of our city's best destinations. The Smiling Goat Organic Espresso Bar opened it's doors back in March, bringing an all new look and feel to the space which used to be occupied by another café. The staff are super friendly, the space is inviting, and oh yeah, the coffee's good too. Hours of operation are decent, but are hopes are that this location will be open late during peak season.

After losing a bunch of cafés over the winter and spring, downtown is starting to replenish itself quite nicely with some new offerings. Our friends at Pavia Gallery and Espresso Bar (featured in Issue #6) were recently awarded space in the new library to set up an espresso bar and café. This is great news for coffee lovers and lovers of local success stories alike. We're also super stoked because Pavia makes some wicked paninis and of course the best cookies in town (Pavia Biscuits).

smilinggoat.ca

paviagallery.com

Smiling Goat Adds Bishop's Landing Location

Win an Awesome New Bike and Other Cool Stuffs!

Hot New Sandwich Spot Opens in Dartmouth A new local eatery has opened in Downtown Dartmouth. Located in the same building, and just above Two if by Sea on Ochterloney Street, The Canteen is fantastic little sandwich shop which serves a number of breaded delights using the best ingredients around. Sandwiches names include The Meat Loaf, The Big Dad, Porkloin, Veggie, and Chicken Salad, and they also do some interesting soups and salads.

thecanteen.ca

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LOCA L CO N NECTI ONS H AL I FAX | Spring 201 4

This Spring we have partnered with our friends at Cyclesmith, along with Kona and 29 local businesses to bring you the first ever 'Super Haligonious Sweet Ride Giveaway'. It's a simple promotion where two people will win a well-equipped Kona bike, along with 34 individual prizes throughout the city, and the prizes are super awesome! The contest closes May 31, with the draw taking place June 1st, so if you are keen to enter, you'll want to do so super quick.

Details on page 12.

Season Launched!

Back in late March, Neptune Theatre launched its 52nd season, which will start on September 9th with their fairytale production "Into the Woods".

The show is followed by what seems to be an ecclectic assortment of shows, ensuring that there's something for everyone. Or in most cases, a few things for everyone. Tickets are already available for purchase online and at the box office.

neptunetheatre.com

Canada Day at Alderney Landing Coming this Canada Day, the Craig Gallery at Alderney Landing will be hosting a special event called Boardwalk Artist. The event will feature a local artists exhibition, along with local performers, and even kids activities. Of course being in the Alderney Market, there will also be deliciously local things to eat as well.

alderneylanding.com

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Local DISCOVERIES

Fundraising Swim Comes to Halifax

The Price is Right Prospective home-buyers recently got a sweet insentive when local builder Polycorp announced a price reduction in their Q-Lofts condo project. Located just off Agricola Street, it’s really the perfect location for young professionals looking to live close to the city. Build quality is top notch, as are the finishes, and prices now start at an attractive $299,900 for two bedroom units.

On Sunday, August 3, The Big Swim is coming to Halifax, this time under the name BrigaSwim. The concept is the same (it's a fundraiser for Camp Brigadoon), but instead of swimming to PEI, participants will swim to and around Georges Island, and then back again. The event appears to be for all ages, with options of swimming 1km, 2.5km, and 5km, though kids under 12 will be limited to the 1km swim.

brigaswim2014.kintera.org

qlofts.ca

New Tour for 2014

This April, Atlantic Developments Inc released information about their new North End condo project, Harris East. With prices starting at $199,000 for studio units, and averaging around the $250,000 mark, living in the North End seems to be as accessible as ever. Units are for sale today through Red Door Realty.

Local Tasting Tours is back for its third season, and once again there's a new tour to try out. It's going to be in the North End, which is very hot right now, and it's called the HFX North Craft Beer and Food Tour. It will join the existing roster of delightful tours which already include the Downtown Halifax Food Tour, the Night Out on Quinpool Food Tour, and the Downtown SoMo Food Tour. While these tours are a great way for our tourists to see the city, they're also ideal for locals who are looking to discover their own city as well. Plus, Emily also does group tours which are great for afternoon office team-building get-togethers.

reddoorrealty.ca

localtastingtours.com

Something for Everyone in the North End

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Sausage Fest Brunch We're busy working hard behind the scenes to bring you an events roster worthy of memory, and already we have a few corkers. One of them is our Beer & Sausage Brunch which we are doing at the Marriott Harbourfront, inside the Harbourstone Sea Grill + Pour House.

For the event, guests will have access to a wide range of brunch delights which will include Apple Fennel Sage Breakfast Sausage, Bratwurst Sausage Caesar Salad, Kielbasa Potato Salad, Venison Sausage with Cumberland Sauce, Moroccan Lamb Sausage...oh scrap it, there's too much to list here!

Anyways, it's going to be an awesome brunch for just $39, and that will include a take-home beer glass and your first fill of craft beer.

localconnections.ca/events

Return of the Sausage Just a quick note, Sausage Fest is back and will run from August 14 - 24. In next issue of this magazine, we will have an entire Guide to Sausage Fest, but you can also see our events online as we begin to release them. Some will sell out early, so it's not a bad idea to have a look.

localconnections.ca/events

Local DISCOVERIES

New Location, More Tasty Local Eats

Blueberry Madness in a Bottle So we all know that blueberries are good for you, but what if you could stuff 600 of them in one bottle. That's the idea behind Bloo, a new product made in the Annapolis Valley. The juice is made from 100% fruit products and comes in three varieties. We had the chance to taste all three during a product demo at Pete's back in March and liked it so much we took a couple bottles home.

After closing out for the winter season, our friends at Nomad Gourmet are back at it, this year with a new location.

Mondays thru Fridays you can find them in front of the old library on Spring Garden, and on weekends they are back at the Halifax Seaport Market. The menu will evolve as the year goes on, but already one of our absolute favourite things to eat in Halifax (the Belgian Waffle Breakfast Sandwich) is back! For lunch, Nomad is serving its chicken and waffles, burritos, and burgers, which this year are made using meat from Getaway Farm.

nomadgourmet.ca

bloojuice.com

The Gourmet Grilled Cheese Express Well we did actually. In last issue of this magazine, we did a lovely piece on Moirs Chocolate for our newly launched "Once Upon a Halifax" section. The story was great except for one thing, part of it was missing. During a last minute session of editing we managed to bump a photo over the last bit of the content, but rest assured the rest of the story exists. To get the full, un-chopped version, just visit our magazine blog.

If grilled cheese is your thing, you are in luck. The Cheese Gypsy is one of the new truck from this year, and they make, well, grilled cheese sandwiches. They also make some pretty mean fries, poutines, soups, and some little bite-sized snacks called Bacom Bombs. On top of this, they are promising to do some new items (seasonal) later in the year.

localconnections.ca/magazineblog

cheesegypsy.ca

Did Someone Say Chocolate?

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Street

FOOD

Find That Food Truck With all the amazing food trucks that are now on the road, it's near impossible to keep track of all of them. Or is it? With the recent forming of the Nova Scotia Food Truck Association, we now see all members united on one platform, which comes in the form of an app. So now, no matter what you are in the mood for, you need only go to your mobile and find your truck.

streetfoodapp.com/halifax

Nominate Your Favourite Local Eatery!

So you love local food, and you love Nova Scotia.

Well, this is your big chance to tell us all about it.

In next issue of Local Connections Halifax, we’ll publish who we think are “Nova Scotia’s Best 25 Local Eateries”, and this time around, you, the reader, will have some say.

Donuts on Wheels An interesting food truck we recently discovered is Ol' School Donuts. As the name suggests, they do donuts, but they are pretty far from the ones you get a Timmy's. The donuts are actually made to order, and you also get to choose your toppings which is super cool.

L olschooldonuts

All you need to do is visit our magazine blog and go the post that says “Nova Scotia’s Best 25 Local Eateries - YOU TELL US!”, and do just that!

The nomination process will only be open until June 15, so get in there! localconnections.ca/magazineblog

Prize packages will be drawn June 1st, 2014!

{ Winners BIKE TO THE FOLLOWING PLACES TO CLAIM THE REST OF THE PRIZES }

the trail shop www.trailshop.com

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PLEASE NOTE: This contest is in no way endorsed by Facebook.

Y o u co u ld w in sw ee t K o n o n e o f 2 a b ik es

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HOW TO ENTER this thing 1) Like Local Connections Halifax and cyclesmith on Facebook For two chances to win large!

2) Tell us on our April 1st contest Facebook Post(s) why you want to win the super haligonious Sweet Ride Giveaway. and on june 1st we’ll pick one winner from each Facebook page!

f LocalConnectionsHalifax f CycleSmith

The Depth ofCLocal Food hris DeWaal f getawayfarmbutchershops l meatmongers

M

uch can be said about local food in Nova Scotia.

It tastes better. It’s fresher, cleaner and safer. Local food is better for the environment and the local economy. Local food is more ethical. It’s more transparent. The list of arguments in favor of local food is long, and it is hard to disagree that engaging our local food system is the best way to ensure that we are buying top-quality, healthy, ethical and sustainable products.

Yet as important as gastronomy, health, economics, politics or even the environment are, there is something much more important that local food offers us that may not be readily apparent at first glance. Wendell Berry, in his essay entitled “The Pleasures of Eating,” hints at this deeper meaning when he writes, “A significant part of the pleasure of eating

is one’s accurate consciousness of the lives and world from which food comes.”

The joy of local food is not merely the experience of consumption but rather the connection it affords us to those who help bring it to our tables.

When we purchase vegetables from a local farmer, share a roast from a local butcher or make jam with our grandmother from berries we picked together, we are allowing our local food to bring us into a more familiar place with each other.

No longer is food merely sustenance but rather a means to deeper relationships with our fellow Nova Scotians. Shopping with friends and talking with farmers at a market knits together lives that may never have crossed paths. Growing vegetables in a community garden plot with neighbours creates opportunity for sharing in life’s struggles. Planning a locally-sourced meal

with family and preparing it together invests that meal with a sense of worth and value that goes far beyond the mere sum of its parts.

To participate in the local food system is to participate in the lives of the people around us. It creates in us a consciousness of people and place that adds a deep meaning to our experience of food.

“Eating is an intelligent act, or it’s merely an animal one,” writes Adam Gopnik in The Table Comes First. “And what makes it intelligent is the company of other mouths and minds. All animals eat. An animal that eats and thinks must think big about what it is eating not to be taken for an animal.”

To think big, we must think locally. As spring dawns and Nova Scotia begins to produce her bounty again, spend some time thinking and discussing how you can follow your local food into a deeper connection with the people and places of this wonderful province. Plan a locallyinspired meal with your neighbours and go on a hunt for ingredients together.

Apply for a plot at Common Roots Urban Farm and plan to grow your very own vegetables with some extended family members. Learn to forage and go on a hunt for berries with your children.

The treasures waiting to be discovered are boundless; Nova Scotia has so much to share with her people. Yet perhaps even greater than this is the joy that comes from connecting with the people that we share this place with. So go, grab a friend, find some food and share it together. We owe it to each other. █

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Spring is Here!

Emily Forrest f localtastingtours l LocalTasteTrs

W

hen I was growing up in the Maritimes, there were some very clear signs that marked the beginning of spring—especially in our rural area. Spotting the first robin of the season. Getting to wear your jean jacket to school. The smell of freshly turned earth (and other smells) from the farm next door. A trip to the sugar farm for maple candy.

For our parents, the trip wasn’t just about the maple candy in its little birch bark cup—that incredible treat which glued our jaws together and took ages to sweetly melt away in our mouths.

Mom was getting her stash of syrup for the year to use in a dozen different ageold recipes, which surfaced whenever company was coming.

The maple candy trip was just like all the other half-day country road excursions our family took whenever the seasons changed. In the fall we drove out to see the Apple Guy and filled our baskets all afternoon. At Christmas, we’d drive over to see the Turkey Guy and argue in the backseat about who was going to get the drumsticks this year. There was another trip every year to gather purpleblack dulse from a favourite rocky beach.

In the summer, it was clams.

Living in Halifax, it still amazes me how many of these great Maritime experiences are so close at hand. A quick trip to one of the markets downtown and I’ve got a bag full of local fruit or grassfed beef—and I’ve had a good chat with the farmer while I was at it.

My childhood excursion to the sugar farm this year was replaced by a short drive to Acadian Maple in Tantallon, where they don’t just have the basics. They’ve got maple coffee, maple barbecue sauce, maple butter, maple pepper and a hundred other treats you have never imagined. Of course, the trip was a perfect excuse for me and a few friends to indulge in the all-you-can-eat maple brunch they put on every weekend with the help of The Flying Apron Cookery’s Chef Velden.

Thick cut bacon and fat sausages from Oulton’s smothered in warm maple and blueberry syrup? Why didn’t they have this in New Brunswick when I was a kid?

We shared one of the long tables with two veterans who were on their yearly maple quest as well and had a great chat about the HMCS Sackville. When I was

able to tear my eyes from my knife and fork for a moment, I noticed a number of cool artifacts hung on the walls: ancient snowshoes, old signs and a hand-carved wooden yoke for carrying the sap pails.

We all know a million other clear signs of spring in Halifax we love. The first Dartmouth ferry ride of the year when we can sit outside on the upper deck.

Spending a whole day checking out local shops, demonstrations, food truck rallies and back door take-out during Open City. A good long walk on the Salt Marsh Trail from Cow Bay. Full tables and shelves of green leafy everything at the farmers’ markets. Baseball on the Commons. And of course, for me: starting up a new season of culinary walking tours to local restaurants once again.

It’s a delicious time of year. █

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How Are Our Pets Doing?

Rodney Habib f PlanetPawsPetEssentials l PlanetPawsNS

B

orn and raised as a Maritimer, I have traveled the world, but there is no place like home for me here in Halifax.

What I love just as much as Halifax, though, are my pets: my three dogs Sammie, Reggie and Shubie; and of course my cat Scribbles, the big boss of the house. These four monkeys, as I call them, have created and transformed me into the person I am today, a pet nutrition blogger.

My goal in life is pretty simple: to change the way people feed their pets.

I achieve it by teaching people to feed their pets whole, fresh, real food because I believe it dramatically improves the wellness of our animals and ultimately extends their lifespan.

I couldn’t be in a better city to achieve this goal. Why? Because I live in a region that has the highest rate of cancer and obesity in Canada—both in humans and our pets!

A few years ago, the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association published an article called “Annual veterinary productivity in companion animal practice in the different provinces” in The Canadian Veterinary Journal. Basically, the research outlined in this article told us who the busiest vets in Canada were. Want to guess which province led this category? Nova Scotia.

While the national annual average of client visits for a full-time veterinarian was 5695, Nova Scotians led the category with 7604 visits per year. Our

vets were the most productive in the nation. Business is booming, but is this a stat we really want to lead in? What does this stat tell us?

We have a lot of sick pets!

Why are they so sick? Is it the lack of exercise? We have the two greatest offleash parks in the HRM—Shubie Park and Point Pleasant Park—so I don’t think that’s the primary factor, although exercise is very important.

Is it our water supply? Although our city water was dismal many years ago, according to ecojustice.com we have the second best provincial drinking water in the nation. I give my fur kids spring water but I really don’t think our water supply is the reason we lead the nation in vet visits.

My professional opinion on this one is that it’s our food supply!

Quoting the great father of medicine, Hippocrates: “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” In layman’s

terms, we need to stop feeding our pets so much processed food! How do we achieve this without an extended fivepage article of explanation? Basically, by following the old adage, “Spend more time in the outer aisles of the supermarkets than in the middle sections.”

Try adding a spoonful of something fresh, whether it’s greens or meats, into your pet’s bowl, and help reduce the overabundance of dried rendered foods in their daily diets. Like my grandmother always said, “If you lay it out on the counter for several days and it doesn’t spoil, then it isn’t food!” █

In next issue, Rodney will continue the subject of pet nutrition, sharing a real-world story about one of the many pets he's help transition to eating real food (instead of kibble).

Stay tuned!

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Community BUILDERS

Q&A

by Alexander Henden

CEDAR FESTIVAL - June 5 to 8th, 2014 Every year, our local Lebanese community hosts a celebration of Lebanese culture called “Cedar Festival.” The event is aptly named after the cedar tree, which is an important symbol in Lebanese culture.

For this issue, we had the opportunity to sit down with Michael Kabalen, director of marketing for the festival, to find out more about this big community event.

So what is Cedar Festival?

Cedar Festival Halifax is a four-day celebration of Lebanese culture with a Canadian twist. Enjoy delicious and authentic Lebanese cuisine, mouth-watering pastries, world-class entertainment, a huge kids’ carnival, immortal Lebanese hospitality and so much more. We have recognized that the Lebanese-Canadian community in Halifax has evolved to be more than just traditional Lebanese culture, and has developed into its own unique identity.

Halifax has been a place where people of Lebanese decent have done very well, and Cedar Festival is our way of saying thank you and showing our now home, Halifax, all the good things of where we came from, Lebanon.

Where will this year's festival be held?

The 8th Annual Cedar Festival will be hosted on the grounds of Our Lady of Lebanon Church, 3844 Joseph Howe Drive in the Fairview-Clayton Park neighbourhood of Halifax. The campus of our community transforms over four days into a vast Lebanese marketplace, where you can feel Lebanese for the day.

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How long has Cedar Festival been around?

2014 marks the 8th annual Cedar Festival, and each year we’ve gotten bigger and better. Our goal isn’t just to reproduce what was done last year.

It’s to improve upon it, and improve vastly. Every year there is something new and exciting that leaves repeat visitors talking. It’s become something our guests anticipate, wondering what new and exciting feature we will bring forward.

Is it a festival exclusively for the Lebanese Community?

Absolutely not. Cedar Festival is open to everyone in Nova Scotia, and in fact we see more curious and non-Lebanese people than Lebanese lately. We pride ourselves on Cedar Festival being a showcase of all the good that has come out of our community from living in Halifax. One of our core statements is “Let us show this place that has been so good to us all the beautiful things about the place where we came from.”

What are some of the goals for Cedar Festival?

First, it truly is a dynamic showcase of the talents, skills and lifestyle of

the Lebanese-Canadian community in Halifax. We truly want to share our unique community with the greater Halifax community. Second, Cedar Festival has become a way for us to help our upcoming generations stay attached to their heritage. The festival committee of thirty primary organizers is now 60% people in their thirties or younger. It’s been an incredible opportunity for us to capture the attention of the second, third and fourth generations of Lebanese-Canadians and to help them stay connected to the music, food and traditions. Finally, there is a fundraising component to the festival. All of the proceeds go towards supporting the charitable activities of our community here in Halifax and back home in Lebanon. We regularly support individual cases of people in need as well as community development opportunities in Lebanon.

What are some of the highlights from past festivals?

The biggest highlight of Cedar Festival is truly the food. Our food team spends countless hours perfecting the recipes for our shawarma, humus, grape leaves, falafel and more. Most of the recipes aren’t even written down. Our grandmothers taught our mothers and

fathers who teach us, and then we sort of collaborate to see what works best and tastes best. The menu is enormous this year, with over thirty different varieties and twenty different deserts. You’ll need to come back two or three times to experience it all. Our entertainment is also second to none. We have traditional dancers performing the dabke, with performers as young as four years old and others in their twenties and thirties who are incredibly talented and border on being acrobats. We’re featuring a “Dabke with the Stars” competition, pairing some of our professionals with local celebrities to complete for the top prize (a year worth of bragging rights).

We have world-class musicians and singers, with a celebrity name traveling from Lebanon and others from across North America.

solidaire district, sipping on a turkish coffee, enjoying the delicious food, and smoking a lebanese argeliye (hooka / water pipe).

Lebanese hospitality is second to none.

When we have people at our homes, we go out of our way to make our guests feel welcome, comfortable, and stay for a long time. We work particularly hard to expand that hospitality to Cedar Festival. You will truly feel the welcome, friendship, and community at every corner of Cedar Festival.

For more information about Cedar Festival, simply visit their Facebook page: facebook.com/ cedarfestival

We have some incredibly fun competitions, including the Lebanese version of Family Feud and a Lebanese Master Chef competition.

We have a huge Kids Carnival planned featuring loads of kids games, bouncy castles, face painting, a visit from some of our favourite Disney characters and more.

And if all that is just too busy for you, we have the Beirut Café, where you can experience the slow lifestyle of Beirut’s

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Community BUILDERS

Sophia Horowitz Article: Jordan Whitehouse · Photo: Riley Smith

Co*Lab’s Founder Tries To Unleash the Potential of Communities Here In Halifax and Around the World

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B

ack in the spring of 2011, Sophia Horwitz and a few friends were making the twentyfive hour drive from Halifax to Columbus, Ohio, to volunteer at a conference. Their car didn’t have a radio, so they had plenty of uninterrupted time to talk about their passion for community development and how they might put that passion to work full time.

“We were doing some of our best work off the sides of our desks—things we weren’t getting paid for or couldn’t focus on,” says Horwitz. “And I thought, what if any one of us could focus on that, let alone what if a bunch of us got together to focus our collective efforts—what could we do then?”

By the time they returned to Halifax, Horwitz had decided to find out. And so, with the help of two partners—Rachel Derrah and Gregory Woolner—Co*Lab was born. Although the collective of social entrepreneurs is always evolving, their focus is on designing and leading collaborative processes, workshops

and events for communities and organizations in Halifax and throughout Atlantic Canada, Latin America and Europe.

A couple of examples: 2011’s In Full Bloom Festival, a community celebration that drew attention to the redevelopment of three empty schools in Halifax’s north end; and 2013’s participatory budget experiment they planned for Halifax’s District 7 that encouraged citizens to collectively decide which community projects to invest in.

“The idea to start something like Co*Lab had been in the works for a long time,” says Horwitz. “So by the time we were in the car to Columbus, I already had the name and I knew it was going to be this collaboration laboratory for developing ideas about social change. In a way, I feel like my life had been leading up to this.”

She did her undergrad at Dalhousie in international development, and while there went to Cuba on an exchange where she lived and worked with a family

LOCA L CO N NECTI ONS H AL I FAX | Spring 201 4

transforming a dilapidated garage into a community centre. After graduating, she took an internship with an NGO in Honduras that focuses on food sovereignty, and later took off for Sweden to complete a Master’s in Strategic Leadership towards Sustainability.

A year later, she was back in Halifax working with a few different NGOs. Needless to say, she was well prepared for venturing out on her own and now Co*Lab is focusing on even bigger projects. One example is Mainstreets, an idea meant to bring the focus back to the places where we connect as a community and local economy. The first street they’ll focus on is Gottingen. Over the past year, Co*Lab has been working with the community to develop quick, low-cost initiatives, such as creating a mini park or establishing a north end market. In September, they’ll host a festival that shows off these initiatives so that the community can decide which to develop more fully with the help of municipal councillors.

PROJECT MILESTONES 2013 Colchester County capacity building for engagement.

2013 Imagine Hantsport - Community Visioning.

2013 Participatory Budgeting for District 7 HRM.

2012 - 2013 Piloted Placemaking process and projects in HRM

2012 DalVision 2020 - Strategic vision for redesigning Dalhousie undergrad curriculum..

2012

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North End Community Market Coordination at InFullBloom Festival.

It’s the perfect example of the types of projects Horwitz is most proud of; that is, those that engage the grassroots and their political representatives. “I think democracy and citizenship are so much more than voting every four years,” she says. “We really want to shift our communities to foster more ongoing and co-creative solutions rather than these one-off ways of doing things with a representative in power.”

But, she’s quick to point out, Co*Lab is not about forcing solutions onto a community but rather developing toolkits for communities to discover their own responses. “Our goal is to seek out those opportunities, remove barriers and build capacity to unleash the potential of people to create their own solutions.” █

For more information about Co*Lab and MAINSTREETS, visit thecolab.info and mainstreets.org

2012 Collaborative Leadership Training for EU Youth, Sweden.

2012 Facilitating Urban Agriculture forum, Copenhagen.

2012 Unconventional Entrepreneurs enterprise incubator.

2012 Created chalkboard installation for “In My Life I’ve Learned____” for new Central Library.

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Community BUILDERS

Tim Rissesco Article: Jordan Whitehouse · Photo: Riley Smith

The Executive Director of the Downtown Dartmouth Business Commission Sees a Bright Future for a Community On the Rise

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W

hen Tim Rissesco took over the reins of the Downtown Dartmouth Business Commission (DDBC) in June 2012 as its Executive Director, he quickly found out how different this position was going to be than the one he left at the Competition Bureau of Canada.

“One of the first projects I got to work on when I came here was the brand launch,” he says, “and so when the new advertisements came in I asked the office manager who should approve these.

‘Well,’ she said, ‘I guess you should.’

Coming from an organization with five hundred employees, where everything goes back and forth with Ottawa, that was a big cultural shift.”

But Rissesco, who has lived in downtown Dartmouth since 1997, chairs the Natal Day Festival and is a member of Dartmouth’s Kiwanis Club, never regretted the decision to join the twoemployee strong DDBC. “Every day I’m inspired when I talk to

the people that have opened businesses on the street,” he says. “We have a lot of incredible independent business people, and I get a lot of energy talking to them day in and day out.”

And most of them are telling him how happy they are with the work the DDBC is doing these days. Led

by Rissesco and a volunteer board of directors, the commission represents over four hundred members in downtown Dartmouth. Their goal is to promote economic growth and social well-being in the area through marketing initiatives, beautification services, advocacy, partnerships with the municipal government and more.

They’re funded by a tax levy collected by the municipality on all properties within the DDBC’s boundaries.

“We try to make it fun for people to come downtown and see what’s here,” says Rissesco, “because since I’ve come here, there have been at least ten or fifteen businesses open—everything from a retailer selling independently-

LOCA L CO N NECTI ONS H AL I FAX | Spring 201 4

produced, locally-sourced gifts to an art gallery to a candy store. It’s tough for people to keep up with it.”

To keep them in the loop and draw them downtown, the DDBC organizes events like movie nights and concerts in the summer and the Christmas tree lighting ceremony in the winter.

Restoring the late night ferry service between Halifax and Dartmouth has also been a big reason why more people are heading downtown, says Rissesco.

Just after he joined the DDBC, city council had reduced that service, but one year later, and partly through his advocacy, the ferries were crisscrossing the harbour until 12 am once again.

“Being part of that campaign was a definite accomplishment,” he says, “and I think it went a long way to building downtown Dartmouth.”

For proof of the downtown’s boom, he points to the cranes high in the air at King’s Wharf, where the $500-million development project is forging ahead, and Portland Street.

DARTMOUTH MILESTONES 2014 HRM Council committed to building a new Municipal Museum in Downtown Dartmouth.

2014 Participated in the Downtown I’m In initiative, hosting the Downtown Dartmouth Business Breakfast with Mayor Mike Savage.

Fridays u r h t s y a d n o M

y r a r b i L d Ol den Road r a G g in r p S n o ds at Open Weeken

2014 Celebrated 15 plus new businesses opening in the last 20 months.

2013 The first two buildings opened at King’s Wharf.

2013 Metro Transit re-instated late night ferry service.

2013 “What we’re creating on Portland Street will be the best shopping street in Atlantic Canada for independent stores,” he says. “Week after week people come in to talk to me about their business ideas for the stores they want to open there. Give us two or three years and it’s going to be the kind of street where you can spend an afternoon or a day poking into stores that you won’t be able to find anywhere else.”

They’re confident words from Rissesco, but they don’t feel hollow or just part of another marketing campaign. The reason may be that downtown Dartmouth is a part of who he is. “It’s because I live here that I want to see the community grow and be all it can be,” he says. “Seeing what I can help build here is something I look forward to every day.” █

To stay connected to Downtown Dartmouth, visit their website: downtowndartmouth.ca

One Light Theatre moved to Alderney Landing in Dartmouth.

2013 HRM Council commitment to build a new Municipal Museum in Downtown Dartmouth.

2013 Hosted a street party on Portland Street in August as part of Switch.

2012 Park Avenue Community Oven opened.

2012 The first two buildings opened at King’s Wharf.

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Cover STORY

Roast Masters Article: Lola Augustine Brown · Photos: Riley Smith

The Story of Java Blend—Halifax’s Original Coffee Roasters

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I

f you’ve never been to Java Blend Coffee Roasters on North Street, you need to know that they serve up perfect espresso but that the café is so popular with both been-there-forever north enders and hipsters alike that you can’t always get a table (but the wait for a seat is worth it).

Regulars know that when you need the washroom, you have to go out back, walking through the area where they roast the beans. The second you open the door that separates the café and roastery, your olfactory receptors get slapped hard by rich coffee aroma so strong it makes your brain buzz. Then you see the beans roasting, the sacks of coffee piled up everywhere and you know that these guys are the real deal. This is coffee at its freshest and best, and you can’t get enough of it.

This year, the north end fixture celebrates seventy-five years in business. These days the place is run by Jim Dikaios, and it is as artisan an operation as you’d find in any major city in Canada. Dikaios has accompanied suppliers on trips to meet farmers in Ethiopia, Guatamala and Costa Rica; choosing which coffees to feature is a process akin to that used by distillers of fine whiskies. Before Dikaios took an interest in the family business, operations were functional but you wouldn’t exactly call them artisanal.

Getting a Taste for It All Dikaios was eleven years old when his father bought the business from Mr. Sedaris in 1971, and he just carried on running things the way they’d been going since the business started in 1938. “Mr. Sedaris taught my father how to roast, and he showed me how to roast and I thought that’s the way we roasted,” says Dikaios. “My father dealt with one broker in Montreal that supplied coffee. He would call and say, ‘I need five bags of Colombian, a couple of bags of Brazilian and a bag of Mexican.’ The coffee would arrive, we’d fire it in the roaster and sell it. That was it.”

With no interest whatsoever in following in his father’s footsteps, Dikaios studied marine biology at Dalhousie University but says he was fortunate to get a job with the Department of Fisheries during his first summer at university that changed his mind. “I was doing lobster research on fishing boats,” he says, “and after two summers I said, ‘I don’t think this is the way I want to spend my life.’ But I still didn’t have any intention of getting into the business.” He switched his major to business, then went to Europe for six months, came home not knowing what to do, then started working at Java Blend with no intention of really getting into the family business.

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Dikaios admits to knowing very little about coffee back then and says his education came when the internet became popular. But the real eye-opener happened at a Specialty Coffee Association of America trade show sixteen years ago in Boston. “I met a bunch of other roasters, importers and even producers,” he says. “I’d never met a producer before. It just grew from there.”

These days Dikaios deals with eight different importers, each of whom specializes in a different geographic area. And although he uses those suppliers because they only offer him high quality beans, each coffee is blind taste-tested by Dikaios and his staff before he actually buys it. At any time, you’ll only find seven or eight single origin coffees for sale at Java Blend, but each has been carefully selected from the dozens of samples Dikaios receives from suppliers every time he expresses an interest in buying beans from a region.

“We’ll tell a couple of our suppliers that we are looking for a certain coffee, then they’ll send as many as twelve different types to test,” he says. “We sample-roast the beans, smell the grounds first to evaluate, then add hot water. And usually three of us will go down the line tasting the coffees, giving it points for body, acidity, aftertaste and score up to 100. Lots of times now I can taste a coffee and say, ‘This is an 85 point coffee or this is a 90 point coffee.’ It took me a long time to get to that point, though.”

The sampling is a ritual Dikaios enjoys, no matter how many times he does it. “We put it in a cupping bowl, let it steep for about four minutes, you sip it, slurp it inside your mouth to get the flavours all over your tongue and the back of your mouth, then spit it out. Cupping is great because you’re always looking for a real gem.”

Many of the samples are rejected, and not because they are bad, but because Java Blend only stocks what Dikaios considers to be spectacular. He explains that there is a coffee for every market, and recalls a conversation he had at a trade show with someone regarding the many shipping containers of coffee that were submerged during Hurricane Katrina.

“I said, ‘What happened to it?’ He said, ‘There’s a market for every kind of coffee. Prisoners need to drink coffee too.’ There is a market—it’s just not our market.”

Building Relationships for Better Coffee

f JavaBlend l JavaBlendCoffee

Although the majority of the coffee at Java Blend comes through an importer, that is usually the only person between the coffee producer and roaster. So by maintaining good relationships and having a keen and genuine interest in what they do, Dikaios gets to have more control over the coffee he buys.

He has been on several trips with his importers, “tagging along” to Ethiopia and Coast Rica last year, where he toured farms and met with producers. Different regions produce coffee at different levels, and these trips have shown Dikaios how much variance there is in the industry.

Photo sequence - James Dikaios and his daily coffee tasting ritual at Java Blend.

LOCA L CO NNECTIO NS HA L IFAX | Sprin g 201 4

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Cover STORY “I had this image in my head of a coffee producer that was based on Juan Valdez, a farmer with his mule whose image was on every bag of Colombian coffee,” says Dikaios. “He was a marketing campaign from the Colombian Coffee Federation, and that was my image of a coffee farmer and producer. My travelling to these places wasn’t about going to find the best coffee that nobody else has; it was about meeting the farmers and seeing how the coffee was grown and having a better understanding. It was all about relationships.”

In Ethiopia, he toured small farms that might only produce between one and three 150-pound bags of coffee a year, which they then sell to the local mill. He’s also visited plantations in Guatemala that are so big they have a church and school for the community of farmers who work there. Interestingly, when Dikaios bought coffee from that plantation in Guatemala he found out that one of the producers studied in Ontario and had a school teacher friend there. “When we got the first batch of coffee and roasted a bunch, we sent it over to her friend’s school to sell as a fundraiser,” he says.

“The money raised went to help run the school for the coffee farmers’ children.”

Another close relationship was formed when Dikaios was contacted by Andreas, who lives in Ontario but whose family has a coffee farm in Colombia. “He contacted us directly and I got him to send us a sample, and we liked it. The price he asked was so cheap we offered him ten cents a pound more, and I still thought we were getting a good deal. He was

26

over the moon.” Since then Andreas started supplying another roaster and ships the coffee directly, getting a better price for his family than if he’d gone through the Colombian Coffee Federation.

These close connections mean that Dikaios can get exactly what he wants by communicating with his suppliers who relay his requests to the producers, such as only picking the ripe cherries (as the coffee beans are called) and packaging them in ways that ensure the beans stay fresh despite the various changes in temperature and humidity while being imported.

Customer Favourites Of course it isn’t just about pure single origin coffees—they are named Java Blend after all.

Blending coffees is something that Dikaios and his team has fun with, experimenting with a little bit of this and a little bit of that. “We play with it,” he says, “roast a little lighter or darker and see how it goes.” They sell a couple of espresso blends, their ever-popular North Ender blend and other changing blends. Every year they’ll do a holiday blend. “Last year’s blend, ‘Lump of Coal,’ proved so popular,” he says, “that we decided to keep it going and rename it ‘Thirty-Eight’ in honor of the year the company was founded.”

For a long time, the main thrust of Java Blend’s business was supplying beans to local restaurants and cafés, but as more people started moving into the north end, the café

LOCA L CO N NECTI ONS H AL I FAX | Spring 201 4

side of the operation became increasingly busier. “It’s been good because the retail side only serves to boost the wholesale, especially with social media,” says Dikaios. “Someone will tweet that they’ve had a great latté here, and then when a new café or restaurant opens up they call us and say they want to use our beans.”

Of course it isn’t just about the beans, or the way the shots are poured. Some credit must go to the fact that Dikaios and the crew he employs are sound people who actually give a damn about what they do. They love coffee, and they get obvious pleasure from sharing that love with others.

Java Blend is a north end fixture that is here to stay, and by evolving to match modern tastes it will continue to thrive no matter how the neighbourhood around it changes. █

You can visit Java Blend Coffee at 6027 North Street or at the Halifax Seaport Farmer's Market, or purchase whole bean coffees from Pete's.

I T ' S

B A C K

B A B Y !

AUGUST 14 - 24

A Ten Day Celebration of Tubular Meats

localconnections.ca/events

POP-UP EVENTS Our event partners are going to knock your socks off with some amazing one-off events. Make sure you get your tickets just as soon as you see them, tickets tend to sell out fast.

FAMILY EVENTS We're also going to host some alcohol-free family events as well. And not every event will be a sausage-only affair either. Stay tuned for details.

ROAD TRIPS On top of this, we are gonna rock it out in the Annapolis Valley with even more cool events. If delicious wine and local food are your thing, rest assured we'll take care of you during Sausage Fest.

RESTAURANT SPECIALS And of course our participating local eateries and grocers will have specials for you to enjoy all Sausage Fest long.

GIVEAWAYS Might as well throw in some giveaways too. We have no idea what we want to do yet, but we'll do something awesome for sure.

SOCIAL MEDIA MADNESS As was the case last year, you'll be able to follow everything on our Facebook page, or on Twitter using the #SausageFestHFX hashtag. Get in the game player!

BUSINESS PARTICIPATION If your business rocks hard on the local food scene and you want to participate in this year's Sausage Fest, drop us an email before June 15 at: magazine@localconnections.ca

#SausageFestHFX

THURSDAY AUGUST 14 FROM 6:30PM TO 10:00PM

AT THE HALIFAX CLUB 1682 HOLLIS STREET, HALIFAX

localconnections.ca/events

Food + DRINK

The Stubborn Goat Article: Lia Rinaldo · Photos: Riley Smith

Downtown's Favourite New Watering Hole

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I

last shared a meal with Geir Simensen about a year ago at Saege, where we had a chat over brunch. As he regaled me with stories of growing up in a family-run restaurant business, The Stubborn Goat was not just a mere twinkle in his eye but well underway. He’s in his element here, you can tell. This is the place he wants to be, both working and hanging out, and his new business partners feel the same way.

Four men came together and sealed their fate over the adoption of a goat at Ran-Cher Acres Farm. With a flurry of photos over social media and their own Facebook page likes soaring past thirteen thousand, they created an iconic mascot, and a new pub was born. Geir Simensen, Joe McGuinness, Kyle Drake and Ryan Dubois share overall management and can often be found at the bar themselves, hosting the pub’s clientele and good friends, especially Joe McGuinness who Geir feels deserves the official title of Mr. Hospitality since he’s always making people feel welcome and is quick to crack a joke.

They’ve pretty much created a culture of goat; they are inundated with messages, pictures and videos from fans

of goats dancing, yelling like humans and singing. They sometimes even see a bit of themselves in these goats. The mascot itself is quickly becoming one of the most photographed bar statues in town, and people have tried to make off with it on many occasions but it’s never made it past the front door.

With this much hype before opening, I asked Geir how much added pressure he felt, to which he replied, “If you’re not nervous, then it doesn’t matter enough to you.” They were flooded with over four hundred résumés and conducted two hundred interviews, and now they have a solid staff in place, including Chef Tyler Smith and front of house manager Evan MacEachern. The pub officially opened in October, and the customers are a real mix of all ages. Geir thinks people were hungry for a pub environment but not with the usual cheap, fried food.

The concept of a gastropub with fresh, seasonal small plates is a good one for Halifax, and although Geir admits it’s been a bit of an education for their customers and staff, they now appear to embrace it wholeheartedly. When you order, you

LOCA L CO N NECTI ONS H AL I FAX | Spring 201 4

order for the whole table. All items are meant to be shared. The food comes out of the kitchen when it’s ready, not all together.

The bulk of the menu is sourced locally, and when they are out of certain ingredients, they are unapologetically so; thus reinforcing the idea that that was all the farmer had, so you can draw your own connection back to the idea of fresh. There’s no shortage of Nova Scotia producers on this menu.

Geir likens the dining experience to being at a good friend’s house where you eat, drink and share food all night but never formally sit down. Why would you order just one plate and have twenty-five bites of the same thing when you can try a broader spectrum? I have to admit, I like to eat this way myself.

This is one big menu, and on this visit there were over twenty small plates, including many cheese options: from a whole Dutchman’s Dragon’s Breath Blue to burrata to a couple of cheese and charcuterie platters. There were also twelve different mac ‘n’ cheeses—from lobster to braised short rib to truffled mushroom to “put an egg on it”—and twelve woodfired pizza combinations with an even split of white to red. And Geir laughs as it took him a little while to crack the Cadbury secret to make the deep-fried devilled egg on offer. This is also one of the only places in the city where you can get a whole roasted fish with head and tail still on, people. Deal with it.

First we try the shisito peppers with olive oil and sea salt (apparently one in every eight is the hot surprise) and the roasted Brussels sprouts with Oulton’s double-smoked bacon and sriracha mayo; both arrive to the table in small cast iron pans after having been fired up to 580 degrees in the woodstone pizza oven for a few minutes. Geir explains that they are striving for uncomplicated food, shining a spotlight on the main ingredient in each dish.

Next up, it’s their house-made pierogies. I’m happy to see them as it’s spring in Nova Scotia, which still means winter.

They’re delicious—blanched then pan-fried with more of that double-smoked bacon and topped with green onions and a buttermilk and sour cream drizzle. Did I mention that they

Chef Tyler Smith with Evan MacEachern, Joe McGuinness, and Geir Simensen.

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Food + DRINK

f StubbornGoat l TheStubbornGoat went through 350 pounds of this bacon in the month of March alone? Everyone must love these perogies because you can add 2,800 pounds of potatoes to that month’s tab as well, though I suspect this may have something to do with another popular menu item: their highly addictive truffle fries.

Why stop now? Charbroiled skewers of chicken thighs marinated in coconut, ginger, lemongrass and lime served on a bed of house-made kimchi and Greek yoghurt. And finally, one of their runaway bestsellers: cherry wood-smoked meatloaf with roasted carrots, a crunchy kale, creamy mashed potatoes and an onion pale ale jus.

With the perfect amount of smoke and moisture to the meat, it’s the ultimate in comfort food in my books.

With seating for one-twenty and a capacity of one-seventy, it’s easy to see how the place swells into a late night, musicfuelled hangout with a lineup out the door on weekend nights.

And it is at this time of night that a very different sharing takes place, with folks crowded around the high-top tables where

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pizzas and mac ’n’ cheese are served up until midnight. It gives pizza corner a run for its money.

At this point I have to laugh and let you know that the Hell Fire Pizza, which comes by its name quite honestly, hits the table featuring whatever available combination of hotness du jour. On this particular day, we had banana peppers, poblano peppers, red Thai chili peppers and jalapeño peppers. I love heat and grabbed a piece, as did Geir, and the next several minutes of the interview erupted into hilarity. He broke into a sweat, and my nose began to run, followed by a numbed tongue. Order a side of that Greek yoghurt.

It’s time to talk beer, or rather the craft beer revival that we are currently experiencing. The pub features sixteen local beers (and one local cider) on tap, alongside some select big brands and over eighty bottles from around the world. Every Friday at 4 pm they crack open a new one-off cask and offer a cellar program with some pretty exclusive bottles that go for $25 and up. One bottle of Sam Adams Utopia recently went

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for $480 and was gingerly split between three guys. There is a group of regulars who are currently drinking their way through every beer on the list—and they certainly have their work cut out. Geir laughs as a few potent IPAs have gotten the best of them on more than one evening.

Sitting here in this pub, sunlight streaming in through what were once the two fire truck bays in the original station back when fire trucks were horse-drawn carriages, it feels good.

They’ve captured all the elements of a comfortable pub with a modern-crossed-the-Atlantic-Ocean feel: exposed brick, wooden floors, lots of banquettes, high-top tables and leather stools that were actually crafted in Ireland. An open kitchen with a view of the woodstone pizza oven really warms up the space as well. The renovation was a big undertaking, and Geir smiles as he won’t divulge what they uncovered in the onehundred-year-old building during the process.

There’s a lot to be excited about coming up. The menu continues to morph, and they are thinking about making their own beer and cheese. You may even see an over-the-top Bourdain-inspired meatloaf sandwich hit the table soon, too.

There are some behind-the-scenes plans in the works that I must now smile at and not divulge. But trust me; you’re going to like them. Until then, grab a crowd and get eating. You never know what exciting things will show up on that menu next. █

The Stubborn Goat was voted one of Halifax's Best 25 Local Eateries by this very magazine. See page 38 and 39 for the full list of winners.

LOCA L CO NNECTIO NS HA L IFAX | Sprin g 201 4

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Food + DRINK

Bramoso Pizzeria Article: Laura Oakley · Photos: Michelle Doucette

Healthy, Local Pies On Quinpool Road

P

izza: it is one of the most common and widespread indulgences of the modern diet. Birds will fly. Spring will turn to summer. People will eat pizza. And people deserve to have access to healthy pizza at their convenience. Bramoso Gourmet Pizzeria hides out among the vast offering of pizza-type options in Halifax but if you look just a little closer, you’ll discover they’re doing something very different with your pizza. They’re making it … good for you.

Bramoso has been open for five years on one of Halifax’s busiest arteries, Quinpool Road, sandwiched between banking and tax services inside a strip mall. Walk through the doors, though, and you’ll find a quaint forty-seat restaurant, warm from the genuine brick pizza oven, offering a menu that is anything but boring or predictable.

Owner and operator Pat Ryan is another engineer who stumbled into the hospitality industry. He has become engrossed in the idea of spreading the word of healthy living, delivering a product that everyone will enjoy but is executed on a more sustainable level—for both the body and the environment.

The idea spawned from Ryan’s own extensive travels while operating his other business. “When you go through a drive through at 11:30 at night, you start to realize, this really isn’t

helping my health,” he says. Which led to him wondering: how do we make something as quick, convenient and delicious as pizza as healthy as it can be?

The answer was actually pretty simple: make as many items from scratch as possible, take the time to infuse flavour into everything, use local suppliers who are doing it right and of course believe in what you’re doing. “Great tasting doesn’t have to be a vice,” says Ryan, who believes that if you use enough local and healthy products, the taste will improve. In the case of Bramoso’s pizza, he is right.

Bramoso sources all of their meats from Nova Scotia suppliers, such as Getaway Farms, Meadowbrook Meat Market and Sweet William’s Country Sausage. And they use as much organic produce that’s in season as possible. Along with making their own pizza sauces, all eleven different cheeses on the menu are produced locally and are real cheese (no modified milk solids or mystery ingredients to wonder about). “We make our own crust here, we make our own gluten-free crust as well,” explains Ryan. The paninis on the menu feature Stone Hearth Bakery’s focaccia bread. Their desserts come from hard-working small businesses, such as Little Red Kitsch’n and Schoolhouse GlutenFree Gourmet.

f BramosoPizza l BramosoPizza

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LOCA L CO N NECTI ONS H AL I FAX | Spring 201 4

Photo Right - Local Pie Masters Dan Ryan (Right) and Joel Reeves (Left).

Photo Left - Mia Dela Riva on house made white dough.

Ryan is committed to being informed about his suppliers and makes regular visits to the farms. “Although local sounds right, if you buy from someone who’s not doing it properly, it’s still not so good,” he says. He believes that the farmers are his business partners and treats them as such. “We’re working with Getaway on our new meatball pizza and panini,” he says. They will use Getaway’s meatballs, which are already available at the Seaport Market storefront, and infuse them with flavour by way of their own marinade and broth, slow cooking them for about six hours. You just can’t get that kind of care and preparation at corporate pizza chains.

After five years of operating in Halifax, Ryan now plans to really spread awareness of both the Bramoso name and why they do what they do. It’s easy to drive past the small restaurant on Quinpool Road, among glowing beacons of fast food, and not even realize it exists. Walk inside and you’ll see a list of local and international craft beers by the bottle, a well thought-out wine offering, and a chalkboard full of the names of the farmers they buy from. “At the end of the day it really comes down to three things,” says Ryan of his brand. “Great taste, healthier fare and supporting local.” Every pizza on the menu has been vetted by a nutritionist. Their stall at the Seaport Farmers’ Market has helped with exposure, where every weekend hundreds of hungry shoppers buy a slice of their well-received breakfast pizza. But it’s still not enough. As Ryan explains, “we’re trying to get the average person who likes the comfort of pizza to realize that, for a premium, you can support the local farms, you can have a better product.”

“People follow you because of why you do things, not what you do,” believes Ryan. “We participate in the community and buy from local farmers because it’s the right thing to do.” The pizzeria works hard to accommodate dietary restrictions, not excluding gluten-free, dairy intolerant or vegan customers. He hopes to spark curiosity and foster awareness in customers about healthier living through Bramoso.

“Food matters,” he says, “and everyone deserves to have a healthy pizza.” █

Taste the Difference.

From office lunches to gala dinners, Scanway Catering gets it right, every time.

For wedding consultation, event planning or Scanway’s famous wedding cakes call (902) 880-3959 1505 Barrington Street scanwaycatering.com

Food + DRINK

Alderney Landing Farmer's Market Article: Veronica Simmonds · Photos: Meghan Tansey Whitton

Fresh Local Food in Right by the Ferry Terminal

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M

arkets have existed in various forms since ancient times as places to gather and share. In souks and bazaars the world over, people come together to exchange food, goods and gossip.

The Alderney Landing Farmers’ Market in Dartmouth imbues these most basic aspects of the community market.

Nestled into the heart of the Alderney Landing complex, the market pulsates with an enticing and intimate air of warm laughs and delicious smells. On weekends—and Wednesdays during the summer season—local crafts, treats and produce spill out on tables occupied by local merchants and farmers.

“People are really happy to come in,” says Beatrice MacGregor, executive director of the Alderney Landing Community Cultural Centre. “It’s a very social setting, so people come and meet their neighbours.”

This social quality is a large part of the market’s draw.

Larry Hardy is the proprietor of Hardy Wares. He stands behind a long table piled high with preserves and pickles that he has been selling here for about five years. He says that the relationship he has with his customers keeps him coming back.

“This is our home base,” he says. “We have an incredible base that come back every week, and you get to know them.

And although we cost more than grocery stores—like most people in here do—they keep coming back for us.”

Hardy started by selling eight varieties of jams and pickles, and has since expanded to forty varieties. This kind of business growth is typical at the market.

MacGregor says that as an organization, they are working to support their vendors and help them incubate their businesses.

Once a vendor has been established and has a strong business plan, they can approach the Alderney Landing board of directors with a proposal to have a permanent booth that’s open all week long.

“Evan’s Seafood is now permanent,” she says. “And we now have Noggins Corner; they used to be a vendor in the market, and now they’re a permanent establishment downstairs.”

The market is always looking for new ways to grow, with and for its vendors. “We’re always looking for new ideas,” Macgregor says.

Local musicians play on the weekend, and recently they have added a board game table so people can take a break and play a game. All of this adds to the comfortable and familial atmosphere of the market.

Margery Collette is minding the table for her daughter

LOCA L CO N NECTI ONS H AL I FAX | Spring 201 4

Samantha, who owns Collette’s Crystals. She peers over an incredible display of Nova Scotian minerals—stilbite, calcite, copper—all presented in little boxes.

“It’s really a family affair,” she says. “My husband is the rockhound, it’s my daughter’s table, and I’m just here because I enjoy being here.” Collette has had her table for about five years, and in that time she has expanded the business to also making jewelry out of the crystals. She lives in Dartmouth and remembers going to the market before it moved to this location.

She says that the cost of the table was reasonable, so it was easy to get started, and now the word is spreading.

“A lot of people will come to us and say they heard of us from a friend, or a friend of a friend.”

Those friends, like all market goers at Alderney Landing, know a true gem when they see one. █

Alderney Landing Farmer's Market operates on weekends, but the market also hosts a number of full-time vendors including Noggin's Corner, Meadowbrook Meat Market, Evan's Seafood, Casaroma Wellness Centre, and of course the NSLC.

f AlderneyLandingFarmersMarket l AlderneyMarket

Food + DRINK

Halifax's Best 25 Local Eateries When it comes to finding great spots to eat, there seems to be an abundance of online review sites and people's choice awards to refer to for advice. We've tried all of them, but found that none of them quite did the trick, so we did what any good magazine would do: we assembled an all-star cast of food enthusiasts who know and understand great local food. They embarked on a three-week, info-gathering mission, eventually meeting over a three-hour dinner session to hash out what we believe are Halifax's 25 Best Local Eateries.

We knew going in that there was no way to create a list of the absolute best, but we think we managed to come fairly close. At the very least, we've highlighted twenty-five eateries in Halifax that are most worthy of your visit. Go ahead and try them all if you like, and let us know how you make out.

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Ace Burger

ChaBaa Thai

If the recent burger wars were a game of Poker, Ace Burger would be holding a straight flush.

2605 Agricola Street and 1269 Barrington Street, Halifax

Forget pad thai from a box, or curries from a package. Thai food is meant to be fresh and fragrant and Chabaa has it in spades.

3 locations. Halifax, Bedford, and Dartmouth.

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Agricola Street Brasserie

The Coastal Café

Brasseries tend to be neighbourhood haunts, swelling daily with regulars who fill it with history, like wine filling a glass. It isn’t a well-seasoned joint yet, but if the gang at ASB keep it up, its cup will runneth over for a long time to come.

2540 Agricola Street, Halifax · (902) 446-7664 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bar Stillwell Nosh on tasty bar bites while you discover ales, bitters, porters and stouts you didn’t think could be so good, or so approachable.

1672 Barrington Street, Halifax · (902) 421-1672 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bicycle Thief If In Vino Veritas were to be the motto of The Bicycle Thief, the truth would be to sit, relax, and enjoy piatto after piatto of sumptuous italian fare.

1475 Lower Water Street, Halifax · (902) 425-7993 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brooklyn Warehouse Knowing your farmer is easy. Knowing what to do with what your farmer gives you is where Brooklyn Warehouse shines.

2795 Windsor Street, Halifax · (902) 446-8181

People in this town don’t wait for tables. But they wait for tables at Coastal. ‘Nuff said.

2731 Robie Street, Halifax · (902) 405-4022 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chives Canadian Bistro Chives are tough and hardy plants, yet delicate in flavour and look.

In the same manner, the food at Chives is assertive, yet refined.

1537 Barrington Street, Halifax · (902) 420-9626 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dee Dee's Ice Cream Halifamous burritos, salad plates, grilled cheeses, soups, chilis, fresh squeezed lemonde, cookies, and oh yeah, the best ice cream in town. Don't deny yourself the pleasure.

5668 Cornwallis Street, Halifax · (902) 407-6614 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EDNA There is a warmth that greets you at Edna: the wood panels, the staff, and most of all the food. Best of all, you can take that warmth with you, in your belly when you finish your meal.

2053 Gottingen Street, Halifax · (902) 431-5683 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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LOCA L CO N NECTI ONS H AL I FAX | Spring 201 4

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enVie - A Vegan Kitchen

Pho Hoang Minh

Vegan food is a misnomer. It’s just food made to be enjoyed by everyone. Let enVie owners Diandra Phipps and Cory Urquhart show you how.

5775 Charles Street, Halifax · (902) 492 4077

Yes, it’s in a strip mall. Yes, you will come back again and again for bowls of rice noodles topped with grilled meats, and the fragrant bowls of pho.

172 Wyse Road, Dartmouth · (902) 465-6868

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The Food Wolf

Piatto Pizzeria + Enoteca

Fusion cuisine doesn’t have to be a dirty term, at least not when there are K-Dogs and Kimchi quesadilla. Anyong-Haseyo, chicos!

Check thefoodwolf.com or the Street Food App (pg.9)

Unless you have a wood-fired oven that reaches 900F, don’t expect to find anything in this town coming close to Piatto’s pizzas.

5144 Morris Street, Halifax · (902) 406.0909

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Henry House

Ratinaud French Cuisine

“Pub food” is not a dirty term, especially at the Henry House.

This is a menu of omforting, heartwarming, belly filling morsels.

1222 Barrington Street, Halifax · (902) 423-5660

The Kitchen Table, les saucisses en folies, Coquillages et Crustacés, and Fromage. Private dinners you will never forget.

2082 Gottingen Street, Halifax · (902) 446-8222

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Indochine Bahn Mi

Saege Bistro

Banh Mi are sandwiches loaded with traditions: french bread baking meets vietnamese culinary magic. At Indochine, that tradition meets contemporary flavours, and the result is delicious.

1551 South Park Street and 1701 Barrington Street, Halifax

On the menu at Saege it is written, “You deserve to eat well.”

When the rest of the menu notes items such as salmon tartare, porchetta and sumptuous desserts, it’s hard to disagree.

5883 Spring Garden Road, Halifax · (902) 429-1882

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John's Lunch

The Stubborn Goat

It may be a fish and chip joint, it’s not the chip portion of your plate you’re here for. It’s for the sumptuous clam bellies and the perfectly cooked haddock tips.

352 Pleasant Street, Dartmouth · (902) 469-3074

Goats may be stubborn, but they can also be friendly. Following that same incongruous vein, expect to find Burgers and truffle fries, cask ales and domestic beers.

1579 Grafton Street, Halifax · (902) 405-4554

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Mezza Lebanese Kitchen

Sushi Shige

I don’t care if I have garlic breath. I am full of succulent shawarma, creamy hummus and I slathered all of it in garlic sauce.

Multiple locations throughtout Halifax · mezzarestaurant.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Morris East A good dish is one that is well made. A great dish is one that it well though out. As such, Morris East is a place of great contemplation.

5212 Morris Street, Halifax and 620 Nine Mile Drive, Bedford --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

9 + Nine Chinese Cuisine Ignore the combination plates. Ask your server for suggestions.

Follow their advice. Be amazed at what you ate in a strip mall chinese restaurant.

480 Parkland Drive, Halifax · (902) 431-7575 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In Jiro Dreams Of Sushi, Jiro Ono instills a zen-like reverence for sushi in his employees. Former employee Shigeru Fukuyama brings the same approach to his Granville establishment.

1532 Granville Street, Halifax · (902) 422-0740 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2 Doors Down At 2 Doors Down, comfort food is what is served, no matter whether your comfort food is finnan caddie or korean rice cakes.

1533 Barrington Street, Halifax · (902) 422-4224

Help us decide who Nova Scotia's Best 25 are! Nominate your favourite local eateries at: localconnections.ca/magazineblog

You don’t have to travel very far to see what an amazingly diverse province we live in. Our picturesque landscapes are filled with family farms, fishing villages and other industries that when combined like ingredients in a recipe create a flavour that is unmistakably ours.

It’s a reminder of what an important ingredient local producers are to our economy and way of life. These local producers and the thousands they employ, spend their money with local merchants, so the money stays in rural communities where it benefits everyone.

We traveled our beautiful province to showcase how accessible these amazing people and products are. The fact is, local food travels fewer kilometers, has less packaging and is fresher and tastier than food shipped long distances. It just makes sense to buy local.

With a dash of creativity and some of the freshest ingredients around, we’ve discovered some other uniquely Nova Scotian recipes that we like to share - Please enjoy.

Chef Patrick MacIsaac Glenora Inn & Distillery

DRY RUB

COOKING DIRECTIONS

1 tbs fine ground espresso 1 tsp kosher salt 1 tsp ground black pepper 1 tbs brown sugar 1 tsp garlic powder 1 tbs paprika 1/2 tsp chili powder 1 tbs Montreal steak spice

- Coat steak with olive oil - Sprinkle dry rub (liberally) on both sides - Heat cast iron pan(works best) **no oil in pan - Cook coated steak 3min per side (this will result in a medium rare) - Allow steak to rest 2min before cutting - Slice steak on bias against the grain

Mix above ingredients together 1 6-8oz sirloin steak

Serve immediately SERVING SUGGESTION Goes great with roasted potatoes and grilled zucchini (as seen in photo)

Thompson Farm New Glascow, NS

Visit selectnovascotia. ca to find

local producers and more recipes just like this one.

Craft BEER

The 2014 Home Brew-Off Winner Congratulations to Jason McDougall, this year's winner of Garrison's Home Brew Contest. Next spring, with some help from head brewer Daniel Girard, Jason will produce his winning Weizen, which you will then see available in bottles at Garrison and select locations.

New Name for Bridge Brewing It all started with a friendly email from Bridge Brewing in Vancouver, asking that our boys on Agricola Street change their name. They of course held a fairly solid legal position, so Bridge Brewing on Agricola Street had to change their name.

So, back in March, North Brewing was born! Amidst the name change was also an expansion (they are able to produce more now), and the introduction of some new beers. If you haven't yet been, especially if Belgian is your preferred style of beer, you should pop in for a visit.

northbrewing.ca

garrisonbrewing.com

Always Something New Around the Corner Most serious craft beer drinkers have some established favourites when it comes to beer they drink, and it can be dangerous territory to challenge them on their choices.

That said, most serious craft brew drinkers are also avid explorers, always seeking out new beers to try. With the somewhat recent emergence of our local craft beer industry, it seems that being able to try new product is always around the corner.

Last month we were able to access five new brews, and an old favourite. The new brews were Sea Level's Southern Cross IPA, Boxing Rock's Alewife's Revenge (done in collaboration with the Ladies Beer League for International Women's Day), Garrison Brewing's Saint Peter's Belgian Style (last year's winner of the Home Brew Contest), Garrison's Test Batch IPA, Propeller's Irish Red, and of course we saw the return of Propeller's Double IPA, a favourite amongst the hard-core craft brew drinkers.

An interesting point worth noting, especially if you are new to the world of craft beer, is that you won't always enjoy everything you try, especially at first. But as time passes, and your palette becomes more sophisticated, you will likely find that some of the beers that you liked the least will actually become your new favourites. So hop on the wagon, go for a ride, and see where it takes you!

Learn to Brew at Noble Grape The Ladies Beer League has teamed up with Noble Grape to bring you two "Intro to Beer and Brewing" workshops.

The courses cost just $20, and there are two sessions available: Sunday, May 25th from 1 to 4pm and Saturday June 14th from 1 to 4pm. Each session also includes a complimentary invite to the Summertime All Grain Brew Session (date TBA), as well as a taster glass. For more information, visit the Ladies Beer League website.

ladiesbeerleague.ca

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LOCA L CO N NECTI ONS H AL I FAX | Spring 201 4

Rogues Roost Crosses the Sixteen Year Mark Back in our third issue, Autumn 2012, we celebrated the 15th Anniversaries of Garrison Brewing and Propeller Brewing, declaring them as foundation for the local craft brew scene.

Well, it seems we managed to miss another local craft brewer who was celebrating their 15th as well. Last year, Rogues Roost celebrated its 15th Anniversary, and the good times continue on.

This year it's number, and it's hard to imagine that we need to look all the way back to March of 1998 to be there for the opening of Rogues Roost. I mean, where were you in 1998? Since the opening, they RR has gone on to produce quite a number of interesting and delicious craft beers including: Red Ale, Brown Ale, Raspberry Wheat, IPA, Russian Imperial Stout, Weizen, a Barley Wine, Pilsner, Bock, Dunkel Weiven, and Bitter. They also won the Coast's Best Brew Pub from 2004 - 2012.

Today you can simply pop into their Spring Garden location and slip into a nice pint of local brew. Life is good!

roguesroost.ca

Prop'r Cask Night Returns Fans of Propeller's Cask Nights will be happy to hear that there will be at least one Prop'r Cask Night this year. On Friday, August 15, for this year's Sausage Fest, Propeller is once again teaming up with Chef Ludo and Agricola Street for another sausage feast! Tickets should be available around the middle of May, but be warned that they won't last very long.

localconnections.ca/events

WINE

FOOD

BEER

COCKTAILS

LIVE MUSIC

www.stubborngoat.ca 1579 Grafton St. | 902-405-4554

Wine & SPIRITS

All Bottled Up Every October our friends at the vineyards are a little hard to get ahold of. The reason for this is a simple one, they are in the middle of harvest season. So we don't bug them because we know they are working super hard so that people like you and I can serve something delicious over dinner, or have something to sip on as we watch the sunset. The flipside of all this is that in spring our friends then bottle up what they'd harvested the previous season, and all of a sudden the store shelves are flush with fresh Nova Scotian product.

This issue, we're showing off just a few of the hundreds on Nova Scotia wines that are waiting for you at the NSLC and our four boutique wine shops.

Luckett Vineyards - Black Cab

Avondale Sky - Lady Slipper

Black Cab will take your senses for a spin with its concentrated inky colour, spicy flavour and complex finish. A blend of dried Cabernet Foch and Castel, this full bodied red has been aged for 15 months in American Oak to deepen the flavours of fleshy black fruits with a powerful tannic structure. Enjoy now with hearty stews and grilled meats or enhance with aging.

Named for the wild orchid that grows so abundantly on the Avon Peninsula, this wine is crafted from Leon Millot, it reveals notes of dark cherry, cranberry, and orange zest.

Luckett Vineyards - Phone Box White A golden blend of Osceola Muscat, Traminette and L’Acadie, our signature Phone Box White delivers a refreshing floral, apricot flavour touched with a whisper of fresh garden herbs. With a soft round mouth feel, this easy-drinking wine answers the call of Nova Scotian lobster dinners, Digby scallops and BBQ’d chicken.

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Avondale Sky - Bliss The nose shows notes of green apple, pear, starfruit, and lime with cinnamon spice and chalky minerality from our terroir. The palate is clean and crisp with a touch of spritz that leads to a long citrus finish.

Mercator - Long 64°W Red Mercator Red’s firm tannin structure is an oak-rounded, mouth-filling journey, culminating in a long, creamy, toasty finish.

Mercator - Lat 45°N White Mercator White’s depth and character bring you to the shores of fruity, ripe aromatics and smoky, sultry oak, with a breeze of crisp minerality.

LOCA L CO N NECTI ONS H AL I FAX | Spring 201 4

Blomidon Estate - Chardonnay The 2010 estate-grown Unoaked Chardonnay is characterised by its classic Nova Scotian character. This exceptional growing season produced a Chardonnay with bright aromas of white peach, golden delicious apples, and a hint of spring flowers. Aged sur lie without having undergone malolactic fermentation, the rich palate blends with a refreshing acidity on the finish.

Benjamin Bridge - Nova 7 In the glass, a light orchid pink with a misty rose hue. On the nose, aromatic bursts of jasmine, white rose and passion fruit are brightened by notes of fresh lime and grapefruit zest. On the palate, the wine is crisp and refreshing with elegant hints of mango and candied green apples adding complexity and substance. A subtle effervescence enhances the wine’s vibrancy.

Gaspereau Vineyards - Lucie Kuhlmann Lucie Kuhlmann, one of Gaspereau Vineyards’ signature grapes, was used to make this robust red wine. Aged in French oak barrels, it has a smoky character and pairs well with beef, lamb or Italian cuisine.

Wine Tour Season Begins

Every May, with the opening of our wineries, wine tour season begins here in Nova Scotia, and there's a number of ways you could go about taking part. Option A is the simple route where you just grab you car keys, and maybe a few friends, and just go. Option B is where you pamper yourself, or your friends, and go on a wine tour.

If option B is what interests you, you have three solid options that we're aware of. The first is the Wolfville Magic Winery Bus, but that doesn't start until later in the season. The other two options can be had right now however, and all you need to do is pick a date on the calendar and book it.

Go North Tours Go North offers two different tours throughout the week, each one offering something a little different.

In fact one fo them, which was added this year, is the Wine and Craft Beer Lovers Tour. They also do unique tours during special events in the valley like the Avondale Art Fair, Sausage Fest, and Garlic Fest.

winetoursns.com

Grape Escapes NS Wine Tours Grape Escapes offers a number of wine tours as well, both daily and private bookings, from Halifax to Nova Scotia Wine Country. All tours available 7 days a week from May-November, you just need to choose the one that suits you, and there are a number of good ones to choose from.

novascotiawinetours.com

RELATIONSHIP COFFEES

Postcard from ABROAD

Devour! The Beach I

Green Turtle Cay, Abaco, The Bahamas with Lia Rinaldo recently found myself reading through a good friend’s account of her trip to The Bahamas. She was loving every second of it, posting photos to Facebook from the pool of a large-scale resort and sharing moments from tours, dining and shopping. I was thrilled for her, but I couldn’t help thinking what a shame it was that she didn’t get to experience the real Bahamas.

Now picture yourself on a tiny plane flying over vast teal and green waterscapes. As you step onto the runway, your face is hit with a warm breeze. A quick cab ride with blaring Caribbean vibes to a ferry cresting the waves, and finally you arrive on the dock of the Green Turtle Club. This is about as remote as it gets—a true tropical paradise, and seriously, the stuff dreams are made of.

Next, add six incredible chefs from all over North America: Jean Joho (Everest, Chicago), Tom Fleming (Crossroads Diner, Dallas), Eric Williams (Momocho Mod Mex, Cleveland), Craig Flinn (Chives Canadian Bistro, Halifax), Michael Blackie (NEXT, Ottawa), Michael Howell (Green Turtle Club) and Michael Palij, Master of Wine from the UK. Stir in rum, Bahamian hospitality, golf carts, deserted beaches, fishing, diving, spectacular food and wine, and turn that dial back to island time. This, friends, was Devour! The Beach.

My first trip here a year ago had me pitching the idea of a culinary destination event alongside my business partner, Michael Howell. Frankly, the place had me in one fell swoop.

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The two of us currently produce Devour! The Food Film Fest in November in Wolfville. Last year’s festival saw four thousand people packed into five days, with screenings of seventy films from around the world and an amazing array of culinary events—from food truck rallies to nose-to-tail workshops to collaborative dinners between chefs based on films. You name it, we tried to bite it off. Good thing it worked.

At one of our Wolfville dinners I checked in with one of our particularly boisterous tables of industry guests, and one of them said to me, “Keep it small. Keep it exceptional. Keep it connected.” This comment has been stuck in my head ever since, and I have been using it to gauge everything we do, including growth, which is inevitable at the rate we seem to move. The Beach felt exceptional and intimate to me.

So, how did we come to find ourselves in The Bahamas?

Through many circumstances, chief among them being Michael’s history with the place and role as consulting executive chef at the resort. We arrived at the helm of our first Devour! offshoot event with a committed local team on the ground who were willing to take a chance on us, having not seen Wolfville firsthand. We were also able to secure support from sponsors and the community; real champions emerged to push the event as far as we could take it in a short turnaround time. This is a special kind of place, where ex-pats, Bahamians and visitors happily fraternize side-by-side, crossing all the cultural and socioeconomic boundaries that appear to exist

LOCA L CO N NECTI ONS H AL I FAX | Spring 201 4

just about everywhere else.

It’s a real struggle to sum up an experience you’re this close to; it’s almost a story better told in pictures. I know this because of the sheer reaction people seemed to have to my Instagram feed—a broad spectrum from swooning to jealous outrage.

Whenever anyone asks me about my favourite moments, I realize a lot of what I love happens behind the scenes: the build of excitement and tension leading up to an event, long hardworking hours shared with your crew, friendships struck, after-hours fun and, most importantly, levity throughout. I need humour to make it all go, and a hearty, shared laugh in the heat of a moment is a damn lifesaver in my books.

It’s important to note that as organizers of culinary events, we almost never eat the food. In fact, we hardly eat in the run of a day. I’m not sure why I feel compelled to share this other than to explain why I’m so consumed with photographing and talking about food all the time. If, for any reason, you ever need to find chefs or event planners late at night, we’ll be the ones eating pizza topped with donair sauce in Wolfville and greasy cheeseburgers at beach bars in The Bahamas. I guess it all swings back to that old adage of work hard and play hard, and I appear to revel in it.

We’re back in Nova Scotia now, forging ahead with our main event: Devour! The Food Film Fest (November 12-16). We already have high-profile chefs and food films confirmed that are going to knock your socks off. As for the rest of the world, you never know where we’re going to pop up. In just this year alone, we’ve been invited to Seattle, New York, Trinidad & Tobago and more.

Once we have another edition under our belts, we’ll definitely let you know where we’re headed next. Until then, #EatItUp █

devourfest.com facebook.com/DevourFest

902.428.7852 harbourstone sea grill & pour house

@harbourstonesg

1919 Upper Water Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3J 3J5

Can’t Wait

for the Weekend!

Jost Tidal Bay 2013 Your perfect day is within reach.

Nova Scotia’s best selling Tidal Bay appellation is available in time for your Victoria Day weekend.

COMING THIS MAY TO SeleCT NSlC STOreS

48 VINTAGe lANe, MAlAGASH, NS (off route 6) 1.800.565.4567

@JostVineyards JostWine.com

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

2015

Weekend DRIVE

48

B

eing a Mini owner already, the new Mini Cooper kind of had the upper hand going in. I love my car, enjoy driving it each and every day, and find it amusing how the novelty of owning one never seems to wear off. This new Mini is a different beast however. It's bigger, much bigger in fact, but is it still a Mini? Well, we're about to find out.

Updated looks aside, it's important to note that this Mini, right down to the motor, is built by BMW. What makes this proposition even more interesting, is that along with the build quality upgrade, the price of the new Mini has dropped. As you will note in our specs box, you can actually pick one up for just under $21,000. To some, that may still seem like a lot to pay for a car that dances between the compact and sub-compact class, but the truth is that Mini really belongs in a class of its own.

For our road trip, we're first taking the car out to Herring Cove, which is not too far from the dealership, but far enough to get a chance to explore this new car.

On Monday morning we arrive at O'Regan's Mini to pick up our tester. It's Deep Metallic Blue and it's a real looker. Parked beside our first generation Mini, it's noticeably bigger, and yet it still says Mini. How is this possible?

The moment I open the driver's side door, I realize that this Mini is really in a different class, even when compared to its predecessor. It's luxurious, but not in the wrong way. It's not fussy, and all the simplicity that makes the Mini what it is is still intact, but this car has the feeling of something that costs 10k more than it does.

Seating postion is good after a few adjustments, and even before I turn the key I can't help but feel at home. The car fits.

But then when I go to insert the key, I realize that there isn't one.

Instead, there's a red trigger in the centre console waiting for my

attention. A flick of the switch and the beast is alive. Visibilty is exceptional in the new Mini, so backing up and exiting the the dealership lot is accomplished with little effort.

Throttle response is near perfect as I exit the lot, and so is brake feel as I approach the intersection, but then, diaster. Or so I think.

Did I just stall the car? How is this possible in an automatic? It actually takes me three embarrasing intersections to figure out what's really going on. This car, when stopped, actually shuts its engine off. It's new technology which we'll starting to see on more and more cars, but this was my first experience with it.

Moving beyond my moments of embarassment, I eventually found myself on Purcells Cove Road, en route to one of my favourite quick getaways, Pavia Espresso Bar and Gallery. The roads are windy-ish and there are brief Nova Scotian postcard moments, but all my focus is on the car. The feel is really good around the turns, the seats firm and providing good support.

The sunroof is a shining star as well, but this isn't something new to the Mini range. Heated seats are starting to become a standard item on a lot of cars, but I'm appreciating them no less.

What strikes me as the most suprising about this car however is the amount of power and how it goes about delivering it. It has a 3 cylinder motor, but sure doesn't feel like it. In fact, the 0-60 numbers on this car (7.9 Seconds) are almost the same as the outgoing "S" model. Impressive. On top of that, this car has three drive modes. Sport, Mid, and Green. The Sport Mode delivers sharper throttle response and admittedly that's where the car is set for the bulk of the day. Had we hit rush hour traffic, Green mode would have been the default for sure.

After a nice panini sandwich and espresso at Pavia, we head back downtown where we would test the car in heavier traffic.

LOCA L CO N NECTI ONS H AL I FAX | Spring 201 4

Weekend DRIVE

This is truly the Mini's element, though I am reluctant to say so because this car is also an ideal companion for a road trip.

In town, the car hustles well. Sport mode is still engaged and I'm having no trouble climbing hills and getting around. Parallel parking is also a breeze and overall everything feels right.

For our last stop, we take the Mini shopping to Pete's. I buy my usual three bags of groceries, which normally makes for a cozy trunk in my first generation Mini, but clearly there is space for much more in this car. The trunk well is deep. I would guess that you could probably fit a whole shopping cart in here. Not bad. I also tested out the back seats as well. We folded them down and imagined how many cases of magazines we could fit in here. It sure would be a great company cruiser for sure.

At the end of the day, I reluctantly returned the car to the dealership. I didn't want to give the keys back, and this is not something I've experienced often. First impression? Rock solid, but now I'm wondering if the base model can be this good, what would an "S" model be like? Hmmm. â–ˆ

Vehicle Specifications Model

Mini Cooper

Engine

3 Cylinder 12 Valve Twin Scroll Turbo

Power

134hp @ 4500 - 6500rpm

Torque

162lb ft @ 1250rpm

Fuel Economy (city)

TBA

Fuel Economy (highway)

TBA

Luggage Capacity

211 Litres

Base price

$20,990

Price as tested

$26,512

LOCA L CO NNECTIO NS HA L IFAX | Sprin g 201 4

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City + BUSINESS

Business Online

Mortgages Retirement People Local

Community Investments

Article: Brenden Sommerhalder · Photo: NMeghan Tansey Whitton

Social Responsibilty

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What is a Credit Union?

W

hen you ask people to describe what a credit union is, many can’t. Some think of credit unions as hyper local, in both focus and reach. However, modern credit unions are proving that it is possible to have the former without the latter; that is, that credit unions are part of the local community, but that technology and robust mutually-beneficial regional partnerships allow them to offer the same banking services as any other financial institutions.

Marie Mullally, President and CEO of Credit Union Atlantic (CUA), describes three distinct advantages of the credit union model. The first is that credit unions are owned by their members. “There's only one group that we're focused on delivering exceptional service and value for,” she says.

“That's our members, because they're also our owners. That ownership gives our members the opportunity to participate in the way that their financial institution operates.”

The second advantage is that it provides access to local-level programs. Adam Hayden, Commercial Account Manager with CUA, explains that the Nova Scotia Small Business Loan Guarantee Program is a “made-in-Nova Scotia solution”

to increase the financing available to small and mid-sized businesses. This program is delivered exclusively through select credit unions, including CUA, and provides up to $500,000 in borrowing that may be used for capital purchases or working capital.

The third advantage is what Mullally and Hayden refer to as personalized or tailored local-sensitive service. “It’s the ability to be nimble by making decisions at the local level,” says Mullally. “Understanding unique circumstances helps paint a clearer picture of someone's financial reality.”

“Our decisions are made locally,” says Hayden. “We know the market. We can adapt or tailor our policies to the market because we understand it better. Our head office is here in Halifax.” This can often have tangible benefits, such as faster turnaround times when you’re in a pinch.

“We had a customer who needed financing to buy a business, and it was taking longer than expected with one of the main banks,” recalls Hayden. “She showed up completely prepared, and we were able to turn it around for her in about four days.

We even surprised the lawyer. It's just that much easier if the signature I need to approve something for a customer is down

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the hall instead of across the country.”

Mullally reflects that sometimes it's the seemingly simpler interactions that can make a world of difference. She remembers a recent immigrant to Canada who was having difficulty getting financing for his first home because he didn’t have Canadian credit history. Based on what they learned about him, his history and his plans, they were able to arrange a mortgage for him despite his lack of Canadian credit history.

“It has worked out great for him,” says Mullally. “It helps to have that local point of view; it can have a big impact.”

Credit unions have also shown they can lead in banking innovation. One example is introducing cheque scanning to Canada (the ability to deposit a cheque by taking a photo of it with your phone). This feature is headed for the CUA mobile app this summer.

As an organization, Credit Union Atlantic backs up its commitment to local through its active participation in local charitable causes. This past April, for example, the “CUA Crusaders” team raised over $33,000 for the Lung Association of Nova Scotia at their eighth annual Credit Union Atlantic Lung Run, which CUA sponsors. █

Credit Union Atlantic currently has 8 branches, as well as numerous ATM machines ready to serve you.

You can visit them online at: cua.com, or at any of the locations listed below.

Let our people power your success.

Recruitment and placement services

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Annex - 6954 Mumford Road Suite 4, Halifax Civic - 6070 Lady Hammond Road, Halifax Cole Harbour - 3 Cumberland Drive, Cole Harbour Corporate Office - 7105 Chebucto Road Suite 350, Halifax Pleasant Street Station - 380 Pleasant Street Unit 1, Dartmouth Spring Garden Road - 5670 Spring Garden Road, Halifax Tantallon - 5104 St. Margaret's Bay Road, Upper Tantallon Wyse Road - 135 Wyse Road, Dartmouth

DOWNTOWN DARTMOUTH All together vibrant

A L DE RNEY LANDING Marie Mullally, President and CEO of Credit Union Atlantic

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City SPEAK

BE BOLD Phil Otto

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l brandguy

or the past several months I’ve been deeply involved in an initiative to define the Halifax brand, which includes a brand strategy and brand identity. This is an important undertaking—a strong Halifax brand will rally council, municipal staff, residents and businesses behind a common spirit. It will guide and inspire the way we act, engage, speak, market and deliver our experience. It is the story of who we are and where we’re going. It can make us feel great about where we live, and it has the potential to attract new immigrants, new businesses, tourists and conventions. This is vital to our economy as it will increase our tax base, spread the cost of municipal services over more people and more businesses (which will lower our taxes), and provide tax revenue to increase and improve the services we receive from the municipal government.

More than 20,000 people—the largest stakeholder engagement in our municipality’s history—were consulted through focus groups, one-on-one meetings, telephone and online surveys, phone calls, postcards, website visits, and social media channels.

People told us to be authentic, be friendly, be dynamic, be optimistic and be bold. But what does it mean to be bold?

Bold is all around us. It is the spirit of our city. Bold is an attitude. It is courageous and powerful. Bold is how rich history meets progressive thinking. Bold is about creating opportunities and conditions for our people and businesses to thrive. Bold encourages collaboration and fosters our creative, energetic spirit. Bold develops and embraces innovative ideas. Bold enhances the lives of our citizens. Bold is skilled, open-minded, optimistic and hard-working people creating a climate for success. Bold is the vision to become a global city, not by size, but through culture, imagination and innovation.

Bold will give us a place on the world stage. Bold proudly celebrates the rewarding, balanced lifestyle that’s envied by others. Bold doesn’t sit around waiting for something good to happen. Bold is in our contrasts. It is as vivid, spirited and rambunctious as it is peaceful, quiet and serene. Bold doesn’t forget how we all got here. It is mature and wise.

It is youthful and curious. Bold is trying new things. It is meeting new people. Bold is putting yourself out there and cheering on anyone else taking a risk. Bold is a state of mind, a way of being, the license to take one more step.

Bold has made it happen here for over 260 years. Through world wars and catastrophe. Through every political twist and turn, every ebb and flow, and all the lines drawn in the sand, erased, then drawn again. Bold is a collective spirit called Halifax.

Bold is our City of Lakes Business Park. Bold is our Harbour Cleanup Project. Bold is our new Central Library and the Emera Oval. Bold is King’s Wharf. Bold is local artist Jay Rawding. Bold is what’s happening in Halifax’s north end. Bold is the Mooseheads trading for Nathan MacKinnon. We are 400,000 people living in 200 urban, suburban and rural communities. But we are one. We are Halifax.

Bold should become part of our everyday language, and it should be the filter people use to make decisions that affect our region. Be bold. If you would like to learn more about the Halifax brand, visit HalifaxDefined.ca.

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City SPEAK

TIPS ON MAKING YOUR SMALL BUSINESS THRIVE Lindsay Best

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l lindsaybestbiz

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It takes a unique mix of skills and attributes to be a successful entrepreneur. It takes courage, determination, a positive attitude and the ability to rally your community. Beyond these incredibly admirable attributes, however, there are a variety of less exciting habits that are equally important to small business success. The skills outlined below can be learned, practiced and perfected to make you and your business very desirable.

Avoid Procrastination Whether it’s personally or professionally, everyone can relate. Many people will even say that their best work is done when the deadline is approaching and the pressure is building. This may be the case, but there is a potentially debilitating cost of doing business this way. When you always leave your work to the last minute, it means that you can’t say yes to new opportunities because you are consumed by deadlines. It also sends the wrong message to your local community, and over time this will damage your brand.

Make it Easy Suppliers and partners enjoy working with businesses that don’t waste their time.

When choosing to work with another business they must consider time, price and the quality of service. But they will also place a significant amount of value on the ease of the experience with the business or business person. When people have to spend time chasing down payments or following up on late work, it has a direct impact on their business because they end up revisiting the same task to get their desired result.

Think Small Small steps to get ahead in your business will open the door to new opportunities and make it a pleasure, rather than a chore, to work with you. Consider changing the way you work. Instead of doing things when you have to do them, do them when you can do them. Organize your contacts and documents so that they are easily accessible. Pay people on time. Manage your calendar efficiently to achieve more. Follow up on your correspondence in a timely manner.

Assess Your Workflow Make some small changes to improve the quality of the experience your partner will have when working with you. For example, schedule specific dates for the deliverables of your work and ensure you over deliver instead of simply meet the deadlines. This way, when unexpected delays occur, you will be prepared to continue to exceed the expectations of your partners.

The quality of the experience you provide is what will have your supporters speaking positively about you and your business. This approach to doing business will also free up time, allowing you to take on new opportunities that come your way.

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Guest BLOGGER

Reimagining Halifax as a Place to Cycle Ben Wedge

ca.linkedin.com/in/benwedge

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l @benwedge

ith the summer air rolling in, it’s time to think about your commute to work. Last year, New York City launched its Citi Bike bike-sharing program, flooding the city with thousands of bright blue bicycles.

The plan worked. People from Wall Street CEOs to A-list actors and top athletes have been spotted using the bikes.

The best part? They’re doing so in style. It’s time to shake your image of spandexclad men racing around country roads. Today’s cyclists are wearing suits, skirts, highheeled shoes and setting a new bar for style.

This phenomenon isn’t limited to big cities like New York and Montreal, though.

Stylish cyclists are hitting the streets around the world. You’ll be seeing them in Halifax this summer, too. While we might not yet be ready for a bike sharing system, Haligonians are starting to buy their own bikes and dust off classic cruisers tucked away in sheds.

When it comes to expressing style through your bike itself, it’s all about making the right two-wheeled choice. The bikes sold at big department stores are heavy and inefficient. Classic ten-speed bikes, while durable and beautiful, put riders in a poor position for riding to work. A good city bike features fenders, a luggage rack, a basket for your bag or purse and swept-back handlebars so you can sit up straight. This means your blouse or shirt won’t be wrinkled when you arrive at work. It also encourages you to move slowly and enjoy your ride rather than race to a sweaty workout.

When you arrive by bike, you arrive relaxed with a clear mind, which is way more stylish than arriving at the office stressed out from your commute.

Good style looks effortless. It’s tough to look great if you’re in constant fear of cars and potholes. Thankfully, Halifax is getting better with this every year. Last fall, the city installed a bike lane along Windsor Street, creating a key spine of infrastructure through the city. Most peninsula residents now have safe and convenient routes to work, and more improvements are coming. With more cyclists on the roads, drivers are providing more space and becoming more patient when temporarily delayed by a slower-moving cyclist.

There’s nothing to fear riding on the peninsula anymore. With an expanding cycling network, those benefits will soon be seen throughout the urban core.

One of the difficulties of style of any kind is that it’s typically not free. But with gas prices going the way they are, you can free up a significant amount of money by saving the car for longer trips or transporting heavy items. Take those savings and invest them in yourself. A new jacket feels a lot better than another tank of gas. Plus, you won’t need to buy a jacket again next week.

It’s time to take the leap and become an urban cyclist. Treat yourself to an upright city bike and start riding to work. Put your favourite outfit on and start turning some heads as you cruise by the gridlocked traffic.

Check out Ben’s blog about cycling and living in an urban world at halifaxbloggers. ca/ReimaginingHalifax

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Eat Healthy EAT OUR PORK!

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Artist SPOTLIGHT

Emma Fitzgerald

by Alexander Henden

Capturing the Beauty of Our North End

Emma FitzGerald was born in Lesotho, a small country in Southern Africa, to Irish parents. Raised in Vancouver, she moved to Nova Scotia in 2004 and has made Halifax her home base ever since. More about her work can be found at emmafitzgerald.ca. Her prints are available at Inkwell Modern Letterpress Boutique, and at KEPT in Dartmouth.

When did you begin doing art in a professional context?

I studied art immediately after highschool, graduating with a BFA from UBC, and then moved to NS to study architecture at Dalhousie in 2004.

After finishing architecture school and working in architecture offices I had art shows, but only began making my living as a full-fledged artist in May 2013.

When did you begin doing all these amazing drawings of the North End? I had always drawn when I travelled, and was almost embarrassed I didn't draw when I was at home. It was last July that I began doing a drawing a day

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in my immediate neighbourhood.

What inspired you to begin capturing the North End on paper?

I began the drawings in preparation for an artist residency called White Rabbit, where I drew the town of Bass River, sitting on my studio chair, a made in Bass River stool. I actually attached the chair to my bike, so I needed a rehearsal of sorts, which is what the initial drawings were. However, the response I got made me realise there was a desire for these kinds of drawings, and that no matter where I am in the world, drawing can actually create relationships with the people around you, pardon the

LOCA L CO N NECTI ONS H AL I FAX | Spring 201 4

pun; it draws people in. Doing this in your own backyard can in fact create challenges, but also many rewards.

People's emotions become involved; you are drawing people's homes and livelihoods.

What do you have planned for the immediate future?

I am completing lots of house and business portrait commissions. I am also working on a book with Formac Lorimer publishing, on neighbourhoods of Halifax, so I have been venturing further a field, and getting really amazing responses from people. Yesterday I was in Fairview drawing the corner of Maple St. in front of someone's house. The

owner came out and asked what I was doing. Ten minutes later he came back with a book on the history of the neighbourhood and told me I could bring it back in 6 months. Those kinds of moments remind me there is a lot of trust and also interest in being involved in community beyond just mowing your own lawn and keeping to yourself; that really inspires me. I also am going to draw a friend's wedding this summer, and I am excited about the possibilities for drawing events as well as buildings.

Because “Rental Sweet Rental” just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

Emma's work is currently on display at Megan Leslie's office (until June 5th) and will then be at the Keshan Goodman Library June 7th - 31st. Emma has also collaborated with I Heart Bikes, producing her designs on T-shirts, stickers and mugs.

cua.com/cashback 492-6500

Energy EFFICIENCY

Article: Alexander Henden 路 Photo: Riley Smith

Making An Impact on Business Through Energy Efficiency

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ast issue we chatted with Oxford Blueberries about their choice to go more energy efficient as a means of competing on a global scale, but not everyone runs a big business, so what about the rest of us?

Well, if you are a small business owner who is paying heating and electrical bills, you can attest to the impact energy use can have on your bottom line, especially if the building you occupy is a little long in the tooth. Luckily, there is help. Efficiency Nova Scotia actually assists businesses of all shapes and sizes, helping with upgrades on existing lighting, heating, appliances, and more.

Just one year ago, Dave Hiltz, owner of Hiltz Taekwon-do in Sackville, overheard an ad on the radio and thought that maybe some upgrading would be good for his business. Part of this decision came from wanting to save some money on power bills, but he also had another motivation. The existing heating in his building was proving inadequate, making for some very chilling mornings at his dojang. So the call was made and shortly after, the upgrading was underway.

For this upgrade project, Efficiency Nova Scotia provided some consultation, and then helped replace the outdated lighting and heating system, using high efficiency bulb and fixtures, and heat pumps throughout the building.

The effects were immediately noticeable. The heat issue, or should we say the lack of heat issue, was immediately

resolved, with heat now being distributed efficiently throughout the building. Timers were also installed, making it possible to have the place warm on arrival, and this made for a lot of happy campers. When it came to the light fixtures and bulbs, something unexpected happened. The dojang, which was formerly quite dark inside, became brightly lit, or as Dave put it "so bright you could actually see how white our uniforms are". Cool. So, all around, some fairly minor upgrading has had a positive effect on his business, and that's without even talking about the energy savings.

On the energy savings side, the replacement of the building's lighting and heating meant that Dave would save approximately 12,776 kWh, or around $1600 in one year.

When asked how long it will take to pay off the upgrades, Dave told us one year. Not to bad, especially when you consider that the savings will continue well beyond the installation year. So for a small investment, you can not only save money immediately and recoup costs over a short period of time, but you can also create a more comfortable environment to work from. Sounds like a no brainer.

There's another aspect to this which, as a magazine, is important to us. What was the service like? Was it easy to work with Efficiency Nova Scotia? According to Dave, the answer is yes. He is not only happy with the work, but with all the help he received along the way.

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Job #1 - New Lighting

BOLD & Beautiful

S h o w c a s i n g O u r B E S T f o r 2 Ye a r s S t r o n g !

Exisitng Estimated Annual Usage: 20,610 kWh Proposed Savings: 4,776 kWh *New Usage: 15,834 kWh Estimated Savings: $602

Job #2 – Heat Pump Exisitng Estimated Annual Usage: 20,610 kWh Proposed Savings: 8,000 kWh *New Usage: 12,610 kWh Estimated Savings: $1,008

Combined Projects Potential kWh savings: 12776 kWh Existing ($) Electric Bill: $2597 Potential ($) Electric Bill: $987 Savings ($) Electric Bill: $1610

For more information on Efficiency Nova Scotia's commercial and residential programs, visit them online at: efficiencyns.ca

“SHOWCASING THE BEST OUR REGION HAS TO OFFER” L ConnectionsHFX f LocalConnectionsHalifax

Once Upon a HALIFAX

Article: Brenden Sommerhalder · Photo: Nova Scotia Archives

Back In the 1960’S, We Used to Assemble Swedish Made Volvos Right Here in Halifax

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lobal and regional realities have convinced pretty much all observers that the idea of defining a new Nova Scotia is important for our short- and longterm prosperity as a province—and it would be a fitting theme for 2014. In his treatise of a report released this year, Now or Never: An Urgent Call to Action for Nova Scotians, Ray Ivany has effectively called upon Nova Scotians to get our hands dirty and tackle our challenges, reminding us that the fruits of success are ours to nurture. If we want our new Nova Scotia, the time is now, and it’s up to us.

This idea of a new Nova Scotia is not, itself, new. Fifty-one years ago the first Volvo vehicles manufactured in Canada emerged from the company’s assembly facility in Dartmouth.

At the time, Premier Robert Stanfield said that the facility would herald in a “new Nova Scotia” ready to compete in the manufacturing industry at the global level. As the first nonNorth American assembly facility on this continent, it would put Nova Scotia on the map.

When the opening of the Volvo assembly plant was announced in 1963, it led to a swelling of pride and congratulations. The Chronicle Herald asserted that “all Nova Scotians should rejoice” for the economic opportunity, while others rightly found pride that the venerable Volvo, with its reputation for exceptional craftsmanship, would trust itself to Nova Scotia.

The cutting of the ribbon at the new Volvo facility attracted some star power, including Premier Stanfield, Volvo President Gunnar Engellau and a Swedish prince. The new Volvo facility

elicited optimism throughout the region. Within weeks of the facility’s opening, an automotive sub-industry formed around supplying the Volvo plant and servicing its vehicles. The cars made at the facility were called “Volvo Canadians.”

In 1955, Volvo moved to a larger facility across the harbour in Halifax and boosted their production from 360 cars per month to over 420. They added to that facility in 1970, which pushed their production and their employment numbers to over 300 people. By 1971 the facility had produced over 40,000 vehicles. It took a little longer than first expected, but Volvo had become a significant piece of Nova Scotia’s economic puzzle.

The Volvo assembly facility was a pan-generational employer, an economic driver and a righteously-earned mark of pride for 35 years. But global market realities again began to shift, which, combined with an increasing conflict with its labour force, led to the eventual closing of the Volvo facility.

The last Volvo was produced in Nova Scotia at the company’s plant, by then in Bayers Lake, in 1998.

As we look within ourselves to reach for a new Nova Scotia once again, our experience with Volvo is worth keeping in mind. It suggests that we must always innovate, leverage our skill and protect our reputation for doing good work; and as Ray Ivany urges us, to take control of our future. The story of Volvo is a reminder of a sparkling achievement of our past, and the mortal nature of all things—including industries. It is why we will continue to be rewarded when we are not only optimistic, but also nimble and entrepreneurial. █

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Did You Know? · The plant in Dartmouth was the first Volvo car assembly plant located outside of Sweden. The location was chosen as a means of by-passing North American trade tarifs. · The first car rolled off the lot in 1963. · There are 26 Volvo shells currently in Bedford Basin.

They were dumped after being severly damaged during transport from Sweden. There's actually some sonar images of them in the Basin which you can find online. · At the height of production, Volvo assembled 12,000 cars and employed over 200 people at their Bayers Lake plant. · In total, Volvo Halifax produced 10 different models. · Volvo closed down in 1998. · In 1998, Mary Walsh and This Hour Has Twenty Two Minutes did a segment at the freshly closed Volvo plant. · The Canadian Museum of Industry in Stellarton restored a Volvo 122 (Canadian), which is now on display. We're not 100% certain on this, but our understanding is that the car on display is also the first one that came off the lot in 1963.

At Bowring, saving energy saves money.

“We’re always trying to find ways to lower costs, so saving on power is huge. Our partnership with Efficiency Nova Scotia has been great - there was no disruption to our business and now all of our bulbs have been replaced with LEDs. I couldn’t believe how quick and professional the process was.”

- Karen Spears, Retail Manager, Bowring

Efficiency Nova Scotia offers services, financial incentives and straightforward advice to help you save.

Start saving, call 1 877 999 6035

Karen Spears, Retail Manager, Bowring

Closing NOTE

Article: Alexander Henden · Photo: Samson Learn

THE VINTAGE DEALER

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t's a well-known fact that the future of our region depends on two things. The first is population. We need more people, but more importantly we need more young people to come here and stay. The other thing we need for a bright future is entrepreneurs, but not just people who want to work for themselves. A lot of people want to work for themselves, and a lot of people shouldn't. We need people with passion, drive and a constantly renewing desire to keep getting better at what they do.

Just over two years ago, a young man walked into Plan B Merchants’ Co-op (our fourth cover story) on Gottingen Street and made an impression. His name is Sandy Hiltz, and on that day he was wearing a three-piece suit with a pocket watch, and was armed with more knowledge about antiques and collectables than most thirty-year-old antique dealers. Oh yeah, and he was only nine years old.

It was at that very first meeting that owner Bob Chaisson knew that he wanted to have him involved with the shop, so he offered Sandy some space to sell his wares, and Sandy took him up on the offer.

Fast forward to today; Sandy is still selling his antiques at Plan B. In fact, he's selling close to 80% of his stuff, which is considerably high for the business he's in. He's a savvy buyer,

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and he's very much in touch with what people are looking for, an essential quality for someone in retail. He's also a fixture at most auctions and estate sales to the point where people in the industry already know him by name.

Our region is loaded with so many bright young minds, and we get a great sense of pleasure from uncovering success stories like these. The entrepreneurial spirit is something that begins to form at an early age, and as adults we should nurture this. You only need to look down the road (from Plan B) to Hope Blooms (our third cover story) to see what kind of impact supporting the entrepreneurial spirit can have on our communities.

And these effects are not shortlived. They become the foundation we proudly stand on, and while our youth deserve all the accolades of their successes, we should also be able to say that we weren't sitting idly on the sidelines while these opportunities were right in front of us. █

ns Halifax

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Wine & Travel Issue PACK YOUR BAGS AND GET READY TO LOVE NOVA SCOTIA

C OMIN G TH I S J ULY!

“SHOWCASING THE BEST OUR REGION HAS TO OFFER” localconnections.ca L ConnectionsHFX f LocalConnectionsHalifax