The Bicycle Thief Fire & Ice Bar

By Deborah Rent

This story starts in post–World War II, Italy. We meet a poor man struggling to feed his family.

He finally gets a job that will help pull them out of poverty. As bad luck would have it, it is a job that requires him to use a bicycle, one that becomes stolen soon after. We are taken on a journey through Rome as the man desperately searches for it, believing it to be the only thing to save his family. In one scene the man exclaims “To hell with it! You want a pizza?” This is the premise for The Bicycle Thief – an Italian movie that was ranked as one of the greatest films ever. It explains the large sculpture outside an award-winning Italian restaurant in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia; metal antique bicycles painted a muted red and fused together in the shape of a pine tree.

Welcome to The Bicycle Thief, one of the trendiest spots in the city, where they proudly serve North American food with an Italian soul. The restaurant is nestled in the corner of the U-shaped courtyard of Bishops Landing which is home to high-end boutiques, shops and restaurants on Halifax’s waterfront. The Bicycle Thief is located directly on the boardwalk with spectacular views of Halifax Harbour. With a distinctly European feel, the restaurant is very popular with locals and tourists alike.

In the summer the patio is packed with people sitting at bleached wood tables with bright red umbrellas providing shade from the bright hot sun. During the bitter cold winter though, Halifax’s waterfront is not a place one would expect to see people sitting outside enjoying a drink. However, you would be wrong. The Bicycle Thief is literally one of the coolest spots in the city. Bundled up as you quickly race towards the restaurant, bracing yourself against the bitter north winds blowing up the harbour, the first thing you see is the infamous red metal bicycle tree adorned with strings of white lights. Christmas trees, also aglow with twinkling white lights, are positioned to block the winds. It’s like a scene from a grown-up winter wonderland, with the highlight being a bar made from antiqued white-washed barn boards, looking like a wintry version of the wide planks of the nearby boardwalk. Staff behind the bar looks every bit Canadian with their down filled jackets, warm toques, scarves and gloves. Heaters throw a warm glow and faux fur blankets are strewn on the sheep skin bar stools. During the summer, this is their outdoor champagne bar, but now protected from the frigid winds, it has been transformed into the Fire & Ice Bar where you can actually embrace winter with warm mulled wine or a grown-up hot chocolate!

“The experience is one of a kind,” says owner Hakan Uluer. “It is the best setting in town during the long cold winter.”

The staff at this fully winterized outdoor heavenly bar serve up a healthy dose of warm hospitality. “It comes from the heart. We treat every single person as if they are coming to our home. Each of our managers has a mission to find a kindness opportunity,” says Uluer. “And opportunities are everywhere, whether it’s to bring another blanket or a scarf for extra warmth or for our bartender to make you smile. If it makes our guests happy we will not hesitate to do it. When it comes from the heart, it feels great. We want your stay here to be memorable.”

It’s not unusual to see folks sitting at the Fire & Ice Bar for as long as two to five hours at a time. It’s Nova Scotia and its winter, yet The Bicycle Thief has convinced people to sit outside and drink. Clearly this is the way winter was meant to be enjoyed. The Bicycle Thief, where hot cocktails take the sting out of frigid winds and an evening outdoors is not only possible, it is thoroughly enjoyable!

The Fire & Ice Bar is open during the winter at 5 p.m. until late, Friday and Saturday, weather permitting. ~