So, what did I decide to do with $100 on my Big Day Downtown? If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you probably guessed right. I blew it all on one of my fave addictions: food and beverage.

First, big ups to the Downtown Halifax Business Commission for inviting me to “Go To Town.” The launch party at Pipa‘s new Atrium was a fabulous venue to showcase what our lovely downtown core has to offer: wonderful atmosphere, delicious food and divine mixed drinks. While I stuck to the sangria (offered in both the white and red variety), I highly recommend the caipirinhas. Need help pronouncing that? Check out the audio link on Merriam-Webster. According to Wikipedia it’s Brazil’s national cocktail. Which kind of begs the question, what’s Canada’s?

White Sangria from Pipa

One of the many delights served up on beautiful dishware

After thinking long and hard about where I wanted to spend my pre-paid credit card, I decided to see how far it would take me while hanging out with Cokebaby and the in-laws. First destination:

The Foggy Goggle: Home of the Google, I mean, Goggle Burger

The Foggy Goggle is a favorite watering hole among us for its unpretentious food and decor, comfy couches and live music on the weekends. (Inside joke: my brother-in-law is always misattributing ownership of the burger here to the internet giant.)

My tiara

I’m a fan of cider and Guinness so this concoction, a tiara ($5.43), is a dream come true. Two is even better. Or you can order the big brother version, a crown float, which comes in a pint glass.

Potato skins done different

Foggy Spuds ($9.75) are what Cokebaby described as a meeting of potato skins and corn chowder. Maybe that sounds a little weird to you but, trust me, they were pretty yummy.

We moved on from here to The Loose Cannon Scottish Public House for some pre-dinner scotches. I’m not a big connoisseur of the beverage but I do have a couple of favourites. So, I went with the Dalwhinnie 15 yr ($9.25) and wasn’t disappointed. The only picture I had from this location didn’t really pan out because it’s oppressively dark even in the day. I also have to say, while I’ve only been here a handful of times, the service has always been lacking. The menu offers standard pub fare and on the 25th day of every month they serve a haggis dinner in commemoration of Robbie Burns.

Dinner was served at Brussels Restaurant & Brasserie. I’ve posted a review here before and still love the beautiful decor, charming ambiance, and delicious mussels and beers. Plus, Cokebaby and I are vacationing in Belgium this September!

Practice makes perfect

I’m a big fan of fruit beers so I started with the Mort Subite Kriek Lambic ($11.95), then had a Fruli Strawberry ($8.25) with my Moules Escargot ($9.95) & frites ($3.95). My only complaint from this visit is that the menu often relies on waitstaff to make recommendations but ours was not all that knowledgeable in pairings. This fact proved a bit more crucial when several of the beers we wanted to order were out of stock (beer emergency!).

Best quote of the night, said at this location: My husband to his brother, “Did you just call me Cokebaby?!”

Chocolate ice cream with coffee grinds

For dessert we headed to Sugah for some hand paddled ice cream. Nuff said, really.

Overall, it was a fun way to spend a day. More importantly, the Big Day Downtown campaign has inspired me to add a Downtown Halifax tag for all my related content including, first and foremost, restaurant reviews. I’ll also be adding to the tag regularly going forward. So, keep your recommendations coming in the comments section for spots to check out in downtown Halifax.

Photo credit: lumierefl from Flickr

Tonight I’ll be heading out to a launch party at Pipa for a fun venture put on by the Downtown Halifax Business Commission.

The Big Day Downtown program is meant to highlight downtown Halifax as a destination for shopping, dining, doing business, working and living. Participating bloggers, columnists, journalists and media personalities will be tasked with answering the question: “How would you spend $100 in downtown Halifax?”

Our little city is home to a compact, walkable downtown that’s pretty easy to fill a day with. Unfortunately, with lots of talk about the death of Barrington Street, a recent article in the Toronto Star remarked that “Halifax tends to look shabby and under-populated.”

I’ll be setting out into the streets of downtown Halifax to find out how far $100 goes and report back here with my findings. Before I do though, I’m going to look for some pre-game tips. What are some of your fave gems in downtown Halifax? Where do you think I should I go? I’m looking forward to showcasing what this fair city has to offer in our downtown core.

(Note, that according to the breakdown of business districts, the visit will not include Spring Garden Road which has its own association. Here’s a map of the district that is downtown Halifax.)

One of the standard complaints about living on the East Coast is that comparatively speaking, we don’t make the same amount of money that peers in other bigger cities do. Alison DeLory interviewed a number of professionals around the city of Halifax, including me, to get our opinions on the matter.

In every city you could complain about something, Walsh says. “I want to embrace the positive experiences of living in Halifax.” She includes among her favourite Halifax things: spectacular dining, a dogs-off-leash park and walking trail five minutes from her affordable suburban home and her quick commute. “Everything is so close here.”

Read the full article.

Fun foodie times ahead this weekend in Halifax! Just a quick note to put this event on your radar. CATCH is all about local seafood and the hottest culinary trends. It takes place this weekend (June 19 & 20) at the Cunard Centre.  Cokebaby and I will be heading over with the in-laws to check out some of the yummy eats (and drinks). You can’t get much more local food on the East Coast than with the bounty of seafood we have on our shores.

[It's no secret that my fave restaurant in the city is Brooklyn Warehouse (follow them on Twitter @BrooklynHalifax). I've even said, "I’d divorce brownie husband and leave our chocolate chip kids behind if I could marry the menu." The obvious reason for my infatuation with the food is the chef. The not so obvious reason is the ingredients which are locally sourced. Chef Graeme Ruppel was kind enough to stop by the blog to talk about his philosophy.]

Chef Graeme Ruppel: Keep it local!

By Graeme Ruppel

Over the last couple of years, as I moved from a kitchen grunt, unquestionably following the chef’s commands, to becoming a chef myself, I have seen how the decisions we make every day about our food can affect things well beyond the kitchen. We are voting with our dollars here.

When I started in the restaurant industry, if was at one outpost of a chain, where nearly everythingwas brought in frozen, preprocessed, preportioned, precooked…predone. As a sixteen year old kid, with some reactionary right-wing leanings, I thought that this was just how things were done. We were serving a lot of people each day after all.

But as I moved on, went to school, and moved out to Halifax, my view started to shift. I started to realize the importance of training your staff to do the prep work, to make something that was better than what the frozen boxes could offer. And as I got my techniques sorted out, the next step was starting to appear. That of seasonal, local cuisine.

Seasonal, local cuisine is not a new idea. It is the way things have always been, we just lost sight of that when refrigeration came along. The ability to transport, and maintain foods edibility, across long distance is truly a marvel, and has greatly expanded our diet. But it does come at a cost. Probably the best examples are fruit. Where do you think those strawberries you bought in January came from? Chile? Argentina? 8700 kilometers aways, those berries were picked when not even close to ripe, transported in a temperature and gas controlled container to prevent ripening (not spoiling, ripening), and then, upon arrival, the gas mixture is changed, to encourage rapid ripening so that they are ready for the shelves.

Now then. Eat one of those berries, and then wait till August, when the sun is beating down on you and the humidex is set to ‘kill’, find a strawberry plant (if you can find wild strawberries, even better), and bite into one of those. One will taste of the perfect encapsulation of the day, the other like sugar water. Wouldn’t it be worth waiting for those strawberries to be ready, even if it means waiting a full year? Trust me, there are lots of things that you can still eat between now and then.

I would like to present, as a case study, the city of Portland, Maine. In 2006, a report to the Maine Department of Agriculture found that only 4% of Maine’s food was being grown or harvested within Maine. The report also recommended, to ensure a safe supply of food (which is something I haven’t even touched on here) to its citizens, Maine needed to produce 80% of the food consumed there by 2020. Within a few years, Portland, having taken on the challenge, became a culinary hot spot, with one of the highest restaurants per capita in United States (after a recent trip there, I can attest that they were all busy. And it wasn’t even the tourist season yet), and was named as the “Foodiest Small Town” by Bon Appétit in 2009, just 3 years after making local food a serious concern.

And there is a lot of very good food being produced here in Nova Scotia. But not nearly enough of itis consumed within our borders. Everybody needs to be aware and make informed decisions in when they’re shopping. Even when you stop by Sobey’s, take a few extra seconds and find the products that are labelled as “Grown in Nova Scotia”, make sure to visit the farmer’s market, sign up for a CSA (Community Shared Agriculture) box and get some weird vegetables and teach yourself how to cook them. Get involved with what you’re eating.

Graeme started in the restaurant field when he was 16, dishwashing at a burger bar for a faceless corporation. After hopping through a few of Edmonton’s other large conglomerates, Graeme decided to actually get good at his work and enrolled at the NAIT School of Hospitality and Culinary Arts. It was during this time that Graeme switched from working for the Man, to working in smaller, owner-operator settings. After completing his schooling and finishing his apprenticeship, Graeme decided to leave his beloved, open prairies for the most drastically different place he could think of: Halifax. It was here that Graeme started his devotion to local and seasonal products; after biting into his first, fresh Annapolis Valley Apple. After a few tumultuous years, Graeme finally found a couple of guys who were as dedicated to giving a damn as he was. And that’s how he came to be the head chef of the Brooklyn Warehouse. Follow chef’s musings.

For years Cokebaby and his male friends have been lamenting the lack of a place to get southern BBQ. Recently, within months of each other, two new restaurants that fit the bill opened up in the city. For the most part, I don’t post negative reviews here. If I don’t like a restaurant, you simply won’t find it among my food reviews. Unfortunately, one of the two in this comparison didn’t make the grade so please bear with me.

First up is Boneheads BBQ located in the South End on Barrington Street. It’s a tiny little spot tucked away near Point Pleasant Park. Simple decor, friendly staff, with food that’s stick to your ribs yummy. Cokebaby and I were waiting for another couple for dinner when we ordered some onion rings to start. Just as advertised they’re big, crispy, golden & hand battered ($5.49). Deep fried perfection.

When they arrived, one of the friends ordered the shredded BBQ chicken sandwich: smoked chicken pulled off the bone, served on a soft roll ($5.99).

Two of us, including me, had the Pulled Pork BBQ Plates: served with cornbread, cole slaw & two more sides of our choice ($13.99). I had the potato salad and pit beans. The entire meal was delicious but I wound up packing half of it for lunch the next day. I know, I know. Eyes bigger than belly. Honestly, I wasn’t a big fan of the cole slaw because it was kind of sweet but everyone else seemed to enjoy theirs.

Cokebaby went with the rib combo plate: half slab of pork back ribs plus your choice of one BBQ meat ($20.99). He chose pulled chicken with mac & cheese and dirty rice as his sides. Again, no complaints.

Other side offerings include: garden salad, hand cut fries, sweet potato chips and chili. At the table is a variety of delicious bottled sauces which are also sold separately. Although there’s plenty of pop and juices to choose from, we decided to go with Propellor Beer to wash it all down.

To have with leftovers the next day we took out a peach cobbler that’s served with vanilla ice cream and caramelized pecans ($3.99). It was simple but spectacular at the same time.

Overall, the pulled meats at Boneheads are far superior to Q’s. I’d argue the potato salad is as well unless you like crunchy bits of pepper in yours.

Photo credit: theogeo from Flickr

Next up: Q Smokehouse and Southern Barbecue (@Q_BBQ).

So, have you ever had a food service experience so bad that you’re kind of embarrassed for the people working behind the counter? Well, that’s how I felt coming out of the dinner experience at this establishment.

Right from the start, the setup for ordering food seems like it’s lacking proper flow. There’s a metal cordon to divert the queue. I had a feeling we were on the wrong side of it but the line had already formed and there was no signage to steer us. As a result we wound up too close to the tables so that patrons kept having to squeeze and push behind us in order to get to the cutlery and free pop refills station.

Then when we got to the front of the line we were promptly informed that they were out of chicken except for pulled chicken. It was just past seven o’clock and we were dining with Cokebaby’s sister and brother-in-law.

Since there were no other chicken options, I went with the pulled chicken sandwich ($9). Like Boneheads you get your choice of sides with your meals and I chose potato salad which tasted great but the peppers were very crunchy which kind of ruined the overall texture for me. My sister-in-law ordered a similar item, a po-boy sandwhich: Louisiana style all dressed with lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise, pickles and onion served with sweet potato fries ($9). As I mentioned already, the pulled meats at Boneheads is definitely tastier.

The guys had three beef ribs which includes corn bread, one sauce & two choices of sides ($13). The sweet potato fries were tasty. I didn’t sample the baked beans or fries, so I can’t compare them to Boneheads but the others were pleased with those sides. Other side options include: mac ‘n’ cheese, coleslaw, gravy, corn bread, sweet potato fries, grilled corn on the cob, and grilled onions & red peppers.

There’s only one bottle of a vinegar style sauce at the table along with ketchup. So sauce wise, I’d say Boneheads wins over Q’s because you’re able to add as much or as little as you want at the table.

Mixed drinks at Q’s are delicious though. They don’t have a stocked bar, like Boneheads, but they do make a fantastic concoction called a Lynchburg lemonade: house made sweet lemonade with a shot of Jack Daniels ($5.50). Otherwise, Garrison is the beer of choice here and they’ve got a couple brews on tap (14 oz. for $4.50).

Here’s where the story really starts to go downhill though. There are maybe seven tables in total that are occupied by the time we sit down, with only about three couples ahead of us in line. The wait for our food was far too long. Cokebaby’s brother-in-law went back for three refills of pop before we saw any sign of our food coming up.

It was a good half hour before Cokebaby was informed that they were out of beef ribs and it would take an additional 15 minute wait or they could offer full rack pork ribs (an upgrade to a $16 meal). He went with the latter and they gave a free pint of beer for the trouble. A few minutes later, the other couple received their order.

Another 10 minutes pass. We inquire about our order. By all outward appearances it looks like they have no idea what happened to the order. Some time later the other couple has finished their meal, with still no sign of ours. So we tell the staff that we’d like it packed to go. After probably another ten minutes, there’s still no sign of our order. At this point they’ve fully refunded the price of the meal.

Over an hour and a half after we placed our order, we finally received our meal. They even threw in Cokebaby’s beef ribs for the trouble. By the time we get home the sweet potato fries were soggy and had to be reheated. The cornbread was forgotten.

I do give them credit for trying to make up for the huge mistake. If they had turned it around quickly I might not have major reservations about going back. Although the ribs turned out to be tastier than at Boneheads, everything else was similar enough that I can’t see returning any time soon.

Gather ’round, my readers, for a tale of my new favourite restaurant in the city of Halifax. Brooklyn Warehouse (@BrooklynHalifax) is one of those tucked away gems that you might not come across unless you’re attending an event at the Forum or live in the area.

I had heard so many great things about the place from foodies and friends alike that I recommended it to Cokebaby’s brother when he was looking for a new spot to check out for brunch. He and his wife returned with such rave reviews that we had to finally try  it out for ourselves.

We loved it.

How can I express my love of Brooklyn Warehouse? Hypothetically, let’s say I’d divorce brownie husband and leave our chocolate chip kids behind if I could marry the menu. (Sorry, Cokebaby.)

First thing’s first. Yes, the Brooklyn Burger is all that: 7 oz. Oulton’s organic N.S. beef, Quebec raw cheddar, Brother’s smoked back-bacon, red pepper mayo, tomato, onion, and pickle, served with oven roasted potato wedges ($12). It’s been named one of the Top Five Burgers In Canada by Chatelaine Magazine in 2009. And was 1st Runner-Up 2009, 2nd Runner-Up 2008 in The Coast’s Best of Food.

Here’s the rub though. If you know me, you know I love a good burger. And, this is one fine burger. But, I’ve got to say, the rest of the menu is pretty spectacular. So, I’m going to say it. If you’re going to Brooklyn Warehouse, the burger isn’t the best thing on the menu. Think about what that means.

Photo credit: stu_spivack from Flickr

My fave dish so far has to be the rabbit: Braised rabbit’s leg and a loin stuffed with ham hock, served with mushroom smash & roast carrots ($20). I have no idea what the chef does to the smash but it’s sweet and buttery taste bud nirvana.

Cokebaby, on the other hand, swears by the pork chop: Propeller root beer brine, vanilla-whiskey drizzle, bacon-cider risotto, served with roast vegetables ($21). In fact, he ordered the same meal twice in a row. He never does that. In fact, he makes fun of me for being so predictable.

Anything served with risotto is a good bet. The chef here has really perfected the art. Obviously this isn’t a place for vegans although there are a couple items on the menu for that crowd. But, if you’re into local eating, this is definitely one of the spots to go in the city. They even have a specially brewed beer from Propeller Brewing Company called the Brooklyn Dark ($5 for 12 oz. glass, $7 for 18 oz. pint, $ 18 for 64 oz. growler).

The atmosphere is warm but simple, the service always attentive and knowledgeable. There’s a prixx- fixx 3 course menu on Tuesdays and on Wednesday nights they offer $1 BYOB corkage (which is also applicable throughout the week for all Nova Scotian wines).

Even though we were just there on Monday night prior to the Jesse Cook concert, I have serious thoughts about going back tonight for my birthday. That’s crazy talk though, right?

Photo credit: annethelibrarian from Flickr

[This post was inspired by @trudi_e.]

I think we’ve all been in this scenario. You’ve got a cart full of groceries and are eying the magazines and candy in the check out aisle when you realize you’ve left all your re-usable canvas bags in the car. D’oh! It means you’re either going to get dinged 5 cents a plastic bag or fork out another 99 cents to get more canvas ones (that you’re likely to forget in the car again).

I’m fortunate enough to work around the corner from a Pete’s Frootique. At my workplace I keep at least one canvas bag tucked away in a desk drawer and another in my laptop bag. As a pedestrian and a person who uses public transit as a primary form of transportation, I have to plan such grocery shopping expeditions out in advance. I even use listingly or Evernote to keep track of my grocery and to-do lists.

We like to think that it was granola BC that started the trend of making canvas bags mandatory but, in fact, it was a small town in Manitoba. In fact, it was only a month prior to their policy that San Francisco became the first city in North America to ban the use of plastic bags in grocery stores.

Even in Europe there’s a 5 cent surcharge for plastic. The difference there, that Cokebaby and I noticed on our last trip in the summer is that they still have a free option of paper bags.  We’ve begun to use our paper NSLC bags for composting. It was only recently that Nova Scotia jumped on the eco-band wagon in terms of canvas bags.

Last week, Cokebaby and I attempted to use our canvas bag at the self-checkout lane and I have to admit this is where it became problematic. I have no issues with the bag-your-own groceries option when it’s for a small amount of groceries (1-2) canvas bags. However, the system doesn’t really seem equipped to handle non-plastic bags. Every second item scanned came up with a “please wait for attendant” notice. I’m not sure if it was the fact that the canvas bag kept slipping from the bag holder or because the weight calibration was off. As much as I think this is a great idea in theory, there are definitely hiccups that need to be worked out for it to not be frustrating.

Now merging canvas bags with other stores, that’s another story altogether. I often get deer-in-headlights stares from the clerks at stores that don’t offer re-usable bags. Sometimes, they attempt to leave the bagging to me. As if the canvas bag is some foreign concept.

What do you think?

Photo credit: wvs from Flickr

I’ve been living out of a hotel in Toronto for the better part of a week now on a business trip. Among the things I miss are home-cooked meals, my own bed, sleep, Cokebaby and Tofu dog. That said, this trip has allowed me to work with my colleagues face-to-face (which is under-valued). Seriously, go give your coworkers a hug today. Well, maybe do it behind HR’s back if you have one of those no-human contact in the workplace rules. Or send a virtual hug.

In any case, the other perk to the prolonged stay due to meetings and conferences is that I’ve been able to meet a number of people I’ve befriended through social media in the books and publishing world. It’s kind of crazy and wonderful to think I can consider someone a friend without ever having met them IRL. It only took me four years to finally meet someone I’ve worked with and communicated with virtually more frequently than some of the people I’ve met in person.

Some highlights from the week: Book Madam & Associates announced the “associates.” Among them are Julie Wilson, Monique Trottier, Ashleigh Gardner, Sean Cranbury, Erin Balser, Nic Boshart and yours truly. We’ll be pointing to smart, savvy projects and people as they pertain to the book and publishing industry. The announcement was followed by an event called Sociable held at The Pour House Irish Pub where I met about a dozen or more people I’ve been conversing with on Twitter for the past two years. All-in-all an amazing event. As @boyreporter put it: “If this building got hit by an asteroid there would be no books in Canada next year…”

If you love books as much as I do, you’ll be happy to hear that BookCamp is coming to Halifax. I’ve been not-so-secretly planning with Ryan Jones, Eric Rountree and Robbie MacGregor to bring the international melding of bookworms and industry people to our fair city. Mark your calendars and save the date: June 5. More details coming soon.

Finally, check me out at the National Post’s Afterword Reading Society where I’ll be joining in on a panel discussion on the wonderful book Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann.

Photo credit: Tranquilo Traveler from Flickr

It’s that time of year again when we all start thinking about spring cleaning. Usually it means chores around the house and getting things out of storage for use until the fall. Nothing too exciting, really. But here on East Coast By Choice I’d like to think of spring as a time of new beginnings.

How many of you had resolved to do more exercise this year? Yeah. Well, I’ve got great news for any reader living around or visiting Halifax in the next month. Free yoga.

Friend to the blog and yoga instructor Helen Fong (@helenfong) with Jack Godfrey (@jackgodfrey) of Sunrise Yoga Studio are offering a special to readers of my blog! All you have to do is go to their studio and use the phrase “East Coast By Choice sent me” to get a free class. Doesn’t get much easier does it?

Sunrise Yoga Studio is also lululemon‘s yoga studio of the month in April. Helen will also be teaching a free class there on Sunday, April 4th.

Offer expires at the end of April so you’ve got plenty of time to start off your spring on the right, fit foot.