Last year I was invited to participate in the Downtown Halifax Business Commission’s Big Day Downtown campaign. I guess they liked what I posted because I was invited back this year. Only there was a twist. All the participating bloggers were asked to “try something new.”

Where last year I just kind of winged it with the in-laws, this year I actually had to come up with a course of action. Since I naturally narrowed it down to food experiences, I had to think long and hard about where I was going to spend the $100 prepaid credit card that comes with the opportunity. I’m pretty adventurous when it comes to food and while looking over online menus I thought my options would be limited. While getting my hair done  before heading off on my Big Day Downtown, the amazing and lovely Pam at Aspirations helped formulate a foodie plan of attack.

Raspberry Fizz

First stop: The Bicycle Thief. Sadly they were not open at the time Cokebaby and I headed down to the waterfront. We still have plans on checking this spot out though. Had they been open our plan was to try their polenta board and cocktails. Instead we went to Ristorante a Mano for appetizers. He had a Campari & soda to start. I asked the very helpful and friendly server for a unique recommendation and she came back with a Raspberry Frizz: a cocktail made with Bacardi Razz, Chambord, Raspberry sorbeto, and Prosecco float.

Appetizers

The appetizers were very tasty. Vongole Gratinate: Clams stuffed with housemade Italian salsiccia, baked, served on half shell ($9). Truth be told, the only time I’ve ever eaten clams has been in deep-fried strip form with a side of fries. These were a far cry from their fast food cousins. We also shared the Polenta con Salsa di Fichi e Formaggio Caprino: Polenta rustica with caramelized onions, fig relish & goat cheese, baked al forno ($11). Even though I’ve been to Italy a couple of times now and have had incredible food experiences, polenta was not among them. In fact, the only time it’s crossed my palate has been in the form of those pre-made rolls at The Italian Market. I know, I know. My bad. It’s clearly what Velveeta is to cheese.

Delicious as this first course was, the real adventure took place at Bistro Le Coq, the new French restaurant on Argyle Street. Having travelled to Paris and the south of France a couple of times now, I was excited to see what this place had to offer. The atmosphere is perfect. There are three sections—bar, lounge, dining room—each with a distinct decor. It’s amazing to see that they were able to completely transform the old Mosaic space.

The staff are all fluent in French and they just look charming in their black and white uniforms. You’re greeted in French and offered seating in any of the three areas to suit your mood. We headed to the dining room which is done in a modern country kitchen style. To start we each had a cocktail from their very interesting bar menu. Here, I will admit to being a lame blogger because I forgot to write the names down as I expected to find the items online after. All I can tell you is that Cokebaby’s drink tasted like the most refreshing iced tea and mine had a lovely pear liqueur.

A French feast

When we asked our server for recommendations, she listed a number of items rather than the blanket “everything” statement that is so unhelpful. That said, I really wish I could have tasted a little bit of everything. Since that wasn’t realistic, Cokebaby and I decided to share a few plates.

Duck prosciutto: house cured duck breast, berry compote, our pickles ($9). Cokebaby doesn’t even like pickles yet he was so impressed with these ones that he MADE pickles the following weekend. Apparently the new brunch menu includes eggs Benny made with the duck prosciutto and, believe you me, I will be coming back for that.

Classic steak tartare: topped with a soft poached egg, truffle oil drizzled crisps ($12). Here’s where I’m going to pause for a second because, let’s face it, steak tartare? The very idea has always grossed me out a little. I mean, sushi’s one thing but raw cow seems like tempting the gods of food borne illnesses. However, I was on an adventure. First thing’s first: I was expecting hamburger meat. What I got was high quality, lean steak that was hand ground. The egg was perfectly poached and oozed over the meat to create a subtle combination of flavours. The texture, in fact, was no different that sushi.

Salade Niçoise: with seared rare ahi tuna crusted in sesame ($10). I am a huge fan of this type of salad. There are different variations of ingredients depending on the chef but my favourite includes boiled potatoes which this one had. While I wouldn’t go so far as to say it was disappointing—I mean, the Ahi tuna was seared to perfection—this dish was probably my least enjoyable part of the meal. For starters, the olives weren’t Niçoise style. The dressing was a little bland and missing the zing of Dijon mustard. It really needed anchovies, too. For a salad it was lovely, just not what I expect in a Niçoise.

Pommes frites: done in duck fat, sprinkled with parmesan, truffle mayo ($7). Enough said, right? Decadent beyond words but oh so very good. If you’re just visiting for cocktails and snacks, don’t miss out on these.

The plan was to head to The Middle Spoon for dessert. Honest it was. This was the location of the Big Day Downtown launch and I was hoping to finish where it all began but…our server mentioned their soufflé: chocolate & Grand Marnier cream ($8). Neither one of us had ever eaten soufflé. How could we resist? Kudos to her for mentioning it would take 25 minutes to make and giving us enough of a heads up so we wouldn’t have to wait too long. We finished off our evening with an espresso each ($3.50) and a soufflé that was like cocoa clouds with a touch of orange. Sorry, there was no time for pictures. You’ll have to trust me when I write it was worth the wait.

One final purchase I have to mention in my “try something new” adventure downtown: the Honey Lavender Ale from Garrison Brewing Co.: Brewed with English lavender harvested from Meander River Farms and wildflowers honey from G.G. Smeltzer & Son in Shubenacadie, this strong yet accessible ale features original flavors. At the time of this post they only had a two week supply left so I recommend checking it out. This ale is probably one of the most distinct ones I’ve ever had. It’s no wonder they consistently win awards.

1. 
   GarrisonBrewing We’re nothing if not sneaky RT @AliasGrace: @garrisonbrewing The Honey Lavender is very nice. Sneaky because it’s so understated at first 11 Sep 2011 from TweetDeck

— this quote was brought to you by quoteurl

All in all, another fantastic Big Day Downtown. The new twist provided a challenge but one that I was very happy to meet. My taste buds were quite pleased.

If you follow me on Twitter or know me in real life or read this post, you’re probably wholly aware of my hate-on for Metro Transit. My anger usually percolates on poor weather days. And, believe me, we’ve had plenty of those this summer.

Preferred method of transportation. (Photo credit © zir.com from Wikipedia)

My recent complaint is with a route that shall be henceforward referred to as UNFASHIONABLY EARLY. For those of you who are unfamiliar with using the so-called “services” of Metro Transit, they include this thing called GoTime. It’s a posted phone number at each stop that allows you to call an automated voice who tells you in—what I’m beginning to think is—a snide tone when your bus is supposed to arrive. Lately I’ve been foiled by the only partial integration of an actual GPS system that’s been years in the making. Apparently, when The Voice tells you a bus “will depart” vs. “is scheduled to depart” the former means the GPS is tracking said bus and the latter means the posted time (read: schedule).

That’s frustrating enough because I’ve left work thinking I would get to the stop on time but the bus manages to get there early and leave me behind in the dust or, more aptly, the torrential rain. The early bus arrival is really the point of this post because, barring being a Time Lord, there’s nothing I can do to prevent this from happening. Believe me, a TARDIS would be my preferred method of transportation in this city. Far more reliable even if it gets me to my destination in the wrong year.

In any case, the bus I often take in the morning only runs a few times a day: twice in the morning, twice in the evening. I take the second (and last) bus of the morning. Said bus is frequently UNFASHIONABLY EARLY. I had enough the other day when it arrived at the stop fully six minutes before The Voice said it was supposed to be there. So I wrote what Cokebaby calls one of my “crackpot letters” to Metro Transit to lodge my complaint.

Here’s the response I got:

“I reviewed the situation and unfortunately the [UNFASHIONABLY EARLY bus] does not have a scheduled time point for your stop. To explain this if we look at the Riders Guide you will see the bus is scheduled to leave Stop [SUBURBIA] at 7:39 AM scheduled to arrive at Stop [URBAN SPRAWL] for 8:01 AM. Arrival at any stops in between these two time points depends on how many passengers the Operator has to pick up and drop off along the way. It may be the case that on average the bus arrives at 7:50 AM but in cases when there are fewer pick up’s and drop off’s then the bus may be there earlier at 7:44 AM.”

Excuse me? Pardon my French but WTF is GoTime then? No, really, I’m not even being tongue and cheek here. What is the effing point of GoTime if it’s just an imaginary time? Also, what other stops in the city aren’t “scheduled” ones and how do I find this information out if not through GoTime?

You can be sure that I’ve sent a response back. It includes the word “archaic” because I find it hard to believe that we’re living in 2011 and they can’t even get an automated voice to lie to me properly.

If you’ve come here because of a web search on the movie Thor: sorry to disappoint but this is a post about a town in the south of France of the same name. And big apologies to readers who were expecting vacation recap posts last week. Work + cold = not feelin’ it. Anyone living in Halifax can attest to the horrific weather we’ve been experiencing this spring. It’s enough to make me move to the south of France. On that note…

The perfect retreat situated about a 30 minute drive from Avignon.

For one glorious week in April, we rented a gite in Provence. The place was a short drive or bus ride from Avignon. Although we had seen pictures of the interior, we weren’t quite prepared to see this gorgeous villa awaiting us after we opened the property gates. A one week rental was about $1300 which was split between two families (this portion of the trip included Cokebaby’s sister, brother-in-law, and two girls).

A pretty amazing deal considering it included: a swimming pool (which actually isn’t open until May), a large living area on the main floor, laundry room, huge modern kitchen, dining room, games room, and powder room. Upstairs included a shared shower room for three bedrooms and separate powder room and an suite bathroom for the master bedroom with shower and bathtub.

Outside we also had use of a boules court where it was discovered I am the queen of the game. The gite was surrounded by a stucco wall which made the place very private and quite relaxing. The town of Le Thor itself is also really quaint. The people were incredibly friendly and happy to take their time with our varied levels of French language skills.

The central street in Le Thor leads to a square where markets take place a few times a week.

In the city centre there’s the 12th century Lady of the Lake Church. An older gentleman, upon exiting the church, shared some of the history of the site. You can still see the stone-masons signatures on each block of stone.

As with most French towns and cities, there are several types of markets that appear on set days of the week. That, combined with the proximity of the gite to an Intermarché, made this rental ideal. One thing to note when renting a gite is that although the houses can be quite beautiful, you should expect what you’d get when renting a cottage here in Canada: the bare minimum in amenities. Things like dish detergent, toilet paper, etc. are up to you to supply and there is a surcharge for towels.

Later this week: sur la pont d’Avignon, and other historic sites.

As promised, here begins the recap of my fabulous vacation in the South of France. Before we get there though…

Cokebaby and I took a direct flight to London because when you live in Halifax you’re limited in your flight choices to Europe unless you want to backtrack to Toronto/Montreal/New York and lose an additional 2 hours there, 2 hours waiting, and 2 hours back this way. That’s without delays. No thank you.

In London, instead of sticking around for a connecting flight we decided to take the Chunnel to Paris for an overnight before meeting with Cokebaby’s sister and family in a village called Le Thor. We’d been to Paris once before. That was in the years when smoking was permitted at the airport which meant we were greeted immediately by that awful stench of stale nicotine. Apart from that, and unscooped dog poop, it was a lovely city then and a lovelier city now (less smoking in public spaces and more diligent canine overseers).

Paris, like Toronto, has something of a reputation to the neighbouring towns and countries. Even en route to the city the British man traveling next to us with his teenage daughter made rather an unkind observation about Parisians. I can’t say that I agree. We really didn’t have any trouble or experience unpleasantness. Maybe that’s partly to do with our ability to get by in the French language. By no means are we fluent but at least we gave it a try, sometimes more successfully than others. I equate it to those years I spent working in retail when American tourists expected to get change back in their currency. When in Rome…

In any case, Paris. We were there for my birthday! We spent the day walking around, taking in familiar sites, eating, drinking, and just taking it easy. That’s the great thing about revisiting a city. There’s no pressure to try to fit it all in. We even made an attempt to see the Catacombs but it was too late in the day and the line too long so we wandered off. Here are a few photographic highlights:

Reminds me of Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett.

Most of the area around Forum des Halles was under construction.

The building housing the City of Paris's administration.

A view from the east garden.

One of many sculptures.

Another statue and series of columns in front of the Palais du Luxembourg.

Next week: Le Thor and the villa, Avignon, and some ancient hill villages.

Did you notice my absence from the web these past two weeks?

Yeah, so, I was on vacation.

At the old city wall of Avignon

Cokebaby and I spent two weeks in the south of France. It’s by far my fave vacation destination. This time, we took the Chunnel to Paris from London en route to Avignon. We then spent a week at a gite (which must be French for blissful villa) before heading into the city of Nîmes to participate in the Great Roman Games (in costume).

Because we had a car, we were able to visit many small towns and historic sites including some of the locations mentioned in Guy Gavriel Kay’s Ysabel (warning: if you read this book you’ll likely fall in love with Provence and want to travel there frequently and/or possibly move there).

As usual I’ll post trip highlights, including food reviews but this time I’ll dedicate a couple of posts to specific restaurants because they really stood out in comparison to the sandwiches and supermarket food we were preparing at the gite. In the meantime, you can check out the highlight reel from our previous trip to Provence.

Living in the suburbs has its ups and downs. One of the main downfalls is the lack of any kind of nearby food or entertainment within walking distance. So when Cokebaby noticed Monsoon Café had opened up on Parkland Drive in Clayton Park we had to check it out. It’s in the very same spot that several cafés failed before: first as Bean Sprout which had a drive-through and play area for kids, then as the Almond Café which didn’t last long enough for me to even check out.

Mulligatawny soup, sandwich, cookie & tea/coffee for $10

The decor got a facelift thankfully. There’s nothing worse than going to a new restaurant and feeling like the only thing that’s changed is the menu. Seating includes a good mix of a couch, club chairs and bar stools around matching tables. There’s sort of a modern Asian flare to the place.

The menu itself is simple and the cuisine East Indian fusion. It was lunchtime so Cokebaby and I opted for the lunch combo: a choice of three banh mi sandwiches, mulligatawny soup, a cookie, and tea/coffee for $10. If you’ve never had mulligatawny soup, give it a try but only if you like the taste of curry and pepper. It was my favourite part of the meal.

Banh mi is a Vietnamese baguette sandwich filled with thinly sliced pickled carrots, daikon, cucumbers, cilantro, chili peppers, mayonnaise and either meat or tofu. Cokebaby had the satay chicken sandwich and gave it his nod of approval. I decided to go for the veggie sandwich and was a little disappointed that there was no protein. Comparatively speaking, Indochine Banh Mi on South Park Street serves up better vegetarian options. That said, I’d go back again and try something different or just order a bigger bowl of soup (it was that good). The atmosphere was laid back, the service efficient, and the food was good value for the money.

Pipa Restaurant is by no means a new establishment but in the past few months it’s quickly become one of my fave spots to eat in the city. Located on Argyle Street, Pipa offers diners an authentic Portuguese and Brazilian experience. Whether you’re having drinks around the bar with friends, tucked away in a cozy corner for dinner, or enjoying dessert in the gorgeous Atrium, there’s a little bit of something for everyone here.

Happy Hour at Pipa

One of the best kept secrets is their happy hour tapas between 4-6 every day. It’s a small tapas menu but everything on it is between $5-6. The portion size is nothing to laugh at either. You can either make a meal of 2-3 dishes or share them with friends. Included in happy hour are $5 martinis, sangria, and the must try caipirinhas. I definitely recommend the Chicken Coxinhas: A popular Brazilian snack; seasoned minced chicken enclosed by savoury dough. Also check out the Black Bean Salad: Black bean, mango & avocado salad with mixed green.

If you’re looking to splurge a little like Cokebaby and I did a couple weeks ago before catching The Beauty Queen of Leenane at the Neptune Theatre, I’d recommend their monthly fixed price menu. Tastes of Goa was the feature in February. The southwest Indian state of Goa has been a territory of Portugal for 450 yers. The cuisine is influenced by both Indian and Portuguese cultures. The three course meal had two options for every sitting so we ordered it all. It came out to $50 per person with wine pairings ($30 per person without). The wine pairing included a red, white, and port. We discovered a fantastic Chardonnay that night from the Miolo vineyard, available at Cristall & Luckett Wine Merchant in Bedford.

I quite enjoyed my selection of food. Ginger Scented Tomato Soup: A flavourful soup with cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, onion & mint. Chicken Xacuti: Unique dish of chicken cooked in a housemade paste of aromatic spices & coconut milk, served with red rice & vegetables. Date & Nut Pudding: served with custard.

The atmosphere is simply charming and the service is casual (but in a good way). One day I hope to finally try the  halibut stew I’ve been hearing so many great things about. Cokebaby already got his fill of feijoada—definitely a choice for the carnivore in your dinner party.

Longtime readers of this blog will know that East Coast By Choice is mostly about sharing positive stories. I save most of my whining for other channels both offline and online. That said, I’m breaking from that trend because the thing that hurts me the most in this city is breaking me. Maybe it’s just this time of year. Maybe I’ve got Seasonal Affective Disorder. But I’m certain I’m not alone. What’s the big deal, you might ask? It’s the city of Halifax’s lack of regard for pedestrians.

(Photo credit: Walmink from Flickr)

Yesterday, I left the house to happily head to the second day of my new job. Here’s the thing: I have to walk about 10 minutes from my drop-off point to get into work. None of the sidewalks were even remotely safe due to ice. Not a lick of salt or sand to be seen. The truth of the matter is, on a winter’s day, my regular bus stop is a treacherous icy slope threatening to glide me into oncoming traffic as I brace myself (unsheltered) against the wind. Thanks to the combination of all these conditions and the fact that I basically had to look like I was heading into work at the Ministry of Silly Walks, I made it into the office late. On my second day of the new job.

If only my story stopped there. Trying to get home has been another story altogether. Although there’s one bus stop in front of the office, the bus route doesn’t take me anywhere near home. So I have at least a 5-10 minute walk to get to one that does. However, that stop only services one bus that if I miss means I have to wait an additional 30 minutes. Foolishly following the advice of Google Maps on my iPhone (a service that has not failed me before) I decided to walk to another stop seemingly slightly further.

Twenty minutes later…

I finally could cross the road to a spot with an actual sidewalk. Of course, as fortune would have it, the bus flew by me before the light could change and I almost missed another bus that I had to transfer off of to finally get home. And I did eventually make it home. Ironically, although I left work slightly earlier than I did when working downtown at the CBC, I got home at the same time I used to.

The truth of the matter is that I’ve specifically not applied to certain jobs based solely on their locations within the city. Dartmouth? Forget about it. As someone who relies on public transit it is completely unrealistic for me to make that kind of commute. I might as well be still living in Toronto. This little conundrum I’ve found myself in is unexpected but I’m certain I’ll be able to work it out with some good timing and patience.

This is all to say that I hate public transit in this city. And I hate how the city gets away with not adequately servicing their public spaces like bus stops and sidewalks yet fines homeowners for failing to do the same.

But I love my new job.

(Thanks to @BlueShoes55, @giftedtypist, @FakeDSearancke, @houseofpickles, @rockitdev, @bloomingwriter, @rickconrad, @tinacapalbo, @KimHumes, @porcelainduck, @jeffmacarthur, @NailaJ for indulging my whining about this on Twitter.)

In exciting news for a sleepy Sunday afternoon, East Coast By Choice just got nominated for the 2011 Canadian Weblog Awards in the Arts & Culture, Life, and Placeblog categories!

So, I guess it’s game on in terms of bringing you even better content this year, hey?

As always, if you do have suggestions for what you want to see in this space drop us a line. Or feel free to check out our submissions guidelines for East Coast Guest Posts.

A big thanks to everyone who follows the blog and to the peep(s) who nominated us.

[It's a small world. Even though Disney kind of took over that phrase with the saccharine song, the words ring true in this part of the world. As this next guest post shows, a smaller community simply brings with it access of all kinds.]

By Philip Moscovitch

(Photo credit: Philip Moscovitch)

Back in the mid-90s, my partner Sara and I were living in Montreal and thinking about moving to the country. Trouble was, to get to an area rural enough for us, we’d have to drive well over an hour outside the city. If either of us had to commute for work, we’d be in trouble. Plus, available housing seemed to be either unaffordable, or in a state of near collapse. Neither option was all that appealing.

So we moved to Nova Scotia. Thirteen years later we’re still here, living in a 100-year-old home overlooking St. Margaret’s Bay, with about 30 acres of woodland in our name and much more stretching out for miles behind our property.

Part of what we wanted when we came to the Maritimes was easy access to the natural world. But I’ve also really come to appreciate how friendly people and the small scale of this place combine to provide access to all sorts of people and experiences.

Need to talk to your member of the legislature? Mine is a cabinet minister; I have her personal email address (which she encouraged me to use) and whenever I’ve raised a concern, she responds.

Like pomp and vice-regal ceremony? Not my cup of tea, particularly, but I’ve still managed to attend a couple of events at which the Lieutenant-Governor was present, and after she visited our local elementary a few years back, she wrote a personal response to a girl who lived near us. That made a huge impression on her.

Want to go wilderness canoeing? The Tobeatic Wilderness Area provides over a thousand square kilometres of raw nature. I can drive there in a couple of hours.

Interested in star-gazing? There are truly dark skies within an hour or two of driving, and reasonably dark ones right here in our own yard, where we can easily see thousands of stars on a clear night.

And, of course, if country living is not all that far from the city, the reverse is also true. It’s pretty easy to get to town anytime you want. When I have a gig that requires me to work in downtown Halifax, I’m facing a modest, 45-minute commute. That’s how long it used to take me sometimes to get from our Montreal apartment to my job at the National Film Board. And that was bumper-to-bumper, not the relatively pleasant drive from here to the peninsula.

I remember realizing that we really were living in a different culture soon after the birth of our third child (the only one born in Nova Scotia). We’d sent the paperwork to Vital Statistics to register his birth and hadn’t received a birth certificate. Concerned that it may have been held up, I called the department and was immediately transferred to someone in the appropriate department. After I gave her our son’s name she said, “Oh yes dear, I saw that one. It went out today.”

Philip Moscovitch is a freelance writer, editor, broadcaster. You can connect with him through his website, www.moscovitch.com, or follow him on twitter @PhilMoscovitch.