Incredible foodie Canada, from Michelin stars to next-level fast food
For its size, less than half a million inhabitants, Halifax, the capital of Nova Scotia, has a great number of extraordinary restaurants, where the creative vision of their chefs make the city one of the top foodie destinations in Canada. In an area of just four square kilometers, there are over 200 high quality restaurants and bars, compared to 90 fine dining restaurants in downtown Toronto or 193 in Montreal.
Mystic, opened last year, is the playground of chefs Malcolm Campbell and Bill Osbourne, who both worked in Michelin star kitchens in London and around the world. They moved to Halifax to experiment with the opening of this conceptual restaurant that takes guests on a culinary journey around Nova Scotia, one of the three eastern maritime provinces of Canada. The bounty of the produce here is just that good.
It’s no overstatement to say that the attention to detail and the way each ingredient is placed carefully onto the plate, just like in a delicate puzzle, creates an edible work of art. One incredible dish is made with one layer of thin crepe, followed by another of blackened apple, which is made from wild apples held at 60 degrees for eight weeks that transform into a jelly-like texture with the taste of molasses. From my seat at the chef’s table I observe the final elements of the dish being added to the plate with the precision of a surgeon.
“The guests get to taste all the biota of the region, from seaweed to the forest floor, to birds and lamb that graze on the ocean side in the salt marsh green. We showcase the best we can from the region,” says Malcolm Campbell, chef de cuisine at Mystic.
Foodie Canada: the famous ‘hodge podge’ seafood stew contains everything from from halibut cheek to littleneck clams
The restaurant is designed to resemble the bow of a ship, with panoramic windows overlooking the harbour. The detail extends to the rock my fork is resting on, which my waiter tells me hails from Peggy’s Cove, a natural wonder near Halifax with the most photographed lighthouse in Canada. Its location, under the Rise Again monument on Halifax’s 2.5 mile long waterfront in Queen’s Marque, is one the liveliest locations of the city.
This is where Halifax began, in 1749, when the first British ships landed here. Today, the Queen’s Marque is the foodie hotspot of the city, with many great restaurants, cafes and bars directly on the waterfront. “Everything we are doing food wise we are trying to centre ourselves on memory and prophecy, that is our kind of guide light,” says Bill Osbourne, executive chef at Mystic.
“Something that can bring you back and have you reminisce and feel nostalgic, and then we take that and look at new techniques to pull it forward. We try to take one ingredient that means something to Nova Scotia, bring it back and bring it forward at the same time.”
Across the square at the handsomely sandstone-clad Muir Hotel, I found Drift, an elegant restaurant focused on classic Nova Scotian dishes, such as the ‘hodge podge’ seafood stew, and the Acadian chicken Rappie Pie, both of which when I went in were executed to perfection.
Dinner at Drift was another highlight of my culinary pilgrimage. The restaurant is designed to look like a wave, with bright colours and fireplaces at opposite ends. The abundance of seafood in their version of the ‘hodge podge’ barely fit on the plate: butter-braised halibut cheek, mussels, scallops, Matane shrimp, salt cod croquette, littleneck clams, alongside new potatoes, green beans, carrots and leeks, hanging out in a dill cream broth.
Does the perfect scallop exist? Yes, it showed up here
The finished product was delightfully delicate, not overpowering the sweetness of the seafood, with a blend of dill, parsley and a hint of mint. Does the perfect scallop exist? Yes, it showed up here lightly charred on the outside, and extremely soft on the inside, almost creamy. The taste was fresh and sweet, which I immediately recognised as the Digby scallop – known all over Canada for its delicate taste and high quality, grown only in the town of Digby.
At Peacock Wine Bar, chef Moira Murray is making magic with vegetables. Sure, the trout on my plate is cooked just perfect, but the highlights are the crunchy medley of pickled celery and dill oil topping the fish which complement the trout, bringing earthiness and zing. Another star was the accompanying pak choi, a humble ingredient that only gives crunch in stir fries, brought to the next level by the chef through garlic and lemon.
I couldn’t help but order dessert, and the whipped pumpkin cheesecake with gingerbread and native Nova Scotian chokecherry moved me in ways that aren’t appropriate for the page. How is that pumpkin? Sweet but tempered by the tart jam and the crunch of the toasted seeds. The gingerbread twirl almost stuck to my teeth, but honestly I was happy about this dish sticking around forever.
“I go to the market three days a week, and when the season allows I’m also foraging as well,” says Moira Murray, chef de cuisine at Peacock Wine Bar. “I have a really close relationship with the farmers so I am texting them multiple times a week, planning ahead, and she will grow special ingredients if I want to use them. I am very fortunate that I am able to plan, but there are always some surprises in smaller quantities that will excite me that we’ll use for specials.”
Every memorable dining experience in Halifax starts in the Annapolis Valley. Here, passionate farmers like Josh Oulton from TapRoot Farm grow the city’s certified organic produce. Annapolis Valley gets 20 extra sunny days a season than the rest of the province, giving fruits and vegetables extra time to ripen and deepen their flavour. Everything is organic.
Oulton grows an absolute medley: apples, pears, peaches, plums, nectarines, apricots, tomatoes, kale, cabbage, potatoes. “The only unusual vegetable that I grow, which really isn’t that unusual, are the ground cherries,” he adds. Alfalfa sprouts, lentils, broccoli, and crunchy beans, a combination of lentils and chickpeas, are also in his fields.
While the dining scene in Halifax alone is worth a trip to Nova Scotia, I won’t forget mentioning the symbol of the city, invented in the 1970s by a Greek immigrant: the Halifax Donair. The city offers a great selection of international cuisines, ethnic restaurants as well as an Asian food festival, but it’s the Donair that made itself at home in Halifax. Essentially a Greek gyro that has been adapted to Canadian taste, the dish somehow grew into becoming so loved that it is considered a local classic.
Take a break from fine dining and indulge in the guilty fast food pleasure by heading to any pizza joint. The spiced beef meat enclosed inside a pita bread, topped with tomatoes, onions and a sweet white sauce made from garlic, vinegar and condensed milk is the perfect ending to a night out at any of the city’s lively bars.
From the first bowl of creamy, rustic chowder to the last Donair at the airport, this was certainly the freshest seafood I’ve ever eaten. And it’s even better that this most surprising Canadian city is only 6 hours away from London.
Visit foodie Canada yourself – a trip to Nova Scotia
Air Canada flies direct from London to Nova Scotia from around £562. For more information go to go novascotia.com; visit Joanna’s travel website at theworldinmypocket.co.uk
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