Eat This Town

New guest post on the blog today! Part two of Hfxfoodreviews Peninsula Pizza Project! This time they visited local pizzerias for a sit-down experience, critiquing them on Taste, Value, and overall Experience! https://www.eatthistown.ca/guest-quest-hfxfoodreviews-peni/

I kicked off 2021 by participating in Veganuary, an exploratory vegan month in which I tried out a 100% plant-based diet. Here are my highlights and personal reflections of the month! https://www.eatthistown.ca/veganuary-2021-my-plant-based-j/

Well, 2020 is finally at its end. It was a rough one. But I still managed to eat a lot of good food, and here is my annual year in review. Enjoy! https://www.eatthistown.ca/2020-in-review/

Congrats to Rachel, who won the Donair Gift Basket from Athens Restaurant You can currently get a special "Book of Donair Combo" which includes a classic Halifax Donair, house-seasoned fries, a beverage, and a signed copy of Book of Donair ($38).

If you haven't already, check out the AndyVent Calendar - an annual fundraiser for Feed Nova Scotia with tons of great prizes (including signed copies of Book of Donair!) It's a great cause, and you could get, like, a year long supply of Salvatore's pizza. Every $5 donated is an entry, and you have until midnight on December 23rd! https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-andyvent-calendar-7-feed-the

It's National Donair Day, so treat yourself to some gyros and donairs and get a signed copy of Book of Donair delivered to your door!

Those of you who have Book of Donair already will notice that there are a couple of cartoons by the talented Chad Huculak. Chad is a web editor at the Edmonton Journal and Edmonton Sun, and a hilarious cartoonist. Check out his work! http://www.chadhuculak.com/

Dinner last night at Charlotte Lane Cafe & Gift Shop in Shelburne. A funky orange space with a gift shop and a small dining room with an approachable menu. We were happy to see nice portions of perfectly cooked veggies. Watermelon and Feta Cheese Salad (small) - a refreshing salad with miso lime ginger dressing and crunchy vermicelli noodles.... Nova Scotia Fish Sampler - $15 got us a fine assortment of cold smoked salmon, hot smoked salmon, smoked mackerel and pickled herring, accompanied by chipotle lime mayo. Our server recommended this and I'm so glad she did! Filet Mignon - a 6oz Alberta tenderloin, pan seared with peppercorn brandy sauce. My Albertan wife loved how tender it was - melt in your mouth, but a nice crisp on the outside. Lobster and Scallops Brandy Gratin - lobster and scallops with brandy cream, baked with cheese. Decadent. #sponsored Nova Scotia #visitnovascotia

Dinner at L'Abri. This is a surprisingly cosmopolitan restaurant in the middle of Cheticamp - funky, fun, and fabulous! Fresh takes on Acadian classics and urban fare. The Cajun Haddock Cakes ($13) take fish cakes to a whole 'nutha level, with Old Bay seasoning, jalapeno, corn, remoulade, and pickled onion. These definitely make my "best fishcake" list!... The Steak et Frites ($27) is usually an 8oz filet mignon but on my visit they had to substitute it with a 10oz striploin. Oh well! It is flavoured with roasted mushrooms, red vine veal jus, and spiced butter. Served with French fries and truffle aioli. So good! Le Coq ($18) is a take on a club sandwich: chicken breast, smoked white cheddar, lettuce, tomato, bacon, and sriracha mayo on house-made multigrain sourdough. The chicken was seared to crispy, grill flavoured perfection, while still super moist. So much flavour jammed between bread. The Basque cheesecake ($7) with bourbon butter sauce and caramel crunch was what all cheesecakes should aspire to be! And I can't forget the signature cocktail: La Matante (which translates roughly to gossipy aunty? Lol). It's gin, mint, blueberries, lime. Refreshing purple perfection in Cheticamp, Nova Scotia! Nova Scotia #visitnovascotia #sponsored

I had never heard of GRÁ until going on this trip. It's an actual farmhouse down a dirt driveway in Ross Ferry on Boularderie Island (Cape Breton). It converts to a restaurant at night, with a fixed price, home cooking, farm-to-table menu. We were greeted by chickens frolicking in the yard, and a puffing and flickering wood oven - a welcoming hearth! There was a warm ambiance, and we felt like houseguests being served dinner by a friend. It's a lot of food (6 courses) and 3.5... hours of enjoyment, so come hungry and just relax. Much of the produce is grown on site, and butter is freshly churned. Pictured: 1. Menu (changes weekly) 2. Potato Leek Soup with aged cheddar "croutons" (these were actually delectable bits of grilled cheese sandwich). 3. Wine poached halibut with a fresh herb compound butter and mussels. 4. Goats cheese stuffed rosemary chicken with baby potatoes. 5. Pan seared scallops, perfectly cooked, with vanilla bean Hollandaise. 6. Wood fired pizza with salami, bacon, veg. 7. Blueberry cheesecake. #sponsored Nova Scotia #visitnovascotia #visitcapebreton

Check out the review of Book of Donair in the Literary Review of Canada! This is a great read! https://reviewcanada.ca/magazine/2020/11/wrap-party/

I recently spent a night on Cape Sable Island, exploring beaches and wharfs, enjoying the warm hospitality at Mama's By The Sea B&B, and the cuisine of Barrington Passage! Capt. Kat's Lobster Shack had been on my bucket list for a long while, and I finally got to check it out! The restaurant is named in honour of Captain Katlin Nickerson, who was lost at sea in 2013, along with his crew aboard the "Miss Ally": Joel Hopkins, Billy Jack Hatfield, Steven "Cole" Nickerson, and ...Tyson Townsend. Katlin's mother opened the restaurant in his memory, specializing in the lobster that the community depends on, and that these hardworking young men lost their lives to provide. Captain Kat's has become the ultimate lobster destination restaurant, with everything from boiled lobster dinners to lobster fondu and lobster poutine. We started with a mug of the lobster chowder, which was rich and full of lobster. The award-winning Cold Lobster Roll is served in a grilled bun with celery, green onions, mayo and spinach (we held the spinach). You can also get hot lobster rolls here, which are a regional specialty. I wanted to try a creamed lobster dish, because creamed lobster is unique to the region. Lobster is prepared in a rich, buttery cream reduction and served on top of all kinds of things! But I went for the "Causeway Creamed Lobster", which is the original way the locals eat it: on toast. This reminded me of a hot turkey sandwich, but with creamy lobster sauce soaking into the bread and lots of chunky lobster. Simply amazing. #sponsored Nova Scotia #visitnovascotia

Dinner at Woodroad in Margaree Harbour, Cape Breton. This was a unique dining experience - a fix prixe tasting menu in a woodsy cabin (kind of reminded me of a beach house). Very cosy, and top notch service. Each course was announced by the chef with a bit of fanfare. It was fun! A few of our favourite courses:... 1. Perfectly cooked salmon stuffed with scallop mousse, with seafoam, mussels and saffron butter sauce. 2. Sous vide beef striploin with potato parsnip puree and red wine sauce. 3. Wild mushroom ravioli with foie gras and shallot cream sauce. 4. An amazing apple cake with white chocolate and caramel mousse, cream cheese mousse and home made ice cream. #sponsored Nova Scotia #visitnovascotia

Dinner at Juniper Food + Wine was amazing. I've been a big fan of Chef Geoff Hopgood ever since trying the fancy donairs at his old Toronto restaurant. Last night's dinner exceeded expectations. A nice simple space in downtown Wolfville. We enjoyed a bottle of cider from Annapolis Cider Co. (which is right across the street) and a delicious appetizer of steak tartare on focaccia. The Potato Gnocchi with gorgonzola cream, maitake mushrooms, candied walnuts and "barely cooked s...pinach" was an adventure in flavours and textures. The Hamilton Farms rainbow trout was simple perfection, served with charred broccolini and salsa verde. The broccolini gets my highest praise for a vegetable so delicious, it will change your life. The little pumpkin cheesecake was a perfect ending to a perfect meal. This is only an hour's drive from Halifax and well worth the trip! #sponsored Nova Scotia #VisitNovaScotia

Had the most wonderful meal at Founders House Dining and Drinks in Annapolis Royal. It is a prix fixe 3 course menu for $60. Lots of Valley wines and local craft beer (Annapolis, Lunn's Mill) available. The food and service were incredible. The biscuits with dulse butter really set the mood. These were unbelievable biscuits! We just had to ask about them, and were told that the chef used to work in a town in the American South that had biscuit competitions. Serious stuff! The... celeraic and caviar appetizer was another highlight. Creamy, slightly crunchy and bursting with umami flavours, this was totally unique and exceptional. The prosciutto wrapped saddle of rabbit was another highlight. It was served with freekeh (roasted young wheat), parsnip, beetroot and haskap juice. Every element of this dish worked together beautifully. Both of our desserts were worth the drive to Annapolis Royal alone! The "Milk Chocolate & White Chocolate" with sea buckthorn, pistachio, crumb, was textually fascinating, with a nice chocolatey chew. The Electric Blue Cheesecake featured Blue Harbour Cheese (of Halifax) and a honey gel on top. Garnished with pine nuts, pear, golden raisins and browned butter, it was cheesecake meets cheese plate. A truly memorable dessert, among the best in my life! #sponsored Nova Scotia #visitnovascotia

Lunch yesterday at La Cuisine Robicheau was worth the drive from Annapolis Royal! Located in Saulnierville (in Baie Sainte-Marie), this is THE spot for Acadian food. We had the mini fishcakes to start ($10) which are some of the best fish cakes in the province. The chowder was spectacular! Heaps of seafood and a thin broth of screamingly fresh seafood flavour. I also tried chicken fricot for the first time. Thus version has poutine râpée (potato dumplings) and it was like a c...hicken soup/rappie pie crossover! I loved the slightly chewy dumplings, which added an extra textural layer to this dish. So satisfying and comforting, stick to your ribs food. A true destination restaurant! They've also got a "ptit" take-out truck in the parking lot with fish 'n chips. #sponsored Nova Scotia #visitnovascotia

My publisher is offering an exclusive offer to followers of my page! Free shipping, Canada-wide! Just click the link: https://ilovebooks.ca/books/book-of-donair

This is my favourite time of year to explore Nova Scotia, and we are very fortunate to have Bubble Tourism! Last night I had dinner at Restaurant Composé in Annapolis Royal, which serves Austrian specialties with a beautiful waterfront view (it was a rather blustery day, which was beautiful in its own right). I had the schnitzel with mushroom sauce, served with spaetzle and a wonderful sauerkraut. My Side Dish (wife) had the beef goulash with speck knoedel (bread & bacon dum...plings). We enjoyed with a bottle of Castel from Domain de Grand Pré. We also had a linzer tart for dessert which was a highlight! Excited to spend another night in Annapolis Royal! Where should we go next?! #sponsored Nova Scotia #visitnovascotia

I was on Global Halifax this morning talking about my Book of Donair. The official launch party is this Wednesday at the Stubborn Goat Gastropub! https://twitter.com/globalhalif/status/1313078054093230080

Free shipping anywhere in Canada: https://ilovebooks.ca/books/book-of-donair/

I made the front page of the Chronicle Herald! Promoting my Book of Donair - available now!

New Review: All-You-Can-Eat Sushi at Jukai https://www.eatthistown.ca/all-you-can-eat-sushi-at-jukai/

Book of Donair is now available at bookstores (like Bookmark on Spring Garden), Nimbus, Indigo, etc! Buy your copy today! https://nimbus.ca/store/book-of-donair.html