Halifax is a city that punches above its weight when it comes to its culinary scene. We have loads of talent, a farm-to-table ethos, some fantastic pubs, and affordable upscale options (compared to bigger cities). Moreover, we are a quickly growing city, with more and more multicultural options every day. Sure, we have high taxes and low wages and a housing crises and people can’t afford groceries…. But hey, look: There’s the ocean! We must have great seafood at least, right?…. Right?! … … A theme that I’ve noticed over the years is that newcomers to Halifax are often less than impressed with ..read more

I’ve been trying to write a post about the best chowder in Nova Scotia for years now, but never feel like I’ve covered enough ground. Chowder is so ubiquitous across Nova Scotia that it would be quite impossible to try every bowl. The Nova Scotia Chowder Trail is a start – but since it is a promotional list, you can’t necessarily count on it for insight about the best chowders in Nova Scotia. This blog has always been about not trusting glorified “lists” by major publications, and since the inception of Eat This Town I have always committed to thoroughly examining everything for myself. But ch ..read more

I feel like 2022 was kind of an uneventful year. I just realized I’ve written a total of 5 blog posts, and I guess that is because my priorities have shifted a bit. I celebrated 10 Years of Eat This Town this year, as well as my 40th birthday, and I’ve reflected a lot about my journey. My priorities have shifted a bit, and I have been more preoccupied with nutrition, fitness, and social media hygiene. I’ve also been writing for Curated Magazine: see my article about the origins of Shuji Manabe and Doraku restaurant (Halifax’s best and oldest sushi legacy). I went on trips this year to Frederic ..read more

Welcome to the Post-Pandemic Nacho Quest! (And to those saying, “The pandemic is still ongoing” – I know, I know. This is just the first Nacho Quest since the beginning of the pandemic. Sharing finger foods hadn’t exactly been encouraged for a while, ya know?). So why another Nacho Quest? Well, things left off in 2019 and seemed final. The Nacho Finals determined the rankings of the 10 most highly rated nachos on the peninsula. But since then, so much has changed (including a global pandemic) so it was time to revisit a few places. Of my top 10, a few places have closed, moved and rebranded. P ..read more

It’s been 10 years of Eat This Town. Crazy. It seems like just yesterday that blogs were still kinda newish and exciting, and now they seem to struggle for relevance in a world of easily digestible TikToks and Instagram stories. Some of us bloggers have shifted to social media influencing and marketing, while others have moved into more formal writing careers – or even restaurant careers! – while others just kind of fizzled and popped in and out of existence. As for me, I’ve tried on a few hats. In doing so I’ve realized that being an “influencer” isn’t for me. Quick content for mindless scrol ..read more

Shop local, they say. It’ll make you feel good, they say. Let’s put this to the ultimate test! There has been lots of grocery talk lately, from inflation to shrinkflation, to the cops at the doors of your local Superstore (due to said inflation). Public servants protecting private interests…. with guns? What could go wrong?! What kind of corporate stranglehold is this in a city that can’t even enforce basic traffic laws or effectively close off Spring Garden Road to cars? Meanwhile, the police force are asking for a budget increase because “people are exhausted, people are overworked” and the ..read more

Over the years that I spent researching the donair, ultimately leading up to writing the Book of Donair, I sampled over 50 donairs in 6 cities. I have written posts about the History of Donairs, Calgary Donairs, Edmonton Donairs and even Toronto donairs. But this post about Vegan Donairs has been a long time coming! If you are a vegan visitor to Halifax hoping to sample our official food in a flesh-free format, you have several options at your disposal. Because not only is Halifax brimming with donairs, it also punches above its weight in vegan food. Locals know this, but the question must sti ..read more

This is my second year doing Veganuary and by now I’m feeling like a seasoned pro. Why do I do Veganuary, you ask? I have always been partial to a vegetarian (er, pescatarian) diet, but over the course of the past 10 years I’ve found myself eating more omnivorously than I did in my 20s. Now in 2022, in the context of this ongoing pandemic and our failing health care system, I think it is more important than ever that we take control of our own health. There is a lot of noise out in social media land about what is healthy, but if you look beyond YouTube and bro science, the evidence is pretty s ..read more

I’m trying to remember the highs and lows of 2021 but it’s all a blur! I think the highlights of my year were getting called back to work and finally getting to visit friends and family in Calgary. The lowest part of the year was losing my dear Grandmother And I have just been informed that Betty White has left us. Sigh… Really? 2021 couldn’t leave us without one more insult to injury? … I started the year by participating in Veganuary, and ended the year with an angry post about Burger Week. Here we are suddenly with my best of 2021. So here it goes, in no particular order: 1. Dear Friend Ba ..read more

As many of you know, I have championed Burger Week since its inception in 2013, and I was even one of the first Burger Ambassadors. A couple of years ago, I wrote a blog post defending Burger Week against new criticisms that had risen alongside, and due in part, to the sheer popularity of the event. But it is a different world now. Trends rise and fall, we learn and change, and the pandemic has opened our eyes to what we truly value. This shift in perspective has made us realize what is important to us, what can be discarded, and what has been slowing us down. A younger me, sacrificing my vita ..read more