November 2009 - Wine of the Month

Tasted blind while judging a competition, the latest vintage of the Laroche Pinot Noir, from the south of France, but made by Burgundian winemakers, showed very well. Pinot Noir that tastes like Pinot Noir, from France, is hard to find. And a nice package too. At $16.99 a bit more expensive than it used to be, but isn't everything?

You can find a bit more about it here.

Canadian Brewing Awards - 2009 Winners

In an earlier post, here, I promised to post the results of the competition I helped judge. And here they are! I note that there has been a bit of controversy about the IPA category not even being given a Bronze Medal, let alone the absence of some of the beer most Canadian beer geeks would tell you are the best brews in the country. Maybe more on that in the future, all I can say is: I did not judge the IPA Category. OK? A "J" after the category name means I judged a part of that category, not necessarily the part that decided the winners.


North American Style Lager - J
Gold: Alpine Lager, Moosehead Breweries (NB)
Silver: Original Draught, Sleeman Brewing (ON)
Bronze: Rocky Mountain Pilsner, Russell Brewing (BC)
Honourable Mention: Carling Lager, Molson Canada

North American Style Premium Lager
Gold: Premium Lager, Lakes of Muskoka Brewery (ON)
Silver: Premium, Great Western Brewing (SK)
Bronze Old Style Pilsner, Molson Canada

European Style Lager (Pilsner)
Gold: Stonehammer Pilsner, F & M Brewery (ON)
Silver: Pilsner, Mill Street Brewery (ON)
Bronze: Steam Whistle, Steam Whistle Brewing (ON)

North American Style Amber Lager
Gold: N/A
Silver: Buzz Beer, Cool Beer (ON)
Bronze: Red Leaf Smooth Red Lager, Great Lakes Brewery (ON)

Bock - Traditional German Style - J
Gold: Amsterdam Spring Bock, Amsterdam Brewing (ON)
Silver: N/A
Bronze: Hellesbock, Mill Street Brewery (ON)

North American Style Dark Lager
Gold: N/A
Silver: Fort Garry Rouge, Fort Garry Brewing (MB)
Bronze: Dark 266 Lager, Cameron's Brewing (ON)

Light (Calorie-Reduced)Lager
Gold: Sleeman Light, Sleeman Brewing (ON)
Silver: Premium Light, Great Western Brewing (SK)
Bronze: Alpine Light, Moosehead Breweries (NB)

Wheat Beer - Belgian Style White/Wit
Gold: Honey Thistle Wit, Bushwakker Brewing (SK)
Silver: Belgian Wit, Mill Street Brewery (ON)
Bronze: N/A

Wheat Beer - German Style Hefeweizen
Gold: Whistler Weiss Bier, Whistler Brewing (BC)
Silver: Hefeweizen, Tree Brewing Co. (BC)
Bronze: Hefe-Weissbier, Lakes of Muskoka (ON)

Wheat Beer - North American Style - J
Gold: Grasshopper Wheat Ale, Big Rock (AB)
Silver: Sungod Wheat Ale, R & B Brewing (BC)
Bronze: Dooryard Summer Ale, Northampton Brewing (NB)

Strong or Belgian Style Ale - J
Gold: La Fin Du Monde, Unibroue (QC)
Silver: Winter Warmer, Garrison Brewing (NS)
Bronze: Dominus Vobiscum Double, Microbrasserie Charlevoix (QC)

North American Style Amber/Red Ale - J
Gold: Yukon Red Amber, Yukon Brewery (NWT)
Silver: Auburn Ale, Cameron's Brewing Co. (ON)
Bronze: Devil's Pale Ale, Great Lakes Brewing (ON)
Honourable Mention: Big Wheel Deluxe Amber, Amsterdam Brewing (ON)

Cream Ale
Gold: Cream Ale, Cameron's Brewing (ON)
Silver: Cream Ale, Lakes of Muskoka (ON)
Bronze: KLB Cream Ale, Amsterdam Brewing (ON)

North American Style Blonde/Golden Ale
Gold: Gulf Island Brewing, Gulf Island Brewing (BC)
Silver: Honey Blonde Ale, Russell Brewing (BC)
Bronze: Picaroon's Blonde Ale, Northampton Brewing (NB)
Honourable Mention: Summer Ale, Granite Brewery (ON)

English Style Pale Ale (Bitter)
Gold: ESB, Mill Street Brewery (ON)
Silver: Black Oak Pale Ale, Black Oak Brewing (ON)
Bronze: Old Brewery Pale Ale, Nelson Brewing (BC)

North American Style Pale Ale (Bitter) - J
Gold: Old Yale Pale Ale, Old Yale Brewing (BC)
Silver: Chico Pale Ale, Bushwakker Brewing (BC)
Bronze: Tank House, Mill Street Brewery (ON)
Honourable Mention: Timberline Ale, Howe Sound Brewery (BC)

Barley Wine
Gold: 2008 Barley Wine, Mill Street Brewery (ON)
Silver: St. Ambroise Vintage Ale, McAuslan Brewing (QC)
Bronze: Swan's Legacy Ale, Swan's Buckerfield (BC)

India Pale Ale
Gold: Hop Head Double IPA, Tree Brewing (BC)
Silver: No. 9 IPA, Mike Duggan - Cool Beer (ON)
Bronze: N/A

Brown Ale - J
Gold: Nut Brown, Dead Frog Brewery (BC)
Silver: Rail Ale Nut Brown, Howe Sound Brewing (BC)
Bronze: True North Copper Altbier, Magnotta Brewery (ON)

Scotch Ale
Gold: N/A
Silver: Scotch Ale, Phillip's Brewery (BC)
Bronze: Iron Duke, Wellington Brewery (ON)

Stout
Gold: St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout, McAuslan Brewing (QC)
Silver: Keepers Stout, Lighthouse Brewing (BC)
Bronze: Traditional Irish Stout, Hockley Valley Brewing (ON)
Honourable Mention: Midnight Sun Espresso Stout, Yukon Brewery (YT)

Strong Porter (Baltic)
Gold: Grand Baltic Porter, Garrison Brewing (NS)
Silver: N/A
Bronze: N/A

Imperial Stout
Gold: Russian Gun Imperial Stout, Grand River Brewing (ON)
Silver: Imperial Stout, Wellington Brewery (ON)
Bronze: N/A

Porter - J
Gold: Palliser Porter, Bushwakker Brewing (SK)
Silver: Black Toque, Phillip's Brewery (BC)
Bronze: Coffee Porter, Mill Street Brewery (ON)

Fruit & Vegetable - J
Gold: Chocolate Porter, Phillip's Brewing (BC)
Silver: Raspberry Weizen, Pump House Brewing (NB)
Bronze: Jalapeno Ale, Garrison Brewing (NS)

Special Honey/Maple Lager or Ale - J
Gold: Special Honey Maple Lager, Old Credit Brewing (ON)
Silver: Winter Ale, Great Lakes Brewing (ON)
Bronze: Honey Brown Traditional, Dead Frog Brewery (BC)

Brewery of the Year - Mill Street Brewery (3rd year in a row)
Beer of the Year - Yukon Red Amber Ale

The life and death of my favourite places

Restaurants, pubs, bars, clubs, whatever you want to call them. Places where we go to eat, drink and be social. They can work their way into our lives, becoming a part of our daily routines, weekly rituals or annual pilgrimages. They become important places to us.

I have not really mourned a lot of the damage done by this recent "economic downturn" or "correction" but lately, it has been hitting a bit too close to home. Too close to the wood on which my elbow sits.

There are some new places that have replaced them, but really, if I had my choice, I'd have them all available to go to.

So here is to Seven Restaurant and Wine Bar, where I enjoyed so many evenings with friends, late evenings.... and some wonderful meals with groups of people who all seemed so much more beautiful than I, because they were. To Dio Mio Gelato, one of my ritualistic stops on weekend summer morning walks. To the Soho Kitchen, where I learned to love foods my Mom never knew of and to think about healthy food for perhaps the first time in my life. To O'Carroll's where I first saw old, young and in between happily celebrating in a pub in Canada, just like in a village in Devon. And to the original Midtown Tavern and Grill, where so many laughs, debates, questionable steaks, and beers were had.

Now I have the Hart and Thistle, filling the Harbourfront space I once frequented so often, and resurrecting the pico-brewery there, complete with its last brewer, and most of O'Carroll's staff. The Smiling Goat, ready for my quick shot of double espresso as I duck in on my way downtown. Aroma Latino, where the smell of fried corn draws me in like a cartoon character wafted in without touching the ground. And, of course, to the new Midtown, where that same smell of questionable steaks advertises lunchtime on Grafton Street, just a block away.

Maybe a new place will come along that draws me away from Tom's Little Havana for more than I spend there, but I think bigger forces will be required for that to happen. Unfortunately, they are out there, but I'll just hope they stay away for now.

Good old Nova Scotian Hypocrisy

The recent glossy colour insert in the Herald from the Province, promoting their "Doers and Dreamers" Guide, has a photo of a cute kid on the front, bottom lef. She looks happy and is sitting in a pile of Nova Scotia pumpkins.

Well that cute kid, along with her sister and parents were deported last year. She is Maria Lua da Silva, the daughter of Paula and Azeitona da Silva, the Brasilian couple who were the core energy behind the capoeira dance centre and troupe in the North End.

It was the height of hypocrisy to deport these people, who were contributing immensely to the cultural wealth of our city and Province, while allowing some other very questionable people to stay. But to add to that by stealing the image of their child to promote our culture, which we denied them, borders on criminal.

I wonder how much the da Silvas are being paid for this use of their daughter's image, or, because they have been tossed out, it is being used without permission or fee? How totally Canadian would that be?

I am sure someone in the media could have some fun with this.

They also used her image on the front cover of their Festivals and Events Guide. Really really insulting, when you consider she was booted out of the country.

Just how many beers can you taste in one day?

I recently was invited to judge the Canadian Brewing Awards, the ones sponsored by Taps Magazine that are held annually up in Toronto.

There were 18 of us, seated in panels of three who worked (yes, it is work) from 10:30in the morning til about 8 pm judging flights o f different style brews from all over Canada.

It was all done blind, so I have very little idea of what actual brand I was judging. One thing I can say, is that if I never have to taste another honey-brown ale again, I won't complain.

The experience was a fun one - I have judged many beer competition before, but they were mostly homebrewing competitions, including two final round sessions at the American Homebrewers Association annual competition. But only three commercial beer comps. In homebrewing, my most recent judging experiences have been best of show rounds, where I am judging beers that have already won a class. So I have been spoiled a bit - the homebrews are simply better at that stage. The judges were all BJCP Certified or better. BJCP Website

This competition was special, in that there were over 300 entries, and they came in 26 styles. I judged North American Premium Style Lager, European Style Lager, Bock, North American Style Wheat Beer, North American Style Red Ale, North American Style Pale Ale/Bitter, Strong or Belgian Style Ale, and Special Honey/Maple Lager or Ale, and the final round of the Fruit and Vegetable Beer categories. A lot of work, especially the 12 Honey Browns that all tasted pretty much the same. Many of the categories were large enough to be split up between two tables.

It was fun, in that I got to see several old friends who I used to judge with, and drink with, back in the old days. And after the judging was done, we got to tie into the remnants of the competitions to check out some beers with the labels on.

I know that the Phillips Brewing Company in BC will be on my list from now on, any of their beers would be nice to have. And it was funny to see the work that the Pumphouse went to - making labels and bottling many of their brewpub only offerings for the competition. A surprise entry was a growler of The Hart and Thistle's Simcoe SmaSh Double IPA. No idea how it did, though, as I did not judge IPA's.

I'll post the results here as soon as I know them. Here they are! One thing different this year is that the judge score sheets will be sent to the breweries as feedback. All I can hope now is that I didn't slag a beer made by a friend here too bad, or worse, slag a beer I normally like to drink. Maybe there is time to put chicken wire over my windows?

Oh, and the answer? 81. That is how many I did.

August 2009 - Wine of the Month

Hans Christian Jost was sniffing a glass of wine handed to him by his winemaker David Beardsall, in the winery in Malagash. "I think this is pretty good on its own, Hans Christian..."

And so wine from a vineyard outside Middleton, far down the Annapolis Valley, became a new budget label from Jost called Valley Roads.

Priced at $9.99 it finally gets a good Nova Scotia grown wine to your table at a price anyone can afford.

The red, a Marechal Foch, is made softer, and very drinkable. It recently won a medal at the All Canadian Wine Awards.

But it is the white, made from L'Acadie Blanc, that I love, and which I recommend to you this month.

Valley Roads L'Acadie Blanc, White Wine, $9.99/750 ml bottle at regular stores, often on a display at the end of an aisle or near the cash.

Here is L'Acadie made without messing with it. And it comes out more reminiscent of Sauvignon Blanc than the Chardonnay-like thing winemakers have been trying to make it into. Could this be the future of the grape? I'll buy it.

The NSLC - The Devil we Know

I know I may be confusing sometimes. It may seem as if I think the NSLC should be done away with, and replaced with a simple flat tax on alcohol. But that is not the case. There is an inherent value in the organization, and some unfulfilled opportunity that needs to accrue to the people of Nova Scotia, that, if created or exercised, would make the organization both a greater asset to the Province, and a real tool in economic generation.

So before some people think I'll be out lobbing grenades at the BLIP warehouse, here are some things I understand to be good about the NSLC (the comments options on Blogger are to correct or guide me, so don't be shy) and some things I think we need to do with it.

Reasons why we should keep the NSLC.

1. Buying power. We are not a large place in the world. Having an organization run at a Provincial scale allows some minor leverage in the world. We recently saw how puny we are when the people who make Lagavulin Single Malt Scotch decided to assign our normal allotment to China. We are but a pimple on the dragon's ass.

We already get a great service in how product is shipped from Europe now, with containers being filled with various product headed here. That is a value to people who drink foreign products.

We need to use the single representative position the NSLC gives us to partner up with other Liquor Boards, Private Stores, and large agencies, as often as possible on group orders, shipping containers, or other deals with large suppliers. Some Atlantic Canadian cooperation has occurred in the past (New Zealand wines all came over on a group shipment, I recall) but we could perhaps do more. Quebec and Ontario are less than 24 hours away, after all, and it is not out of the question to try to piggy back on their shipments too. And maybe we already do - if so - good on ya!


2. Ease of Access. Let's face it. Nova Scotians would drink about the same amount of alcohol if we only had one store in the entire Province. Do you think everyone was sober during prohibition? But the problem arises when you consider how most people get to a liquor store. How many kilometers do we want people to have to drive to get home after buying their "Captain and Coke" and Keith's? The NSLC puts stores, many fully stocked with lots of products that don't sell that well, in places no sane private sector retailer would put that size store. This reduces the annual drunk driver distance total enough to make it worthwhile. To go further, the NSLC has started opening "Agency Stores" in small communities, but ones that are a centre of a local economy (like Whycocomagh, Middle Musquodobit, or Iona). These stores don't offer much variety, but they do provide legal means of access to booze for the Keiths and Captain crowds. And they can order in special for you if you live there. This is a service to the people that is one a government can, and perhaps should provide, and that a private business would be unlikely to provide, for a fair price, anyway.

We need to allow more private stores to open, or at least allow the existing ones to open more outlets. This won't reduce the need for the NSLC to operate the agency stores, but it may allow them to shift their emphasis to places where the goal of reducing trip length is desired. The private stores will always go to the better retail locations, that is how business works, but allowing them to do so, and providing fair access to product will mean more outlets overall, and potential reduction in size or even number of some of the NSLC medium and full size stores. It is illogical to have the private stores limited to one outlet when the NSLC is running around spending money on new retail space and fit-up that private industry would do instead, if it only were allowed to.


3. Good Union Jobs. This needs to be said right off the bat - I am not a big union person. If this were 1932 I would be, but it ain't. The NSLC provides a lot of pretty good paying jobs with descriptions of work that might not be as highly paid if the same work were done at Sobey's. Paying employees well with money that would otherwise go into government coffers is not all that bad - we get it back in taxes and economic energy. Of course the problem is that as with any organization that starts to think it has some power, the union will try to control things, and that is not their job. And then there will be another strike, and we'll have no one to buy booze from, except the private stores who have their own warehousing. And NB Liquor, of course.

Well, the union is about to grow in numbers, as they apparently just let all the casuals in... (I wonder why? Number of voters in the union maybe?). Some NSLC staff take the time to improve themselves, and they are worth it, but someone sitting behind a cash register all day really should be paid the same as they pay at the Superstore. That said, the NSLC needs to train their staff in the specialty business they are in. Then, with the training, the extra wage is justified, and, as with any other industry, the service and profitability should improve with worker knowledge.

This shows already in the private sector, where more trained and knowledgeable staff exist in the four licensed private stores than in all the NSLC and Liquor Licensing Board combined.

My point is this: Raise the bar for the jobs. Then the wages make sense, and the jobs become specialized where qualified people have a better chance at being hired, and the service and product information is better.


4. Buy Local. The strongest form of economic growth is import substitution (Jane Jacobs, Cities and the Wealth of Nations, 1985). Many Nova Scotia stores sell Nova Scotia Products. There are a lot of NS products that are sold in the NSLC, and many would not be there if the system was based on sales only. For every bottle of wine consumed in Nova Scotia that was made or even bottled here, we enrich our economy more than any other way we can via the NSLC.

On a buy local and on principle theme, this could be the best reason to keep the NSLC. If they were willing to commit to the plan. Any micro-brew fan will tell you that the NSLC sticks the local, fresh beer products from Propeller and Garrison (the award winning breweries we have and should be proud of) on the bottom shelves, and never in the fridge. This when they are almost the only brewery products whose quality actually benefits from refrigeration. Because of the Farm Winery regulations, the wineries are happier to sell wine at their winery outlets, because they almost lose money selling through the NSLC and their markups. We have to start thinking of the NSLC as more of an economic arm of government - one that has a role in promoting NS product, not just tolerating it.


5. The NSLC has staff who could potentially advise people on purchases. This means people can learn about the liquor they drink, and drink wiser, drink local, and enjoy their food more. As a Province wide organization, the NSLC could be a leader in the education of the public and the food and beverage industry.

The reality is that there are only a very few people in the organization who know more than the average Joe about the product they sell. And they are mostly clustered in Head Office and the single Port of Wines outlet in Halifax (I said mostly). The NSLC do have a wine course (called "The Gallo Course" because it is part of a marketing ploy from a huge California conglomerate) for staff, but don't recognize the local section of the world wide Association de la Sommelerie Internationale and their local graduates' training and certification. Local people who worked very hard to learn a lot about wine, beer and liquor, who work within the NSLC and know a lot about wine, are not recognized within the organization. Few if any people who have finished the very difficult Sommelier training have yet to be hired by the NSLC in any technical capacity (one former employee, one current employee, and two in process, I think). This is simply lost opportunity.

Instead of seeing the Professional Sommelier association (around 100 full Sommeliers in Atlantic Canada) as a resource to draw from, and to use for staff training, or to attract to the organization for their expertise and interest, the apparently insular and insecure management at the NSLC tends to shun these people, many of whom were or still are their best customers (not a wise move - see Bishops Cellar sales). There needs to be a better dialogue between the NSLC and the Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers (aka CAPS - the local ASI sanctioned group) such that both groups benefit. There are certainly a few people in the NSLC with the knowledge and expertise to step right into the CAPS organization as active members. Their participation in the profession outside the NSLC, would only make things better for all parties. Recent months have apparently seen a bit of a realization on the part of the NSLC that there are many CAPS graduates in positions of influence in the wine and food and beverage industries in Nova Scotia. So much so, that for the NSLC to continue as a viable purveyor to the food and beverage industry, cooperation needs to improve. I am told that this renaissance (or is it thawing?) is being led by Peter Rockwell, perhaps the best known wine-knowledgeable person in the Corporation. If this is true, it can only bode well for the future of the food and beverage industry in Nova Scotia.


6. Finally, we don't want a privatized NSLC. There is a recent privatization model in Nova Scotia that the NSLC looks very much to be following. And if I were a mucky muck with the NSLC, I might want to follow it too. I knew Chris Huskilson when he was the electrical engineer who had just taken over as Manager of the Western Zone of NSPC (note the "C") at the end. Now Chris makes over a million dollars a year as CEO of NSPI - the now privatized arm of the Province that purveys a commodity to the people on Nova Scotia as a monopoly, or near monopoly.

Just like NSPI, the NSLC used to be a Commission of Government, adherent to all the rules and hiring practices and accountability that pertain to the Civil Service. The NS Power Commission reformed to a Crown Corporation, suddenly immune from such trivial government interference such as oversight of hiring practices, wage scales and so on, with a politically appointed Board. And the NSLC is now a Corporation, not a Commission. Do you see the pattern? If I were in a position of senior management at NSLC I certainly would. That $1,000,000 plus salary would clear my lenses, for sure.

NS Power then, slowly, went through internal changes, with the effects of some outside potential competition, and got to the point where they argued for a sell off to the Private Sector, with a gradual morphing into a stand alone company. One you buy shares in on the TSE. But it is fair to say that their attention to customers has come under scrutiny.

Do we want that to happen to our liquor business, with all the potential benefits that a government run organization could achieve, including those discussed above? How much motivation would one huge conglomerate have to sell NS products on a preferential basis? Would it have any need to provide basic service to remote areas for the same price for a 40 ouncer of the Captain? And how long would those Union jobs last? Would they inherit the control over supply that they now have, and yield it in a manner such that they bankrupt the private stores? The current version of the NSLC has not been able to do this, and some say they have tried, but a privately run business (say it was purchased by Sobey's, or the Irving Blue Canoe stores, or Loblaws) would be much more efficient at eliminating competition.

We know that big corporations focus on volume and not variety. Just look at the range of music in a Walmart compared to the CD's and vinyl at Taz Records. Taz slays Walmart in choice. A big corporation has no incentive to provide specialty products, and can only really do well at schlepping the "Captain Morgan and Keiths" to an unsuspecting public. With as few people working as possible. Variety is lost, sameness triumphs.

And for me, as for many, variety is the spice of life.




So, what am I saying here? I think we need to reassess the NSLC as an arm of government that is mandated to not just turn cash over at year's end. But as more of a marketing board arrangement, buying and distributing liquor products to retail outlets throughout Nova Scotia, but moving out of the pure retail game, and leaving that part, over time, to the private sector. But not all at once. Service to Nova Scotians has to include access, variety, and price competitiveness on the retail side. On the buying side, we need to leverage our position to support the local industries making liquor regulated products, from rum distilleries, to the high end wineries, to nano-breweries and brewpubs, to branches of large mega brewers. At the same time, we can take advantage of the mandate the NSLC enjoys to leverage buying power of imports as much as possible, and to do so in a cooperative manner with other similar buyers.

This should include efforts to have those containers go back to Europe with some NS product in them. Hey, maybe seal skins and meat!

Mediocrity and its Discontent

It was interesting watching how well Sidney Crosby was feted recently in his hometown and home Province. Somehow, the losers have not caught him in their claws and started to drag him down. Not yet, anyway. I wonder when it will happen to the extent that we notice it. It was fun to see Don Cherry blow his mouth off about Sid the Kid a few years ago, and promptly watch all his Atlantic Canada Grapevine restaurants go tubing. That really put him on the warpath, resulting in a measurable increase in the use of MUTE buttons during intermission on HNIC in Atlantic Canada.

But you see, Don Cherry has a few things right. He venerates the success of "our own boys". We here in Nova Scotia seem to do the opposite. When someone actually succeeds, we drag them back down to our level. And we do it on both personal and institutional levels.

We simply have too many government and regulatory agencies where the main required skill set, the most important use of imagination, is to come up with ways to stifle the innovation and industry of others. And to make sure that no one else has any fun, because those who have inherited the responsibility of regulating things that really don't need to be regulated any more, don't know how, or are afraid to have fun. Or their god tells them we should all be unhappy. It is as if there is an assumption that they are as worthy of success as anyone else, despite the differing effort, and therefore no one else has the right to do better than them, and must be brought down to their level.

How else can we explain the total bullshit that Damien Byrne is going through with the Split Crow? How else can we explain the Kafkaesque world that homebrew retailers are being pushed into, where not just alcohol, but everything that yeast can digest is now under the jurisdiction of the NSLC and Liquor Licensing Board? Why is that law still there?

How can we explain the continued existence of the NSLC retail monopoly - an organization that would be out of business so fast all you would hear would be the loud sucking sound of the vacuum created by the absence of the multitude of bureaucratic layers being flushed, if real market competition to it existed. Or, should I say, were allowed to exist. In the short time available, tiny Bishops Cellar has put a noticeable dent in the NSLC's urban restaurant business. This from only one outlet. It would be interesting if they were allowed to be a real business and expand to serve their market in a free world.

Other examples of government inefficiency exist, of course (NS Environment in particular), and it may seem that I am picking on the NSLC, but, well, the name of this blog implies discussion of matters of drink.

I do find it hilarious how the NSLC applies, or self nominates, for retail awards. They are just like African dictators winning elections with 100% majorities. They don't get it. How can you be a successful retailer, and win awards, when you have no real competition, because you, or your owner, controls things such that you have no real competition? I'd win the Olympic sprint medal if no one else ran. Well, maybe. I think you do have to finish.

The point is, there are people in this, and other government, or pseudo-government organizations who view their job descriptions as saying no to new ideas and new products, and who are married to the status quo. They are the "not fail" crowd. If you don't try, you can't fail. There are people who use their position of "authority" to exercise personal opinion and vendetta (or even power!!) instead of allowing others to simply do business. This, when the reality is that to best serve the public interest, which is what they are supposed to be there for, often the very opposite behaviour is required. There ARE things in the NSLC that work, and reasons why I think we need them (more in a later blog) but the NSLC, the UARB, the CRTC, the HDBC and many other "control the people" boards or organizations are simply no longer needed in their current form.

The question we have to ask ourselves is whether we want the status quo, the do nothing scenario, to triumph. Because if they do, we are left, by definition, on the sidelines, catcalling and holding back our own economy, denigrating our winners, and slowing morphing into nothing more than spectators, continuing this practice of social entropy by dragging everything down to one level.

This may well be the "Nova Scotia way". A content mediocrity, going nowhere, and not fast. Sidney, best stay in Pittsburgh.

Revenge of the Turds

I don't know what I can say, but "I told you so". The Harbour Gets Loaded

Big is stupid.

Design-build projects for the public sector cede the value of the designers' knowledge and work from the owner to the contractor, and mean that we get the bare minimum we ask for, and often not what we wanted or we needed.

No one puts their delicate, water-sensitive electrical parts below a hydraulic grade line when they have to live with what is built. Someone cheaped out on something. And someone probably made a very bad decision over whether or not to have a last ditch gravity overflow, maybe even one running down the street, rather than flood the place out and take it down for a year. Who those someones are is not yet known to we ignorant people who are paying for this.

In any event, we can take solace in one thing. The treatment plant really does not do much anyway. When it rains, and it does that every now and then here, even after the plant is "working" most of the poop will still go to the harbour. It will just be a bit cooler and more dilute. But the lobsters will figure that out - they are filter feeders in a fashion.

Bon appetit, y'all.


PS. I hate lobster

Gastropubs, and other abused words...

This will be short. Attention Halifax! The term "Gastropub" came from the development of excellent food menus at pubs that already had high standards for beer and wine and in some cases other drinks in the UK. It was started at The Eagle pub in Clerkenwell, London. Probably the most famous is the White Horse on Parson's Green in London.

I have been there four times. Minstrels, Hart and Thistle, Port Pub - you are not there yet. Port Pub (in Port Williams in the Valley where I ate just today) is perhaps closest, but oh, you need a better serving arrangement (one person covering the deck on a gorgeous day?) and more rotation on the menu. Minstrels needs better beer and wine lists in addition to a more consistent menu, and the Hart and Thistle, while having one of the best beer lists in the Maritimes, and an interesting, if small, wine selection, needs a lot of work in the kitchen. The whole idea is to provide food that is a step up, not just saying you do, thereby abusing the term gastropub.

In fact, gastropub is something others should call you, not a claim you make yourself. It is like someone running around proclaiming "I am beautiful".

Beer Buzz about Town

Just when you thought it was getting a bit boring, beer has been making news all over. From Bud Light Lime to Nash's SmaSh, beer in Halifax just got a bit more interesting this past month.

I know that I am going straight to hell now that I have admitted to buying, with real money that I earned with my own tiny brain, some Bud Light Lime -or is that Bud Lite Lime?. Is "lite" now the American spelling for "light"? Probably. But I digress.

The limey thing tastes like an insipid beer made palatable for use on a hot day by the addition of some acidity and fruitiness. I am not a beer snob (I prefer geek) and I can handle this drink (is it beer?, well, I guess it qualifies) on a hot day. With my capacity and its alcohol content, it is little more than pop anyway.

But on to more serious beer things. With the upcoming Seaport Beer Festival down at the Port of Halifax (and in Garrison's side yard) some recent moves by personnel and introduction of brands have made things interesting.

The Hart and Thistle pub, recently opened on the waterfront where the Harbourside Food Court used to be, the one with John Shippey's Brewing Company (RIP) in it. I was in attendance at the launch of their first two beers made in the old Shippey's brewhouse. They were made by Greg "Quick Mash" Nash, the former brewer at Shippeys, and, as far as most people knew, the current brewer at the Pumphouse Brewery in Moncton, one of the suppliers to the Hart and Thistle.

Nash has had a hard time staying in one place these past few years. I am not sure exactly why - I can say for sure that his presence at every place he has worked has resulted in a measurable and near immediate improvement in the beers. But Nash is an iconoclast - he does things his way, and most of us like the results. But we are not the person who pays him, or pays for his ingredients. And we are not party to all that happens between an owner and a brewer. We are what we are - Maritime Drinkers. Of course, we cannot comment on the beer knowledge or business acuity of the people he has worked for either.

All I can say is that if I had the money to start a brewpub, Nash would be my brewer, and I'd have him working for points on the profit from the beer. He makes great extreme beers, but in my opinion, the best beer improvement he made in his time at Garrison was with the previously anemic Tall Ships Amber. It is real beer now. So while you all may focus on his extreme brews, I call attention to his stable brews. His versions of Garrison Red and Brown were the best they ever made, and his Stout was great. The current brewer is very good, more analytical in some ways than Nash, but the ales seem to have lost the correct minerality and salt that British beers have - perhaps he stopped adjusting the water the way Nash did?

Anyway, it will be interesting to see what happens at the beer festival. No Nash (unless somehow the H&T gets in late) No Lorne Romano (a juvenile fallout between him and Garrison owner Brian Titus last year nixed that). Without Greg and Lorne, two of the best brewers, and their great beers will be missed. Almost as much as the fun they would have brought to the event.

Propeller will be there, though. After three years, have Propeller and Garrison finally buried the hatchet enough to play well with others? Time will tell. Maybe we'll witness a beer squirting battle on Saturday?

Back to the Hart and Thistle. Co-owner Bruce Keith put on a low key, but still classy introduction of the new brewer, new brewpub operations, and two new beers. The beers were both thrown together in a manner that we homebrewers sometimes do, and not what one would call "planned". But because Nash knows what he is doing, and the fact that Bruce had no problem being a hop-monkey for a while, they ended up with a couple of very interesting, very good, and, yes, extreme brews to sell.

Talking with Bruce, I believe the place will fly. The former operation always seemed to have problems with crusty landlord, Ben MacRae. But Bruce and Heather also own and run O'Carroll's and have the same landlord. They have some mutual respect - Bruce speaks highly of Mr. MacRae - and there is something worked out here, and we beer lovers will benefit from that.

In other beer news, Kevin Keefe and sons Brian and Joe have the brewery running again on Stairs Street, just barely south of Massachusetts Avenue in the North End (you Google Map it, I am too lazy). They are selling growlers of counter pressure filled versions of all their old favourites. For you non geeks, counter pressure filling means they will last longer before opening. The ones I have tried (Barley Wine, Ringwood, IPA, Best Bitter) have all been yummy. My brother recently waxed eloquent over how good the Best Bitter Special was from growler. So I think we now have a good reason to go north.

A recent trip to Rogues Roost found the beers, as usual, in excellent shape. The IPA was outstanding, with an almost perfect balance between fruit, malt, hops and alcohol. Lorne may be somewhat hyper (now there is an understatement) but he makes great beer, consistently.

The Rock Bottom, a FOP (ferment on premise) is making some drinkable beers, but is sadly uninteresting. They need to get some more stuff into one or two of their beers for me to bother dropping in more. And their wine list, still an "all Bishops, all the time" list illustrates a lack of knowledge and effort in providing interesting and varied wine to clients.

Propeller is still selling the weizen, a great hot day brew. I am not sure if there is any Pilsener left, but it is on tap in a few places around town, and much better now after some time to age. I last had it at Minstrels, where the Thirsty Duck used to be. Another blog post is coming on the term "gastropub", so I won't abuse it here too. Their growler sales, averaging about 100 per day, amaze me. A total sea change in how beer is sold in town, and it has slipped by the media, the NSLC, and the Keith's and Molson's sales reps - the ones who REALLY control the beer industry in town.

The Friday Firkin at Maxwell's Plum continues to attract beer geeks, and entertain random tourist drop-ins. Except last week, when no cask appeared. We made do with the recent release of Blanche de Chambly on draft there. A perfect hot day beer, its lemony crisp and complex flavours were really exciting and thirst quenching to boot. Yum. The Stigl draft on tap there is a funny story. It arrived by accident. Now the NSLC are trying to flog it as something special. If you have been to the brewery in Salzburg, you probably ended up missing one of the best beer halls in the world, almost across the street at Augustinerbrau, where monks still make real beer - a Maerzen that is like mother's milk. Stigl is another good euro-lager. Period.

The Henry House had Granite Brewery beers in fine shape the other night. But I have to admit, it all soured when a friend of the birthday girl we were all there to celebrate with brought in a small homemade cake for people to share, and sing "Happy Birthday" over. The sever bolted from behind the bar to demand $10 for bringing in a cake. Huh? What about the 18 people the birthday group brought into the bar? I now have to ask myself - why go there? I can get the beers from the brewery anyway, and that place is the farthest walk from my house of all the places in town. And anyone who comes up with a policy like that is an ASS and does not deserve my business. Nine of those people had never been to the place before, were liking it a lot, and now will NEVER go back. Nice business development strategy.

There are some good recent additions to the imported beer list, but they do not come close to replacing what has been delisted in the past two years. Please, someday maybe the NSLC will have someone who knows something about beer in charge of the category? They have gotten a bit better since the early 90's, but still are that strangest of entities, a monopoly over products about which they know nothing.

Drinking in expensive places.... The MD tours Tuscany

A planned work trip to China got put on hold, and there suddenly appeared two blank weeks on my calendar. What to do? I know, instead of earning good money for two weeks, let's spend good money for a bit less time than that!

A well timed email to Mark DeWolfe of Bytheglass fame found me being offered a pretty good deal to tour Tuscany with him, his sidekick Geppetto, and several other friends for a bit more than a week in Italy's most famous wine region.

I am not into travelogues. But here are some truisms I came to understand.

1. Gelato is simply better there.
2. Pizza Margherita is simply better there.
3. Italian redheads are goddesses.
4. Sangiovese is a pretty rockin' grape.
5. There is a LOT of money in wine.
6. Don't use garlic more than a very little bit in your food.
7. When you cook, do it with PASSION!!
8. Italian white wines are so under-appreciated.
9. Stay in a Villa in a vineyard at least once in your life.
10. When on a wine tour, have a driver.

I spent a lot of money, and came back with almost nothing but the knowledge that I could go back again. Quite the week.

An Apology.... again... and with a Wine of the Month

Yes, I am sorry I stopped blogging. I don't know what it was. Maybe a lack of energy, or a problem with the space/time continuum, but here I am, back again.

So, here is my latest wine of the month....

Peelee Island Reserve Pinot Noir, 2007.

Can't believe it is that good, but it is.

Cruisin' 09

This is a “living blog” an account of our Caribbean music cruise, Cayamo. You can check out what I said last year, which will probably provide a clue as to why I came back. That is on this Blog somewhere back in the Spring of 2008.


Day One

For some reason, I’ve had a long string of bad luck on flight connections, departures and overall reliability of the air travel industry. The sole exception being my travel agent, DD.

The trip from Halifax to Washington, to Miami was totally uneventful, other than there being a fair amount of wind at both landings. Made the jet feel like a Piper Cub on the way in.

After some cell phone confusion, we were met by the parents of a buddy of mine at Miami International, and whisked away back to our hotel to clean up, and relax.

Later we were picked up by Ron, and taken out to dinner at Versailles, a Cuban restaurant where a lot of Cubans eat. L had Oxtail, I had chicken, and we had some croquettes as appetizers that were not unlike those enjoyed in Holland beside the windmill not all that long ago.

After that, we were taken on an evening of cruising Miami, including South Meach in Miami Beach, up the A1A. Quite the nightlife - a lot like Liverpool on a Friday night, what with all the hot rods and everyone drinking.

We were safely deposited back at our hotel, and slept like the tired little puppies we were.


Day Two

George and Margaret were up and ready to eat early, and we followed in their wake out to the Bayside Market for a breakfast buffet along the harbourfront there. A bit of a shopping/ambling around downtown Miami, with lunch and beers (a Dogfish Head 90 Minute for $5 !!), a date with a snake for Margaret, and we were off to our date with the Norwegian Dawn. Embarkation was amazingly fast - the best you could imagine it ever being. And then the tunes began. Beth Wood in the Atrium, and on into the night.

Our first show of note was our “Twice as Nice” show - the one we picked as the main artist on board we wanted to see twice. Lyle Lovett! His show was great, and his band amazing. The same group as last year.

We are still working out the best dining strategies, but there is no doubt that the food here is as good as any ship. The buffets seem to offer facsimiles of what we are used to. The burgers don’t taste quite the same, the pizza is a bit homemade, and the sauces all semi industrial, with low spice factor. That is, unless they have some food that is native to the cooks - Indonesian, Philippino, Bangladeshi..... Then you can eat very well.

Beer selection on the Norwegian Dawn is good, but lacking in the hops department. I have been living off of Sam Adams Lager. The wine list is excellent, with a few oddly low prices on top end wines ($110 for a bottle of Cos?!?).


Day Three - Getting into the swing

The third day is a Sunday. Up early (for me on a Sunday) and to breakfast at the buffet - thanks to a time change we missed the sit down breakfast opening hours. I had forgotten we were actually heading east, and are now in the same time zone as home.

We did our picture session with Lyle Lovett (yeah, I know, a bit too fan-like for me, but I want it for my Facebook profile - HAH!). Spent most of the afternoon on the pool deck, caught Web Wilder (rockin’ and rollin’), Over the Rhine, and The Indigo Girls with Brandi Carlile. A pretty good afternoon of tunes in the sun, with the occasional bikini ambling by.

Our evening show in the big theatre (it seats over 1000) on board was Indigo Girls. This turned into a huge fest on stage, with Shawn Mullins, Brandi Carlile and her band, Mindy Smith, and one other person whose name I could not make out who co-wrote a song with one of the gurlz all making appearances. This was a great show, made great by the total fun people were having on stage. It spread into the crowd.

Following that it was a formal dinner in the Italian restaurant on board, with a bottle of Barbera and some pretty good pasta and veal scallopine.

Then an evening in the listening lounge, with one hour sets from Darrel Scott (amazing), Joe Ely (great, cool, historic in many ways), and Mindy Smith (um, was she drinking?). Yes, I slept well after all that. In bed by 1:30.

Death of an Institution

No, I am not eulogizing the Midtown. Not yet anyway. Heck, I just ate supper at the Midtown tonight with a buddy from my old university days. It has changed a bit, though - they now have chicken wings!

I am talking about the bastion of real beer on the East Coast of Canada, Ginger's Tavern, home of the Granite Brewery.

I could go on and on about the place, starting from 1983 when I used to go there and play pool with longshoremen waiting for a call from the Union Hall down the street to go load stuff. Back then Kenny, Dan and a couple other characters poured pints of the only real beer in Eastern Canada. When Kevin Keefe was a firey angry Irish brewer who nearly had to burn down government buildings to get a license to make beer.

And the music they had there back then, in the mid to late 80's. Bands from Preston and Musquodobit jamming together on stage, everyone groovin' to the music. The only place I knew in Halifax where the local black community was truly welcome. Kevin didn't care - long as you paid your bill and didn't give the musicians too hard a time.

The the sad move from the old place to the Henry House - a fine dining type place that we all feared would cover the edges of Gingers with too much polish, making the beer thing trendy and suave. But the place survived, in the downstairs part anyway. It became more family, more upscale, and the food showed the rest of town what pub food could be.

And always, there was the Best Bitter. My pint, a beer that when fresh, a beer I could not have just one of. And that was the thing - the beer was real. It was real ale, brewed like Kevin learned to make it in England. Made with British equipment. It tasted like the beer we all had on our "find yourself" jaunts to Europe, when we wandered into a country pub in the South of England and asked for a beer.

Then there was the next move, up to a building Kevin owned on Barrington, where he could have the brewpub become a brewery, and keg the beer in casks for sale back to the new owners of the Henry House, and the Lions Head and the Spitfire Arms...

The new place on Barrington took so long to open. When it did I suggested to Kevin that he should change the name to "The Opening Soon" as that sign had stood for over a year in the window. But the Best Bitter was there, and therefore so was I.

The new smoking rules came in, and Kevin spent a lot of money re-workiing the space to meet the percentage area for a smoking bar downstairs and the non-smoking upstairs. He was told he had three years to operate that way.

The music venue upstairs was great, with wonderful acoustics when it was full. I saw a lot of good stuff there. The best was Tom Russell and Andrew Hardin, playing to a packed house, and drinking too much while trying to pick up the girls in "The Johnson Sisters".

Then the smoking ban came, two years early, brought in by liars and thieves. All the work on air handling, renovations and fit up to meet the former rules, work that was amortized over the promised three years was lost. Instead of allowing people a place to smoke in peace, we drove them out on the street, and out of the clubs where they provided the major part of the income. Gingers' downstairs was the best smoking bar in town, next to Tom's. (I don't smoke) Then it was all gone. And unlike Tom's, it never recovered that business.

Joe the bartender ruled the place, and it became a St. John's pub when he was on duty. A boozer, a place to sit at the bar and shoot the breeze. And drink Best Bitter, and, for some, Peculiar. A new crowd of young people found it, and made it their own.

Now the bar is closed. The music silent, and the brewery moving to an industrial site on the north end.

Maybe Mill Island, Kevin's planned brewery, hotel, retail, and condo development in Windsor will happen, eventually. It is the current version of the "opening soon", now, I guess.

Until then, all I can hope is that the Henry House learns to clean their lines. Real beer needs care, and they don't make it there.

There were several days when I had lunch at the Granite in Toronto and made it back to Halifax in time to compare the Best Bitter and Dry Hop at both places within hours. And the time I happened upon a Keefe family reunion in the Toronto Granite, and was invited in to sit down and drink with the brothers. And the time my little niece, coached carefully by the "Mel-star" took a wild throw at her first ever dartboard, and hit the red bulls-eye from 10 feet. And the time... Well, like I said, I could go on for a while.

I have had 25 years worth of dropping in for a pint of Best. I sure hope I can do that for another 25.

Bottoms up!

Brooklyn Warehouse - on the Plateau

A raging snowstorm could not keep me from meeting up with my buddy J-rod last week for lunch at the Brooklyn Warehouse. I have been talking about going there for some time, but every plan always fell through.

Not this time. The space I liked before, when it was the ill fated Vivo, remains, somewhat altered but improved by the winter wind vestibule. I was pleased to see a variety of different beers on tap, including one prepared custom for them by Propeller from their Porter and Honey Wheat, blended to make "Brooklyn Dark". I ordered one and sat down to wait for my lunch companion, as I was early in my eagerness.

The wine list is short, but well balanced and not replete with the "NSLC employee fave of the decade" wines often seen out of the downtown. I was getting a good vibe, seeing my idea of referring to the flat part of Halifax where I live as "The Plateau" starting to make sense again. As in Montreal, where all my favourite places to eat are up on "the plateau".

J-rod arrived and ordered some healthy tea thing, I had my Brooklyn Dark going. I ordered some of the ham chowder, and a Brooklyn Burger (might as well test the place with a standard unit of measurement). J-rod orders the vegan soup, and a Quinoa/Roasted Beet/Diced Pear/Pumpkin Seed Salad with Umeboshi Plum Vinagrette.

Yep, we're compatible. Me and my burger and J-rod with the umeboshi stuff.

It was all good. The sever was attentive, non-intrusive, and the bill was easy.

I am coming back. Finally, a foil to jane's on the common up on the Plateau.

Halifax's neighbourhood to eat, dontcha know?

More More Morris East

A quick drop in to Morris East with my sis in law and a semi-famous local winemaker, after the Icewine Festival launch at Bear ended up in yet another evening of great food at my favourite pizza place.

The last time I was there, we managed to get some of that wonderful rabbit/apricot terrine Chef Joel makes. And I had more this time, as well as the Bresaola.

We ate well, although there was one of the pizzas that seemed more like a dessert version than a real meal. Something with pears on it...

The most entertaining part of the evening was watching to see whether the semi-famous winemaker would end up getting the semi-famous (and cute) restaurant owner out to help him in his winery some weekend... (OMG does that make me a gossip?)

The Bish Certificate of World Cuisine

A long time ago, at the wedding of two friends of mine, I managed to drink an entire bottle of Veuve Cliquot Grand Dame, totally by accident. This was a vintage version of the wine too. Worth over $200 at the store.

Anyway, 7 years later, to the day, I was crafty enough to arrange to have that couple arrive at their anniversary dinner, at Bish, to find a chilled bottle of the same bubbly waiting for them. At last, I had made good on my original accidental gluttony!

But then about 4 months later, an envelope was found in my porch, and inside was a $200 gift certificate to that same Bishy place.

The thing went unused for almost 2 years, but last Saturday, we finally got out and spent the sucker.

Bish has a reputation about town of being pretty expensive, and it lived up to that. I also learned that it is actually called "Bish World Cuisine"! Our server was great, and managed to match our celebratory tone with a very non-intrusive manner, while still being still friendly and open.

We had invited along R&R, because they had taken us out one evening last winter, and we owed them. After a pre-dinner bit of Cremant de Limoux bubbly from Premier Wine and Spirits (very very nice - if you don't want to pop for champagne, this may be the best fallback position in town), we headed downtown. Right down to the water's edge.

Snagging the corner table, and a bottle of Kim Crawford Pinot Gris, we set out to select our meal as the snow started to really collect outside.

I ordered the smoked salmon carpaccio, the red ravioli with fromage blanc, and the veal chop, with truffled wild mushroom sauce, butter roasted potato and asparagus. A meal was on the way.

Other things that came to the table included mussels Normandie et frites; Roasted leek and ginger soup; Ginger marinated scallops on pea shoot salad with peanut vinaigrette; Sea bass, bitter orange, wilted greens and almond raisin couscous; Sesame seared tuna served RARE, "risi e bisi" and pea shoots; Baked halibut with pancetta and marsala, sautéed spinach and butter roasted potatoes..... you get the picture. We pigged out.

A bottle of Babich Pinot Noir arrived somewhere in there too. A night for New Zealand wine, I guess. Though I have to admit I was somewhat surprised at how small the wine list was, and how few choices there were from wines made to go with food. There seems to be a lot of Australian wine, which I tend to regard mostly as a drink on its own, as most lacks any acidity worthy of accompanying $35 entrees.

My meal was excellent, with the exception of the ravioli. I don't know, perhaps that is the original way that the dish is supposed to be, but the filling tasted just like one of those herbed cream cheese appetizers you thaw out for guests you don't like. It tasted very "canned". The salmon was great, served with creme fraiche, the way I like it, and some green sauce dribbled in a pattern to match the creme. My veal chop was done just right, and was tasty. The potatos were perfect, and the truffled jus aromatic and deep dark full of shroomy goodness.

So then we still found room for dessert. I had the Pound cake, espresso ice cream, warm dulce de leche sandwich with crushed chocolate espresso beans. It was huge, but I ate it in 3 seconds. OK, 30.... Well, I did not take my time.

The other desserts tried were the chocolate cake, creme brulée and the chocolate almond torte. No one complained.

Now the hard part was the bill. I think it ended up, with tip to be well over $500. Darn good thing I was pre-certified with my $200 discount! And we almost walked out having only tipped on the residual amount of the bill minus the certificate. Ooops! Great service and we would have stiffed him for almost half what we meant to tip. Cash, as usual, solves pretty well anything.

Then it was off in the storm to the Henry House to watch Irish people drink. At least I got to chat to a red headed wine loving fiddle player who I know, for a bit. But full bellies and a morning hockey game dictated an escape. After our $500 meal, taking the bus home seemed so very appropriate.

East is East

After attending a fun filled charity wine tasting at Bear, I managed to drag two younger women (than me, anyway) around the corner and into Morris East for a light supper. At least that was the idea. We were soon joined by one of the ladies' husbands.

Jenny Dobbs has done a great job here, and the place has matured since opening into, dare I say it... more than just a pizza joint since I blogged about it when it opened. She has also hired Joel Rousell to be chef. Joel is my favourite chef in town - he seems to almost cook for my palate. In the past my favourite meal one year was at his own place, Ketch Harbour House, and last year my favourite dish in Halifax was his gnocchi, made when he was chef at Saege. I am not kidding - I had to avoid walking down that part of Spring Garden Road, because I could not get past Saege without going in and ordering that dish.

This trip the menu has really expanded in the appetizers section. Wow! Rabbit and Apricot Terrine with toasted brioche; Joel's own Ketch Harbour Bresaola with an herb salad, In-house hot smoked salmon.... And the pizzas are better than before, with the crust now perfected.

The place is still patterned after jane's on the common, and the wine list takes a similar form. In fact, as we were eating jane of jane's came in to eat, as did Tesla-gal! Were were able to get a bottle of Cono Sur Riesling, a bottle waiting to get on to the list to enjoy with out meal. Try the Soppressata Salami, field mushrooms, and black truffle oil pizza, or the latest, the short rib pizza.

Morris East is worth a visit, for sure.

Bear with me on this one....

So I have this friend. He likes to go out to dinner, he likes to pay, and he does not really care what it costs.

Every now and then I get invited along for dinner, sometimes I think it is just because I know the wines, but we do have fun. And I don't really argue. Every now and then I am able to provide some reciprocal value.

Bear, the eponymous new place owned, ostensibly (more on that later) by Ray Bear, he of the Prince George and then Gio fame, was about to open before Christmas, and I managed to find out the first night they would be offering the full menu to paying patrons. So we booked a table and went - 6 people.

We ordered everything on the menu, pretty well, as a sampling of what the place was all about. The food started coming, and we asked the Sommelier to just bring what he thought was appropriate, after all, he did spend a couple of months thinking about it.

Although there were a number of things I could not eat, what with the old shellfish thing I have, I can state that the food was excellent across the board. The decor was criticized by some of my table mates, but I liked it. You come into the middle of the place, on Barrington just next to Talay Thai, and to your right is the holding bar, very nice, with lots of comfy chairs. Dining is to the left, and there are a number of high stools that allow you to sit, eat, and look right into the kitchen. That looked like fun, but we were over in the corner booth. Big round booths are my friend's natural habitat.

Staff at Bear have come from some of the best places in Nova Scotia, inspired to work there by the chance to serve Ray Bear's food, and to work for Wade Dhooge, who took Saege Bistro from startup to one of the best places to eat in town, especially if you enjoy fine wine, in Halifax. Wade is not an uptight guy, and apparently very easy to work with. He also has a knack for creating wine lists that make the restaurant money, offer lots of variety, and are unique to his restaurant, something that is not easy in our wine variety limited city. The reason is he works hard at it. More than anyone in town.

The wine list that opening night was, in my opinion, the best in the city, for value, quality, variety and how it matched the dishes on offer. Yes there are good lists elsewhere - Seven has the largest, and in that measure, the best; Cafe Chianti has a very cool list; Five Fishermen's list is great; but Wade manages to make lists for people who love wine and are "wine-curious" without upsetting the people who only know about Yellow Tail.

So we had an amazing evening of food and wine. Our bill was somewhere around $900. My friend tipped $500, so I heard later.

I recommend the duck. Bear does duck best.

If you want more food coverage of the place, someone else was there the same night, blogging away. She seemed to have fun too. Check this out - she had a camera.

with bite


And now for the postscript. I wrote the above back in early December and did not publish it here. Ray's partner, the money guy, is someone from the states who apparently must not have approved of Wade and his laissez-faire style. So now Wade is gone (as well as another manager since, I hear), and the wine list mark up is noticeably higher - enough that I will probably give the place a pass, or end up drinking wine well below the quality of the food. Plus, the wine list is rife with misspellings, a pet peeve of mine (but not one I care about on this shabby blog, of course, so don't bother to look, I don't care).

My point - this city is already full of good places to eat with patrons drinking wine in them that is better suited to match with burgers at Wendy's. If Ray Bear, or any good chef, wants people to enjoy their dinner to the fullest, then why rip them off by charging $150 for a $60 bottle of wine? It takes no more time, effort or storage for that $60 bottle to reach your table than it does for a $20 bottle. Pick a markup rate and use it. Maybe it's $40. Fine. Charge $60 for the $20 bottle, and $90 for the $50 bottle. They all cost the same to get to the restaurant, store, schlep to the table and serve. And you make $40 (OK a bit less) every time anyone buys a bottle of wine!

Now some places (Seven, Cut) have wines that they have sourced on their own, and wines that they have aged in their cellars for some time. Those wines are expected to be marked up. I'm talking about wines I can go out and buy tomorrow myself.

We had a bottle of Felton Road Pinot Noir that night (I have some in my cellar). It costs about $60 at Vin•Art, a private wine shop in Clayton Park. It is one of the best Pinot Noirs in New Zealand (some say the best) and it was great with all the duck parts I was eating. I think we paid $110 for it when we ate there. Now it costs $150. So IF they sell another bottle, they will make $40 more, but in the meantime, they might have sold three more bottles of this fine wine, and showcased the food that much better. Instead they have sold wine, but lesser wine, lessening the overall dining experience. Without affecting profit, they could have provided their patrons with a better dining experience; and isn't that what people in this business tell us they want to do?

People who pay percentage markups on fine wine in restaurants are either ignorant of the actual cost of the wine they are buying; or don't care how much things cost (like my friend). How many people in those two groups will be going out to dinner in the next year in Halifax? Any bottle of wine sold for more than $50 over what it cost to buy is a rip off, unless it has been aged for a long time by the restaurant, or is a special order, only available there. The sad part is that charging more money to open and serve an expensive bottle than a cheaper one actually hurts a restaurant that wants to be the best.

Combine this ancient practice with the restaurant industry's "head in the sand" approach to the BYO rules which I discussed earlier, and one simply knows that many of the local places won't survive this year. Do you think that people will still be looking to eat out, but will want to do so more frugally? I do. We do need to eat.

Come let us eat. And drink. And pay fairly when we do.

Wine of the Month, January 2009

It is the season of bubbly. Try this one: Valdevisio Method Champagnoise, NV from Chile.

It comes in a cloudy bottle. Pretty convincing stuff for $15.

Chairs!

Whither to blow money on White Burgundy....?

White Burgundy Tasting, January 14

This was the first of what I hope will be a long series of tastings, with the theme of splitting the cost of some new arrivals in town, to try to identify what might be worth acquiring, and possibly limiting future disappointment.

All wines tasted blind, notes made, then uncovered and discussed over a couple more hours. All the white wines were opened in advance, poured in full size Burgundy stems, cool, but not cold.

The intro wine served while waiting for everyone to arrive (there were only 5 of us). It was an Henriot NV Champagne Blanc de Blanc, probably from 2004. It showed good Chardonnay character with a very bready, yeasty, and drying nose. It was tasty stuff, with again, more Chardonnay character when tasted. Nice aged fruit, leesy, dry finish. All were quite happy with it. Hand carried from New Brunswick, I did not get the price.

The first wine was a 2005 Domaine Fontaine-Gagnard Chassange-Montrachet, 1ere Cru La Romanée. It smelled of piney wood, nettles, mineral, with obvious alcohol. It had good acidity, but with an odd finish, burning the upper back corners of my throat. Spicey, peppery. I was not crazy about this one. $103/btl (Canadian dollars)

Next was a 2005 Daniel Rion Nuits-St. George, Les Terres Hautes. This was the wine I’d been wondering about when I heard there was a non-Chardonnay white in the flight. 100% Pinot Blanc, according to their product sheet. It has an interesting, even beguiling nose, perfumey oak and vanilla, with some red berry fruit. As time passed, the wine opened up even more to berry fruit reminiscent of Bakeapples, or white raspberries. It was clean, balanced with very subdued oak. Initially I called the fruit a white peach, and with time it changed to more of the aforementioned white raspberry or Bakeapple berry fruit. It was long. Obviously, I liked this a lot. We had been asked to pick out the Pinot Blanc, and I did. About $85 here.

The third wine was brought by one of the participants, a 2003 William Fevre Chablis Grand Cru Vaudesir. One hears all the traffic on this vintage, and it really is true. This did not remind me of any Chablis I’ve ever had. It was closed at first, but opened up to minerally fruit (good) and then went on to smell like pineapple juice for most of the evening, morphing to other tropical fruit smells as it warmed. It tasted of pineapple juice, and was waxy, honeyed, showed oak, vanilla and a tropical fruit I called breadfruit. Oddly, I liked the wine, but was a bit surprised at where it was from. About $80 here.

Number four was a 2004 Bouchard Pere et Fils Meursault Geneveres. This smelled piney, oakey, woody, with a sharp nose of malolactic at the start. It showed a major mineral character on the palate, grape tannin, OK acidity, and a full body with restrained fruit. Some vanilla. It settled down with time, and although identifiable as Burgundy, was the least balanced of the lot. About $85 here.

The final white Burg was a 2005 Domaine Fontaine-Gagnard Batard-Montrachet, Grand Cru. It smelled like a middle of the road white Burgundy at the start. Then, as it opened there was some burlap, wood/oak, red fruit, cinnamon, and vanilla. The palate was balanced, young, and the mouthfeel almost watery at the start. With time it filled in, with increasing intensity. Still disjointed, I think we were all guilty of some crime, somewhere, for opening this so early in its life. It is $208/btl here. We had been asked to pick out this wine and I did not come close.


After the whites were mostly gone (some of us still had some of the Pinot Blanc and Batard left in those glasses) the host opened a red for us to have a guess at. It was bricked at the rim, and into the glass at least a centimetre, showed a med red core and was slightly cloudy. It smelled of mushrooms, nettles, pine, and barnyard. It still had good tannins despite the age showing. With dry cherry, earth, and all that good Pinot stuff. It was drinking very well, and I was enjoying it when I had one of those “aha” moments. The first ever OK red Burgundy I had was the 1999 Bouchard Pere et Files Beaune de Chateau, which I paid $34 for back in 2002. Could this be that same wine, now 10 years old?

It was.