🗞 Island flavour on Quinpool Road

FOOD

Palm Tree Kitchen brings island flavour to Quinpool Road

Demetrius “Meech” Ferguson is putting the finishing touches on a pair of fried fish sandwiches when a visitor arrives at his newest venture on Quinpool Road, the colourful—and intimately friendly—Palm Tree Kitchen. Soca music wafts over the stereo. The Toy Story VHS tape plays on a 15-inch tube TV behind the bar counter. Palm fronds adorn the restaurant’s walls, from the rum-stocked bar to the shaded patio out back. It feels like a scene transported from the Bahamas, or St. Lucia, or St. Kitts and Nevis—which, in some senses, is exactly what Ferguson is after.

“I’ve been here for almost 13 years now,” the Nassau, Bahamas-raised Ferguson says, speaking with The Coast. “I’ve gained a culture and education. Now it’s time for me to [share] my Caribbean culture [with] everybody else.

Read more from Martin Bauman at The Coast.

Need to know

🗳 It’s byelection day in Preston. Here’s all the information you need to get out there and vote.

🗣 A Halifax and West Community Council Special Meeting is happening at City Hall on August 9 at 6pm. Check out the agenda here.

💉 The first RSV vaccine for adults over 60 has been approved by Health Canada.

🏖 Rushton Beach Provincial Park in Pictou County has reopened after closing due to damages caused by Hurricane Fiona.

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On The Coast

In other news

🚛 Parker Street Food & Furniture Bank has got its hands on a refrigerated truck to help get more food to those in need around the community.

🚨 An investigation is underway after a man was found with life-threatening injuries on the Halifax waterfront Sunday night.

🏠 The province has expanded its Home Sharing Program by pledging to invest $1.3 million into creating more affordable spaces and enhanced support.

✈️ A new LifeFlight airplane has been unveiled by Nova Scotia that will be used to transfer patients to Halifax from Yarmouth and Sydney.

👗 It’s Halifax’s very first fashion week! CBC spoke with creator Solitha Shortte and featured designer Melanie Mundan about the event.

👶 A Middle Sackville daycare is closing this month while workers undergo mandatory training after the establishment faced “dozens of violations.”

🛠 Here’s an update from the HRM on what’s going on with the Cogswell District.

SUMMER GUIDE

5 ways you can help protect Halifax Harbour

Ah, the Halifax Harbour. My first memory of it isn’t riding the ferry, watching fireworks over it or crossing the bridge, although I’ve done all that too. No, for me, it’s this 2006 commercial where an anthropomorphic wave tells Haligonians to stop polluting it.

For centuries after Halifax’s founding in 1749, raw sewage was dumped into the harbour. Around the turn of the 21st century, the city started to get serious about treating its sewage with a massive project called Harbour Solutions. The first treatment plant came online in 2008, then broke down disastrously in 2009. That kept skeptics of a clean harbour, well, skeptical for a while. But now we take a sewage-free, swimmable harbour so much for granted that any threat to it is major news.

That’s progress. But the decision to stop using the harbour as a toilet is only the most obvious fix. The water still deserves to be further protected and preserved for future generations.

Here are five ways you can help.

Sure things

Looking for something to do this week? Check out these Coast picks:

🗓 Singles Mixer: Book of Love is hosting a Singles Mixer for people aged 45-65 at The Village Taphouse. Grab your ticket for an evening of meeting and mingling | August 9 | 7:30- 10:30pm | $30.

🗓 Taproom Trivia: It’s time for another trivia night at Serpent Brewing. Round up 6 friends and head down for an evening of drinks, good company and prizes for the winners | August 9 | 6:30pm | Free admission.

🗓 By Divine Right and Washing Machine: Get your tickets to a night of Canadian indie-rock at the Ross Creek Annex | August 10 | 8-11pm | $10-$20.

🗓 14th Annual Dark-Sky Weekend: In the mood for a road trip this coming weekend? See planets, galaxies and constellations like never before at Kejimkujik National Park and National Historic Site | August 11-13 | Free with park admission.

Find more Halifax events in The Coast listings

Save the date

🐢 It’s almost Gus the Gopher Tortoises’s 101st Birthday! The Museum of Natural History will be hosting multiple parties later this month to celebrate. Drop by on August 12 and 13 at 11am or 2pm for games, cupcakes and more!

Eat this

🍪 Dee Dee’s has announced its new Smash Series with Luke’s Small Goods—two Coast favourites. Stop by this month for “handmade vanilla ice cream sandwiched between two full-sized oatmeal raisin cookies.” To top this amazing collab off, $0.50 from every sandwich will be donated to the Nova Scotia Youth Project.

🌮 New menu item alert! Try HopYard’s new miso pork tacos made with miso braised pork, sesame slaw, cucumber salad, mayo and scallion.