🗞️ Best of food + drink

Ohhhh Halifax,

The owls have had just about enough of us.

If you’re like me, you were indoctrinated into the dark lore of owl culture by being exposed to Wise Old Owl who hung on Mr. Dressup’s wall and periodically opened his shifty eyes to look back and forth, declaring “To wit, to woo!”

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This instilled a healthy fear of owls in an entire generation of souls, which is great because now they are apparently on the attack. Last week, two separate joggers on the B.L.T. trail were swooped upon by owls—an event that a wildlife technician at the Department of Natural Resources says he has only heard about happening three times in 20 years.

In the second most horrifying thing I’ve read all year, one of the runners said "It felt like someone with really long nails grabbed my ponytail”. And in the first most horrifying thing I’ve read all year, the other runner said the owl “ stared at me in flight”. 🦉

Nobody has been hurt…yet. But this does feel personal to me, so please be careful out there.

– Julie

🌡️ Traffic & Weather

Today: 🌧️ 10°

Tomorrow: 🌤️ 4°

Next Day: 🌧️ 3°

7-day forecast

🚗 Driving, biking or busing today? Check out the current traffic conditions and ongoing road closures.

BEST OF HALIFAX

Here are your Best of Halifax 2024 winners for Food + Drink

It’s an historic year in The Coast’s annual Best of Halifax Awards: Six Food + Drink winners are joining the rarefied air of the BOH Hall of Fame after some truly impressive runs of dominance—including a longtime food truck favourite and a beloved Dartmouth cafe.

This year’s crop of Best of Halifax Awards includes a return of the Best Restaurant title to The Bicycle Thief—its fourth in the category—along with a seventh-straight Best Chef nod for The Canteen’s Renée Lavallée. Plus, Quinpool’s Palm Tree Kitchen claims its first BOH Gold for Best Caribbean Restaurant and Dear Friend Bar’s Enemona Agada wins his first Gold for Best Bartender.

The Coast’s Martin Bauman has you covered with all the Food + Drink winners.

🤔 Need To Know

📮 A month-long Canada Post strike is set to end today after the federal labour relations board ordered postal workers to return to work—according to the Crown corporation.

🇨🇦 Chrystia Freeland announced her resignation as Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister on Monday—the latest and most considerable change in Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government. The move has prompted NDP leader Jagmeet Singh to call for Trudeau’s resignation too. 

☂️ Today marks the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers—the day calls attention to hate crimes committed against sex workers worldwide, as well as the need to remove the social stigma and discrimination that have contributed to violence against sex workers.

🎁 Shop local, support vibrant businesses, and win fantastic prizes! Join the festive fun in North End Halifax's exciting in-store shopping contest today!*

*Sponsored Post

SPONSORED BY NEPTUNE THEATRE

Controlled Damage: The story of Civil Rights icon Viola Desmond

On November 8, 1946, Viola Desmond entered the whites-only section of the Roseland Theatre in New Glasgow, unaware that the theatre was segregated. Although she offered to pay the one cent tax difference, Viola was dragged from the theatre, jailed, and charged with tax evasion. An ordinary woman forced to be extraordinary by an unyielding and racist world, Desmond never gave up — despite the personal cost to her and those who loved her.

Andrea Scott’s highly theatrical examination of Desmond and her legacy traces the impact she has had on our culture, but also casts light on the slow progress of the fight for social justice and civil rights in Canada.

On stage at Neptune Theatre from January 14 - February 2, 2025.

Tickets start at $33. Book today.

🗞️ In Other News

🏛️ Tim Houston has announced more key appointments—Environment Minister Tim Halman will chair the Treasury and Policy Board and Education Minister Brendan Maguire will be the new PC government House leader, among others.

🛍️ The federal GST holiday has begun and is expected to last for two months—the reaction is mixed in Halifax, where shoppers are actually getting bigger savings.

🏥 Officials at Nova Scotia Health have started the multimillion-dollar process of replacing outdated elevators at the Victoria General Hospital—it's the latest example of efforts to extend the life of a facility that provincial governments have attempted to replace.

☕ Nova Scotia's Liberal Party says it is dropping a legal challenge about the distribution of Tim Hortons gift cards by the campaign of a Progressive Conservative candidate in last month's provincial election.

🌊 Nova Scotia has been named one of Travel + Leisure magazine’s 50 Best Places to Travel in 2025, celebrated for its proximity to the ocean—but the province is also at risk of immense sea level rise.

🧀 Police say food-related crimes are on the rise in Canada and as prices climb for items such as cheese and butter, they become lucrative on the black market for organized crime groups—not to mention theft for local resale.

SPONSORED BY CANADIAN MUSEUM OF IMMIGRATION AT PIER 21

Were there slave markets in Canada?

Yes. Enslaved people were sold at auctions in Canada in the 18th century, alongside goods like fruits and liquor. Explore A History Exposed: The Enslavement of Black People in Canada, an exhibition at the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 that reveals the history through biographies, documents and artifacts.

SPONSORED BY ATLANTIC NEWS

Pre-order the Globe's Holiday Crossword

Reserve your Globe and Mail holiday crossword issue, out December 21! Call (902) 429-5468 to order your copy of this holiday tradition, or visit our website.

🗓️ Things To Do

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

🗓 Glow Garden: An enchanting light festival featuring dazzling displays, food, entertainment, inflatables, games, and unforgettable holiday experiences for all ages. Wander through a sea of giant ornaments, magical trees, and shimmering lights as you take in this spectacular indoor light festival. | Nov. 20-Jan. 1 | $26

🗓 Science with Santa & the Grinch: Join the Discovery Centre and bounce foggy bubbles, make instant snow, launch snowman stomp rockets, watch chemistry light up decor, fly snowflakes in the wind tunnel and so much more! | Dec. 21 | 7:30pm | $17.50

🗓 Dickens' A Christmas Carol Presented by Neptune Theatre: In this one-person version, Dickens' A Christmas Carol follows Ebenezer Scrooge on that fateful Christmas Eve as he meets the three ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. With zippy dialogue, impressive physical comedy, and lively audience participation this show is a tradition for generations of Nova Scotian families. | Dec. 5-29 | From $40

Have an event to share? Let us know at [email protected].

⚓️ What’s In The Harbour

➡️ The Atlantic Sun container ship leaves Halifax for Liverpool at 3:30am.

🛳️ The NYK Remus container ship arrives in Halifax from Saint John at 5:20am.

🛳️ The H Mercury container ship arrives in Halifax from Kingston at 5:20am.

🛳️ The One Minato container ship arrives in Halifax from Charleston at 5:45am.

🛳️➡️ The Vistula Maersk container ship arrives in Halifax from Montreal at 6:15am and leaves for Bramerhaven at 7pm.

🛳️➡️ The Atlantic Star container ship arrives in Halifax from Liverpool at 8:20am and leaves for New York at 6pm.

➡️ The MSC Veracruz container ship leaves Halifax for London at 11pm.

🍴 Where To Eat & Drink

🐟 Head over to Top Chef runner-up Moira Murray’s Peacock Wine Bar and tell her we sent you! While you’re there, have the Afishionado trout, fingerling potatoes, preserved lemon, dill relish and market greens.

🍝 Take your taste buds on a trip to the coast of Italy with the Spaghetti allo Scoglio at Da Zero: perfectly cooked al dente pasta, medley of fresh seafood, tossed in a flavourful sauce.

👀 In Case You Missed It

💡 The Community Planning and Economic Development standing committee met Dec. 12 and talked about lights in parks. This conversation dates back to 2021, when councillor Sam Austin put forward a motion asking for the city to come up with a plan to light municipal parks, because not having lights made people feel unsafe and not use HRM’s facilities. Also at this meeting, the city talked about pickleball courts at Castle Hill Park. The Coast’s Matt Stickland has more on Halifax’s bright idea to light up parks.

🎙️ If there’s one artist you need to listen to before this year’s end, it’s Marc McLaughlin. Fredericton-based and Newfoundland-born, this former Halifax resident is hot off the release of his latest single—the title track of his soon-to-be-released EP—”All I Can Say”, accompanied by a new music video. McLaughlin spoke with The Coast’s Brendyn Creamer about how “All I Can Say” fell out of him after he moved to Fredericton in 2021, and his pivot towards piano despite being a guitarist at heart.

📷 People love spending time and money to get the perfect, studio-quality picture of their skin children, but what about those of us who want the same treatment for our fur ones? Look no further than Twodogs—a new pet photography studio in Dartmouth—started by Ryan Sheppard and Stephanie Newell with that exact vision in mind. To prove their skills, they offered to take on “the most challenging” test of their careers to date: Julie’s three cats Marley, Frank and Monty. Without further ado…three cats. One photo. This is how it went.

That’s it!

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