🗞 Halifax's 2023 in food was a plate-full

Good morning!

About that “TKTK Budget TKTK” headline on last Friday’s newsletter… if you were thrown off, you likely weren’t alone. So, allow me to fill you in on a bit of behind-the-scenes action: Our small (but mighty!) team is always working to bring the latest news and happenings to you every morning. Sometimes, though, our stories end up in a logjam—and even more rarely, that logjam means that things occasionally slip through the cracks. Like headlines. Sneaky, pesky headlines.

If you were wondering what Coast reporter Matt Stickland has to say about the budget, well, good news! Check here tomorrow. It’ll be even better than it would have been on Friday. More to come… (that’s what TK means, by the way).

– Martin

🌡️ Traffic & Weather

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7-day forecast

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

YEAR IN REVIEW

Halifax’s 2023 in food and drink—from the sweet to the sour

After Halifax’s cafe, bar, restaurant and corner store scene brought us a full-blown pizza war, a kitchen labour shortage and a buffet table of new waterfront restaurants in 2022, you’d be forgiven for thinking that 2023 couldn’t possibly keep pace. Could it?

If only. The year 2023 brought an end to more than a few longtime favourites across our harbour city. (Bah, humbug.) On the bright side, it also introduced us to a wave of new restaurants, cafes and taprooms across the HRM that proves Haligonians continue to be a creative, resilient bunch. And they can whip up a damn good meal.

Here’s everything you need to know about the year that was in Halifax’s food and drink scene, straight from The Coast.

🤔 Need to know

☃️ White Christmas? Don’t count on it. According to long-term reports, December in Nova Scotia has warmed more than any other month in the past 30 years.

🏳️‍⚧️ Nova Scotia’s decades-old guidance on supporting gender-diverse students could be changing soon, CBC reports. But a timeline still isn’t clear—and that has some frustrated.

📝 Did you know: The researchers at the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 can help trace your family’s arrival history? Free with admission.*

*Sponsored Post

WHAT’S HAPPENING

Holiday events happening in Halifax to boost your spirits

What better way to celebrate the holiday season than by supporting local? Whether you’re in the mood for theatre, music or shopping, Halifax is teeming with events over the next two weeks—from comedy shows to seasonal classics.

Let The Coast guide you through all the happenings so you can curate your perfect end-of-December calendar.

🗞️ In Other News

🏗️ Elementary students in Halifax’s north end are left in limbo after parents were told one school’s replacement won’t be ready for classes until 2025.

⚖️ Glen Assoun’s daughter says her late father is still being denied justice—four years after a Nova Scotia court acquitted him in the 1995 killing of his ex-girlfriend.

🚨 Nova Scotia’s civilian oversight team is investigating after “an encounter” with Halifax police left a break-and-enter suspect with a broken nose.

🎏 Canada’s DFO says it’s cracking down on the harvesting and sale of baby eels—found throughout Nova Scotia—as new data shows they’re being exported from Canada at four times the legal amount.

🦞 Some lobster fishers in Nova Scotia say they’re seeing a significant drop in catches—but Mi’kmaw fishers say they’re being unfairly blamed for what represents a “marginal amount” of lobster fished in the province.

🏀 A Halifax-area youth basketball league banned parents from games this past weekend after a rise in spectators “berating officials” and “screaming at players,” the league’s manager says.

SPONSORED BY LOT SIX

A New Year's Eve Affair with Lot Six & DJ Henry T

Join Lot Six and DJ Henry T as they ring in the New Year in style, with fabulous cocktails, delicious oysters, and a glass of Bubbly for all at midnight. Capture the memories with the provided photo booth, and dance the year away!

Get your tickets here! *19+

🗓️ Things To Do

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

🗓 High School Choirs in Concert: Enjoy an evening of free live music at the Halifax Central Library’s Paul O’Regan Hall as Citadel High’s Pop Vox choir joins the Halifax Regional Arts Program’s Soundtrax and Jazz Voices choirs to perform “seasonal selections and other choral offerings.” | Dec. 18 | 7-8pm | Free.

🗓 Barra MacNeils: An East Coast Christmas: The long-running Cape Breton family group brings their east coast tour to Dalhousie’s Rebecca Cohn Auditorium this Monday and Tuesday for a pair of holiday shows. Tickets are limited. | Dec. 18-19 | 7:30pm | $46.

🗓 Jokes n’ Jingles: A Musical Improv Spectacular: Head to the Bus Stop Theatre on Tuesday night for a three-part improv show based on your best (and worst) holiday stories, followed by a round of musical improv games. | Dec. 19 | Doors at 7:15pm, show at 7:30pm | $10-20.

🗓 All-Day Lord of the Rings Movie Marathon: Let out your inner Gollum at the Central Library by watching all three LOTR films in the Paul O’Regan Hall—with drinks, snacks and commemorative pins available. | Dec. 19 | 10am-9pm | Free.

🗓 Dalhousie’s Annual Carol Sing: Pop over to Dal’s Sculpture Court on your Tuesday lunch hour for a free performance of classic carols, Hanukkah songs and other favourites. | Dec. 19 | 12-1:30pm | Free.

🗓 Booktoberfest, meet Winter Solstice: Postponed due to October’s weather, Nova Scotia’s annual book fair takes over the Central Library this Thursday. Meet 50+ Nova Scotia authors who published new books in 2023. | Dec. 21 | 7-9pm | Free.

Find more Halifax events in The Coast listings.

SPONSORED BY HALIFAX REGIONAL MUNICIPALITY

Holiday Fire Safety!

Follow along as Halifax Regional Fire & Emergency shares tips to keep you and yours safe this holiday season.

🍴 Where To Eat & Drink

🍕 The new Yeah Yeahs Pizza and 2 Crows Brewing taproom is officially open on Oxford Street. Read all about it in The Coast.

🥤 The Ardmore Tea Room has an eggnog milkshake on their menu for the holiday season.

🍰 Antoinette’s Cheesecakes won gold honours for Best Desserts in The Coast’s reader-selected Best of Halifax Awards.

🥡 Set your watch for Dec. 30—that’s when Real Fake Meats brings its New Year’s Eve vegan-style Chinese takeout menu back for preorders.

🛍️ Shop Talk

🍔 Farewell, Swanky Burger—we never knew you. As Halifax ReTales reports, the waterfront burger spot’s signage is gone after two years of promising the restaurant was “coming soon.”

🎂 Hydrostone-area pet and grooming shop East Coast Dog celebrated its one-year anniversary this past weekend.

👀 In Case You Missed It

💰 Nova Scotia’s government says says it plans to spend $500M+ on highways and roads in 2024-25—including ongoing work on Highways 101, 102, 103 and 107.

📚 Meet the Halifax team bringing university education to people behind bars in Coast reporter Lauren Phillips’ latest.

⚽ The Halifax Wanderers drafted homegrown midfielder Max Bodurtha and Cape Breton University goalkeeper Daniel Clarke in the 2024 CPL U-SPORTS Draft. Read The Coast’s picks for which other players the squad should look to add to its roster.

🏒 The Halifax Mooseheads will be well-represented when the World Junior Championship kicks off in Sweden next week. Find out which players made Team Canada’s roster.

That’s it!

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