Halifax Magazine Home

Related Articles

The next hot spot

Rae Kraushar knows how to make a scene. That much is evident immediately upon entering Nectar Social House, the downtown Dartmouth restaurant she opened almost two years ago.

On this sunny day, the natural light streaming through the windows makes the front-of-house, with its cookies-and-cream colour blend and splashes of maroon, particularly warm and welcoming. The vibe, if not the sunlight, carries over into the main dining area upstairs, where a soft orange glow bathes both a large table of lunchtime diners and the Asian-inspired décor. The gentle house beat emanating from the restaurant’s sound system completes the soothing effect.

Kraushar herself is also welcoming, although she has an edge that contrasts with the smooth textures of Nectar. When she sits down to discuss herself and her restaurant, the words come with a considered, no-nonsense tone, emerging from a sharp-featured face framed by her blonde hair. Reflecting on her decision to launch Nectar, she boils her thoughts down to their simplest essence. “Dartmouth needed a restaurant and I needed a job,” she says.

But Kraushar’s story isn’t quite so simple. Nectar Social House is the result of a quarter-century of self-discovery, a journey propelled by Kraushar’s confidence and sense of adventure.  It’s just the latest scene for a woman who loves creating new ones for herself.

Kraushar was looking for a new scene when she moved from Nova Scotia to Toronto in her early 20s. Finding the Ontario capital too large and congested, she soon moved to Vancouver and spent 18 years in the city’s film industry, working in the art and production design departments.

But after nearly two decades of helping to build movie scenes, Kraushar was again itching for change. “I probably could have done it for another 20 years and gotten a very good financial life out of it, but I wasn’t learning anything more,” she says.

Kraushar decided to take some time off, renovating a house on the West Coast island of Galiano while indulging in creative passions such as music and cultivating an all-organic lifestyle.

In late 2006, she moved back to Dartmouth, carrying the memories of all of those experiences, which included extensive travel in Europe and Asia. A few months later, surprising herself as much as those around her, she began working on the business plan for Nectar. “Some people dream of owning a restaurant their whole life; I never did,” says Kraushar. “If someone said a few years ago that I was going to be living in Dartmouth and running a restaurant I would have told them they were completely crazy.”

Some thought Kraushar was crazy for trying to open an upscale restaurant in downtown Dartmouth. The location, combined with her lack of restaurant experience, suggested a recipe for failure. Even Kraushar’s own mother, Ruth, the founder and co-owner of the Interlude Spa (Nectar’s neighbour on Ochterloney Street) was taken aback. Nevertheless, she was confident enough to sell the building that would become Nectar to her entrepreneurial progeny. “I wasn’t concerned, because one thing I know about my daughter is she’s very determined and whatever she sets her mind to doing she can do,” says Ruth Kraushar.

Indeed, Kraushar had a clear vision for the restaurant, one based on what she calls a “casual fine dining” experience. That experience is partially defined by affordability, an objective that Nectar’s lunch menu has been especially successful in achieving. A midday patron can enjoy a starter, main course and dessert for under $30. While the supper entrées can leave a larger dent in a guest’s wallet, the cost is competitive with fine-dining establishments in Halifax.

Kraushar is also a stickler for quality, filling her kitchen only with organic, locally sourced products, including free-range meats. Chef David Clark’s menu mixes local favourites with far-flung inspirations—highlights include Thai curry penne and roasted rack of lamb.

Clark developed the Nectar menu on off-days from his former employer, the Halifax restaurant Fiasco. Working for his new boss in the months leading up to Nectar’s opening eased any doubts Clark had about Kraushar’s inexperience. “She’s very much a problem-solver,” says Clark. “If there’s a way to get there, whether it’s by going around or straight through, she’ll find it.”

By establishing Nectar, Kraushar has helped solve the problem of attracting people to downtown Dartmouth. Zane Kelsall,
co-owner of the café Two If By Sea next door to Nectar, thinks the two businesses, along with the Interlude, can make the corner of Ochterloney and Wentworth a dining destination. “It’s actually kind of the perfect pairing,” says Kelsall. “It really starts to build the sense of a community in Dartmouth that cares about quality.”

Kraushar’s life has taken her from her home province to destinations around the world, from major cities to remote islands. Yet for all her apparent restlessness, her goal with Nectar is to make people feel at home. “I grew up in that type of environment, a healing environment that’s about making people feel good about themselves,” she says, alluding to her mother’s spa business. “It’s great to see people come here and laugh their heads off and have a great evening. It’s more healing than what people really acknowledge.”

Two years after opening, Nectar is still healing the souls of local foodies. Rae Kraushar has made another scene, and it should hardly come as a surprise.

Post Your Comments