Halifax’s super sandwiches
Guest blogger Ben Boudreau is the local community manager for Yelp.com, a website featuring restaurant reviews by ordinary diners. Once …
The Adventurous Type
By Nicole Trask | Aug 30, 2011Trying new things is certainly becoming more appealing to me lately, so I was happy to take the Downtown Halifax Business Commission up on their offer of my own personalized “Big Day Downtown.” Armed with a credit card and one hundred buckaroos to spend, the only stipulating was that I must try something that I’ve never done before. I had some fun dreaming up ideas and getting suggestions and in the end I decided to cover three avenues – dining, shopping and fitness. The question being – can I squeeze all of these activities into my budget?
The first stop was lunch with my friend Lindsay at the new French restaurant on Argyle Street, Bistro Le Coq. It’s pretty tempting to insert the obvious joke here, but really it’s not that kinda place, I swear. We were a little sad that we couldn’t sit outside on a scorching August day but in the end, the charming décor made up for it. Tin ceilings, chalkboard menus, elegant place settings and servers attired in classic Parisian looks (think striped petite bateau tops or crisp white shirts with black ties) rounded out a quintessential bistro vibe. Impressed by the romantic and classic atmosphere, I felt slightly like were in a bigger city (always a good thing for Halifax). For cocktails, we ordered the petite abeille (grey goose vodka, lillet and lavender honey) and the bohemien (cognac, B&B, cold tea and lemon). Both were delicious, fresh and not overly sweet. We each decided on the salade nicoise, which arrived in due time and was prepared in a fashion that I hadn’t seen before. The delectable seared tuna crusted with sesame, fresh greens and potatoes were garnished with crisp chives, cherry tomatoes and slivers of black olives. A mild balsamic dressing gave it a little tang and the filling salads were satisfying for a light lunch on a hot day. Props should also go out to our waiter who was courteous and had plenty of time to answer all of our menu questions. I feel as though I should offer some constructive criticism but in all honesty, it was an entirely pleasant experience.
Next up for me, a little shopping seemed like it was definitely in order. Meandering downhill to Barrington Street, I decided to pop into Oddjects for a little browse. Although, I’ve visited in the past, I hadn’t actually purchased anything from this colourful home decor shop. It’s quite the eclectic mix of practical kitchen utensils, vibrant home decorations, jewellery and even kids’ toys. After visiting, I decided that it was almost more of a wide ranging gift shop and I walked away with a charming tea towel with a butterfly print and coasters depicting four distinct and beautiful feathered friends.
With a bit of credit to spare, I surmised that a new form of yoga would be something I’d like to explore. That being said, co-ordination is not my middle name. Nevertheless, I decided to check out some of the new classes that Studio in Essence has to offer. Without properly thinking it through, I signed up for aerial yoga. How hard could it be, right? Owner and instructor, Christy Sanford, was teaching the class at eight months pregnant, no less, so surely I could pull off a few acrobatics! For the first couple of moves we were supposed to fandangle our entire bodies into silks suspended from the ceiling. I knew this was coming but had major trouble contorting myself and perhaps a little phobia about falling. Really, could this slip of material hold my entire body weight?!!! After numerous readjustments from a patient Sanford, I slowly started to get the hang of it, pun intended. Some stretches were easier than others for me. For example, moves that evolved from standing in the silk frightened me a whole lot less than the move I call “sideways hip dangle” (not sure the proper name for this one). Within an hour I transitioned from panic mode to actually having fun and afterwards my whole body ached from a serious workout. Believe it or not, I was able to dangle upside down, albeit somewhat awkwardly, by the end of the class. Now that I am more enlightened, I would definitely go back for more…
French cuisine, a little light shopping and topping it all off hanging upside down like a monkey rounded out my “Big Day Downtown.” It was exciting to have the opportunity to try a little something different and really got me to wondering – why can’t all my days be like this?
- Nicole
Great article! I was wondering about that Bistro. We walked in and were a little intimidated by the costumes (literally costumes, not uniforms) the waiters were wearing. The menu did look good though and the vibe seemed pretty original for Halifax. i’ll have to try it out one of these days. Thanks for sharing Nicole
I enjoyed reading about your day, especially the aerial yoga class. I rather wish I’d thought of that as an option on my Big Day Downtown. You mixed it up nicely, and made me want to go to Le Coq. Why can’t all days be like this indeed. Alas, we should make it at least a quarterly thing (please run that by the Downtown Halifax Business Commission, will you?).