Big Day Downtown 2013

So say the folk at  Ristorante aMano, one of the places I chose to celebrate my 2013 Big Day Downtown! BIG thanks to the Downtown Halifax Business Comission for allowing me to once again enjoy this wonderful city I get to call home!! This is the fourth year I have participated and this year the theme was experience. Thirty-one bloggers were given cards with experiences from which they had to randomly choose three and the ones I got were: authentic, cheerful and relaxing. Great huh? Sooooo, I decided to combine all three in each of the two experiences I chose. First up was  dinner at aMano with a good friend.

 aMano is an authentic Italian Trattoria tucked away in Bishop's Landing on the Halifax Waterfront. It is a place I have always wanted to try but somehow never have managed until now.

Inside, the decor is red and rustic with terracotta floors, warm colours and a giant brick pizza oven set right next to the bar. Old Italian films play on moniters scattered around the room. It's a friendly welcoming place.

When it came time to order, selection was difficult. Everything sounded delicious! Great choices.

We decided to share, and started with schiacciata for our appetizer, which was warm flatbread, and a garlic,sweet pepper, eggplant pesto.Yum! It's the only food I got a picture of. I got carried away with eating and the mains were half gone before I remembered I was supposed to be documenting it haha.

The delectable mains we chose were...... 

Agnolotti di Zucca, Handmade pumpkin filled half moon shaped pasta with brown sage butter sauce , Parmigiano dusting and toasted almonds
and...  
Pizza Vegitariana, San Marzano tomato sauce, Artichokes,roasted eggplant,sweet peppers, caramelized onions,basil pesto and fresh ricotta

Both were delicious!! my fave was the pumpkin pasta. Nicely scarfed down with a bottle of red wine mmmm.

I would definitely recommend aMano to anyone who loves good food:) We left feeling cheerful, relaxed and authentically stuffed with great italian food!(Somehow in editing this post,the font has changed and I don't know how to fix it, sorry)

My next adventure was solo. Well, sort of.....there was a person named Anna who made me feel like a princess:)

I decided to pamper myself at one of Halifax's most luxurious spas. Spirit Urban Spa on Granville Street. After a long tiring day standing on my feet at the Halifax Seaport Market, I thought a pedicure would be the way to go.

I drifted through the bright open appointment area into an hour and a half of authentic relaxation and cheerful bliss.

They have  a lovely lounge with couches, soft lighting and pillows that leads out onto a deck ovelooking the harbour with more comfy chairs pillows and seating. I was offered a choice of beverages and settled on a cappucino which arrived with a delightful lemon square to munch on while I waited.

Let's face it, the way my life is at the moment, I probably could have just sat here with my book for the full ninety minutes and been completely and utterly satisfied. Sigh.... Next time I will arrive early just to enjoy the wait.

But wait! There's more. A lovely young woman named Anna came out to collect me and ushered me into a room with more comfy chairs and gave me a soft neck warmer to drape around myself and plunked my tired tootsies into a warm bubble bath to soak. Ahhhhh. She then wrapped them in a warm towel and scrubbed, polished, massaged and lotioned my legs and feet until I was a puddle of contentment.

Heaven. A bracelet of polish colours  was handed to me to choose from and I chose from the new "San Franscisco" collection.

Here is the shy Anna hard at work. Look at her lashes!! She has been in the business for 13 years and loves what she does:)

Tadah! Done! Can you see the tiny splotches of blue paint on my flip flops? I wonder which painting was responsible. Haha. Spirit Spa has a full complement of services, hairstyling, waxing, facials, massage, makeup, the works! I would LOVE to spend a day here getting pampered. My feet haven't looked this good in too long to mention.

And that is how I spent my Big Day Downtown! Now it's YOUR turn. The Downtown Halifax  Business Comission is holding a contest starting September 4th  where you can win your own pre-paid Visa card to have some fun downtown! You can find more info on their Facebook and Twitter

Wild Leek, Vegan Restaurant

A friend of mine, Kirsten Taggart, has just started living a dream of hers! She has opened a cozy Vegan restaurant and Juice Bar in Halifax called Wild Leek. A trained chef, Kirsten has had a love affair with wholesome food for years. Her blog, Kirsten's Kitchen is full of yummy recipes that showcase her special connection with good food.

Located at 2156 Windsor St. on the corner of Lawrence, Wild Leek  is sandwiched between a small variety store and a used book shop. You can't miss it. Painted bright green with two flower baskets and a lovely mural on the side of the building.

It is a tiny spot with just six tables I think, I can't exactly remember the number but it is bright and cheerful and has free wifi!

Dominating the high ceilings is an amazing light fixture, I love it!

The menu is simple with only a few basics available on a consistant basis and the rest is dependant on Kirsten's mood and what fresh produce is available and eventually, special requests:)

The day I was there I had the special which was a Shepherd's Pie,  (lentil base and mashed potato topping) slathered with gravy,and a yummy salad.

My mum who was my dining companion had the broccoli and caramalized onion quiche which I have to say was DELICIOUS! Hard to make it look pretty but you get the gist:)

Wild Leek also makes their own seitan and there are a few things on the menu that utilise it including their own version of Bahn Mi which is a Vietnamese sandwich.

I have to say everything I ate was yummy.Lots of dessert to choose from also. These were to die for, chocolate, pecan, peanut butter thingies...

Mum had a coconut cupcke:)

I know there are a lot of food pics here but hey....it's a restaurant. This was moist and dense and aawesome!

I haven't even touched on the juice bar side of things. Lots of choices there. One which caught my eye was "strawberry fields" Strawberry,banana,coconut and vanilla,mmm
They are open Tuesday to Saturday opening at 8am and closing at 4pm except  Friday 7pm. Friday at suppertime  Kirsten will be doing a dinner service with a lovely plated special meal. Saturday they serve Brunch!

 Pop by and say hi to Kirsten and her sidekick Andie:) Tell em I sent you!

I'll take fries with that, Ace Burger Co.

This little pub has been hanging around on the corner of North and Agricola for years and years. Gus's Pub and Grill, has recently been transformed into a burger joint called Ace Burger Co.

You walk through the well seasoned doors into a welcoming cozy and unpretentious room. 

At the front is a counter where you order your food.

The menu is written on the mirrored wall behind. The menu is simple, four kinds of burgers and hand cut fries. Poutine, salad, a giant cookie and apple pie are also available, haha

I had the veggie

I also had some delicious beer called Gus 65M ale, made by a local brewery down the street, Bridge Brewing Co.

Mmmm.The food is delivered to your table in a brown paper bag so you can take home or eat in.

And this is what was inside!! The best veggie burger I have had in this city! Juicy succulent and satisfying. My companions all had the jerk chicekn burgers which were deemed to be just as yummy.

This place has a really comfy relaxed atmosphere and I can hardly wait to go back again. Sometimes there is live music in the evenings.

Here you go....a table is is waiting for you!

Pavia Gallery, Espresso Bar and Cafe

Doesn't that look pretty? One day last week a friend and I went out for a small hike and a visit to Pavia Gallery Esspresso Bar and Cafe . This is a place I have been wanting to visit for AGES but just never seemed to find the time. Disgraceful really because it is not very far from where I live! It is named after a small town in Northern Italy.

You can find it at the juncture of Herring Cove Road and Purcell's Cove Road. We were there on a sunny Thursday afternoon and it was quite a bustling little spot. People coming and going. That is my big black bag getting it's fifteen minutes of fame, didn't even see it in this pic!

 Mmmm, treats..
The cafe always has an exhibit up on the walls. This one was fascinating! UK artist Ian Gilson who now lives in Herring Cove, has his first show in Canada. Read a review about it here. Photographer Alison Sanford also has some pictures on display in a little gallery at the back of the cafe.

Each of the wee boxes holds a tiny skeleton diorama. So curious and intriguing to look at.

Say Hi to Christopher Webb, the owner of this friendly cafe and a great artist in his own right. He is manning the super duper coffee console. I have to say, the coffee is AMAZING. They bring it in from Florence, Italy. Mokaflor is a small family coffee roasting business and Pavia are the only distributers in Canada. SO delicious.

Add what did I have for lunch? Roasted veggie panini!

After our little interlude at Pavia, we then drove around the corner to the Herring Cove lookoff and enjoyed a lovely walk along the coast.

Again, I wonder why I don't do this more often! (no excuse)That's a house on the bottom left.

 Aah, can't you feel that salty fresh air and hear the surf?