Flying on the tenth anniversary of 9/11 and a funny/touching look back at Y2K

This guest blog was filed by Petti Fong, the Star's Vancouver/West Coast bureau chief...

"Are you nervous?" I asked  the passenger ahead of me in the line-up to check in for the flight to Gatwick from Vancouver.

An hour later after we had taken off, I ask the same question to the passenger in the seat beside me. Both times, they separately eyed me warily and answered the same: "Why?"

 
Like them, it hadn't dawned on me traveling on the tenth anniversary of 9/11 that the day should be anything other than the new normal.

A decade and a day before September 11, 2001, none of us had ever thought twice about bringing in water bottles past security checks or wearing only slip-on shoes for traveling much less know by sight what a 100 ml bottle size would look like.

"It's just part of our routine now isn't it when we travel?" said the woman beside me in the waiting lounge at YVR. "The tenth anniversary wasn't what I thought about when I booked my ticket. It was just another day but not really, is it?"

Airports around the world have poured in billions of dollars in heightened security and passengers have become accustomed to long waits. At YVR alone, $200 million have been spent since 9/11.

All the now normal  security reminded me of another non-memorable flight.

My assignment on the turn of the millennium was to be in the air at the stroke of midnight. A reporter had been assigned full-time to monitor what all the different agencies were doing in preparation for Y2K for a whole year leading up to December 31, 1999.

Every reporter in the newsroom had to be stationed in a specific location to report on what was going to happen at the dawn of the new millennium. As everyone knows the front pages on January 1, 2000 were all about how nothing happened.

But that night, up in the air, as my flight departed around 8 pm New York time bound for Vancouver, there was still the hope that the new millennium would arrive with a bang.

I had three tries at it up in the air. We passed through Newfoundland's midnight. Nothing happened. Then eastern standard time and we were still flying, and somewhere over South Dakota when we hit mountain standard time, I knew it was time to call my editor with the bad news.

"Dan, it's me," I said in my first ever phone call from an airplane.

The disappointment was clear from his sigh even before he spoke.

"Shit. Fong's alive. We don't have a front page."

I filed my story by fax line. Interviewed the seven passengers on board that 747. Like the passengers I talked to earlier this week on 9/11 2011, most of them hadn't thought much about the potential perils of Y2K.

After each stroke of midnight, the flight attendants came out with free champagne and they, like the rest of us, looked happy and hokey in our 2000 sparkly fake glasses. We toasted each other and circulated around that big empty airplane like we were at a cocktail party.

Then about an hour before we landed, one of the flight attendants leaned over and said the pilot wanted me to join them as we descended into Vancouver. I made my way into the unlocked cockpit and strapped into the seats behind the two pilots.

We would land at 1150 pm and I would find waiting at the airport, nothing. An empty airport with just one guy pushing a mop. We wished each other a happy new year and we both watched the clock turn to an uneventful 12:02 am.

But in those minutes between 11 pm and midnight at the beginning of a new millennium, there was still the possibility, as we sat in the cockpit and saw the lights of Vancouver spread its glow over the dark night that something terribly wrong could occur.

It didn't then and we had no idea how much worse it would be on a date when nothing bad was expected to happen.

I think back to that flight on December 31, 1999 when everyone thought the turn of the clock would cause our banking systems to crash, trains would stop running and planes fall out of the sky and remember just how bright those lights were as we came down to the ground.

Potential Air Canada travel woes on the horizon ... Four Seasons goes Disney

Woe is us?

I'm slated to be in Edmonton this week for a Canadian Tourism Commission/Go Media conference, and I'm scheduled to fly back to Toronto on Thursday. As of now, no problem. But Air Canada's flight attendants just finished voting 98 per cent in favour of a strike mandate, and there's talk that a strike COULD happen on Wednesday of next week.

I'll manage fine, of course. I've got a company budget (I think) and probably would have a grand time hanging out at the airport in Edmonton and interviewing folks stuck by a strike, just as I had fun (sort of) in London a year ago when the Iceland volcano forced folks to cancel their travel plans.

But I feel badly for folks who might get screwed in all this.

Of course, given how they jumped in when Air Canada customer service folks went on strike earlier this year (see photo), I'm pretty sure that a more disruptive strike by flight attendants would be greeted with swift action by the Ottawa Tories. Still, there would be disruption - substantial disruption, I think - for a couple days, at least.

A story from Reuters today states that a strike "would seriously hobble Air Canada's ability to fly to the more than 100 destinations it serves in Canada and internationally, analysts said."

In a story by the Star's Vanessa Lu, an Air Canada union official said the strike vote doesn't mean they'll go on strike, but that they will if they need to.

"What we want and still hope for is a negotiated deal with the company,” said Jeff Taylor, president of the Air Canada component of CUPE. "No one wants a strike, but if we can’t reach a tentative agreement which addresses our members concerns, and soon, it could be our only choice."

Air Canada, of course, says it's business as usual. Lu wrote in her story that the airline "acknowledged that in the event the union serves notice of a strike, the airline would reduce service and that a "partial schedule, including codeshare flights operated by its partner airlines" would be brought in.

Lu points out that CUPE has to be aware that when Air Canada’s customer service agents went on strike in June, the federal government warned it would bring in back-to-work legislation, citing a need to protect the fragile economy.

Hours after the legislation was tabled on the third day of the strike, the union and the airline reached a deal, with the most contentious issue, different pension rules for new hires, sent to an arbitrator.

Stay tuned, folks.

FOUR SEASONS IS GOING TO DISNEY

So, the folks at Four Seasons are going to build a new resort INSIDE the park at DisneyWorld in Orlando.

The project is slated to cost about $360 million, according to Barb De Lollis at USAToday. I'm quoting Barb on this story because I didn't get anything sent to me by the folks at Four Seasons. In fairness, however, I should explain that they called me after I posted my original blog criticizing the lack of information. They explained they have a lean operation and that there's no public relations function here in Toronto. They have p.r. people in New York and L.A. to talk about markets there and elsewhere, but there's nobody in Toronto, despite this being their headquarters. I find it puzzling, but it's also good to know they're watching their pennies I guess.

Anyway, they got me onto their RSS feed so I hope to have more Four Seasons notes in future. Thanks for that, guys!

Anyway, USAToday reports the hotel "will be located in Disney's master-planned Golden Oaks near the Osprey Ridge Golf Course, which Four Seasons will eventually manage.

When the resort opens in late 2014, it will be the Toronto-based hotel operator's biggest yet with 444 rooms and an unusual variety of family friendly amenities.

Families who stay there will find a climbing wall, basketball courts and a teen recreation center. In terms of dining, they'll be able to have dinner at a rooftop restaurant with panoramic views of the Magic Kingdom.

Four Seasons expects to fill about half the rooms with families and Disney fans there to strictly to enjoy the park, and the other half with business people there to attend business meetings, conventions and incentive trips - and perhaps bring their families, De Lollis wrote.

 

 

 

TIFF sends star-studden Toronto Ritz-Carlton hotel to the front of the line

Four Seasons' loss is the Ritz-Carlton's gain.

Not only did Yorkville in general get hammered when the Toronto International Film Festival pulled up stakes for the Lightbox down in the Entertainment District, so did the area's hotels. The Four Seasons, which, in fairness, has seen better days and is being replaced with a new one down the road, is no longer at the epicentre of the kissy-kissy set. Ditto for the Hyatt at University and Bloor and its famous rooftop lounge; still one of the great places for a drink in this city.

A story in USA Today's Travel section, which quotes a piece in something called TheWrap.com out of Hollywood, says the recently opened Ritz-Carlton on Wellington is stealing the show.

Apparently George Clooney and Glenn Close and Ryan Gosling have been dashing about the lobby of late, watched by legions of fans no doubt.

Writing at TheWrap.com, reporter Sharon Waxman started a recent story with the words, "It’s midnight in Toronto and there’s a whole new power landscape on the back patio of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. It never used to be here, but all of a sudden it’s the place where Glenn Close is snuggling up to her daughter at the post-premiere of her movie, “Albert Nobbs,” with director Rodrigo Garcia.

Outside, the entire senior management of Summit Entertainment – Robbie Friedman, Patrick Wachsberger, Erik Feig et al – is having a drink but there’s no tables left so they have to stand."

Aw, poor babies.

Just for fun, I went on the Ritz-Carlton website and seemingly found a room for tonight for $650. It sounds like a lot, but if you're a big movie fan it might be worth it.

Anyway, it's fun to watch things shift around. Which is the point of cities, really. Neighborhoods rise up from nowhere like Yorkville and become ultra-chic, then grow into middle age and watch the trendy types flock to more exciting bars and restaurants.

Not that Yorkville is doing all that badly. Reports indicate the stars aren't around, but I was at Hemingway's a couple weeks ago and the place was hopping. I'm sure the restaurants will survive, too. Maybe they could drop their prices a little, too? Nah, never happen...

 

9/11 hospitality in Newfoundland ...Starwood goes Aloft in India...Disney Hawaii

There are a couple of lovely stories in the Star today about 9/11, and the hospitality showered upon surprise visitors who found themselves stranded in Gander, Newfoundland when their planes weren't allowed into U.S. airspace on that fateful day.

It's no surprise to folks who've visited that fair province. I can honestly say I don't remember any group of people being so friendly anywhere I've been.

The first night I was there a few years ago, I wandered into a bar on George St. and started listening to a Celtic band. After a few minutes, a nice-looking woman came up to me and started chatting and batting her eyes. Why, I thought, how friendly.

"I'll be right back," she said at one point, and ducked outside the bar and turned left. I immediately went out of the bar and turned right, not needing what seemed like her brand of friendliness.

Okay, that's obviously not what I meant about friendly people in Newfoundland. In all seriousness, I was blown away by the people.

The first full day trip I had was a hike out towards the lighthouse on Signal Hill. As I walked past the beautifully painted clapboard homes along the cliffs that line the harbour, I spotted a crude but wonderful homemade sign that pointed out hiking directions.

Anyone can put up a sign, and that's nice. But someone had taken the time to add the word "enjoy," and that's what did it for me.

A couple days later, I was up in Twillingate looking for icebergs and chatting with locals when I spotted a fine-looking trail out to a point. Sadly, it seemed to wander through several backyards, so I was hesitant to go.

I started out, but then thought the better of it. I was resigned to missing out on a fine view (see photo), but then saw a couple of guys with ball caps standing by a house.

"Excuse me," I said. "Is it possible to go out on that point and get some pictures? I don't want to trespass on someone's property.

They looked at me like I was daft, not that that's an uncommon happening in my life.

"Oh, just go ahead," they said. "Nobody minds."

I went out and found some glorious views of the harbour and local headlands. I went back and tried to find another trail out to another point when I spotted yet another sign. This one was written in black paint on a plain, wooden board and simply said, "Private Land - Foot Traffic Welcome."

Again, notice the added verbiage here. They didn't write "Private Land - Foot Traffic Accepted" or "Private Land - Foot Traffic Bedgrudgingly Allowed." No, they added the word "Welcome." And I think that pretty much says it all.

I spent only a few minutes in Gander on that trip, as I drove from St. John's to Corner Brook stopping to look at icebergs and play golf at some of Newfoundland's best courses - and there are many. But I'm not shocked that so many people from around the world were pleased by what they found.

I've been many places in the world, but Newfoundland has to be tops of the hospitality charts for sure. Toss in breathtaking scenery, good food and fun cities such as St. John's, and you've got yourself one remarkable tourist destination.

STARWOOD IN INDIA

An item in the Economic Times says Starwood's Aloft brand continues to soar in India.

"We will be opening one Aloft hotel in Chandigarh by the end of this year and another in Ahmedabad next year. Currently we have Aloft brand hotels in Bangalore, Chennai and Coimbatore," Rajan Bahadur, regional director (sales and marketing), South Asia told reporters after opening the hotel in this Tamil Nadu city.

The Aloft brand made its debut in India last year in Chennai and the second one was in Bangalore.

"This is one the fastest growing hotel brands in the world. In four years time we have 52 hotels in the world," said Bahadur.

DISNEY HAWAII HOTEL SHOWS RESTRAINT

Hard to imagine that the folks who brought us the tacky Enchanted Tiki Room at Disneyland can show this kind of restraint, but apparently Disney has nailed its new resort property on Oahu.

A solid report in the Los Angeles Times says the Aulani hotel does a fine job of representing Hawaii without the faux tiki torches and that it pulls things off "with style, grace and beauty, resulting in a modern Hawaiian resort that delivers on its promise and its considerable marquee name."

Located a few minutes outside Honolulu on the leeward coast of Oahu, the $800 million property has 359 rooms, 460-time-share units, two restaurants, two bars, a spa and a conference centre. An official grand opening is scheduled for Sept. 22, the Times said.

AIR CANADA WOES

It sounds like there's plenty of trouble at Air Canada brewing. Flight attendants are angry that the airline is said to be training would-be replacement workers in anticipation of a possible walkout.

The Globe and Mail today reports that industry observers are "expecting a strong mandate for a walkout that could begin at 12:01 a.m. on Sept. 21."

Stay tuned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A surprisingly good meal and a great waiter in Old Montreal - check out Modavie

MONTREAL - Sometimes it's good to be surprised.

My wife and I were on our way back from Halifax to Toronto and opted to stay the night at the Residence Inn at the Montreal Airport. I thought we should stop in Old Montreal and eat dinner on the way, versus trying to find a place out in Dorval.

I had written a story about Rue St. Paul for the Star not long ago, so that was my natural starting point once I found a place to park. (And while I'm thinking about it, who's in charge of parking in Montreal? The signs make no sense. I drove in circles trying to find a place to park on the street but couldn't tell if it was legal. Then, when I followed the signs for what I thought was a city parking lot on the waterfront I ended up in a small lot across from the Science Centre that cost $8 an hour. The signage was abysmal.)

Anyway, we walked up from the port and the first restaurant we spotted was a place I had noticed earlier this summer, a wine bar called Modavie. I'm usually suspicious of places that call themselves a wine bar as I feel the food won't measure up, but the menu had beef and lamb galore and we had just finished eating every kind of seafood we could find in Halifax, so we decided to give it a try.

A waiter quickly came over and escorted us to a table and proceeded to charm us to death. His name is Lorenzo, and he was smooth and friendly and chatty and personable and knowledgeable about the menu and the wine list. Possibly he's the best waiter I've ever had, and I mean that sincerely. Just a tremendous guy.

The lamb chops were good but the lamb shank was out of this world; tender and smoky and resting in a lovely sauce with perfectly cooked veggies and a small wedge of potato.

Perfect food.

There was a jazz duo as well, and the singer was quite good, so that was a bonus.

I noticed on the menu that the restaurant has a twitter feed (@modavie), so I fired up my Blackberry and sent out a tweet and acknowledged the great service. Two minutes later, Lorenzo came over and said the owner of the place, Bruno, had spotted the comments and wanted to give us a free glass of wine to say thanks.

Very nice, and very much appreciated, Bruno!

I don't know about the rest of the menu, and I can't promise you'll get Lorenzo to serve you, but I highly recommend the place. It feels like Old Montreal without being too touristy, and it's perfectly situated on one of the greatest streets in North America...

 

London hotels worst reputation in Europe? I don't think so...

London hotels got the worst collective ratings of any hotels in the top 50 cities Europe, according to a the hotel price comparison website www.trivago.co.uk.

I'm not disputing their findings. Their study found that London was rated the "worst" city in Europe in terms of overall reputation, with a rating of 72.2. Next worst in Europe was Birmingham at 74.15, while the bronze medal, if you will, went to Copenhagen at 74.29.

The best European cities for hotels were Dresden (82.32), Krakow (81.09) and Bruges in Belgium at 81.03.

The study was based on factors such as room price and hotel quality.

But I think prices skewed this study quite a bit.

The press release I read initially said London hotels got the worst collective scores out of 1000 European cities. But then I found something lower in the release that indicated at least three Euro destinations had lower ratings; Sliema in Malta, Lloret de Mar in Spain and El Arenal in Spain.

The bigger issue to me is the expense issue. Of course London hotels will do worse in a study that includes price. London hotels are some of the highest in the world. Why? Because people LOVE TO GO TO LONDON and hotels can get away with charging more.

Ditto for New York, folks, and Sydney and San Francisco and Paris. You'll probably get more value out of a Days Inn in Belleville than a nice hotel in Paris, but where would you rather stay on vacation?

I wonder about one other thing. The website is British-based, and it's quite possible that Brits are harder on their own hotel industry than they are on a hotel in another country. Just a thought....

Anyway, it's always tricky to analyze these types of studies. I'm sure London has some work to do, but I've consistently had good hotel stays in London. And some places are quite reasonable.

You can go onto various websites today and find perfectly good hotels for less than $150. If you're looking, try some outlying areas with good access to the tube for better deals. I find the Bayswater area, north of Hyde Park, ideal for bargain shoppers as it's close to major sights and has a couple of tube lines running through the region. Yet there are tons of inexpensive, clean hotels. You'll get a small room and a basic breakfast, but there are a lot worse things to say about a hotel than that....

 

 

 

Out on the harbour in oh-so friendly Halifax - a glorious way to see a great city

Not a lot of time today for fancy words, but I thought I'd give a mention to the folks who've turned the Halifax waterfront into something truly special.

I had a chance to walk along the harbour walk last week, taking in museums and the Garrison brewing company and the farmer's market, pausing to check out restaurant patios and the Rum Runners rum cake shop and more. I also forked out a few bucks for a 90-minute sail on the Mar tall ship, enjoying a perfect summer's day and chatting about the city with the crew.

"Halifax reminds me of Vancouver and Victoria," said one crew member, who hails from Nanaimo. "But I think it's more family-oriented here. They're both maritime places, but I think people here feel more strongly about family."

A friend who's a doctor in Halifax for a few months said it's not uncommon for an entire car-full of folks from, say, Cape Breton to come to the city for a parent's 45-minute consultation.

I noticed a LOT of people stopping in their cars to let me jaywalk on busy streets. Astonishing for someone from Toronto, especially considering many of the polite drivers were cabbies.

I don't know if it's typical, but when I stopped for a shoulder bacon sandwich at the farmer's market I got another slice of Halifax life.

"What drinks do you have," I asked the woman who served me my sandwich (pretty good, by the way).

"We don't have any," she said. "There's a guy just down the row who serves lemonade and someone else has orange juice.

"They're our neighbours and our friends so we don't want to compete with them."

Isn't that nice?

The Mar is a great ride and you might get to help hoist a sail or two. There's plenty of beer on board and the views of the city are magnificent.

I kept hearing about Halifax and its famous donair sandwiches. I'm big on falafel and I really like shawarma and, even better, a good gyro with plenty of garlic and hot sauce. So I tried King of Donairs, which is located on what locals call "pizza corner" in downtown Halifax, owing to three pizza/donair shops on three of four corners on Grafton St.   at Blowers.

The meat in my donair was good but I don't like the sauce they use. It's way too gloopy and sweet.

But it was the only bad meal I had in four days, so what the heck. The seafood was out of this world, as you'd expect. Awesome fish and chips at Henry House, the best lobster of my life at Press Gang and a fabulous arrabiata pasta dish with shrimp at Du Maurizio on Lower Water St. And I can't forget my buddy, Ash, at the Economy Shoe Shop on Argyle.

Look for more on Halifax in the pages of Star Travel fairly soon.

 

Canada's first true links golf at Cabot Links ... Modavie Montreal's great waiter

CAPE BRETON, NOVA SCOTIA AND MONTREAL - Forgive the multiple datelines/placelines, but I've been jumping around the last couple days.

After spending a few days in Halifax, I made a quick dash up to Cape Breton on the weekend to play the 10 holes they have opened for now at Cabot Links golf course near Inverness. I'm happy to report that it's a glorious layout; Canada's first true links course on the shores of this wonderfully atmospheric island. The full 18 should open around July 1 of 2012, but for now they've made up 10 holes for folks to get a taste of links golf.

It's hard to get a true feel, given they're using a variety of holes from what will become the true front nine and back nine, but I"m happy to say that Ontario entrepeneur Ben Cowan-Dewar has pretty much nailed it with a course that wanders up and down along this glorious coast with a tremendous variety of holes. There are short par three's, including one that goes right down to the sea, and long par-four's bordering the beach, with the waves only a few yards aways. There's a double-green and the greens have enough swirls and bumps to make Scarlett Johansson jealous. Add in some gnarly rough, a few pot bunkers and a great, modern clubhouse with tremendous views of the glorious Atlantic Ocean and you've got something special.

It's awesome to play a true links course, as it's a vastly different game from the usual North American way of playing golf. For one thing, a bad shot that trickles along the ground is likely to roll at least 75 or 100 yards. On the negative side, you might find yourself hitting your 180-yard club 170 yards and then watch the ball roll another 30 yards and tumble into a nasty, green-side trap.

It's a lot of fun. And so is doing a bump-and-run seven-iron onto a swirling green and watching the ball roll up a big incline on the green and then roll back down and around towards the hole a la Tiger Woods at Augusta. It's creative golf that makes you think and rewards inventive players, and isn't that the way it should always be? It's bound to become one of the great success stories in Canadian golf, so hats off to Cowan-Dewar and all the great folks out on Cape Breton.

More to come in next year's Toronto Star golf magazine. And, if you need more right now, check out the story Ian Cruickshank did for me in Star Travel a few weeks back....

MODAVIE MONTREAL WINE BAR

Every once in a while in this job, you get lucky. After staying Sunday night in Moncton, I drove through the rain to Quebec and stopped for dinner in Old Montreal. I was here earlier this summer and wrote a story about Rue St. Paul, a glorious street in the old part of town.

 I had walked past the Modavie Wine Bar a couple of times on that trip, but Monday night was the first time I'd stopped in. I was immediately glad I did, as the waiter, Lorenzo, made a great impression. He was friendly and jovial and fun and laughing and attentive and served up some great lamb chops and a lovely, rich lamb shank with perfect veggies.

They also had a lovely jazz duo on display; something they do every night (albeit different bands).

I was so impressed I sent out a quick Twitter message to the restaurant, having spotted their Twitter "handle" (@modavie) when I looked at the menu. A few minutes after sending the "tweet," Lorenzo came over and said the owner, Bruno, had spotted my message and wanted to say thank you with a free glass of wine.

Isn't that nice? Some folks are skeptical of Twitter, as a few folks use it for purely personal (and often stupid) reasons. But I think it's a marvellous tool, and it certainly showed its power Monday night in Montreal.

More later this week on Halifax and Nova Scotia....

 

Check it out, for sure...

 

Halifax...water, parks, history, sure; but also great restaurants & funky spots

HALIFAX - We all know about the harbour here; the tall ships and the Titanic connection and the seafaring history.

We also see those pictures of the Citadel's green, rolling hills and the beautiful clock tower. And we know Peggy's Cove waits just a few minutes down the road, waiting to seduce yet more camera-toting visitors. (And a quick nod here to the 13th anniversary of the Swiss Air 111 flight departing from New York for Geneva, which crashed near Peggy's Cove on this day in 1998; a very grim mark on an otherwise beautiful place).

There are lots of great reasons to visit Halifax. But I'm beginning to discover the more urban and urbane parts of the city, a little away from the salt water. And I'm loving it.

I had a little time yesterday afternoon to explore Argyle Street and wandered into the Biscuit General Store. I'm a sucker for off-beat places and wacky artists, and I quickly fell in love when I spotted men's and women's clothes amongst a group of Archie lunchboxes, goofy 60's paraphernelia, women's purses, off-beat books, candy/chocolate bars, Elvis and Beatles long-playing albums, cable-knit sweaters and a small package of something called "Squirrel Underpants," which I clearly didn't take enough time to investigate.

The lights are bright and the dressing-room doors are painted vivid red and pale blue and forest green and white.

"We've been here about 15 years," a kid at the cash register told me. "We just expanded north into the next store a few years ago."

There's a big sign on the wall that says "There's no place like Biscuit," and it would be hard to argue...

Look for more on the shop in future pages of Star Travel...

Just down the road a few steps is the Economy Shoe Shop, an old shoe store that's now the hub for what's probably the city's top nightlife street. There are a series of a half-dozen pubs and restaurants and thriving outdoor patios along Argyle of various styles; from touristy-youthful such as the Toothy Moose to the barrel-vault ceilings of Backspace, which is next to the Economy Shoe Shop bar/patio/restaurant and enjoys the same ownership. There was a Latin jazz trio playing at one of the spots last night, and a popular local R and B band had them lining up early for a show at the Seahorse.

I tried a Garrison Irish Red at the bar at the Shoe Shop, staring at Italian-looking yellow walls, exposed brick, thick wooden beams and a ceiling display that included a tricycle and a wooden sled. The bartenders will mix you up some classic cocktails if you ask, and the place has atmosphere to spare.

One of the workers recommended I try Press Gang around the corner for dinner, and I'm thankful he did. It's said to be the second-oldest building in the city, and features everything from rough rock walls to huge, exposed wooden beams and small nooks filled with glowing candles.

The local oysters were out-of-this-world good, my daughter told me, and the Digby scallops were perfectly seared. They serve a great dish of Nova Scotia mussels with a coconut-chili-lime base. But I was blown away by the Lobster Duo. Half was a simple, grilled lobster tail, which was great. The other half was a couple of large claws soaked in a champagne/butter sauce that had me crawling on my knees in the general direction of the chef to give thanks. WIth all sincerity, I have to say it was the best seafood dish I've ever had anywhere in the world. Brilliant.

Look for more from Halifax next week in this space....Happy Labour Day weekend, everyone!