For the Love of Food

This being my first post, I need to be honest about something: I’m a terrible blogger. At least, I used to be. I started several blogs during my undergrad years (10 years ago now – eep!), but due to the distractions of school, play, etc., I could never really commit. For many reasons, all these years later, I feel much better placed to actually develop and nurture a blog. An experiment in commitment, perhaps? A commitment to my on-again/off-again love affairs with writing and with travel, yes, but my commitment and love of food has never – I repeat – never been called into question! Maybe this fact will be my blog’s saving grace?

My love of food aside, I have a couple of other motives behind starting this blog. First, after several years of travelling, I find myself back home in Nova Scotia – by choice – and attempting to establish my life and career here. Having spent time living in various other cities outside of Canada, however, I’ve noticed that Halifax is missing something: a strong approach to food tourism. With the popularity of the Food Network and shows like Diners, Drive-ins and Dives – to name but one – people are discovering new reasons to travel: the grumble in their belly and the culinary and cultural adventures that can follow from it.

We have the wonderful organization, Taste of Nova Scotia, promoting quality food, its production, and its producers in this province. You can find and review any restaurant in this city on Yelp, and we have many wonderful festivals that celebrate local cuisine and drink. But only recently has Nova Scotia begun to tap into the possibilities of food tourism, through ToNS. Given how new this venture is in town, I want to offer my independent take on the food tourism scene here and offer alternatives. Nova Scotia has loads to offer visiting food enthusiasts, and I’d love to do my part to show them that. Ultimately, and eventually, I’d like to start organizing thematic food tours myself, showcasing Nova Scotia’s best and tastiest. (Let me know if you’re interested!) In the meantime, and given how much of my time, money, and social life are devoted to the pursuit of eating good food in and around Halifax, I thought it would be a good experiment to document what I find, make, and taste.

This brings me to the other motive behind starting Food: Je t’Aimée. Food has become such a focal point and gathering point in my life, that a number of people close to me have encouraged me to get beyond my fairweathered past with blogs and start afresh. So, friends and family, here I finally am.

Preliminary ramblings complete. Up next, my take on Trattoria della Nonna: an Italian Ristorante in Lunenburg I visited last weekend, thanks to the wonder that is Groupon.