In Halifax, Nova Scotia, magical moments happen all the time. And there’s nowhere better to experience them than at the Mystic restaurant and the Muir hotel – perhaps the most special hotel in Canada.
Queen’s Marque and the Halifax Waterfront
The story begins along Halifax’s historic waterfront, a place that has been shaped by centuries of maritime activity. There, you’ll find Queen’s Marque, a neighbourhood development that brings together boutiques, cafés and fine-dining restaurants in a series of contemporary buildings. When you spot these buildings from a boat in Halifax Harbour, their silhouettes evoke three abstract “ships.”
With a design conceived by local firm MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects, the Queen’s Marque district is an ode to the city’s seafaring history. But unlike with many waterfront developments in cities around the world, the team behind Queen’s Marque didn’t bulldoze the past when the complex was under construction – they embraced it, following a “born of this place” philosophy.
At the centre of the public square is an architectural outlier. Projecting outward to the harbour, like a boat’s prow breaking through the water’s surface, is a low wedge-shaped structure clad in Muntz metal (a copper-based material traditionally used in the hulls of ships).
The roofline is intentionally slanted on a low grade and features a series of broad, stepped terraces that people can walk up. It’s called the Rise Again staircase, and it’s one of many pieces of public art in Queen’s Marque. At the crest of the roof stands the Tidal Beacon, a tall light sculpture that rises through the structure, displaying shifting lighting patterns as the tides change – a contemporary interpretation of a lighthouse.
Mystic: A Nova Scotia Tasting Menu by Chef Malcolm Campbell
Chef Malcolm Campbell at Mystic
What lies within the building is arguably even more spectacular. It houses Mystic, the pride of Queen’s Marque – and of Halifax itself. Helmed by chef Malcolm Campbell, Mystic serves up cuisine that is deeply rooted in Nova Scotia’s flora and fauna and features ingredients that can be fleeting. Campbell’s eight-course tasting menus have been lauded nationally and internationally.
The success of the restaurant is also due to the diligence of director of dining Andrew Flynn, who glides effortlessly from table to table. Flynn guides guests through Campbell’s culinary messaging, taking them on a journey through local ingredients from both land and sea. He is especially brilliant at sharing local stories behind the ingredients – in particular, the jars of preserves that line open shelves at the entrance to the restaurant, evoking an edible apothecary.
The Muir Hotel: Luxury on the Halifax Waterfront
If Mystic is the beacon of Queen’s Marque, the Muir is its anchor, grounding the district in quiet luxury and a deep sense of place. The entrance is through a porte cochère, another piece of art in its own way. It is wrapped in a grid of cylindrical lighting forms designed to echo fresnel lenses used in traditional lighthouses. They emit a soft, warm glow, which is especially welcoming at night.
Both the architecture and interiors of the Muir are a tapestry of historic maritime references, material and symbolic. Guest rooms are designed like the staterooms of a luxury ship: rich wood finishes, custom furniture (including a bar cabinet with a refined porthole window) and amenities – oh, those amenities – that surpass the offerings of many international five-star hotels.
On the hospitality front, there’s BKS, a speakeasy-style cocktail bar open only to hotel guests, and Drift, a restaurant that reinterprets classic East Coast cuisine in dishes like a Nova Scotia lobster croissant and Lawry’s Jiggs Dinner (slow-smoked brisket, fingerling potatoes, heirloom carrots, local turnips, napa cabbage and sauerkraut). Yet another special experience to revel in.
But perhaps the best way to understand the Muir’s connection to Halifax is to leave the hotel and head to the water. Guests can take to the harbour aboard Little Wing, the hotel’s 11-metre sailing yacht, for a sunrise or sunset sail, or head out on Reach, its seven-metre high-speed motorboat. From the water, Queen’s Marque takes on a different perspective: the three abstract ships emerge along the shoreline, the Tidal Beacon rises above Mystic and the city’s maritime past and present come together in a single view.
