Spend time speaking with Halifax’s top chefs and one thing quickly becomes clear: this is a city with a food identity all its own. Restaurants range from celebrated tasting-menu destinations to neighbourhood bistros and intimate cocktail bars, yet together they reflect the land that inspires them, the hands that shape them and the hospitality that welcomes guests to the table. Here, we meet some of the people leading the way.
Frédéric Tandy, Ratinaud
French-born chef Frédéric Tandy has become one of Halifax’s most respected champions of local ingredients. At Ratinaud, his celebrated charcuterie and seasonal cooking begin not with recipes but with relationships with local foragers and producers. Wild mushrooms, sumac, spruce tips and regional meats shape a menu of handcrafted sandwiches and boards that evolves with availability. “Ingredients lead, ideas follow,” says Tandy. ratinaud.ca
Cédric Toullec, Lou Pécou
Named one of the world’s top pizzaiolos, Cédric Toullec believes that exceptional pizza begins long before the toppings. The Marseille-born artisan combines a meticulously developed 72-hour slow-fermented sourdough with Atlantic Canadian ingredients, creating pizzas that honour both Provençal tradition and Nova Scotian terroir at Lou Pécou. “I try to bring the sun of Provence to the plate, even in the middle of a Canadian winter,” he says. loupecou.com
Colin Bebbington, Tribute
After training in demanding kitchens, including Chicago’s Spiaggia, chef Colin Bebbington returned home to Halifax to open Tribute. Here, hand-rolled pasta, live-fire cooking and Nova Scotia’s seasonal bounty meet in a dining room filled with music, warmth and energy. His advice to young cooks is simple: “Take the art seriously and respect it, and push yourself every day to get a little bit better.” tributerestaurant.ca
Moira Murray, The Ostrich Club
Top Chef Canada runner-up Moira Murray brings technical precision and versatility to The Ostrich Club, where inventive small plates meet one of Atlantic Canada’s most celebrated beverage programs. Murray delights in transforming local ingredients into dishes that surprise yet remain approachable. “My favourite thing a guest can say is how remarkable something seemingly simple turned out to be,” she says. theostrichclub.ca
Keegan McGregor, Highwayman
As the 2024 World Class Global Bartender of the Year, Keegan McGregor has brought Halifax’s hospitality to the international stage. At Highwayman, his drinks draw inspiration from local ingredients, regional traditions and East Coast culture. His Hodge Podge Flip, inspired by the region’s famous stew and made with corn milk, carrot and ginger, is a perfect example. “I try to create a sense of time and place,” he says. highwaymanhfx.com
Renée Lavallée, The Canteen on Portland
For more than a decade, Renée Lavallée has helped make The Canteen on Portland one of Dartmouth’s most beloved neighbourhood restaurants. A Top Chef Canadaalum, she pairs accomplished technique with approachable cooking rooted in Nova Scotia’s seasons—think “crobster” rolls of Nova Scotia snow crab and lobster, lobster spaghettini and seafood chowder. Yet her greatest ambition isn’t recognition. “We don’t want to be the best restaurant,” she says. “We want to be everyone’s favourite restaurant.” thecanteen.ca
Stephanie Ogilvie, Reta’s
Chef Stephanie Ogilvie named her restaurant, Reta’s, after her grandmother, and it’s here that her belief that exceptional hospitality lives in life’s smallest gestures comes to life. A Top Chef Canada runner-up, Ogilvie combines seasonal, vegetable-forward cooking with an atmosphere that feels intimate and personal. “Care lives in the quiet details,” she says. retasrestaurant.com
Lauren Marshall, Real Fake Meats
Long before plant-based cuisine entered the mainstream, Top Chef alum Lauren Marshall was reimagining comfort food through a vegan lens. Today, Real Fake Meats welcomes devoted vegans and curious carnivores alike and is best known for its vegan donair. “We thought, ‘Halifax needs this,’” Marshall says. “It didn’t matter that it was missing meat—it was delicious.” realfakemeats.com
Malcolm Campbell, Mystic
At Mystic, chef Malcolm Campbell has transformed Nova Scotia’s landscape into one of Canada’s most celebrated dining experiences. Since the restaurant’s opening in late 2024, its tasting menus have evolved with what the land and sea naturally offer. “I ask what the land is insisting I cook and what the ocean is offering,” Campbell says. “The tide dictates which seaweeds are at their peak; weather shifts change which fish arrive at the dock.” It’s a philosophy that makes every meal inseparable from Halifax itself. mysticnovascotia.ca
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