Stubborn Goat Owners to Open New Waterfront Restaurant
HALIFAX—Think Stubborn Goat beer garden—except with wine and lobster instead of 2 Crows and tacos.
That’s the plan for a new restaurant the co-owners of the Stubborn Goat are bringing to the Halifax waterfront this spring.
Geir Simensen, one of those co-owners, says the idea is to create an open-air atmosphere similar to the Stubborn Goat Beer Garden, but with a more “up-scale” feel and a focus on local wine and spirits.
“It’s going to be more full-service. We’ll be doing whole lobsters, ceviche. It’s going to be nicer food, more elevated,” he says.
That “elevated” food will be served alongside a drink menu that focuses on Tidal Bay wine and local spirits from the Nova Scotia Spirit Company, Compass Distillers, and others.
“The beer garden has its place,” Simensen says. “But then there’s the other side where people don’t want to drink wine out of a plastic cup, they want a real wine glass. They don’t want fish and chips, they want a nice lobster dish, freshly made on a real plate.”
Simensen, along with his partners Joe McGuinness and Kyle Drake, are the co-owners of Legendary Hospitality Group. The company owns the Stubborn Goat, Durty Nelly’s, and other Halifax restaurants, and have been aggressively opening new properties in prime locations around the city.
Their newest, yet-to-be-named venture takes over a patch of pavement off the Halifax boardwalk, directly beside their Stubborn Goat beer garden.
Simensen says they plan to transform the space into a multi-level, open-air patio that seats about 120 people. The space will feature a stage for live music, a large fire pit, and a “games room.”
It will also be split into two distinct areas, featuring “completely different” menus and staff uniforms.
“One’s going to be a little more sophisticated, and the other one’s going to be good old Nova Scotian fun,” Simensen says.
Simensen and his partners are on a tight deadline to get the new restaurant up and running. Legendary Hospitality won the right to open it by bidding on a Develop Nova Scotia tender for the space.
The tender, which Legendary Hospitality won for $255,000, lists the opening date as May 15.
“It’s a lot to get ready for May 15. I’m a little nervous, to be honest,” Simensen says, “but I made a $100 bet with my business partner that we’d open on time.”
Simensen also says Legendary Hospitality will be announcing the name of the restaurant, and releasing renderings, in the near future.