New Restaurant At Queen’s Marque in Halifax Hires Celebrated Chef
HALIFAX – A new high-end restaurant opening in Queen’s Marque in downtown Halifax this fall has announced that a world-renowned chef will be heading the culinary team.
Chef Anthony Walsh has cooked throughout the world during his 30-year career, including being the executive chef at Canoe in Toronto. Now, he is excited to be moving to Halifax to launch Drift, the new waterfront restaurant that will be located on the ground floor of of the five-star Muir Hotel.
“It’s a challenge that I love,” Walsh says. “You have one chance at a first impression; I firmly believe that. That’s the reality of it right. It’s a big mountain for us to climb.”
Walsh and Drift will be looking to hire locals who are passionate about Maritime cuisine, but he will also be binging in some experienced chefs who are excited to be working at a new restaurant in a booming city. One such person will be moving to Halifax from South Korea.
“He’s been to Halifax before and he’s in love with it and he’s literally dropped everything in Seoul, Korea, and he’s winging his way through quarantines to transplant himself and his family there,” says Walsh.
“At the end of the day, I just want people who are passionate about where they’re from and what they can do in the food business.”
Walsh says that, even though the food at Drift will be of high quality, he doesn’t want to attach the term “fine dining” to the restaurant. That term, he says, has become outdated, and he doesn’t want people to think that Drift will have a stuffy atmosphere.
“I’m done with the super high-end, super-polished, pristine white linen…it’s nerve-wracking. I think people would see through it, and that’s not who we are,” said Walsh.
“We of course want it to be of a certain calibre and a certain polish to it…the design is going to be modern, inspired by the rich marine history and traditions…We want people to feel really comfortable.”
Scott McCrea is president and CEO of The Armour Group-the company tasked with developing Muir and Drift. He also dismisses the use of the term “fine dining.”
“The whole concept of fine dining in the restaurant world has changed. What we think about fine dining 20 years ago seldom exists today,” said McCrea.
“Dining today is an experience, and that experience need not be expensive or stuffy.”
McCrea recruited Walsh to lead Drift this fall because of his ability to create dishes that speak to a restaurant’s surroundings. McCrea envisions that Drift will have many dishes that represent life along the ocean in Atlantic Canada.
“It was really happenstance. We have mutual relations,” recalls McCrea. “We’ were looking for a way to make Queen’s Marque the culinary epicenter of Halifax. I’ve known about his work for decades and really admire him. It was happenstance that we were brought together at just the right time.”
“What we’re trying to do with Drift is really to speak to the vernacular of the Maritimes, where we take Maritime cuisine and interpret it in a modern way. That’s exactly what he did with Canadian cuisine with Canoe out in Toronto.”
While the menu is far from finalized at this point, Walsh says he is pondering a variety of seafood options among other dishes, such as scallop, oysters, halibut, and, of course, lobster.
“I’m a lobster fanatic,” he said.
One type of fish that Walsh loves to cook with, which may surprise some people, is mackerel. Walsh says, despite its reputation as a bait fish, it’s one of the best to cook with depending on the season.
“Mackerel, I know it’s used as bait fish, but from down East, that mackerel, depending on when you’re getting it…you’re hard pressed to get a better piece of fish.”
Also, people who enjoy a social munch in the mornings are in for a treat. Walsh’s favourite meal to cook happens to be brunch!