Tribeca Takes Over Historic Barrington Street Property
HALIFAX — An historic commercial building in downtown Halifax is home to a new restaurant.
Tribeca Bistro & Bar opened at 1688 Barrington Street on June 1. But, as shown in a black and white photograph on the restaurant’s Instagram page, the building was first built many moons ago. In its long history, it’s seen many businesses come and go.
Despite that long history, the building still looks the nearly exact same today, minus the old-school clock tower.
“It was a drugstore a long time ago,” says Katherine Ryder-Burbidge, the director of operations for the hospitality division of Black Bay Group. “It was, for years, a well-known bookstore. They went through several iterations before it became a restaurant. We’re excited to now be in the building.”
“We’re super excited over this wonderful space of character. we’re doing a little bit of everything, even brunch on Sundays.”
Now, instead of serving up medicine in glass bottles, or words printed on pages, Tribeca is serving up a hospitality experience. And, of course, good food.
The restaurant’s dishes include traditional fare like tender steak with a side of fries. For dessert, you can have a dish called Strawberry Pavlova, named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova. And, of course, you can get classic Nova Scotian seafood dishes like halibut and scallops.
“Being in Halifax, we’d be foolish not to highlight seafood,” explains Ryder-Burbidge. “Being so close to the water, it’s giving us so much to work with. But I classify our food as bistro food with a type of fusion.”
“We like to do simple food that highlights the ingredients. Simple food done well. I have an amazing executive chef who I’ve worked with a number of times. She was instrumental in helping us get the Seaside Shanty off the ground in Chester last year.”
In the long history of 1688 Barrington Street, Tribeca isn’t the first restaurant. In fact, the previous tenant was Julep, which closed earlier this year. The owner cited business pressures like pandemic debt and high inflation for the closure. The same owner also closed another Halifax restaurant, Hermitage, at the same time.
Ryder Burbidge said there was a bit of luck involved in nabbing the empty Barrington Street location for Tribeca. In this real estate climate, such terrific locations can be hard to come by.
“Well, as big of a city Halifax is, I think sometimes it’s just it’s a combination of luck of the draw and a little bit of insider information,” she said. “I have a connection with the owner of the building. When we heard that the last restaurant was closing, I just simply inquired.”
“I think 15 restaurant groups were vying for this. They really liked us as tenants. And they liked our vision.”
Part of that vision is creating a social experience for patrons. Tribeca is more than a place to grab brunch, it is also a new meeting spot for those looking to unwind after a stressful week. On Fridays and Saturdays, the restaurant keeps the kitchen open until midnight while local DJs play music.
“The community has really liked it,” says Ryder Burbidge.” I think it’ll take a minute to build. I don’t want to put myself in a box but I would say that we’re probably catering to a 30-plus crowd with a DJ atmosphere.”
“We’d love to create an experience for customers and provide them with something that’s not seen elsewhere in the city. East Coast hospitality with well-done food and a little bit of atmosphere provided by music on the weekend. Really enjoyable.”
Opening a new restaurant in 2023 is a risky venture, as shown by the closure of Julep. On top of how expensive it is to run a restaurant now, there is also a shortage of labour in the hospitality industry. But, so far, that is one pressure Tribeca has been able to avoid.
“A lot of my background outside of hospitality has dealt with team building and change management,” says Ryder Burbidge. “And I really think that the staff makes the restaurant a success. I want to knock on wood here, but we’re a little over-staffed right now. We’re really fortunate to find a group of people that believe in us as a group.”
Derek Montague is a Huddle reporter in Halifax. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].