The search for the perfect lobster roll could easily begin and end in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, at Salty C’s, a bright and friendly fish shop on the town’s main square. Salty’s offers swicy and traditional twists on the coastal staple, but they’re all built on a solid foundation of perfectly cooked, fresh-caught Bay of Fundy lobster, topped with zesty house-made dressings on an expertly toasted bun.
If you still consider New Brunswick a “drive-through province,” you’ll miss out on a Salty C roll and so much more, but a growing number of food adventurists are keenly aware of the many tasty gems to be found in the province. Some even consider it Canada’s next great culinary frontier, thanks to abundant natural resources, rich traditional foodways and a groundswell of talented chefs and entrepreneurs excited to tell the story of the region’s unique terroir and merroir.
The most obvious beacon for this movement is Taste the Tides, an ambitious, locavore-driven dining experience served on the ocean floor at the Bay of Fundy’s Hopewell Rocks during the brief window when the tide is out. Its novelty and views may be the draw for many diners, but the lengths the team goes to represent the land and sea with details like local salt, foraged herbs, and shockingly good bubbly from Moncton’s Magnetic Hill Winery steal the show.
Taste the Tides is a unique dining experience served on the ocean floor at the Bay of Fundy’s Hopewell Rocks during the brief window when the tide is out.Tourism New Brunswick/Supplied
“We’re trying to keep things simple because that’s what we are here, but, at the same time, hopefully elevate the experience and the area,” says Chef Anthony Seamone. “It makes us feel really good to know that we’ve hooked on to something pretty magical.” Taste the Tides is a dressed-up version of other local low-tide food rituals, like snacking on Fundy scallops with a beer overlooking Alma’s fishing boats or gawking at the striking sea caves in St. Martins with tasty seafood chowder from Spinney’s Seafood Market.
Caviar safaris and seven-course sturgeon masterclasses, on the other hand, are a new development. These experiences are hosted upriver from Saint John at Acadian Sturgeon and Caviar Inc. by founder Cornel Ceapa, a man on a mission to prove his sustainable sturgeon project can build both a better caviar product and better world. “We want everyone to come and see what we do, live our life for a few days and learn about sturgeon,” Ceapa says. “They’ll be our brand ambassadors all over, forever.”
His caviar is spectacularly creamy, decadent, nicely briny and lightly sweet, all characteristics he attributes to the microclimate’s merroir. A couple of hours away, on the coast of the Acadian Peninsula, the merroir is quite different, something that shows up in the region’s famed bivalves. “With north shore oysters, we’re seeing the benefits of that colder water,” says Jennie Wilson, owner of Fredericton’s 11th Mile, one of the city’s first restaurants to offer smart cocktails with local food when it opened in 2017. “The combination of very cold winters and short, warm summers creates a super crisp, clean and resilient oyster. I honestly think they’re the best in the Maritimes.”
North shore oysters and other coastal delicacies don’t often make it too far inland, so Wilson says the best way to taste the merroir is to follow the Acadian Coastal Drive. If there’s time, she advises booking a five-course dinner at Origines Cuisine Maritime in Caraquet, a restaurant founded by Chef Ben Cormier, who gave up fine dining to get back to his Acadian roots. It has a loyal following, as does the Wabanaki Food Truck (WFT), an Indigenous food project that calls Miramichi home but travels further afield. Owned by chefs Darren Peter-Paul and Zack Simonson, the WFT offers dishes like Duck Indian Tacos and Sloppy Joseph Sandwiches made with deer, which explore the evolution of Wabanaki foodways in Atlantic Canada.
“Wabanaki cuisine shaped the world’s food through history, and now, Indigenous peoples of the East Coast face some of the greatest health disparities generations have ever seen,” Peter-Paul says. “Our goal is to put healthy traditional foods in the hands of the people and fight for food sovereignty, and asserting this is our food, history and truth. The Wabanaki Food Truck is a movement.”
Foodie stops in New Brunswick this summer
Algonquin Resort in St. Andrews.Tourism New Brunswick/Supplied
Algonquin Resort Kitchen Party
The much-loved Maritime Kitchen Party tradition is popping up on long weekends this summer at the landmark Algonquin Resort in St. Andrews. Replete with live music, storytelling and seafood, it strikes the perfect balance between luxury dining and a casual downhome shindig. algonguinresort.com
The Atlantic Ballet of Canada performs on a beachfront stage on the Acadian Coastal Drive.Tourism New Brunswick/Supplied
Ballet by the Ocean
Every year, the Atlantic Ballet of Canada sets up a beachfront stage in Grande-Digue on the Acadian Coastal Drive for an al fresco dinner and show, both of which draw inspiration from the landscape and the movement of the water, wetland grasses and migrating birds. This summer, executive chef and co-owner Jordan Holden of Moncton’s renowned Atelier Tony will build out a fresh menu based on seasonal foods. balletbytheocean.ca
Loose Wire Winery
Opened by the “terroir generator” experts at Magnetic Hill Winery, a team that’s cracked the code for making award-winning expressions in a part of the world that was widely thought to be a non-starter for winemaking, Loose Wire offers fresh and approachable wines that complement beaches and seafood. loosewirewinery.com
Shediac Lobster Festival is a week-long celebration in the “Lobster Capital of the World.”Tourism New Brunswick/Supplied
Shediac Lobster Festival
It’s hard to resist a week-long celebration of lobster, especially one that kicks off on July 4 with the “Succulent” experience, a five-course, terroir-driven Wabanaki-Acadian collab that guests enjoy with their feet in the sand at Parlee Beach. shediaclobsterfestival.ca
Sturgeon School
Although it’s still not possible to casually drop by Acadian Sturgeon and Caviar’s educational centre, Ceapa is expanding to offer more programming, some of which will be accommodated in his state-of-the art Sturgeon School, a new building equipped with massive sturgeon tanks. acadian-sturgeon.com.
Wabanaki Food Truck
Peter-Paul and Simonson will post the truck’s 2026 schedule to its Facebook page on April 1, including plans for hitting several stops on the summer circuit such as the Harvest Music Festival.
The Globe and Mail Style Magazine travelled to New Brunswick as a guest of New Brunswick Tourism and the Algonquin Resort. They did not review or approve this article prior to publication.
