New Halifax restaurant Mystic aims for haute cuisine with an east coast flavour | Canada Voices

Jutting out into the Halifax harbour, the wedge-shaped and metal-clad “Rise Again” building is hard to miss. Since 2021, when the multi-use complex opened, this prime location with its own dedicated pier has been noticeably vacant – until now.

Three weeks ago, the space was abuzz with pre-opening clatter. Cooks sat at laptops around the exposed kitchen, one leaning in to study a recipe for rappie pie, a traditional Acadian dish. Decorative dried kelp wreaths dotted the tables. Servers were gathered for training at the back of the dining room. Fast forward to today, and the new fine-dining restaurant Mystic is set to welcome locals and visitors with an ambitious goal: haute cuisine with an east coast flavour.

“I don’t think there’s anything like this here,” says Mystic’s head chef Malcolm Campbell of his flora-and-fauna themed tasting menus, one of which will be vegetarian. “We’re showcasing local ingredients and using technology to present new techniques and flavours.”

Designed by noted Nova Scotia architecture firm MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple, the building that houses Mystic is the jewel in the crown of the Queen’s Marque development, which houses a luxury boutique hotel, retail shops, and multiple other restaurants.

“Mystic is the grand finale, the fireworks at the end of the show,” says Bill Osborne, executive chef at Halifax-based Freehand Hospitality, which manages Mystic and several other restaurants in the same complex.

To set the stage for this epic kitchen party, the development’s owner, Armour Group, engaged the help of Toronto-based DesignAgency, known for global hospitality projects such as its renovation of the Four Seasons Hotel Toronto and private social club NeueHouse Venice Beach. Mystic represents DesignAgency’s first significant undertaking on Canada’s east coast.

The firm leaned into the theatre of the space, choosing to let the preparation and cooking of the food be the main event. Of course, they couldn’t resist a maritime flourish.

“The unique nature of the site led us to ask how to bring in a sense of heavier volume above you, as if you were at the edge of the water watching a boat go by,” says founding partner Matt Davis. “We really started to embrace and play with that form without doing anything too common or obviously nautical.”

The resulting focal point is right above the kitchen, where the underside of a ship’s hull appears to emerge from the plaster ceiling. Davis, a sailor himself, knew the reference had to be abstract and artful without distracting from the views. Figuring out the right form and installation took several months, about 30 people in Toronto, Halifax, and Barcelona, and a host of models made from 3-D printers and lower-tech foam core.

“At times, we joked that we might have to abandon ship,” Davis says. “It took a lot of creative energy because there was no precedent. But now we really think it adds to the experience.”

Though the room’s design centres around the ceiling installation, the feeling of occasion begins at the intimate reception area, with a desk made from locally quarried sandstone slabs, and metal-panelled walls made to look like a ship’s cabin.

Moving into the bar area, the ceiling rises to reveal a wall of open, apothecary-style pantry shelves backed with charcoal Port Laurent marble with dramatic copper veining. Atop the shelves are a backlit selection of jarred culinary curiosities, both thematic and practical: seashells, preserves, beans, and dried herbs. But this display isn’t just a curated, made-for-Instagram moment. “Because the kitchen is open, there wasn’t a lot of storage,” says Davis. “This is an active, chef-driven pantry where things are being pickled, brined, and presented; nothing is pure artifact.”

The dining room’s understated palette of pine green, watery blue, and weathered, driftwood grey is DesignAgency’s interpretation of the region’s colours, textures and topography. Round tables and curved banquettes and chairs help to soften the angular glass walls on three sides.

In the back corner of the room is an art installation wrapped around two corner walls. A grid of rods and moveable tabs, it references Ned Kahn’s existing “Tidal Beacon” sculpture, which rises up from the building’s roof and lights up to chronicle the changing tides. “We reached out to Ned and discussed how we could pull that down in a subtle way,” says Davis. “We thought this could be a seamless connection between the architecture and the interior.”

Even the plates and serveware are works of local art, with raw, delicate pieces produced by Dartmouth-based ceramicist Heather Waugh Pitts. “From the crockery to the cutlery, it’s all a chef’s dream,” says Campbell, who has worked in kitchens from Cape Breton and Toronto, most notably at Auberge du Pommier, to London, England.

Campbell is considering changing the tasting menu monthly while staying true to a uniquely Nova Scotian narrative. Initial experiments with goldenrod vinaigrette, salt-water-brined matsutake mushrooms, sea buckthorn kefir (offered as a palate-cleansing course), and swordfish bresaola served with turnips from nearby Abundant Acres farm, showcase both his skill and ambition.

With the menu almost final, the servers trained, and the space complete, Mystic is ready to host a new kind of gathering, but don’t expect to hear fiddles.

“It’s the feeling of a kitchen party, but not in a foot stompin’ or kitschy way,” says Osborne. “We want it to be elegant, but not stiff – like you’re in someone’s house having a great time.”