Years ago, (if you read my blog regularly many of my stories start that way) my good friend D asked me to join her for lunch with a young woman recently transferred in from Toronto. She was the new reporter assigned to the Atlantic Provinces beat for a national news paper. We had lunch at what was then a hot spot for media and uber cool types in Halifax. We thought, D and I that lunch had gone well so we were taken aback when we read the scorching review printed in the paper.
Her particular aggravation had to do with the lack of good spinach salads and no one knew how to make a Kir cocktail. We were rightly annoyed and she got the cold shoulder from many until she gradually learned to love us. So much in love with the Atlantic Provinces she relocated to Newfoundland and may still be there. I wish I had been a fly on the wall when she asked for a Kir cocktail in St John’s.
The Atlantic Provinces have weathered the pandemic pretty well although our losses go deep and will be years healing. However, we look good to the CFA’s who see beautiful coastline, affordable houses and more freedom than they can find in their home provinces. We do have wonderful salads now, world-famous restaurants and championship bartenders who can produce delicious and complex cocktails.
If you choose to buy a house sight unseen and move your family here, well god love you and welcome. My concern centers on your expectations. Internet access and speeds, schools, health care, shopping opportunities, rules and regulations will all be different and will take some getting used to. Don’t get me wrong I want you here, we need you here.
The synergy you bring not to mention the money will revitalize communities throughout and that is all good. So please give yourselves time to adapt and we will dig out those Kir recipes for you.
CFA=Come From Away
Kir Cocktail
1/3 oz crème de cassis
3oz white wine
Serve straight up, no ice.