Tag Archives: reviews

Current favorite treat: Almond Cashew KIND Bar

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I am an afternoon snacker. This is my new favorite afternoon snack:

KIND Bar

Almond Cashew with Flax + Omega 3 KIND Bar. It is SO good–nuts and fruit with a little natural sweetness thrown in. No gluten, no soy. (Some of the flavors do sneak soy in, if you care about that.) And it’s SO good! Sure, you could argue that dried fruit doesn’t need extra sweeteners, but they have to glue the pieces together with something. The conglomerate consistency is a different experience than the sandstone-like LaraBar (geology nerds? anyone?), and I think the nut pieces make the KIND Bar seem more substantial than a LaraBar–even though the LaraBar is actually 20% bigger. How do they compare nutritionally? The Cherry Pie LaraBar, a favorite of mine, has a bit less fat and a lot more potassium, but the KIND Bar has slightly fewer calories and grams of sugar. 
The KIND people have goals worthy of supporting with your dollars: producing snacks from wholesome, pronounceable ingredients; and promoting various social media crusades to improve the world in small ways.
 I would not consider them dietetic, however. Reader beware.
Dinner time!

Halifax Food Tour

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Haute Pasture had a fun trip to Halifax, Nova Scotia a few weeks ago, full of fantastic eating and drinking (and running). Here are the highlights:

Eating

Who knew Halifax was such a destination for delicious sustainable food? We had memorable meals at three restaurants that feature local, seasonal, responsible foods.

The Wooden Monkey

The Wooden Monkey

The Wooden Monkey is all about local, organic food. They strive to serve only the highest quality food, while supporting local farmers. How could we not eat here? For lunch, we shared the trio of dips, and I had a Sweet Apple Salad, both of which I can recommend.

Fid Resto

Fid Resto

Fid Resto sources sustainable ingredients from a long list of local farmers. I had the Farmer’s Market Inspiration, which changes from day to day based on what was available at the farmer’s market, and it was so good (and huge) I hurt myself eating the entire thing. It was my favorite entree of the trip.

Chives

Chives

Another lovely dinner at Chives featured seasonal, local ingredients. I had a farmer’s market salad, again based on what the chef picked up at the market that day, and a local lobster special. The crème brûlée at Chives edged out the Fid version, in our expert opinion.

Drinking

Halifax Seaport Farmers' Market

I had a lovely mango lassi at the Halifax Seaport Farmers’ Market. It was a sweaty day, and I was venturing far from the hotel and appreciated the refreshment. I enjoyed browsing the local produce and crafts at the market.

Paper Chase Cafe

I drank lots of coffee at Paper Chase, which served as my office for a couple days. It had a funky vibe, tasty vegetarian food, and excellent window-side tables for people-watching while working.

Being avid supporters of the local beer, wine, and cider (we need a cider trail) scene in Charlottesville, we looked forward to trying some locally brewed beverages, but apparently we are spoiled by our local offerings. The Nova Scotian beers and wines we tried were nothing special.

Running

Point Pleasant Park

From anywhere downtown, run up the hill to the Citadel, turn left, and head down South Park Street to Point Pleasant Park. There’s a quiet, leafy loop through the park with sea views and lots of other runners. The run is fairly flat, other than the big hill up to the Citadel, with just one tough climb past halfway in the loop (going clockwise). Downtown, through the park, and back is roughly 5 miles.

Halifax is a cool town with strong popular support of local businesses. Responsible restaurants like The Wooden Monkey, Fid, and Chives extend that support to area farmers, as well, by serving local, sustainable, seasonal ingredients. I hope that trend continues and I see more restaurants following their lead on my next trip.