UPDATE at 6:23 p.m.: New pic added below of fallen tree on Harris Street.
Hurricane Bill didn't stop this guy going for a snack.
High winds toppled this tree on Harris Street.
Lashed down for the big storm.
Liz Cunningham on the patio of what will be Chez Tess Creperie.
An eatery believed to be the city’s first devoted to the thin pancake is coming to Charles Street.
Owner Liz Cunningham said opening Chez Tess Creperie will fulfill a lifelong dream. And she is excited about the North End location, near Agricola Street.
“I really feel like we’re getting in on the ground floor of something really good. It’s a great time,” she said.
Unlike seven other restaurants nearby, Chez Tess will be open at night. And it will be open all week, giving crepe fans a new option beyond the Saturday morning Creperie Mobile stall at the Farmers’ Market. Cunningham believes she will have to work to undo a misconception that crepes, a thin, delicate type of pancake associated with French cuisine, are exclusively for breakfast.
“I think I’ve got a bit of education to do around crepes. We won’t be open for breakfast. We’ll be open for lunch and dinner, and brunch on the weekends. You can do really anything you want, you can put anything you want really inside a crepe — savoury fillings, sweet fillings,” she said.
Cunningham worked for three decades in television before starting Chez Tess. The New York native was with the Live with Regis and Kathie Lee show for 15 years, pinning microphones on the likes of Hillary Clinton, Wayne Gretzky and Liza Minelli. She moved to Halifax nine years ago and was working for CTV before leaving to start the creperie.
Cunningham has visited creperies as far away as San Francisco gathering ideas. Last year, an opportunity arose to lease the ground floor and patio at Nile House, the geothermally heated building at 5687 Charles Street.
Cunningham took the plunge.
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The creperie moves into Nile House's 840-square-foot commercial space. (Contributed)
“People wanted to come and be part of it, and to me that was and still is the most important part of this building,” said Malay. “Liz’s idea of a café, with her particular instincts and vision, fit perfectly.”
Then there’s the story behind the name Tess.
Cunningham was 17 when her mother died in the 1970s. Shortly after, an uncle mailed her a department store ad clipped from a 1937 New York newspaper picturing her mom in a glamorous fur coat.
“My mother was 21 years old and there she was modeling this. And I had no idea she’d ever done this. So I held on to that ad for a long time,” said Cunningham. Her partner came up with the idea of naming the creperie after the beauty in the ad.
“It’s a nice short easy name to remember and it’s a nice kind of way to pay tribute to my mother who’s been gone for a long time,” said Cunningham.
Look for the ad to be framed and hanging in Chez Tess when doors open next month.
Directions: Chez Tess Creperie, 5687 Charles Street, scheduled to open in early September.
© Copyright 2008-2009 North and Agricola
This balcony hides behind Willow and Agricola.
The one pictured above is a real perk for whoever snagged the corner office at the Time + Space Strategic Media office building. Actually, it replaces the corner office. The balcony is a retreat from the summer bustle. It offers a time to contemplate, to ponder.
On the flipside, the tower behind Fire Station No. 3 on West Street puts it all out there for everyone to see. The concrete pillar offers up a festival of chains, stairs and iron beams. Crows hang there after firefighters are done refining their aerial rescues. Raw function is what these balconies offer. It’s all about public service. The view of the Kiss concert is not so hot, but listening to lead singer Paul Stanley while dangling in a stretcher makes up for it.
This post inspired by the Prince of Petworth’s “Door of the Day” awards. The Prince ain’t from Halifax, but we don’t hold that against him at all.
Central American food lovers mill outside Cafe Aroma Latino on Tuesday.
A spillover crowd chatted and ate tamales at a party for the new “La Villa on Agricola” development on North and Agricola streets on Tuesday. The grand opening marks another leap forward for the intersection.
Kids played tag among the guests who flowed out on the sidewalk in front of the building. La Villa contains art studios, a restaurant and apartments. It even has a meeting room with all sorts of AV gizmos that can be booked by non-tenants.
Hard to pigeonhole this event. It was partly an art show as painters, photographers and other artists showed off their ground floor studios.
It was also a restaurant opening and food store launch. Claudia Pinto, owner of the brightly coloured Cafe Aroma Latino, kept a tasty buffet of Guatemalan and Mexican food topped up and steaming.
Finally, it was an open house. A volunteer gave visitors a tour of the upstairs. The guide showed off views from what will be a rooftop terrace. Also featured was the last of 24 units in the complex which remains to be rented, a surprisingly quiet apartment looking down North Street toward the bridge.
Guests mingle among the art studios and galleries.
North and Agricola 