From my vantage point on the rooftop terrace at BKS — the “best kept secret” speakeasy at — I sip a coupe of Her Majesty’s Displeasure. Each drink at this bar is accompanied by a detailed story, and this one is described as a slightly debaucherous take on a Champagne cocktail, which pays tribute to Queen Elizabeth II’s reputed fondness for bubbly every night before bed. (This recipe is boozier, and the Queen might not approve.
) The royal reference is one of many in this part of town. Halifax, located in the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq people, was settled by the British in 1749, and I’m right by a wharf known as Queen’s Landing, the point of British landfall. I glance over the wharf to see an artist’s interpretation of a lighthouse, the towering “Tidal Beacon” by Ned Kahn.
It’s sparkling all over and sending a beam up into the inky sky — a dazzling display timed to mark each high and low tide. The 60-foot kinetic sculpture is part of a marquee building called Rise Again, which also houses the newest reason to visit the city: , a fine dining destination that aspires to be Halifax’s Noma-calibre draw. Rise Again is the district’s marquee landmark.
Visitors can walk up the sloped rooftop for a closer look at “Tidal Beacon.” If you came to Nova Scotia’s capital pre-pandemic, none of this was standing here — not the luxury hotel, not the $7-million collection of public art, not the clutch of hip boutiques and restaurants. T.
