This all really started with the pandemic, which unexpectedly brought me home to Halifax from London for four months during the initial lockdown. Inspired by the restaurants where I’d worked in London like Davies and Brook, I joined forces with a group of friends on a venture we called Dine Together.  

The result was more than 6,000 meals being sold and $34,000 donated to Feed Nova Scotia in five weeks of operation, all by volunteers. The dishes we prepared resulted in our food getting a small following, and a subsequent demand for private dinners and catering for events. 

Dine Together becomes Heritage 

The evolution of the business began with converting a volunteer-based program we to a full-time initiative as the demand for private dinners, weddings and events continued to grow. 

I did a few weekend pop-ups at different restaurants around the province, and then a unique opportunity presented itself: the chance to take over the old Kitchen Table space for one month only.  

We opened Heritage and served a five-course tasting menu with wine pairings for the month of December. It was the most fun I’d had in my career to that point - super busy, fantastic environment, and the best opportunity the team and I could have asked for. 

We went back to events after that, but a seed had been planted, and I was looking for a new venue for a short-term rental. I found such a place in Peggy’s Cove, a gift shop with a quirky atmosphere and a commercial kitchen in a beautiful part of Nova Scotia, with a view. 

We tweaked our concept a bit, spending four months doing lunches and a four-course dinner, a summer that really helped grow the brand, but the commute was a bit much and we wanted to move back to the city. That brought us to the President’s Lodge, where we were open in February and March before I went back to school to Bologna, Italy, spending a few months perfecting my pasta-making skills, and where we’ve been since I returned. 

Becoming A Sfoglino 

Early on in my career, I was sure pasta would be a major part of my future, but I was also very aware of how much more I needed to know. A few years of working in Michelin-starred restaurants in the U.S and Europe taught me how crucial is proper training, and I wanted to pursue that in the world of pasta. 

When I first returned home during the pandemic, the book American Sfoglino by Evan Funke had just been published, and it became my introduction to this traditional skill. Funke pays homage to his teacher, Alessandra Spisni, an eight time ‘Pasta d’Or’ world champion in Italy, and his words convinced me I had to go to Italy. 

In Bologna the title Sfoglini is wrapped up in the history, tradition and culture that are the underpinnings of the cuisine. Sfoglini make pasta by hand, employing nothing more than a large rolling pin called a mattarello and a large wooden board called a tagliere. Machines are never part of the process.  

In April 2023, I started a three-month tenure with Alessandra and her daughter Stefania, and my time with them was the most important part of my career thus far.  

On day one, I found myself in one of the best pasta laboratori in the world, and from the start it was impressed upon me that the tradition behind foods must always be honoured, with zero exceptions, zero cutting corners, zero room for bull shit. 

To Alessandra and Stefania Spisni, I say thank you with all my heart for teaching me this traditional skill: how things are made, why they are made that way, and the tradition that goes into dishes is something I was always have with me. Becoming a professional Sfoglino under the training of these two will guide me for the rest of my career.