Gold Winner Chives Canadian Bistro

Silver Winner The Wooden Monkey, Halifax

Bronze Winner Fid Resto

Chef Craig Flinn says, in the 12 years Chives has been open, he has “been known to work very closely with local farmers, fishers and food producers in Nova Scotia.” And the interest in local food has only increased over those years, translating to success for the restaurant. “We’re local 95 percent of the time. We did the math and, if you exclude olive oil and lemons, we are about 97 percent local,” he adds. “We spend about $350,000 per year on food, and almost all of it ends up in Nova Scotia.” Those are numbers you can’t deny. Flinn says the best part about cooking with fresh, local ingredients is that you don’t have to manipulate them very much, allowing natural flavours to shine through.