St. John's : Food & Drink
'Waiter, I'll Have The Flipper Pie, Please'
By Cinda Chavich
Jul 30, 2008

Newfoundland’s unique dialect is perhaps at its most colourful in the kitchen. From brewis and scrunchions to flippers and Screech, a day spent tromping around St. John’s reveals regional dishes and delicacies that tickle the taste buds and the tongue, especially if you come from away.

8 a.m.

Start your day at the historic Rendell-Shea Manor ( 82 Cochrane St.; rendellshea.com), a swanky B&B across from Government House, with fluffy pancakes smothered in partridgeberry syrup.

9 a.m.

To find out what’s (and who’s) up, head downtown to Auntie Crae’s ( 272 Water St.; auntiecraes.com) for a cuppa. This former hardware store has been recast as a food shop/bakery, selling things like homemade wild blueberry or bakeapple jam and bottled Iceberg Water (yes, really).

10 a.m.

Take a run up to Bidgood’s ( Main Highway 10, The Goulds; bidgoods.ca), a supermarket in the southern suburbs with edible Newfoundland oddities in spades. There are buckets of salted navel beef, bottled moose meat (preserved in jars for shelf storage), sides of salt cod (stiff as planks) and their tongues, too. Hit the deli for some authentic Newfoundland takeaway—pea soup, flipper pies and tea buns (biscuits to tourists).

11 a.m.

There’s even more Newfoundland scoff at family-run Belbin’s Grocery ( 85 Quidi Vidi Rd.; 709-576-7640). Heat-and-eat seal flipper or rabbit pies are in the freezer, next to the curries. You can also buy local Purity syrups (mixed with soda, this is the local soft drink) or rock-like cakes of Purity hard bread—the kind sailors serve with salted fish or molasses on long sea voyages. Get your seal flippers ($20 per dozen), local and organic vegetables (in season) and gourmet imports from satay sauce to vegetarian haggis in a tin.

Noon

A hearty traditional lunch might be cod fish and chips at Ches’s ( 9 Freshwater Rd.; chessfishandchips.ca), an institution since the ’50s. Or perhaps fish and brewis—pronounced “bruise,” a much-loved Maritime concoction of boiled sailor’s hard tack bread and salted cod—at Velma’s ( 264 Water St.; 709-576-2264). But the real local delicacy is cod tongues. Get a plate piled high with the chewy, gelatinous morsels at the Fairmont Newfoundland ( 115 Cavendish Sq.; 709-726-4980), deep-fried and smothered in scrunchions—crispy bits of rendered pork fat.

1 p.m.

Chef Bob Arniel has turned his restored 1877 home into a cozy cooking school, Chef To Go ( 2 Barnes Rd.; cheftogo.org), where he uses local ingredients in creative recipes like coldwater shrimp napoleons and bakeapple crème brûlée. But he’ll also teach you to prepare traditional foods like cod tongues. Spend the afternoon learning to cook with Bob, then sit down and sample your work—curried caribou samosas, wild berry pudding with Screech sauce, and other modern regional treats.

4 p.m.

Take a jaunt to the Quidi Vidi Brewery ( 35 Barrows Rd.; icebergbeer.com) for a quick $5 tour and tasting of the 1892 Traditional Ale, Honey Brown, Eric’s Red and the popular QV.

7 p.m.

Creative chefs are revitalizing local ingredients and traditions in St. John’s. At Bianca’s ( 171 Water St.; 709-726-9016; biancas.net), try the grilled pepper-scented scallops with avocado and almond étuvée, or there’s filet of caribou with sun-dried blueberries, too. Cosmopolitan Aqua ( 310 Water St.; 709-576-2782) serves grilled Labrador caribou with blue cheese, potato, carmelized onions, mushrooms and wilted spinach. But chef Brian Abbott’s award-winning market cuisine at Restaurant 21 ( 21 Queen’s Rd.; 709-576-2112) may be the best finish to a local food tour. From seared caribou medallions with smoked partidgeberry and molasses glaze to the local organic vegetables that go into his smoked cod chowder, Abbott strives to create contemporary dishes based on classic combinations.

10 p.m.

The Ship Inn ( 265 Duckworth St.; 709-753-3870) attracts the local literati—from satirist Rick Mercer to poet George Murray—with its cozy, bohemian atmosphere and love of all things local. Step inside for a nightcap of locally aged Newman’s Port. If you’re still up for a scuff, head to George Street, where music, dancing and saucy crowds spill between some three-dozen taverns and clubs.

2 a.m.

Carry on with your new friends to a kitchen party. If you’re still standing on Sunday morning, the Celtic Hearth restaurant ( attached to Birdie Molloy’s Pub; 298 Water St.; 709-576-2880) is open all day and serves breakfast from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. You could also start all over again with another Screech on the rocks. If you’re lucky, someone might take you home for the ultimate salty cure-all: a Sunday Jigg’s dinner of boiled navel beef and cabbage. Um… yum?