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Pink is Having a Moment

Pink is having a moment.

Buttermilk Butter

Not bubblegum pink, or hot pink spandex. I’m talking about a soft pink, the pink of an apple blossom, or a pale pink linen sofa, or slivers of pickled red onion. This tone has no boundaries. It pops up in food, decor and nature right about now to serve one simple purpose: to breathe life into neutrals. A grey spring day. A dull sitting room. A bowl of beige food, its flavour betrayed by its colour.

We eat with our eyes. Pink pulls you in, then you can get on with the goodness that lies beneath.

I hated pink when I was little. When I was four my mother decided, after countless fights over clothes in the morning, that what I wore wasn’t worth fighting over. She said goodbye to my older sister’s feminine hand-me-downs, and hello to brown velour. Beige hush puppies. A chocolate brown track suit. And the best – a coffee coloured ski jacket with matching pants. I knew exactly what I wanted to wear and pink was NOT on my colour wheel.

But I was a kid who spent all day outside. I imagine I had the pink glow – albeit scruffy – of a feral tomboy. Perhaps it added a little je ne sais quoi to my brown ensembles.

The Bite House understands the power of pink.

It’s a treasure of a restaurant tucked in the woods just outside of Baddeck, NS. I heard about this little place last fall from my neighbour Darcy. I was outside raking leaves when he walked by, all a-glow. “Have you been to The Bite House?” he gushed. “It serves just 12 people a night, three nights a week. $65 a person, five courses. The meal begins at 6:30pm, but it really starts when you head up the winding road to get there…Chef Bryan cooks alone in his kitchen. It’s like you’re a guest in his house. The food is beautiful.” I put away the rake and cracked open my laptop.

Bryan Picard grew up in a French-speaking village in rural New Brunswick. Greens and roots were grown in the backyard. Fish and game were brought home by his father. After a number of years cooking in Montreal, Denmark and Sweden, he’s back in the Maritimes, and even more appreciative of what the countryside has to offer — amazing food, lush environs, and a sense of community.
We ate there last weekend. And yes it was beautiful. And delicious. And intimate. And so very pretty. Pretty in Pink.
Black Plate, Scallops, Pink Apple, sunflower sprouts Pork, pickled blueberries, pink Sourkraut, sunflower sprouts

Scallops are beige. Thin strips of tender pork – they’re beige. Delicious, yes, but beige. Even buttermilk butter, in all its creamy glory, can get lost in the shuffle. But add a pop of pink – sauerkraut, pickled cubed apples, an edible blossom – and suddenly the food is softer. Gentler. Inviting.

So go outside and put some pink in your cheeks. Grow radish sprouts. Thinly slice radishes and dance them over salads. Even the best things in life are even better with a touch of pink.

ps – Most of the ceramics at The Bite House were made by Melody Hillman Ceramics, here in Nova Scotia. I’ve been slowly collecting… here’s my latest acquisition.