Hidden in plain sight is Halifax's own slice of Paris. You'll know you've arrived when you're walking down Gottingen Street and you come across a bright blue building with meat hanging, mushrooms drying, and herbs soaking up the sun in the window. Since 2010, Ratinaud has been providing the residents of the North End with quality cured meat, specialty cheeses, housemade preserves, and much much more. I was there to chat with Frédéric Tandy, Ratinauds owner, operator, and CCO (Chief Charcuterie Officer), who embodies the very essence of this blog - someone who chose to come to Atlantic Canada, build a life here, and use their talents to expose the community to something it didn't have before. These are the people, businesses, and products that contribute to the region's vitality. I arrived just as it was starting to snow before a winter storm, with the shop being the perfect cozy space to hunker down in for the morning. The timing also worked well, as Frédéric lives in the countryside and was understandably eager to get home before the roads froze over.

I pulled up and was met by Frédéric who was already outside chatting with a delivery driver. As I walked in I was greeted by the sound of crostini being put through the slicer, and the smell of fresh bread. As I was guided down to the lunch counter, I noticed the extensive array of items I had no idea you could get anywhere in Halifax - from cockles in brine, to fine gherkins, to specialty bottles of wine next to bags of black truffle chips to accompany. When I sat down on the high-top bar stools that line the lunch bar, I had to wait while Frédéric finished chopping up tarragon, an ingredient he thinks isn’t used enough, in large part due to its lack of availability at traditional grocery stores. I watched as he promptly whisked it into their homemade mayonnaise for the sandwich service, which looked exactly how real mayo should, yellowish and peppery. After he spatula-ed it into a deli container, we got to talking.

At age 15, Frédéric enrolled in culinary school. I was floored that this option was available to students at that age, but makes sense given … Europe Core. Having discovered early on what he wanted to do, he eventually came over from Limoges, a mid-sized city in France, to cook at Cape Breton's Keltic Lodge. This was originally a summer gig, and like a true snowbird, when winter rolled in, he rolled out. Our winters however did not outweigh the region's appeal or stop Frédéric from coming back full-time. When he settled into Halifax permanently, he began as a line cook at Bish cuisine, which was located where the Bicycle Thief now resides, though this was far from the end of his culinary journey. Starting young was important to Frédéric, allowing him to keep up with the physical and mental stamina required to undertake his real goal of owning a small business. His original intent was his own French bistro, but he soon realized the reality of small business financing. Through some creative thinking, he came up with a way to accomplish his goals while not sacrificing any of the core aims of the business - a specialty shop featuring his own products. From humble beginnings at local farmers markets to their original location across the street where Field Guide currently sits and he worked solo for two years, to the 2015 opening of their current location, Ratinaud has grown into an institution, now with four additional staff members and a dedicated customer base.

I asked Frédéric what he thought Ratinaud brings to the North End community that it would otherwise go without (besides of course the 70 different types of cheeses they stock). He told me it’s all about high-quality products, supporting local vendors, fostering a local food system, and introducing the world to the wonders of French cooking. Relatedly, with no one else doing charcuterie in the city at the time, Frédéric pointed to travelers who go abroad (in this case to France), fall in love with the finer things (in this case meats and cheeses), and come home with the desire to keep this habit up but no ability to. This is exactly what I experienced with pastel de natas from Portugal, so this business case really resonated with me. Now naturally, there was a personal element to the whole concept as well, as there often is when someone makes the jump into starting a business. He missed the quality cheeses of home and lamented the only options for grocery store cheese being white or marble. If this was a gap he noticed, surely it was something the broader desire was there for. He was right.

A key first challenge for the business was getting the word out, and introducing the city to the beauty of charcuterie well before it took Instagram by storm, in a place few knew what it was. Frédérics trick: word of mouth. Building a local cult following and a loyal group of Haligonians who understand the importance of fresh ingredients and will, in turn, share that love with their network, getting the ball rolling and rolling. This fosters a long-term sense of community, and though may take a longer time than running social media ads or doing gimmicks, it is well worth it both for both business and integrating yourself into the locale. It's a method that's still attracting new intrigued customers - many of whom I watched trickle in and out all morning in rotation to grab their weekend provisions and check the place out for themselves.

When it comes to awareness - it’s not about judgment but teaching, and exposing more and more people to quality food. When asked how to explain charcuterie to an audience unfamiliar with it, Frédéric used the example of bacon, which is also a form of charcuterie. Just because a food sounds foreign doesn’t mean it is, and every culture has its own adopted versions. I am now recognizing after typing this paragraph that I should have opened with an explanation. SO charcuterie is best explained as a practice of preparing meats and was traditionally used as a preserving technique before the days of refrigeration, and, when using the whole animal was an important practice. Its practitioners I.E Frédéric are known as Charcutier’s, and its terminology comes from the French words for “chair” which means “flesh,” and “cuit” which means “cooked”. It is best known in the modern world for being paired with various kinds of cheese, preserves, crackers, and pickled vegetables, combining sweet and savory ingredients to compliment the meat, often placed on a board or grazing plate. In terms of Ratinaud, this means yes they stock the traditional cured meats such as salami, prosciutto, and sausage, but also pâtés which are meat ground into savory spreads or loaves that pair well with crackers, and rillettes, which are similar but slightly courser and usually cooked in its own fat as opposed to having it added after. Frédéric works to keep their pantry stocked and rotated with new and exciting items, including recently - black garlic, which has twice as many antioxidants as white garlic and is made by heating the bulbs over a number of weeks in a humid environment, caramelizing and darkening them.

As they evolved, Ratinaud expanded its repertoire of offerings, one of which being customized charcuterie boards for events that you can preorder for any number of people. You just call up the store, and they will walk you through your options, and voila you have a quality catering option even down to the board itself, which you just return afterward. Around Christmas time they do tourtières, which at Ratinaud are more French than Quebec or Acadian style, and are uniquely similar to a galette. These 100% butter crust pies are filled with shredded pork and duck, and combined with vegetables such as leeks, white wine, and spices. Last Christmas they pumped out a whopping 220 of them. They also sell entire rotisserie chickens, sourced from Windy View Farm in Kingston Nova Scotia, as well as foie gras, and aged hams. Looking for a thoughtful gift? They frequently do charcuterie box sets centered around key holidays including Christmas and valentines.

In many ways, Frédérics French bistro aspirations materialized, with Ratinauds meats being used in a number of local restos including the sausage in Bliss Caffeine Bars Bliss Brekky, as well as Ostrich Club, the Muir Hotel, Drift, and the newly opened Creme Cafe in the Cunard Building. Close to my homeland, they provide meats to Brook Village Grocery in Cape Breton, and they're also stocked in Arthur’s Urban Market or Pete's Frootique if you’re closer to downtown Halifax and want to treat yourself to a nice wine and cheese girl dinner after a long day.

Now, let's talk lunch. Last year, Ratinaud began its lunch service, which Frédéric runs solo on select days (Thursday, Friday, and Saturday) from 11:30am-3pm. Everything is housemade, including the focaccia bread which comes in sandwich size and loaf size for purchase. The menu focuses on soups, sandwiches, and in true French fashion, a designated by-the-glass wine menu, with most of the sandwiches intentionally featuring only three ingredients to keep things unpretentious yet elevated. The greens are even locally sourced - from Warehouse Market just up the street. Though seasonal ingredients are commonly reserved for high-end restaurants, Frédéric and his talented staff bring this seeming luxury to a comfortable, classic, lunch environment, for all to enjoy. Some of the standout features are the roasted chicken sandwich with tarragon mayo, greens pickles, and chicken salad, as well as the raclette which you may have seen making the rounds on social media recently. It’s melted cheese scraped onto a fresh baguette with mustard, pickles, and thinly sliced ham. The grilled cheese also caught my eye, though Frédéric says the brisket is his personal fav. Yanno what, we're just gonna go ahead and get one of everything.

One thing that stuck out to me about the lunch service was the emphasis on simple ingredients done right, and that's exactly what the menu embodies. Frédéric described going into cooking when you don't have the bases down as “trying to build a house with no nails”. When the ingredients aren't good you have to overcompensate by making the dish too complex, adding too many ingredients/flavours, or resorting to what is commonly referred to by @earlypete as stunt food. “If you don’t start with good ingredients, it doesn’t matter how good you are”. I asked if social media played a part in this, and there was a rise in content where poor food quality is hidden under boatloads of sauces, 20 burger patties, and layers of deep-fried crust (which I think it definitely does). Frédéric said yes absolutely, but social media can also be used for good and is another way to expose those who wouldn’t otherwise see new things to them.

If the goal was simple but delicious, that's exactly what I got. My meal was flavourful yet refined, fatty yet not greasy, and the portions were well worth the price but not ridiculous overkill. It's not a sandwich without chips, and I'm no culinary expert BUT if there's one thing I know my way around it's a chip. Frédéric handed me a heaping mound of fresh, expertly salted, crispy home-cut potato chips, which for the price of $3 beats out a bag of Miss Vickys any day (don't worry I still love you Miss Vickys). IMO they were a real highlight of the visit and a perfect pairing for what came next: the porchetta sandwich. I watched the sandwich being made, beginning with a cut of fresh pork being placed in the oven and a healthy dose of pesto being spread onto the oven-toasted foccacia. Despite seeing the process, I was somehow still in awe when it got handed to me. It was piled high and had the perfect ratio of meat, bread, and vegetables which I was genuinely reluctant to eat due to how pretty it was. There aren't many places you can sit at a counter, watch your lunch get made from top to bottom in front of you, and ask questions about its origins. This is what I believe to be Ratinaud’s lunch service's most unique factor. Not only is it a culinary experience, but a visual one, giving you a snapshot into French cooking and a chance to understand your meal in great depth.

As Ratinaud hits its 10-year anniversary at 2157 Gottingen, I asked what's next for the business. Turns out I came to them on a good week, because they just re-signed their lease for another 10 years, and are looking forward to “keeping doing what they've been doing”. That, and spending the summer foraging for mushrooms as last summer was too dry for them. Like a good entrepreneur, Frédéric likes to remain creative and spontaneous, meaning there’s no way to say for sure what ideas are down the pipeline, but no matter what, it comes with the desire to introduce more Nova Scotians to the wild world of charcuterie and a strong base in local, quality food.

On my way out, I checked out the shop in detail and perused the fridges, which are filled with local classics such as Goodmore Kombucha, and a selection of homemade soups, quiches, pot pies, chutneys, mustards, jams, milk, and eggs, cookie doughs, duck fat, olives, okay I’m out of breath. Despite my best efforts, Frédéric would not let me pay. In lieu of this, I decided to grab some items on the way out, including a jar of their infamous onion jam, and a loaf of their fresh baguette which did not last two days in my house (I live alone, and seriously get the onion jam).

And as an endnote, if you're looking for a way to romanticize your life in Halifax and feel Parisian for a hot minute, walking out of a charcuterie shop with a baguette sticking out of your tote bag is one of the best ways to do it. I will be making this a weekly outing.

From Limoges to Gottingen Street, The Ratinaud Story

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