Bessie North House
Bessie North House
WHERE EVERY DISH IS A MASTERPIECE
BY LOLA AUGUSTINE BROWN
PHOTOS MICHELLE DOUCETTE
For chef Dave Smart, who owns Bessie North House with his wife Susan Meldrum, every dish he puts out is a chance to practice his passion and artistry with food. Alone in his kitchen, preparing seven exquisite courses for the twelve lucky diners sitting in his living room, he invents new ways to showcase whatever local produce he has accessed that day.
One of his most talked-about dishes is called “Corn corn corn.” The dish consisted of agnolotti stuffed with polenta, corn milk, and parmesan served with butter-basted corn and a corn cream sauce topped with crumbled feta, cilantro oil, chipotle powder and chives. “It was the familiar flavour of corn punching you in the face but with a delightful cream sauce,” Smart says.
Poached Halibut, Smoked Halibut Broth, Beech Mushrooms, Daikon, Scallions, and Ginger Oil
For a recent halibut dish, Smart cured the fish bones, and then hot smoked them with applewood to make dashi (umami stock base traditionally used in Japanese cuisine). “Then I clarified it so that it was crystal clear like a consommé and gently poached lightly cured halibut at a low temperature so that the fish is moist and creamy, then served it with baby mushrooms, daikon, and ginger oil,” Smart says, “It was really surprising, because usually when you smoke fish, it toughens it up, but I was able to get the flavour of the smoke without affecting the texture of the fish. That dish landed very well.”
Fun, playful, and engaging are words that Smart uses to describe his food, including a focus on vegetable-based desserts. “I made this pea pannacotta that I served with pea flowers, julienned snow peas, and crumbled feta,” he says, “And once I served parsnip ice cream. I love surprising people, and when you give people food out of context of who it is usually served, it surprises them,” Smart says, “Of course, you can’t push it too far.”
Sounds amazing, right? It is, truly. Sorry to say, however, you likely won’t find out this year because there’s very little chance of you scoring a table. “We opened bookings for the season on January 10th at 10 am. Between 10:00 and 10:01 am, I received over 500 emails,” says Meldrum. There is a waitlist you can ask to go on, but it is long, and your chances of getting in are slim.
I’m sure you have questions. Like why would anyone want to operate a restaurant that seats so few, or what is it that makes the experience so exquisite that there is such a ridiculously long waitlist? Hold fast, dear reader, let us we’ll explain.
Bessie North House
Starting with a bang
Before Bessie North House started, Smart already had a dedicated following. Long after he had sold his Wolfville restaurant Front and Central and the couple had moved to Halifax—with Smart working in engineering and Meldrum at Bishop’s Cellars—people kept asking when he would be cooking again. All the while, the couple was searching for the perfect location to start their next restaurant adventure.
“As soon as we found the house, we let people know and ran a Kickstarter campaign to fund the project, which was wildly successful. We raised double the amount we had asked for in twelve days; it was crazy,” explains Meldrum, “We already had a solid fan base and were booking out two months in advance by the time we opened in June 2018.”
Cured & Torched Halibut with Horseradish Buttermilk Sauce
Quality over quantity
Smart came late to a culinary career, originally graduating from university as an engineer and working in the field before following his passion for food and training at the Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa Culinary Arts Institute. This mixed background may help with the vision and execution of a business model that other restauranteurs might see as entirely bonkers.
“One of the things that makes this business model work really well for us is that it's very contained. We have no staff. It's in our house. So there's minimal overhead,” Smart explains, “Front and Central was a fantastic opportunity for me. Running a large a la carte restaurant is a challenge; everybody knows that, and with my engineering background, I did spend a lot of time looking at the numbers and freaking out my accountant by making changes that he thought were silly ideas but actually made more money in the end. That experience built the foundation for this business in terms of how it should be structured and how big it needed to be.”
Shiitake & Goat Cheese Tortellini, Ramp Cream, Sautéed Kale, Toasted Hazelnuts
A typical response the couple gets from people is that they need to hire more people and have more seats if they are that busy. “If we do that, the model falls apart. There’s a sweet spot right now: I can consistently put out twelve plates of food, and Susan can manage twelve diners. If there’s more than that, the quality drops, and we’re not delivering on our promise,” Smart says, “From an engineering perspective, that model and philosophy is very process orientated.”
Meldrum’s entire career has been in the service industry, though she has a degree in Psychology from Saint Mary's. “I started serving in university, like most people, but then realized that I loved it and didn’t want to do anything else. Being at work and building relationships with my regulars really filled my cup,” she explains, “And here there’s a more curated audience which makes it even more magical. The vibe in this room is amazing. I was running on a high when our guests left last night; everyone had a great time, they were loving the food, and we had fantastic conversations.”
Guinea Breast & Rillette, Celeriac Purée, Glazed Celeriac, and Mushroom Sauce
The couple met when Smart had just bought the Tempest in Wolfville and was turning it into Front and Central, and Meldrum was retail operations manager at Avondale Sky Winery. “He was taking his staff to wineries for tastings in order to build a new wine list, and I hadn’t received a request yet, so I called him out,” Meldrum says, “I said, hey, are we not good enough for you?” Smart invited Meldrum to bring wines over, then he’d invite her to the restaurant where he’d cook for her, then he’d cook for her at his house, and romance blossomed.
The idea for Bessie North House was brewing early in the couple’s relationship. “You get together, and you start talking about your hopes and dreams, and I’d always wanted to do something in a farmhouse with food and beverages and taking care of people, and Dave was like, wait a second, me too, I’d love to cook smaller,” Meldrum explains. The couple were friends with chef Brian Picard who was doing something very similar with his house/ restaurant Bite House in Cape Breton. “We just thought, hey, we could do this,” Meldrum says. And so they did, with two sold-out services a week—one seating at 6 pm on Friday and Saturday nights—that are bringing them a lot of job satisfaction and an enviable work-life balance.
Perfectly planned
It took three years for Meldrum and Smart to find the right location.“We knew what we wanted to do, but it had to be the right place to do it because we had to live there too. After looking at dozens of houses, Smart saw their dream house listed, and they booked a viewing. “We never even got out of the car before we had decided to sign the papers,” Smart says. “It was like the house reached out to us just when we were ready to give up and said, “You are home,” Meldrum says, “We were giddy with excitement.”
The house, and restaurant, therefore, are named for the much-loved local school teacher who lived her entire 88 years there. “To the locals, we’re just living in Bessie’s house,” Meldrum explains, “Everyone in this community was taught by her or looked after by her in some way, so they are very protective of this house.” The reception from locals has been warm and welcoming, which adds to the joy running this business brings the couple.
As for being based in the bountiful farming community of Canning, that has worked out just perfectly. Smart lets what the local farmers and producers have dictate his menu each week. “When something comes out of the ground, I’m using it. You’re eating what’s local and what’s exactly now,” Smart says. The remote location attracts diners from the valley and Halifax, but there are some regulars travel from all over New Brunswick and even Toronto.
Susan Meldrum and Dave Smart
For the love of it
Running Bessie North House has brought Meldrum and Smart such bliss, and they genuinely feel like they have carved out a way of life that enriches them in so many ways. They get to share their love of food and place with a select and intimate audience in the comfort of their living room, then retire upstairs once the service is over and done.
“Feeding somebody is such an intimate act. You’re not just nourishing their body; you want to nourish them on so many other levels. You don’t want to just send them away full, but that they laughed at a few jokes, or learned about a new vegetable or tried flavours and textures that they’d never tried before,” Meldrum says. “We always do a show and tell,” Smart continues, “And people are always welcome to come into the kitchen and talk with me about the food.”
Smart says that although it takes a lot of work to pull off two incredible meals a week solo, he is having a lot of fun. “It is so rewarding to have people tell us that their meal was amazing, that they’ve never tried these things before,” he says, “They tell us that we are doing beautiful things here, and really, that’s the goal.”
