Restaurateurs serve up slice of history in Halifax’s north end

Independent restaurateurs Myles Baldwin and Tyson McDow were determined to give an old structure a new lease on life in Halifax’s north end - and that’s exactly what they were able to achieve with The Narrows Public House.

“We lived in the community so we were looking for buildings in the area,” explained Baldwin. “It was at a time when we saw a lot of old homes in the north end being demolished.”

While the partners considered other locations, the character and history of the Victorian-era home at 2720 Gottingen Street sealed the deal - and inspired a deeper commitment.

“The more the community got excited about it, the more we were motivated to bring it to fruition for them,” said McDow.

What the co-owners, who worked in Halifax’s restaurant scene, didn’t bargain for was how long the project would take from start to finish.

“We realized pretty quickly it wasn’t going to be as easy as we once thought,” said McDow with a laugh.

It would take the better part of seven years to finally make their dream a reality.

At one point, Baldwin, McDow and their families all lived in the home to make it financially viable.

“We’d work basically two jobs,” Baldwin said. “During the day we would do restoration work because the house was in bad shape. At night, we’d work our regular jobs and we’d scrape our money together just to be able to pay to restore the home.”

“Every Christmas would roll around and we’d say this was the last one we’d spend living in the home,” said McDow. “Then there would always be another [Christmas] after that.”

Once the pair was finally granted their heritage designation, they were able to move forward with the renovations, which largely included restoring the original features of the circa-1896 home.

“People were very quick to thank us ‘young people’, as they called us, for taking an interest in heritage,” said Baldwin.

Being able to share the story behind each pillar and beam in their new 80-seat space makes it all worthwhile.

They were officially able to open the doors to the restaurant earlier this year with help from community partners after a successful kickstarter campaign.

“No matter what happens moving forward, we were able to designate this home a heritage property so it will always be protected,” McDow said.

As a regionally focused restaurant with an emphasis on local, they hope to serve and be the pillar of their community for many generations to come.