About Tempest

"...the Best Restaurant in Nova Scotia..."- Toronto Star,  July 2008

Tempest is a fine dining 70 seat restaurant owned and operated by Chef Michael Howell and wife Mary Harwell. We have established a network of trust among local purveyors, winemakers, growers, fishmongers and farmers to ensure we are sourcing the freshest possible ingredients to present for our customers. 80% of everything we put on a plate is guaranteed to be from Nova Scotia.

A love of travel and memories evoked by food inspire Chef Howell's cuisine.  A focus on quality regional ingredients motivates his cooking. A commitment to using only sustainably harvested or farmed seafood  has been adopted as has a passion to support Annapolis Valley producers above all others. Chef Howell is the Leader of Slow Food Nova Scotia

Chef Howell was raised in Chester, Nova Scotia and returned to his native soil after 20 years of travel and life around the globe. An honours graduate of the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago, Michael first made his mark at the Mobil five-star Everest Room in Chicago, IL.  Other notable positions have included Carol’s Café (Staten Island, NY), The Whitney Mansion (Detroit, MI) Le Provencal and Urban Catering (Toronto, ON) and  Scandia Restaurant (Best of Boston-North Shore) in Newburyport, MA.  From 1999-2002 he was Executive Chef of the Green Turtle Club in Abaco, Bahamas. In 2000, the Nassau Wine and Food Society dubbed Michael “The Best Chef in the Bahamas”. Michael is the leader of Slow Food Nova Scotia and a director of  Slow Food Canada. He is the current President of  RANS (Restaurant Association of NS).  He is also a “Maitre Rotisseur” of the Chaine des Rotisseurs and a member of the NS Association of Chefs and Cooks.  Michael is Secretary on the Board of Taste of Nova Scotia,  is a co-founder of the Valley Pumpkin Festival and the Organizing Director of the Slow Motion Food Film Fest.  Michael is a partner in CONTEMPORAL Productions, a new video production company. Articles about Michael and his cuisine have been published internationally in dozens of magazines and cookbooks. He is a regular on CTV's Breakfast Television, has been heard on CBC Radio's Maritime Noon, seen on  Global Noon, Living Halifax,  and The Food Network's' Opening Soon and for four years was the food editor of Lifestyle Maritimes Magazine.

Michael's first cookbook, ATLANTIC SEAFOOD, from Nimbus Publishing, is available at Tempest, Box of Delights Bookstore (Wolfville), Atlantic News (Halifax), and most major regional book stores.

Chef Howell’s wife and partner in business is Mary Harwell.  Prior to opening Tempest, Mary was Stage Manager on the Tony Award-winning Fosse on Broadway and spent six years working with Donny Osmond as stage manager on the North American tour of Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and years more working for the Canadian Opera Company.   Mary and Michael have two children, Burton and Olivia.

The Culinary staff at Tempest is rounded out by first cooks Gabriel Crocker, Heather Dickison, with support from Victor Chow,  Carley Davis, JR Murphy, Nikki Kelly, Eliot Read, George St Amour and new Chef Tournant Dave Smart.

Maitre d' Cory Kent, Janice Wells and  Liisa Sellors head the Front of House team. Sara Munro is on Maternity leave

Tempest suffered a devastating fire in October 2006 and closed for seven months to rebuild.  Our post-fire  renovation was designed by architect David Ripley (Beacon Hill Design) and contracting by Arnold Keddy Ltd