About Tempest

"Often hailed as 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).  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”. The decision to return to Nova Scotia has ultimately been the best decision he and his family have made. Michael is a director of  Slow Food Canada.  He is a “Maitre Rotisseur” of the Chaine des Rotisseurs and a member of the NS Association of Chefs and Cooks. He also Vice President of the Restaurant Association of Nova Scotia (RANS), sits on the Board of Taste of Nova Scotia and is a co-founder of the Valley Pumpkin Festival.  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 Maritime Noon on CBC Radio, has been seen on  Global Noon, Living Halifax, Breakfast Television and Opening Soon and for four years was the food editor of Lifestyle Maritimes Magazine.

Michael's first cookbook, ATLANTIC SEAFOOD, from Nimbus Publishing, is now 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 cook Greg Clancy, Brit Podilinsky, Joseph Innocent, Jeremey Cross and Scott Leuwin. Maitre d' Cory Kent and Lead Server Sara Munro head the Front of House team.

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