The Osney Café
The Osney Café
Week-long Brunching on Charles Street
BY LAURA OAKLEY
PHOTOS MICHELLE DOUCETTE
At the corner of Agricola and Charles Streets is a building of many textures, colours and themes. Named Creative Crossing, this complex is a restored circa-1898 industrial warehouse brought to life 18 years ago by a combination of businesses, artists’ studios and galleries—developed by its owners to be an art, culture and retail hub. Most Haligonians recognize the street-level, Agricola-facing side of the complex, which houses The Stillwell Freehouse, Local Source Market and EnVie A Vegan Kitchen. The entrances to the latter two businesses feature bright mustard yellow wood-cladding. The yellow siding extends around the corner to Charles Street, enveloping the popular vegan restaurant, before transitioning to the classic red brick portion that’s now a creamy white. That’s where you’ll find the entrance to The Osney Café & Social.
Yvonne Scobbie and Graham Wallace opened their cozy little café during a particularly challenging time for the hospitality industry in December 2020, restricted to a takeout-only model right away. “We were pretty well received, still, even with the restrictions that were in place. Everyone was so ready to support small business, so it was really awesome,” says Scobbie. The main entrance on Charles Street leads into the part of the café where you’ll find the kitchen, ordering counter and a little bit of seating. The 18-foot high ceilings give breathability to the relatively small square footage; a collection of gallery-wall art in mixed-style frames and a cluster of woven baskets adorn the sage-green walls. Restored hardwood floors and a mix of wooden tables, chairs and benches add to the comfortable-yet-eclectic charm.
Graham Wallace and Yvonne Scobbie
An additional seating area is accessible through a doorway, where the complex connects the various entities through back hallways and staircases. A couple of walls made from glass-paned vintage windows give this seating area enough of a barrier to feel like its own space. A window, lined with potted plants and hanging bird statues, faces Charles Street next to an additional entrance to the building. It’s an interesting place.
On the wall behind the counter hangs several chalkboards with menus to peruse, and a pastry case showcases freshly baked brownies, cookies and muffins. Look to your left, and you can see Wallace cooking up a storm with his one culinary teammate, Tash. “It used to be just Graham and myself,” says Scobbie. Now, they have Andrew to help with front-of-house and Tash in the kitchen. “It’s just the four of us. Very small team. It’s really nice, everyone knows each other’s rhythm and works well together, and it makes it really easy.” The food menu has about ten items, plus there is always a monthly feature. Drinks include the expected espresso-based beverages, drip coffee, teas and steamers, and a handful of cold bottles and cans.
“Sandwiches are our main focus. I’ve always been a fan of sandwiches, especially grilled sandwiches or hot sandwiches,” says Wallace. Currently, over half the menu is sandwiches, but not all are of the breakfast variety. The Osney is open bright and early every day at 8 a.m. but serves a busy lunch crowd before closing at 3 p.m. So, aside from the mandatory breakfast sandwich, quiche and bagels, there’s also a pulled chicken club, bulgogi beef sandwich and thoughtful vegetarian selections like cauliflower-kale caesar wrap with chickpeas and a mushroom melt. “There are so many cafés and so many lunch spots in Halifax, so we wanted to stand out in a way,” says Scobbie. “I think we’ve achieved that for sure. We’ve got a lot of really great feedback from everyone. Especially with our breakfast sandwich, it’s by far the most complimented.”
I get to The Osney early, ready to try the famed breakfast sandwich and its bagel and lox. But it smells like the butterscotch-Skor muffins just came out of the oven, so I grab a latte and try a muffin, too. (I had no choice.) The coffee is excellent. The espresso beans come from the local roaster Port City Coffee. After the first bites of the breakfast sandwich, I can understand why it has a following. Breakfast sandwiches don't need to be complicated—they need to be skillfully made with delicious, quality ingredients, perfectly cooked eggs, and good bread (or bun). In this case, Wallace checks all the boxes. He uses an East Coast Bakery challah bun, about which he humbly says: “I can’t really take any credit for the breakfast sandwich because the buns are what make it.”
It is a good bun. But it's Wallace frying the two perfect eggs and adding sharp Cheddar, beautiful greens, crispy Brothers bacon, sliced avocado and chilli-garlic aioli. The bacon and avocado are optional add-ons—and they’re worth it. Vegetarians need not worry because sautéed mushrooms are also an option. Wallace serves mine with beautiful, crispy hashbrowns, with more aioli for dipping. (Vegan aioli is also available.)
Bagel and lox is probably my number one favourite breakfast dish. I like to keep it simple early in the day. Wallace’s version uses a toasted East Coast Bakery poppyseed bagel topped with cream cheese, Nova Lox smoked (sustainable) salmon from Afishionado, thinly sliced red onion, capers and fresh dill—it’s killer. It’s exactly how I like it, and I could eat this every morning. The dressed greens are perfect with segments of clementine, crumbled feta and sliced toasted almonds—a colourful and just plain delicious breakfast.
“The name The Osney comes from where I was born in England. A little island in the Thames River,” says Wallace, “I also proposed to Yvonne there.” Wallace lived his early childhood in Europe before moving to Halifax when he was seven. He did the culinary program at Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC), then worked as a chef in England before returning to Halifax to switch things up and work a few front-of-house positions before going to Dalhousie to obtain a management degree, rounding out his experience and education to one day own his own business.
“I always wanted to do my own thing,” says Wallace. He met Scobbie in 2017 when she moved to Halifax from Ontario, where she had worked mainly in retail for about a decade. After the move, Scobbie worked in cafés around Halifax and Dartmouth for a couple of years, then in late 2019, the plans were in motion for the couple to open a business together. They signed a lease a few months before the pandemic started. “If you can get through that as a small business I think you can get through anything,” says Wallace.
The couple now enjoys a steady business, bolstered by the people who live and work in the neighbourhood. They’ve earned their success through friendly service and making delicious food. The Osney is open Tuesday through Saturday at 5783 Charles Street.
