‘Good for the heart’ A new cafe in Halifax Central Library aims to give back (3 photos)

A new cafe with a goal of giving back to the community has opened in the heart of Halifax. 

The Ampersand Cafe opened in the Halifax Public Library on June 13 with a unique business idea – creating employment and training opportunities for the public. 

The coffee shop is owned by Metroworks, a non-profit social enterprise with the goal of creating training programs for people looking to learn and work in different trades. 

“Employees are members of a program, and this business gives them the opportunity to get more real-world training,” said Dave Rideout, president and CEO of Metroworks. 

“We wanted to create businesses designed to provide a service and give back,” he said. 

 Metroworks, which formed in 1977, offers several training programs, ranging from gardening and culinary courses to bar training. 

The Ampersand Cafe will give people enrolled in these programs a chance to get on-the-job training needed to enter the workforce. 

“We try to help individuals who are very socially or economically disadvantaged,” Rideout said. 

“It’s about putting money back into your community through labour and experience.” 

As far as the location, the library was a no-brainer, as they had worked together in the past providing food service for patrons, said Rideout.  

 “(The Halifax Central Library)is a bit of a showcase building, and they’ve always had a strong interest in supporting the community,” he said. 

“It’s not just a cafe, it’s also a licensed training facility and it’s a social enterprise and it’s providing all of these services back to your community.” 

That’s where the ampersand name came from, he added.  

“It became all of these ‘ands’, so we felt the ampersand really fit well into the community.” 

Making sure the product was high quality yet affordable was a must, said Rob MacIsaac, head chef at the cafe. 

“We wanted to make it fresh and healthy but we didn’t price it like that,” said MacIsaac.

“We’re in the seven-to-nine dollar range for a sandwich or salad, whereas the average would be 10 to 15 dollars on the street.” 

Metroworks makes a strong effort to source as many of their products locally as possible, MacIsaac added. 

“We have a growing operation within our operation. We have two gardens here in the city, and as much as we possibly can, we use the greens from our gardens.” 

Any food that isn’t sold after three days gets dropped off to the community fridge on Spring Garden Road. 

“Nothing lasts there. I’m there every second day throwing stuff in there. The stuff we’re putting in there is all getting absorbed. It’s a good thing for everyone,” MacIsaac said. 

The cafe’s beans are supplied by Nova Coffee in Kentville. Having high quality coffee at an affordable price was also very important, he said. 

“We did two dollar coffee for a reason. We’re not trying to rip people off. If someone’s having a bad day, we give you a cup of coffee.”

That being said, no expense was spared to ensure the cafe was fit with the best equipment, said MacIsaac. 

“We spent a fair bit of money to make sure the quality was good,” he said.

A lot of care was taken to make sure the business would not feel corporate, MacIsaac said.

“We don’t have to make the kind of money corporate places do. We’re not corporate driven. It’s more about spreading the love and we always try to put humanity first.” 

MacIsaac said he feels very lucky to be involved in a food service project that focuses on giving back to the community. 

“It’s a very cool project to be a part of,”’ he said. 

“It’s good for the heart.”