(902) 661-9300

Birkinshaw's
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      • The Birkinshaw's Story
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Birkinshaw's

(902) 661-9300


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About Us

Birkinshaw's Owners Adrian & Eleanor

The Owners of Birkinshaw's: Adrian & Eleanor

Some of Adrian's earliest memories center around food, especially the smells and sights from the bakery and adjoining shop near his grandparents' house, and home made Yorkshire puddings and winter casseroles.


A keen home baker, encouraged by many trips over to France, it was only after a varied career in hospitality and retail that Adrian took the opportunity to fully indulge his lifelong passion. He trained with renowned French baker, Richard Bertinet, gaining a broad and exciting understanding of the methods for yeast-based recipes prevalent across France and Europe. Subsequently honing his skills and knowledge of English and continental baking and cooking, Adrian opened and spent several years running an Italian-inspired restaurant and pizzeria in the south west of England. For Adrian, Birkinshaw's represents a well overdue return to his passion for good food.   

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Favourite things to bake: Parmesan, Parma ham and Pine nut Whirls and French Epees.


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Even as a very little girl Eleanor loved to be allowed to help make the Sunday tea and progressed, by the age of eight or nine, to it being her 'job' at home. Warm scones and butter, savoury tarts and pastries and colourful salads and, joy of joys, cakes and fruit loaves of all kinds. Thus started a lifelong delight in the homely pleasures afforded by coffee, tea and cake in all its variations... 'elevenses', afternoon tea, childhood cocoa and supper...

In her adult years, after many years spent in a career in international marketing, Eleanor took cordon bleu training, taking the opportunity to further her interest in regional and European cakes, biscuits (cookies) and pastries.

 

Recent years have been spent running cooking classes for children and adults, hopefully passing on some of her own pleasure in beautifully presented dishes and treats.

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Favourite things to bake: Italian Peach and Almond Tart and Sussex Pond Pudding.

 

Birkinshaw's Owners Adrian & Eleanor
Birkinshaw's Owners Adrian & Eleanor
The Traditional English Tea Room at Birkinshaw's in Amherst, NS

Our Traditional English Tea Room

Our 'house tea' at Birkinshaw's is Yorkshire Tea, an ethically sourced and traded, top quality black tea.


As part of their commitment to the environment, Yorkshire Tea has planted over 3 million trees and is still planting every day. So, as well as having a superior cuppa, you can feel good drinking it.


Yorkshire Tea is one of the brands from Taylor's of Harrogate, world class tea suppliers. The folks there taste thousands of teas on a regular basis, so the blending always maintains its characteristic flavour and ensure that, despite variation in harvests, Yorkshire Tea is always "a proper brew" – pure and simple.


Fair prices are paid for really good tea from farms in Africa and India, to make a lovely blend that’s big on flavour, seriously refreshing and kind to the people who grow it. 

Only The Finest Coffee is Served at The Birkinshaw's Coffee House in Amherst, NS

Our Coffee House

At Birkinshaw's we insist on the best and offer only fair trade, organic coffee. Our coffee is roasted freshly in small batches by local coffee roasters Aroma Maya just down the road in Truro, ensuring the best roast and the freshest flavour every time you drink it.


But let us first introduce you to our Rocket Mozzafiato Evoluzione, a hand built espresso coffee machine from Italy. All espresso machines are not built equal, and the Mozzafiato Evoluzione has the world standard Group 61 brew head that is warmed by the boiler ensuring full extraction of flavour and a great crema. With PID technology, that ensures a constant supply of water at the correct temperature, you also get great textured steamed milk for your cappuccino or latte.


A straight filter coffee, sir? Or how about an espresso, a cappuccino or a latte? Our Birkinshaw's House blend, Chosen by a unanimous vote of local coffee drinkers comes from the highest non-volcanic mountain range in Central America, real coffee just how you know it should taste and which you can feel proud to drink. 

Delicious Food Served at Birkinshaw's in Amherst, NS

Our Restaurant

Birkinshaw's offers a core menu of wonderful homemade snacks and meals made using the finest ingredients (absolutely no hydrogenated fats or pre-mixed spice selections). You will also find varying weekly 'specials' highlighting seasonal produce.


Our chefs have a passion to bring you both traditional fare and fusion food from around the globe -  it is not unusual to find Scotch eggs, Thai vegetable curry, steak and Stilton pasties, Mexican chimichangas, fish creole and more.


 Lots of people talk about 'cooking with passion'. What does that mean? Well, for us it means creating recipes and cooking dishes that use top quality ingredients, fresh or organic where possible, locally sourced where practical. Most importantly, we believe that food should be made fresh from key 'base' ingredients....so, our ' house' tomato sauce is made from tomatoes, herbs, onion, seasoning - no thickeners or flavour enhancers; we prepare our own clotted cream from fresh local cream and enjoy the 20 hour process it takes to get it just right for the Cream Teas; we make our own fruit chutneys and pickles from scratch, loving the chance to enjoy summer's harvest right through the year; we prepare our own fruit-packed sauces and syrups from fresh fruit for our milkshakes... you get the idea.


We use real butter, quality olive oil, various sugars, blend our own spices and grow our own herbs. Passion, for us, is as much about rigorous selection of the ingredients we wish to start the cooking process with as it is about serving up the finished dish.


To see our core menu please click here and visit us to learn about our weekly specials.

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Awards & Recognition

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Established 20th December 2017, Birkinshaw's is still new to the area, but we are thrilled to have received awards and National coverage for our 'little bit of England'.

- Listed by Chatelaine as "one of the top 10 places for Afternoon Tea in Canada".

- Winner of the Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia (TIANS) New Tourism Business of the Year

- Winner of the Amherst Chamber of Commerce 'Small  business of the Year Award 2018'

- FEATURED IN SALTSCAPES MAGAZINE

- SELECTED PRODUCTS CHOSEN FOR THE HALIFAX BLOGGERS CHRISTMAS WISH LIST

- RECOGNISED BY TRIPADVISOR, CERTIFICATE OF EXCELLENCE 2019

- FEATURED IN AT HOME ON THE NORTH SHORE MAGAZINE

- Recognised by Restaurant Guru for best desserts 2019

- ARTICLES IN PAPERS ACROSS CANADA FROM SAINT JOHNS, NL TO EDMONTON, ALBERTA

- Amherst News readers awards for best desserts and milkshakes for 2018 and 2019.

 

We are equally pleased to have had comments posted to our Facebook & Instagram and left in our Visitors book from the many 1,000's of guests we have had join us for tea, coffee, lunch Afternoon Tea and our specialty nights. Thank you all!


Sincerely,


Adrian, Eleanor and the Birkinshaw's Team

 

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