ABOUT LUMINOUS MOOSE

We are small in size but large in taste!

When we first moved to Margaretsville, we had no idea how many houses in this village were vacation rentals. Makes sense! Who wouldn’t want to vacation here? It’s truly so beautiful and serene.

With no restaurant in town, we know that visitors are often looking for a place to eat. As such, our idea for Luminous Moose was born. We offer a limited menu because we don’t have a massive kitchen (we use the community hall’s commercial kitchen) and because we want to make sure everything we offer meets our very high standards. We also intentionally wanted to offer fresh seafood options, because there aren’t many in the area.

The lobster rolls are a signature dish that Pete has worked hard to develop, but we are also so excited to start offering a lobster roll experience! THIS is what people come to Nova Scotia for, and we are ready to deliver. After a long day exploring our beautiful Annapolis Valley, you can relax while we arrive on-site to cook fresh lobster and provide all the fixings.

    • And because everyone always asks…why the name “Luminous Moose”?

    We are proper Gen-X music nerds, and one of our favourite artists is Beck. In his popular song, entitled Wow, he has the line: “Of the rules that you choose to use to get loose…with the luminous moves.” Well, for the LONGEST time, we thought it was moose instead of moves. And it occurred to us…that would be a great name for a business! 😂

    ABOUT PETE

    In the kitchen with my mom

    From a young age, I enjoyed being in the kitchen.

    My mom was kind and patient and would let me make a mess while I learned to do simple tasks alongside her. That turned into me choosing to take home economics instead of shop class in high school, and to taking charge of the kitchen in my own home as an adult. Once, I even volunteered to work in a highly-ranked restaurant (a friend was the executive chef) just to get a feel for what it was like to be in the kitchen there. I learned so much in just one night there.

    I even came close to being on MasterChef Canada! In retrospect, I’m glad I didn’t make it, but it was also just a fun experience to be a part of. And it fueled my love of cooking even further.

    As did my extensive world travels!

    In 2009, Dalene and I did something drastic – we sold everything we owned and bought a one-way ticket to South America. What we thought would be a one-year journey turned into almost 8 years of living nomadically. Together, we’ve visited over 60 countries, and along the way we sampled amazing food and took cooking classes. You can read more about our travels on our blog.

    When we returned to Canada in late 2016 to deal with some health issues, we temporarily lived in Alberta to be close to family. But we soon set our sights east and landed in Margaretsville.

    Us in Switzerland

    The produce in Nova Scotia has greatly inspired me.

    One of the reasons we looked specifically at the Annapolis Valley is because of the food. For someone who loves food as much as I do, OF COURSE I wanted to live beside the Harvest Highway. Plus, with all of the fresh seafood on offer, I am in literal heaven here.

    I have spent several years sampling the produce and cooking up a storm; I’ve shared my efforts with many friends and worked hard on perfecting my recipes. And I am excited to share my hard work with you! I want to deliver meals to you that are not just about the food but also about the experience. My goal is to give you a true sense of place and to help you develop core memories of Nova Scotia with whoever you share the meal with. 💙