Junction Sixteen
Junction Sixteen
An Early Favourite for Best New Restaurant
BY LAURA OAKLEY
PHOTOS MICHELLE DOUCETTE
This delicious story must start with a little history lesson. The building that houses Junction Sixteen in Bridgetown is a former Canadian Pacific Railway station dating back to 1919, the sixteenth stop on the Windsor and Annapolis rail line. Once a busy hub admired for its design, the station eventually had to reduce its capacity as travel by automobile had become increasingly popular; starting in 1971, it operated only as a passenger shelter. After the station closed completely in 1990, the hospitality industry moved in. The End of the Line pub opened in 1994. It was the go-to community watering hole until 2020 when Lunn’s Mill Beer Company changed the space considerably and came in to run a craft beer-focused casual restaurant for roughly the next three years.
When Lunn’s Mill decided to refocus solely on its brewery, taproom and kitchen in nearby Lawrencetown, company partner Roland Hamilton, who also owns Thistle Hospitality Group, naturally looked at the location to expand. After some renovations and interior design work, on March 14, 2023, Thistle opened Junction Sixteen, playing on the railway theme, as others had done before. The food program, however, completely shifted to high-quality Canadian-Italian, making pasta from scratch and eventually even bringing in a Woodstone pizza oven to craft Neapolitan-style pies.
The restaurant is still relatively new when I roll up in late April, but these guys know what they’re doing, so my expectations are high. Thistle operates two other stellar locations in nearby Annapolis Royal: The Whiskey Teller, where an open-flame charcoal grill pumps out fantastic pub food, and Founders House Dining & Drinks, an elevated tasting menu concept at Fort View golf course. Under the helm of corporate chef Chris Pyne and the group’s general manager Laura Hamilton, everything they touch seems to turn to gold. "The idea is that we don’t want to replicate what we are doing at either of our other locations,” says Hamilton of launching Junction Sixteen.
Chef de Cuisine Sam Coady is a native Nova Scotian and found his way to the Annapolis Valley after a couple of stints working in Ontario, happy to settle here with his family. Recently he moved from Founders House to open Junction Sixteen, where he’s developed a menu heavy on Italian flavours and yet has managed to weave in the fresh local ingredients at his fingertips in the Annapolis Valley. “The concept was born out of what we thought the area wanted and needed,” says Coady, “and who doesn’t like Italian cuisine?” While the seasons will naturally influence parts of the menu, it will honour fan favourites and, over time, establish signature dishes.
I can tell I’m in for a treat when we walk into Junction Sixteen, which is surprisingly busy for a Tuesday night. The interior has a moody farmhouse-chic vibe with plenty of shout-outs to railroad culture. It mixes warm wood and deep antique blue tones with one papered statement wall featuring a busy botanical pattern. The old Bridgetown railway stop sign hangs above the bar. A mix of booths and residential-style kitchen tables and chairs reminiscent of any Valley farmhouse dot the floor. It’s comfortable. And it smells incredible. I’m ready to be fed.
Pyne greets us at the table, and he’s excited—he and Coady have a plan for us to try many, many dishes. I don’t argue. I order a glass of house white wine, the Flora white blend by Lightfoot & Wolfville Vineyards. The first dish is fried bread—pizza dough shaped into balls and fried until they’re light and airy inside and crispy outside. The five crusty dough balls are topped with finely shredded Grana Padano cheese and delicately chopped chives, accompanied by three full pepperoncini (spicy pickled peppers) and prosciutto; the balls sit on a bed of roasted garlic and basil ranch sauce. As instructed by Pyne, we taste the dough balls dipped in the herby-milky ranch topped with a salty piece of prosciutto, then bite the tangy pepperoncini in between as a palate cleanser. Just wonderful. The food arrives on adorable vintage plates, too, which I love.
The salad we try is a classic combination of earthy roasted beets and peppery arugula, complemented by thin slices of sweet and juicy pear, crunchy toasted walnuts, and dressed in a maple-truffle vinaigrette which is subtle enough in both flavour profiles not to overpower everything else. Piave Vecchio, a hard Italian cheese similar to Parmigiano-Reggiano, is dusted on top.
“We’re filling a huge void that wasn’t available in Bridgetown,” says Pyne. “In terms of having a sit-down restaurant that the locals can get excited about, that wasn’t there.” If you look at a map, the region Junction Sixteen appeals to is expansive. It is bound to capture many customers in that part of the Valley looking for this elevated experience close to home. “As the pizza program is concerned, there really is nowhere between Wolfville and probably Yarmouth to get a great curated artisanal product,” says Coady. “We’re going to cover a pretty big radius for the pizza eaters.”
Speaking of pizzas, we try two, the Margherita with sweet, fresh tomato sauce made with imported Italian D.O.P tomatoes, ample fior di latte (fresh mozzarella), torn basil leaves, basil oil, and flaked sea salt. Pyne’s favourite, The Formaggi Freight Train, is a four-cheese pizza made with a roasted garlic butter base, topped with arugula and drizzled with house-made truffle honey. Every bite has a little bit of everything: rich and salty cheese, earthy, umami truffle, sweet honey. Amazing.
The much-anticipated pasta dishes arrive, fonduta ravioli, hand-made pockets of hot, melty, creamy fontina cheese, tossed with roasted squash, apricot, crunchy toasted pumpkin seeds, and shaved Asiago cheese, all in sage brown butter sauce. The beef pappardelle is a showstopper; slow-braised beef cheeks and sun-dried tomatoes make an intensely deep, rich ragu smothering perfectly al dente pappardelle (long, wide ribbons of pasta) covered in finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. They are both excellent, memorable dishes.
Sides are not an afterthought at Junction Sixteen. Four show up at the table, along with two intimidatingly large entrées. First, simple roasted cipollini onions in reduced balsamic vinegar, both rich and sweet. Green peas with prosciutto in foamy Parmigiano-Reggiano cream, green beans with preserved lemon butter and thyme, and carrots glazed in truffle honey, topped with crumbled pistachios and chopped parsley. I’m unsure if I could choose a favourite, but I am becoming attached to this truffle honey. Each one of these sides is sophisticated and full of complex flavours. In fact, at Junction Sixteen, they’ve created an alternate menu for vegetarians and vegans—so they know a thing or two about making vegetables delicious.
The short rib dish is theatrically large—16 oz., served with the bone, on top of a generous portion of rich, buttery pomme purée (French-style mashed potatoes) topped with shiny red wine jus that forms in puddles on the plate and the rivets of the mountain of potatoes. Alongside that, a classic crispy chicken Parmesan topped with smoked mozzarella, and mascarpone cheese, on top of creamy polenta and vibrant Pomodoro sauce (made with fresh tomatoes and basil). They are both so beautiful. According to Pyne, the short rib is already becoming a destination meal for customers.
Much to our delight Junction Sixteen has a soft-serve ice cream machine. The night’s choices are espresso, vanilla, or a swirl combination. We get the espresso flavour with dark chocolate drizzle, warm mini brownies, and cookies at Pyne's recommendation. The soft serve is luscious and velvety, and we finish every bite, even after all that.
To easily hand out soft serve and pizza to-go, they have expanded the parking lot at Junction Sixteen and made room for a takeout window that will operate seasonally and conveniently serve locals, bikers and ATV riders on the popular Harvest Moon Trail that cuts through the property. As of writing this, the Woodstone pizza oven has arrived and is installed and ready. The property should quickly become a community hub again, a place to stop for a quick pizza or ice cream while establishing itself as the go-to restaurant in the area to gather with family or friends for a flavourful, comforting and skillfully prepared meal. I am excited to get back there when summer is in full swing, and the incredible agricultural bounty of the Annapolis Valley inspires the menu. To taste what Coady dreams up for seasonally-driven pizza and pasta is enough for me to hit the road.
That night, we are the last customers to leave the restaurant, and a short, peaceful walk in the cool spring air back to our nearby motel is a nice breather after such a big meal. Junction Sixteen is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Check their website for updated hours over the summer.
