2025 Taste of Nova Scotia Award recipients announced
Wolfville, October 23, 2025: The Taste of Nova Scotia Awards are presented each year to celebrate the vibrant culinary industry in Nova Scotia, and the people, places, and products that shape it. The 2025 award recipients were announced during Devour! The Food Film Fest in Wolfville on October 23, 2025.
“Each year, the Taste of Nova Scotia Awards give us the opportunity to shine a light on the people, products, and experiences that bring our province’s culinary story to life,” says Emily Haynes, Executive Director of Taste of Nova Scotia. “These awards are about celebrating community, and a deep sense of place. Our members are innovators, collaborators, and storytellers who showcase the very best of Nova Scotia, and celebrating them is our way of honouring the people who make Nova Scotia such a remarkable place to visit, and an even better place to call home.”
The following Nova Scotia businesses received 2025 Taste of Nova Scotia Awards:
Award for Service
Ryan Isnor — Benjamin Bridge (Wolfville, NS)
Product of the Year
Vinous Cider — Beausoleil Farmstead Winery & Cidery (Port Williams, NS)
Restaurant of the Year
Obladee Wine Bar (Halifax, NS)
Producer of the Year
Hope Blooms (Halifax, NS)
Gary MacDonald Culinary Ambassador Award
Martin & Sylvie Ruiz Salvador
Co-owners, Lunenburg Restaurants (Lunenburg, NS)
“Receiving this Taste of Nova Scotia Award means that people see us,” says Jessie Jollymore, Founder and Executive Director of Hope Blooms. “We’re not just a little garden growing things – the children are wholeheartedly involved, producing, creating change, and running an excellent social business. This award shines a light on us – it feels like we made it.”
The Taste of Nova Scotia Awards are the only province-wide awards that celebrate restaurants, service, food and beverage producers, exporters, and industry leaders, from Yarmouth to Sydney – and everywhere in between.
“I’m very honoured to be receiving this award, and even more honoured that we’re both being recognized,” says Sylvie Ruiz Salvador. “Martin and I are a team, and this acknowledges that teamwork – it’s the most important part of all of this, the work we do together.”
Nominations for the Taste of Nova Scotia Awards were received from Taste of Nova Scotia members and the public. The nominations were brought to a judges’ panel and then approved by the Taste of Nova Scotia Board of Directors.
