The Library Pub: Lessons in Burger Perfection
Perched above Main Street in Wolfville, The Library Pub is a classic Irish public house with a cozy feel. It offers a vast selection of beer, wine and drinks alongside a diverse “not your average pub food” menu featuring many locally produced ingredients. Seating about 30 normal sized people or 10 members of the Acadia Football Team’s Defensive Line, the pub is a known hotspot for informal musical performances throughout the week, offering a welcoming stage to local artists and budding East Coast stars alike.
As a proud Acadia alumni (’05), The Library Pub is my own little version of Cheers. Okay, maybe not everyone knows my name, but I am always glad I came. A trip to The Library Pub guarantees running into someone I know. Whether it is a former classmate, professor, current student, or Drew MacNeil, the Pub’s hospitable owner, chances are, things will be getting nostalgic before the night is through.
Having frequented the pub during my undergraduate career, I knew what to expect on my most recent visit. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t have even bothered looking at the menu for food selections, but I took a second glance to see if anything had changed. And there it was: The Library Burger (TLB). Calling out to me from the page, just one look at those three little words and I rolled up my sleeves in anticipation of the deliciousness.
How delicious you ask? Well, let me tell you a little story. About a year ago, my roommate Bruce went vegetarian. While he has continued to abstain from consuming animal meat for the most part, he does make one exception: The Library Burger. That’s right – the man turned down a homemade-by-Mom turkey dinner with all the fixings over the Christmas holiday, but on a recent trip to Wolfville, he was caught fork and knifing it with a freshly grilled TLB.
It’s important that you know that ordering a TLB is an exercise in pushing one’s taste buds to the limit. A delicious patty of local free range beef topped with smoked bacon and cheddar cheese, TLB’s distinctive taste comes from a one-two punch of spicy mayo and homemade barbeque sauce. It’s this perfect pair that provide a great combination of sweet, zest and tang (the bing, bang, boom for your taste buds, if you will).
If you decide to take the TLB plunge (and I highly recommend that you do), you are going to want to roll up your sleeves and consider dawning a bib, as there are more tasty ingredients packed in than even the freshest of buns can handle. To paraphrase the great Jimmy Buffet classic “Cheeseburger in Paradise”:
But at night I’d had these wonderful dreams
Some kind of sensuous treat
Not zucchini, fettucini or Bulgar wheat
But a glass of wine, great view and tasty TLB.
The next time you are in the Valley, be sure to pull stop into the Library Pub, grab a window seat, a glass of Nova Scotia wine (or two), and consider wearing sandals: I have no doubt you’ll have your socks knocked off by The Library Burger.