Beloved fish and chips restaurant in Cape Breton marks 50 years in business

Beloved fish and chips restaurant in Cape Breton marks 50 years in business

Owner Carolyn Miles considering retirement after opening Lord Fin & Feather with her husband in 1976

Nestled in a corner on George Street in Sydney, N.S., Carolyn Miles makes the same fish and chips recipe she’s been cooking for the past 50 years.

It’s the way her husband Jim made it, with whom she opened the Lord Fin & Feather restaurant in 1976.

“We had a good time,” she said. “We worked together all our lives. I met him when I was 16 and we were together almost 50 years when he passed away 14 years ago.”

The couple were living in New Brunswick when Miles came up with the idea to start a fish and chips restaurant in their Cape Breton hometown of Dominion.

“He looked at me like he always did when I came up with an idea: ‘Are you crazy?’” she remembers.

But it didn't take much convincing. All she needed was a scribbled diagram of their Dominion home turned into a fully functioning business and some determination.

Miles said Jim did all the renovations, turning their home into a restaurant that served deep fried fish and chips with homemade tartar sauce, and other homestyle meals like fried chicken and clams. They also sold ice cream and had a gift shop where their children would work.

Before opening, they held a contest to name the restaurant. One woman pitched the name Lord Fin of Feather Hen. They chose the name, but later switched it up as Lord Fin & Feather, when they stopped serving chicken.

“I didn't know it would attract people from all over, like they used to come from Sydney Mines, North Sydney and that," Miles said.

Different locations, same fish and chips

The Lord Fin & Feather has had many locations in its time. The couple opened restaurants on Townsend Street in Sydney, in Big Pond and near the Bras d'Or Lake.

They even franchised and opened a restaurant in Calgary, but they decided to become Cape Breton exclusive once again in 1995.

After Jim's passing in 2012, Miles took a step back from the restaurant business. But when her daughter found a kiosk on the Sydney boardwalk in 2016, the location reeled Miles back in.

“It was fabulous,” she said. “I couldn't have hoped for anything like it.”

The Lord Fin & Feather stayed on the water for nearly 10 years, serving her “tremendous and loyal” customers. But the property was purchased by Doucet Developments last year and in October, they left their kiosk with nowhere else to go.

That didn't stop them for long. Their new location, on the corner of Mac's Convenience Store on George Street, opened on July 17.

Miles says her boardwalk customers have followed them to their new location.

One of those loyal customers is Donnie MacRae. He’s been coming to the Lord Fin & Feather for years and his Friday nights are his weekly fish and chips tradition.

He enjoys Miles' service and of course, the food.

“It's the best fish anywhere,” MacRae said. “She makes a different style of fish which is delicious.”

Now at 84 years of age, Miles says this will be her last year as the owner.

“It's been a wonderful 50 years, and now it's time to hit the road for me,” she said.

Miles' three children will take over the restaurant for now, with each of them being involved with the business over the years.

She hopes the next owner will keep the signature name and her husband’s recipe.

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Ethan Hunt is a reporter for CBC Nova Scotia from Lunenburg, N.S. He regularly covers sports, the environment and mental health matters. You can reach him at ethan.hunt@cbc.ca.