The nations fooderati will be abuzz on Thursday, Oct. 25. Its the day when enRoute (Air Canadas in-flight magazine) releases its much-anticipated and highly respected Top 10 list of Canadas Best New Restaurants.
How did Vancouver do? Not so good. In fact, we flat out sucked. We didnt even crack the list at all. Whats more, BC was totally shut out for the first time that I can remember.And the clouds darkened, the earth shook, and there was much despair.
Because weve always figured rather highly. We had three on the list last year: Victorias outstanding Ulla was No. 9, Gastowns LAbattoir was No. 3, and Hawksworth in the revamped Rosewood Hotel Georgia was No. 2. The year before that it was Chinatowns Bao Bei in the No. 2 spot overall, with two Island restaurants Stone Soup Inn and Edge coming in 5th and 8th, respectively. In 2009, Cibo Trattoria came in at No. 1. Other Vancouver restaurants that have cracked the list have included places like Boneta, Fraiche, Stage, Kingyo, Salt Tasting Room, to name just a few. Honestly, BC has totally owned enRoutes annual Top 10. We might not get No. 1 every year, but were always in the mix.
So what the hell happened this year? Well get to that, but before we do we should deal with the fair question of how an in-flight magazine could possibly be the arbiter of Canadas gastronomic excellence. Scoff at the idea if you like, but dont forget that the worlds most coveted culinary accolades the stars of Michelin come from a French tire company that dabbles in cartography on the side.
Its all in the methodology. Every year, a panel of over two dozen food writers and highly regarded gourmands from coast to coast provide the magazines editor, Ilana Weitzman, with the names of candidates that opened between July of the previous year and July of the present year. These names are then forwarded to Sarah Musgrave, a well-regarded restaurant critic at the Montreal Gazette.
Musgrave makes sense of the lot of them geographically no small task considering Canadas enormous size and then flies around on Air Canadas dime, eating at every restaurant suggested to her, no matter how remote. She specifically looks for chefs who are advancing the countrys culinary identity and restaurants where the overall dining experience will have a significant impact on our restaurant culture. And so are her advisors (full disclosure: I am one of them).
She always arrives unannounced, dining anonymously and plentifully. To my knowledge, she has never been spotted by a chef or restaurateur in BC, so it would be a very rare thing for her to be outed mid-meal (she may be a recognizable face in Montreal, but she certainly isnt here, or in any other Canadian city for that matter).
Once Musgrave has eaten her fill of the country (buuurp!), she makes her personal Top 10 list, which is set in stone; the magazine has absolutely no input. To wit, if one region gets a lot of glory and another gets none at all, theres a good reason for it. Its all about merit, and Ive yet to find fault with any of her decisions.
That includes this year.
In the time allotted, there were pitifully few BC restaurant openings that were worthy of national attention, and I said as much in my notes to Weitzman. My actual words were: Not a great year for excellence on the West Coast, Im afraid. Ive been racking my brain for worthies, as they were just too few and far between... I was able to come up with the names of just three restaurants, but I knew that none of them would make the list. They just werent good enough.
Im sure there will be some rending of garments and gnashing of teeth as a consequence, but facts are facts, and there is no denying that it was an unapologetically casual year here in BCs restaurant scene, with nothing comparable to Hawksworth, LAbattoir, or Bao Bei in the offing at all. What about Tableau Bar Bistro, Fat Dragon, Minami, or Vicino? Theyre all fine, sure, but not good enough, and when enRoutes list is officially made public on Thursday, I doubt that their chefs will disagree (find the list at EnRoute.AirCanada.com). I wont go into specifics here, but it was Torontos year, with Hogtown scoring six out of the 10 restaurants on the list. Wow.
But dont fret. With ass-kicking newcomers like Wildebeest on West Hastings, Espana on Denman, and The Acorn on Main, not to mention highly anticipated openings likeForage on Robson and star chef Makoto Onos Pidgin in Gastown (and who knows what else before July), we might be in a position to reclaim some glory in 2013.
I certainly hope so.
