It's restaurant awards season, and one of the premier lists of the year is always Canada's Best New Restaurants, as selected by the judges appointed by Air Canada's EnRoute magazine.
The publication has just revealed its 2023 "longlist" of nominees, from which the ultimate list of winners will be culled.
This year, there are two Vancouver restaurants, along with a third just outside the city in Richmond, among the finalists. Slightly further afield, British Columbia is well-represented with a nominee each in Gibsons and Whistler and two in Victoria.
The Vancouver restaurants in the running will be familiar to those who keep tabs on local awards; Suyo, Mount Pleasant's buzzy destination for modern Peruvian food and cocktails, was named the Best New Restaurant in the Van Mag Restaurant Awards, while Folke - the upscale plant-based restaurant with a no-tipping policy - was one of the runners-up in that same category.
In Richmond, Acre Through the Seasons has earned a spot on EnRoute's 2023 longlist, as have Marilena Cafe and Ugly Duckling in Victoria, Wild Blue in Whistler, and Brassica, the game-changer restaurant in Gibsons on the Sunshine Coast.
All told, there are 30 restaurants from coast to coast in the running to be named one of the best new restaurants in Canada for 2023.
This year's Top 10 ranking will be unveiled at a celebration in Toronto on November 1, 2023
2023 nominees for Canada's Best New Restaurants
- 9 Tail Fox, Montreal
- Acre Through the Seasons, Richmond
- Anemone, Montreal
- Bar Accanto, Winnipeg
- Bar Chouette, Calgary
- Bonheur d'Occasion, Montreal
- Brassica, Gibsons
- Cabaret l'Enfer, Montreal
- Casa Paco, Toronto
- Darlings, Bloomfield
- Dotty's, Toronto
- Espace Old Mill, Stanbridge East
- Fawn, Halifax
- Folke, Vancouver
- Fortuna's Row, Calgary
- Kappo Sato, Toronto
- Lao Lao Bar, Toronto
- Le Molière, Montreal
- Les Mômes, Montreal
- Marilena Café, Victoria
- Melba, Quebec City
- Milpa, Calgary
- Petit Socco, Winnipeg
- Portage, St. John's
- Rizzo's House of Parm, Fort Erie
- Salt + Ash, Halifax
- Simpl Things, Toronto
- Suyo Modern Peruvian, Vancouver
- Ugly Duckling, Victoria
- Wild Blue, Whistler
