CANADA BEST NEW RESTAURANTS (ACCORDING TO AIR CANADA EN ROUTE)

Air Canada En Route has just released the list of the 10 best restaurants in Canada. If you do not have to travel on an Air Canada flight in the near future to read the detailed descriptions and to see the images of dishes prepared by each of the runner up in the magazine placed at each seat, you can consult the web site (www.enroute.aircanada.com/en) . You will find the list of winners 2019 (Top 10), the finalists, the selection method, the former winners and recipes developed by the chefs of the winning restaurants ….

AND THE WINNER IS,……L’ARVI (QUÉBEC CITY)

The discreet signage on this Limoilou storefront is like a Wheel of Fortune board several letters short of a winning hand: “A_ R  V_ _ _ I”.

It would be easier to tell your guests to look for the restaurant across the street that lures patrons with brightly coloured bras strung across its patio. But Arvi, inside an industrial-modern former skate shop, is a different kind of show: an evening of open-kitchen, immersive theatre directed by a French-born chef where cooking is a ticketed performance and every troupe member plays the part of chef, sommelier and server.

It’s an evening of open-kitchen, immersive theatre directed by a French-born chef where cooking is a ticketed performance and every troupe member plays the part of chef, sommelier and server

The name Arvi is another bit of slang from the Haute-Savoie, meaning “see you later.” Visit once and you’ll want the name to come true. The 30-seat room is dominated by the kitchen, lit from above with hanging lamps. Masia and his two chefs bend over their spotlit dishes in concentration, like surgeons in an operating room. Then it’s over to the stovetop, where Masia sears tataki-style veal rib-eye so it’s caramelized on the outside, still blue in the middle. He bathes it in a Spanish-sherry vinaigrette and veal-stock reduction, plating it alongside a rich sauce of two-year-old cheddar and seared baby romaine. Cédrick, our tousle-headed server, walks the few feet to our table to deliver our plates, then does that chaleureux Québécois thing we love: He sits down for an earnest discussion about what we’re about to eat and drink (a light and slightly spicy 2017 La Cantina pinot from the Oka Valley). This is one place where the vegetarian tasting menu is (at least) equal to its carnivorous cousin (in fact, it’s almost a must-order). Spongy morels napped with an airy Quebec amaretto hollandaise, also offered as an à la carte option, take centre stage.

The other winners are:

2.- COMO TAPERIA (VANCOUVER)

3.-DONNA’S (TORONTO)

4.-PLUVIO (UCLUELET, B,C)

5.-NOWHERE (VICTORIA)

6.-DREYFUS (TORONTO)

7.-WAYFARER OYSTER HOUSE (WHITEHORSE)

8.-PASTEL (MONTRÉAL)

9.-DISPATCH (ST. CATHERINE)

10.+TEN (TORONTO)