Top new restaurants for 2016
1 Anh + Chi
3388 Main St. | 604-874-0832 anhandchi.com It’s a passing of the torch under less than happy circumstances. When the patriarch behind Pho Hoang died, his children Vincent and Amelie wanted to keep it going and they’ve rebranded, renovated and designed a new menu; it’s now a modern, upbeat Vietnamese restaurant. The Streetside Platter encapsulates the change — it’s a bamboo tray lined with banana leaf that holds an array of street food-inspired dishes like house-made pork sausage, beef in betel leaf, grilled chicken, grilled prawn with herbs and grilled chicken. The Goi Thom Tuoi is a drama queen of a salad in a freshcarved pineapple throne with choices of grilled proteins.
2 Bar Oso
4222 Village Square, Whistler | 604-962-4540 baroso.ca Don’t mope when the ski lifts close, think Bar Oso. It’s kind of like landing in a wonderful tapas bar in Barcelona or Madrid. This satellite of Araxi is just as fixated on quality and refinement. Chef Jorge Munoz Santos showcases the best of Spanish tapas like the pata negra, ham made from freerange pigs gorging on acorns. And even if you’re a foie gras avoider like me, foie gras parfait arrives unbidden on a charcuterie platter; it can be your secret guilty pleasure because it’s not like you specifically ordered it.
3 Cacao Progressive Latin
1898 West First Ave. | 604-7315370 cacaovancouver.com Chef Jefferson Alvarez is an unsung chef. Unfairly so. Vancouver just hasn’t had a lust for the progressive and avante garde food as art that he’s known for. As first-time owner, he can now follow his passion (which happens to be Latin food and progressive techniques). At Cacao, the food isn’t as high-end or inventive as it was at Secret Location, but more a combination of modernist and down-toearth. (Although I wish he’d go easier on the burnt and charred applications.) His Latin food can be ordered à la carte or as a three- or five-course tasting menu ($45 and $75).
4 Heritage Asian Eatery
1108 West Pender St. | 778-7371108 eatheritage.ca
The owners eschewed table service and throwing money at fancy furnishings, opting instead for a budget-conscious minimalist setting. The down-home, good-value Asian bowl food and steam-bun baos are chef Felix Zhou’s priorities. He impressed me at The Parker and again at Big Trouble and he impresses me here as well. The rice bowls are topped with big, bursting flavours — duck with Peking sauce; marinated, glazed pork belly; kimchee daikon. The five-spice chicken wings are crisp-skinned and crazy making.
5 Kissa Tanto
263 East Pender St. | 778-3798078 kissatanto.com
“It’s really an intuitive thing,” says Joel Watanabe of the Japanese-Italian menu concept. “The two cuisines are similar in the sense of regionality, simplicity and seasonality. Both have umami components.” But really, it’s kismet. Watanabe’s mother is Corsican /Italian and his father is Japanese and that’s why chawanmushi finds itself so easily cuddling with porcini mushrooms and Parmesan. Were this a straight Japanese restaurant, you certainly wouldn’t meet “Kevin,” the wild yeast sourdough starter that goes into the most wonderful bread (comes with nori butter and olive oil). Ditto desserts, which takes a hard lean into Italy; but when it comes to fish, no cuisine does it better than Japan and the menu reflects it.
6 Mak N Ming
1629 Yew St. | 604-737-1155 maknming.com
The last time Makoto Ono was cooking in Vancouver was at Pidgin. “It was the most stressful opening,” he says about the nightly anti-gentrification protests singling out the restaurant for up to four months. He quit a year ago to travel. He and pastry chef Amanda Cheng (partners in every way) opened Mak N Ming in mid-December in a small space in Kitsilano with a three-course and six-course tasting menu, which seems a tad ambitious in a location that shouts neighbourhood. However, Ono executes really smooth culinary moves and Cheng performs pastry wizardry. What a couple.
7 Nightingale
1017 West Hastings St. | 604-6959500 hawknightingale.com
It’s a dazzling two-level space (lounge at ground level, dining room on mezzanine) and you pay for the esthetics as well as the quality ingredients. On the food front, this is the rustic side of David Hawksworth (not the silken dishes of his flagship restaurant). Giuseppe Cortinovis’ pizzas are not to be missed. In keeping with the times, there’s an homage to veggies section and they come charred, roasted, grilled, marinated and braised. It is best to share dishes. The lounge offers one of the nicest spots in town to have a drink and nibbles.
8 Raisu
2340 West Fourth Ave., | 604-6201564 raisu.ca
If you’re feeling the old no-fun Vancouver, get a hit of Raisu and its cacophony of hustling servers, lively music and customers in every seat around the sprawling bar, at tables and in the private room. Raisu (“rice” with a Japanese accent) is an offshoot of the very popular Kingyo and Suika restaurants and the food is just as eclectic and tasty as all getout. Very good sashimi arrives in a cloud of dry ice and Deluxe Seafood Bowl arrives in a large shell. Teishoku meals are a complete meal on a tray, with pickles and miso soup. Even the desserts are well executed.
9 The Salted Vine
37991 Second Ave., Squamish | 604-390-1910 saltedvine.ca
Best new restaurants in Metro Vancouver didn’t happen in Squamish until this year — it’s the Whistler effect. The chef, the manager and mixologist are Araxi Restaurant alumni and it’s like a simpler version. Some dishes are just as sophisticated, like the scallop crudo — an eye-catching portrait of dibs and dabs of scallops, fennel, cucumber, prosciutto, apple purée and amarillo sauce. The chef has patience enough to make White Grace cheese souffle for an appetizer and it’s lovely.
10 Sushi Bar Maumi
1226 Bute St. | 604-609-2286 @sushibarmaumi
You almost expect a “No sushi for you!” from the stern chef, considering the looks you get upon photographing his food and the rules for reserving and ordering. However, it’s a temple of sushi and the 10-seat restaurant requires military precision. The seafood is excellent and the knife skills are a marvel to watch, so sit hushed and focused. All the fish is from Tsukiji Market in Tokyo because they know how to handle fish the best, chef/owner Maumi Ozaki says. He carries about 30 of the 200 listed on any given day. Away from the sushi bar, where he’s in“the zone,” he’s quite chatty.