Toronto makes a splash on Canada’s best restaurants list
Of the top 100 eateries, nearly a quarter are in city, surrounding area
The annual Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants list was released Monday night and while the top spot went to Montreal wine bar Mon Lapin for the second year in a row, this year Toronto had the most number of dining spots that made the list.
Of the 100 restaurants, 24 of them are in the Toronto area with the majority downtown (plus one in Oakville and another in Cambridge). Last year Toronto had 18 places on the list. Meanwhile, Montreal has 26 restaurants, Vancouver has 18, Ottawa has six, Calgary has four, Winnipeg has three, Quebec City has two and Saskatoon one. The full list can be found on the Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants site.
After Mon Lapin, three Toronto restaurants are in the top five with Edulis in second, Alo in third and 20 Victoria in fourth. Langdon Hall in Cambridge is fifth.
Jacob Richler, editor of the publication that launched in 2015, says many of the restaurants on the list are hard to categorize under one type of cuisine as chefs nowadays are blending their surroundings with their heritage cooking, which is tough for the magazine to succinctly summarize for readers, but ultimately good for the dining scene.
“You used to be able to just say Italian, or French, but now you’ll have a place like Published On Main in Vancouver (seventh on the list) where the chef expresses their prairie background through B.C. ingredients,” Richler said.
“Kissa Tanto (10th, also in Vancouver) is Italian-Japanese. It’s a positive and exciting development that makes each restaurant stand out. It’s done in a more sensible way than the early days of fusion. It’s a very Canadian thing.”
One local example is Casa Paco, which just opened early last year and is ranked 34th on the list (and has been recommended by other chefs in the city). It’s a little restaurant off College Street in Little Italy, with just five staffers including cochefs Rob Bragagnolo and Caroline Chinery.
“It’s Mediterranean-inspired,” says Bragagnolo, who was previously cooking at the now-closed Spanish and Italian Campo Food Hall on King Street West.
“We lived in Spain for 15 years but my family is from Venice. So it’s a personal story and we cook what we know. A lot of people categorize us as Spanish because we do paella on Sundays, and we have dishes inspired by Spain but there’s also Italian and southern European elements.”
Casa Paco also appears on a separate Canada’s Best New Restaurants list by the publication. The top spot went to Marilena Cafe and Raw Bar in Victoria while Casa Paco
placed second. Two other Toronto restaurants, Sushi Yugen and Bar Prima, claim third and fourth place, respectively.
Each year, the main list is compiled by food writers, restaurant owners, sommeliers and chefs who rank their top 10 dining experiences over the past year. Richler says this year’s list is compiled by 150 people, 30 more than last year. There is also an online people’s choice poll where Richler says there’s a standout restaurant in every province and territory.
Toronto-area restaurants that have made this year’s Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants list
■ Edulis, second place, Canadian, 169 Niagara St.
■ Alo, third place, French, 163 Spadina Ave.
■ 20 Victoria, fourth place, Canadian, 20 Victoria St.
■ Quetzal, 12th place, Mexican, 419 College St.
■ Dreyfus, 15th place, French, 96 Harbord St.
■ Osteria Giulia, 17th place, Italian, 134 Avenue Rd.
■ Prime Seafood Place, 18th place, Steakhouse, 944 Queen St. W.
■ Canoe, 24th place, Canadian, 66 Wellington St. W., 54th floor
■ Hexagon, 26th place, Canadian, 210 Lakeshore Rd. E. (Oakville)
■ Taverne Berhardts, 29th place, Bistro, 202 Dovercourt Rd.
■ Sushi Masaki Saito, 30th place, Japanese omakase, 88 Avenue Rd.
■ Aburi Hana, 33rd place, Japanese kaiseki, 102 Yorkville Ave.
■ Casa Paco, 34rd place, Spanish, 50C Clinton St.
■ Mimi Chinese, 35th place, Chinese, 265 Davenport Rd.
■ Sunny’s Chinese, 38th place, Chinese, 60 Kensington Ave. Units 6-14
■ Bar Isabel, 44th place, Spanish, 797 College St.
■ Famiglia Baldassarre, 45th place, Italian pasta, 122 Geary Ave.
■ Sushi Yugen, 49th place, Japanese omakase, 150 York St.
■ Pompette, 65th place, French, 597 College St.
■ Giulietta, 66th place, Italian, 972 College St.
■ Actinolite Restaurant, 70th place, Canadian, 971 Ossington Ave.
■ Bar Prima, 77th place, Italian, 1136 Queen St. W.
■ Don Alfonso 1890, 81st place, Mediterranean, 1 Harbour Square, 38th floor
■ Barberian’s, 94th place, Steakhouse, 7 Elm St.
■ DaiLo Restaurant, 99th place, Chinese, 503 College St.