After finding a place to stay, the savvy traveller’s next task is securing top reservations. Here are six hot takes.
Halifax
With an eye towards extravagant naturalistic presentations (no swordfish spine or caribou moss goes unused), Mystic offers ingredient-driven tasting menus on the Halifax harbourfront. A wall of jars filled with tasty experiments like Gala apples in brandy greets guests up front, while a 60-foot kinetic sculpture brings up the rear, reaching through the rooftop and timed to sparkle with high and low tide. Both installations speak to chef Malcolm Campbell’s Maritime-terroir tasting menus, be it Flora (plant-based), Fauna (land and sea), Biota (land, sea and air), or Discovery (no fixed address). Think: oysters tucked into edible oyster shells with smoked oyster and caviar, parsnip tonka flan with sea lettuce, and a cheese cart fuelled by Nova Scotia and Quebec’s best. Halifax has never seen a restaurant quite like this.
Chef de Cuisine, Malcolm Campbell. Photo: DoubleSpace
Montreal
Rôtisserie La Lune, the new restaurant from the award-winning team behind Montreal’s Mon Lapin, is basically a St-Hubert fever dream. Executive chefs Marc-Olivier Frappier and Jessica Noël are cooking up a big tip of the toque to traditional Québécois rotisserie chicken and elevated fixins’: locally raised chickens, rich gravy, fresh-cut fries, and onion buns with chicken schmaltz butter, served in a room with the polish of grand-mère’s finest silver. Co-owner and sommelier Vanya Filipovic sees that the wines – mostly from Quebec and France – live up to the food.
Winnipeg
Petit Socco’s albacore tuna with sauce vierge. Photo: Courtesy of Petit Socco
One chef, one server, one menu, 10 seats: This is Petit Socco, where whatever chef Adam Donnelly is cooking from his wee open kitchen, you’re eating. One night that means tempura shishitos with berbere-spiced mayo, then a giant tostada heaped with fresh prawns and tuna with a tangle of Salvadoran slaw, followed by a panzanella salad of Donnelly’s with nectarines and unctuous pork belly. Another evening the seasonal four-course set menu may include smoked salmon with oatcakes, and chickpea brodo with wild shrimp. Partner Courtney Molaro leads the drinks and charm offensive, especially when dishing out chocolate crémeux.
Calgary
One of Bravo’s imaginative cocktails. Photo: Courtesy of Bar Chouette
Drinks and food share equal billing at Bar Chouette, chef Duncan Ly’s Beltline beauty. It’s a bar where you can speak and be heard amidst tables with handy purse hooks and comfortable chairs. A rosemary brown butter fat-washed bourbon makes for an Old Fashioned so rich and delicious one wishes she could eat it. To that end, there are tasty shared plates like a mini cheese soufflé goosed with a Calvados cream, Shrimp Louie salad, steak with peppercorn sauce, and îles flottantes of frozen coconut mousse and cardamom crème anglaise with warm roasted pineapple. Basically, all the things you want to drink – and eat.
Vancouver
Bravo is a small but mighty seafood spot in Fraserhood, where sucking back freshly shucked oysters (with a dash of house-fermented hot sauce), then digging into small plates of Tofino King Salmon and Hokkaido scallops, is the name of the game. While you’ll fondly recall chef and co-owner Jonah Joffe’s gorgeous food – and that perfect glass of Vinho Verde – you’ll return for the way they made you feel; it’s the very definition of a neighbourhood gem. Little wonder Bravo is already Michelin-recommended and won Vancouver Magazine’s “Best New Restaurant 2024.”
Toronto
With a no-reservations policy, plan to hit Dupont Street early (tip: they open at 4:30 p.m.) to snag a coveted table at chef Jay Carter’s warmly glowing Dotty’s. You’ll want to go with a couple of friends so you can order and eat everything you’re craving: a glass of bubbles, shrimp cocktail, pimento cheese with Ritz crackers, Caesar salad, a medium-rare striploin with Worcestershire butter, delicious cheeseburgers and fries, and soft serve for dessert. Life has never been so perfect, or uncomplicated.
