Michelin Guide announces Vancouver restaurant honourees

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Michelin Guide — the Oscars of the restaurant world, as some say — released its first Vancouver guide Thursday, awarding eight restaurants with one star, 12 with Bib Gourmand designations and 40 ‘Recommended’ restaurants, totalling 60 selections.

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This first Vancouver guide is sure to stir hot debate for its seeming snubs, surprising choices, questions about the guide’s judging process, or even about its presence. Michelin appears to be taking to heart criticisms it has previously received for its conventional, haute French and Eurocentric bias over cutting-edge or international cuisines. Many of the one-star restaurants are not formal or haute; rather, the chefs serve totally original food, carving their own paths in casual dining rooms.

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In a phone interview, the chief restaurant inspector — as anonymous as a CIA operative — praised Vancouver’s global flavours and intimate and personal operations.

“It’s really characteristic and really special about Vancouver,” the inspector said. “Besides that, the local ingredients and product quality are amazing. There’s an abundance and the high quality comes through in the food.”

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What inspectors look for — and there was more than one, slipping in and out of restaurants “is what the chef is trying to express, what his or her talent is, what it is about the meal that connects the chef and team and the result,” he said. “It’s a bit intangible but definitely something that’s evident at the star level.”

“It’s personality on the plate,” added Gwendal Poullennec, international director of the Michelin Guide.

“It’s the uniqueness of the culinary experience offered. Every restaurant has its own story, flavour, personality. It’s also the authenticity of the experience and in this, we are really open-minded. It doesn’t have to be local, it can be traditional, innovative, creative, whatever, but it has to be consistent and there has to be harmony between the culinary experience, the whole project and intention of the team and chef.” (Watch for more on the interview with the inspector and international director in my upcoming restaurant column.)

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Here’s how the Michelin Guide works: One star denotes high quality cooking and worth a stop; two stars, excellent cooking and worth a detour; and three stars, exceptional cooking and worth a special journey — retaining the language of its original purpose as a guide for European motorists, encouraging them to drive and wear out tires.

Stars are awarded for “superior quality of ingredients, mastery of flavour and cooking techniques, the personality of the chef in the cuisine, value for money, and consistency between visits by anonymous inspectors.”
The Bib Gourmand designation — named after Bibendum, the inflated white Michelin Tire mascot — signifies great food at a great value where one can have two courses and wine or dessert for less than $60.

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Restaurants with no symbols are Michelin Recommended and offer simple, good food. A Green Star denotes restaurants which are leaders in sustainable gastronomy and surprisingly, none were awarded in Vancouver.
The iconic Michelin Guide red book was laid to rest in 2020 when the guide went completely digital, listing every Michelin-rated restaurant in the world with search functions by name, location, cuisine and chef.

Vancouver is the second Canadian Michelin Guide destination, after Toronto, in collaboration with Tourism Vancouver. Michelin inspectors have been visiting Vancouver restaurants for some time, checking out, first and foremost, the food.

Here, then, is the inaugural Michelin Guide for Vancouver.  The Guides release “new discoveries” through the year.

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One Star:
AnnaLena; Barbara; Burdock & Co; iDen & QuanJuDe Beijing Duck House; Kissa Tanto; Masayoshi; Published on Main; St. Lawrence.

Bib Gourmands:
Anh and Ch; Chupito; Fable Kitchen; Fiorino, Italian Street Food; Kin Kao Song; Little Bird Dim Sum + Craft Beer; Lunch Lady; Nightshade; Oca Pastificio; Phnom Penh; Say Mercy!; Vij’s.

Recommended:
Acquafarina; Arike; Ask for Luigi; Bacaro; Bacchus; Bar Gobo; Bar Susu; Bonjour Vietnam Bistro; Botanist; Cafe Medina; Carlino; Chang’An; Chef’s Choice Chinese Cuisine; Cioppino’s; Como Taperia; Delara; Dynasty Seafood; Elephant
Fanny Bay Oyster Bar; Hawksworth Restaurant; Homer St. Cafe; L’Abattoir; Lobby Lounge & RawBar; Maenam; Miku; Nammos Estiatorio; Neptune Palace Seafood Restaurant; New Mandarin Seafood Restaurant; Nightingale; Ophelia; Osteria Savio Volpe; per se Social Corner; PiDGiN; Riley’s Fish & Steak; Sushi Bar Maumi; The Acorn; The Mackenzie Room; Torafuku; Ubuntu Canteen; Yuwa.

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Special Awards:
Service Award: GM Justin Isidro and team at Kissa Tanto.
Sommelier Award: Wine director Jayton Paul at Published on Main.
Exceptional Cocktails Award: Creative Beverage Director Grant Sceney and Head Bartender Jeff Savage.

Read food writer Mia Stainsby’s reviews of the Michelin Guide restaurants:

Restaurant review: Published has made the transition to the new normal look easy

Restaurant review: Masayoshi strives to be a find on Fraser

Restaurant review: Barbara’s Patrick Hennessy finds luck in the time of pandemic

Restaurant review: St. Lawrence pivots from Quebecois food to changing roster of French regions

Restaurant review: Kissa Tanto a Japanese-Italian marriage made in heaven

Restaurant review: AnnaLena in Kitsilano

Restaurant review: Burdock & Co. seves top-drawer dishes with a twist