8 restaurants get coveted star in 1st Vancouver Michelin Guide
Vancouver has joined the ranks of international culinary destinations after the Michelin Guide awarded eight local restaurants with a coveted star.
Invited guests made up of food lovers, chefs and restaurateurs gathered at the Vancouver Convention Centre West building for the inaugural ceremonial reveal Thursday night.
The famed but sometimes controversial dining guide revealed the names of eight establishments deemed worthy of one star out of a possible three.
They are:
AnnaLena.
Barbara.
Burdock & Co.
iDen & QuanJuDe Beijing Duck House.
Kissa Tanto.
Masayoshi.
Published on Main.
St. Lawrence.
No Vancouver restaurants achieved more than a single star. At the inaugural Michelin event in Toronto last month, only one restaurant — Sushi Masaki Saito — received two stars.
Twelve other restaurants earned a Bib Gourmand designation, which recognizes great quality among outlets that offer two courses and a glass of wine or dessert for less than $60. The locations ranged from beloved Chinatown Cambodian restaurant Phnom Penh to celebrity chef Vikram Vij's namesake Indian restaurant, Vij's.
"Our teams of inspectors genuinely savoured their dining experiences in Vancouver," said Gwendal Poullennec, international director of the Michelin Guides.
Anonymous inspectors fly into cities to visit restaurants over the span of several weeks to determine their list of recommendations.
Poullennec says in Vancouver, inspectors were impressed by the city's diverse offerings, and all its recommended restaurants were appealing "in their own authentic DNA."
In the past, Michelin has been criticized for focusing on fine dining experiences and cuisines like French, Italian and Japanese over others.
Here is a complete list of Vancouver Michelin Guide selections:
One-star
AnnaLena.
Barbara.
Burdock & Co.
iDen & QuanJuDe Beijing Duck House.
Kissa Tanto.
Masayoshi.
Published on Main.
St. Lawrence.
Bib Gourmands
Anh and Chi.
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
¿CóMO? Taperia.
Acquafarina.
Arike.
Ask for Luigi.
Bacaro.
Bacchus.
Bar Gobo.
Bar Susu.
Bonjour Vietnam Bistro.
Botanist.
Café Medina.
Carlino.
Chang'An.
Chef's Choice Chinese Cuisine.
Cioppino's.
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.
Ophelía.
Osteria Savio Volpe.
per se Social Corner.
PiDGiN.
Riley's Fish & Steak.
Sushi Bar Maumi.
The Acorn.
The Mackenzie Room.
Torafuku.
Ubuntu Canteen.
Yuwa.
The guidebooks, which were first published in France more than a century ago, award stars annually to restaurants that exhibit culinary excellence.
Michelin's arrival in Canada is thanks in part to a multi-year funding deal with tourism boards to help promote travel decimated by the pandemic, but Gwendal Poullennec, the guide's international director, said the selection process remains independent.
Michelin inspectors base their reviews on five criteria: quality products, harmony of flavours, mastery of cooking techniques, the personality of the chef in the cuisine, and consistency across each visit — as each restaurant is inspected several times a year.
