eatvancouver.net

On Thursday the 26th, enRoute magazine released its list of Canada’s best new restaurants for 2006. Vancouver is represented with the top pick, Nu, and the fifth pick, Rare. The list is as follows.

1. Nu, BC
2. Capo Calgary, AB
“Elegant, luxurious and sophisticated, this capo rules with a velvet glove.”
3. Dayboat Hunter River, PEI
“Outside Hunter River (pop. 354), where farmland meets water, an unassuming grey building serves some of
Canada’s most exciting food.”
4. Cava Toronto, ON
“Chef Chris McDonald has truly found paradise” at this “this idiosyncratic tapas restaurant.”
5. Rare Vancouver, BC
“Rare is the restaurant that lives up to its hype.”
6. Pintxo Montreal, QC
“Bring a big appetite for these tiny, decadent inventions.”
7. Harvest Picton, ON
“Defining the culinary style and standards of what could be this country’s next great food and wine region.”
8. Treadwell Port Dalhousie, ON
“Chef Stephen Treadwell’s ‘farm to table cuisine’ is all about celebrating the [Niagara] region’s best.”
9. Joe Beef Montreal, QC
“Relaxed and casual”, the restaurant is, like its namesake, “a legend in the making.”
10. Saint Germain Calgary, AB
“This restaurant’s transformation is a feat worthy of its patron saint.”

I guess this is good news for Vancouver, what with the number one pick and all. But I think to focus on the list ignores a much larger question. Namely, why the heck is some in-flight magazine the authority on the top restaurants in Canada? First there’s the fact that it’s not even the most important publication in my seat’s magazine holder, playing a distant second to the safety card. In fact, in terms of significance, I’d give more weight to the flight sickness bag. But maybe I’m just in a bad mood – I was supposed to get a haircut this weekend, but I’m waiting to see who Alaska Airlines Magazine recommends.