The votes – aka my votes – are in: Pigeonhole in Calgary, from chef Justin Leboe, was the best new Canadian restaurant I ate at in 2015.
The Top 10 list was published yesterday by enRoute. My most memorable meals included a Noma-trained chef's cabin in the woods on Galiano Island, an Art Nouveau stand-up tapas bar on College Street in Toronto, and a vegetable-forward wine bar operated by a superstar female sommelier just across the border from Ottawa in Gatineau, Quebec.
It was also a pleasure to be the first critic in the 14-year history of the list to recognize a restaurant from Manitoba in the Top 10: chef Scott Bagshaw's Enoteca, located in the site of a former Quiznos in Winnipeg.
You can check out the full online feature here, including my top dining trends for 2015 and our Sommelier of the Year, DaiLo's Anton Potvin:
http://enroute.aircanada.com/canadas-best-new-restaurants-2015/