Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Fonda Balam  
Chefs Julio Guajardo and Kate Chomyshyn turbocharge tacos and their birria subset with their sublime quesabirria con consome, oozing corn tortillas filled with braised beef, mozzarella and aromatics that are folded and grilled until caramelized cheese–rimmed and crispy. Pair them with a spicy–sour Modelo michelada and take in the buzzed–on–salsa crowd, ranging from Trinity Bellwoods hipsters to thrill–seeking mom–and–daughter duos, seated along green diner–style counters. Longlisted as part of Canada’s Best New Restaurants 2022.

Mimi Chinese  
Predictions of post–lockdown, Roaring Twenties–style exuberance came true in the form of Mimi Chinese, the dine–in successor to takeout operation Sunny’s Chinese. Plastic containers have given way to black bow ties, red velvet banquettes, and a nightclub–leaning ambiance. But the main attractions are hyper–regional renditions of Chinese cuisine ranging from deep–fried, sesame–showered shrimp toasts from Guangdong to a four–foot–long, chili oil–slicked take on Shaanxi belt noodle, scissored tableside. Grab a Jungle Panda cocktail (baijiu–based, aromatic and boozy) with a bamboo leaf sprouting from its ceramic behind, and plunge into a tour of the provinces. Longlisted as part of Canada’s Best New Restaurants 2022.

Osteria Giulia  
Conceived of as the little sister to Giulietta on College Street, Yorkville’s Osteria Giulia may be young, but she has a precocious facility with the seafood fare of the Ligurian coast. The Lorighittas al Mare plate is an edible Where’s Waldo?, and the game is to tell the hand–braided pasta rings from the wild squid that swims amid bay scallops in a briny, pepperoncino–tinged white wine sauce with garlic and anchovy. Finish with an elegant strawberry and white chocolate millefoglie and a tumblerful of Quaglia camomile liqueur before bidding a tearful goodbye to the cliffs of Cinque Terre. Longlisted as part of Canada’s Best New Restaurants 2022.

Prime Seafood Palace  
Time is forever frozen at sunset golden hour in this maple–wood clad dining room, where the gritty Queen West streetscape outside is screened from view so you can focus on the roll call of prime ingredients: caviar, sea urchin, filet mignon, prime rib and Wagyu beef. Or, start humbly with a loaf of warm and nutty molasses bread, plump kippered mussels and sweet pickled cauliflower, then move on to juicy seafood boudin. Don’t leave without visiting the main floor washroom, where the design suggests luxe Japanese bathhouse, but the sink is a tipoff to the restaurant’s down–to–earth roots: it’s a map of Lake Erie, owner Matty Matheson’s farm and home base. Longlisted as part of Canada’s Best New Restaurants 2022.

Restaurant 20 Victoria  
Two years after the abrupt closure of Brothers Food & Wine, a reshuffled team shows us the way back from the pandemic–born land of the fast and casual. Framed in an elegant room outfitted in floor–to–ceiling drapery and snow–white tablecloths, the food, too, is restrained and pitch–perfect. Opt in and each turn of the six–course tasting menu introduces a finely calibrated wine pairing. A dish of acorn–fed ibérico pork, grilled greens and pickled florets of fioretto (a broccoli–cauliflower hybrid) harmonizes with an earthy California Lady of the Sunshine pinot noir. When a hankering for opulence without arrogance strikes, here’s where you should head. Longlisted as part of Canada’s Best New Restaurants 2022.

Casa Madera  
Mexican cuisine meets Mediterranean influence at this lively spot with a Tulum–like atmosphere helmed by Mexican–born Chef Olivier Le Calvez. The sustainably–focused menu includes a seasonal, rotating taco selection (find tiger shrimp, skirt steak or duck), and the lengthy cocktail and mocktail list is over–the–top in the best way, featuring one–of–a–kind concoctions with ingredients like watermelon–calamansi essence and mole bitters.

Granny–chic vibes at Donna’s Mismatched thrift–store china and shabby–chic vibes meet seriously cheffy chops at this laid–back neighbourhood fave, named #3 on Canada’s Best New Restaurants Top 10 list in 2019. Its trio of owners – a Brit, a Dane and a Toronto–raised Korean–Canadian (all Momofuku alumni) – explains the delicious combo of influences on the menu. But the showstopper is the whole, oven–baked sole bathed in a harissa– and chili–reddened butter sauce, dotted with toasted hazelnuts.

Tasting menus at Alo Chef Patrick Kriss combines seasonal, Canadian ingredients with French technique to create his tasting menus. Book a seat in the dining room or at the chef’s table and try dishes like steelhead trout with crème fraiche or Quebec foie gras with sunchokes, hedgehog mushroom and chicken jus. Reservations can be hard to come by, so plan ahead. Stop by sister restaurant AloBar in Yorkville for a Pop Gun, a twist on the bourbon sour with toasted blue–corn syrup.

Karnatzel sausages with yellow mustard at Dreyfus A Joe Beef expat has landed in Harbord Village–and successfully claimed the #6 spot on Canada’s Best New Restaurants Top 10 list in 2019. The name Dreyfus (of l’affaire fame) is a nod to the chef’s Jewish roots, which emerge in subtle touches, like the plate of Montreal–sourced karnatzel sausages to be eaten with yellow mustard and bread. Look for an ever–changing menu of gutsy yet refined Gallic small plates (the pommes dauphine are crispy, deep–fried pâte à choux and potato orbs filled with crème fraîche and trout caviar with a salty sprinkle of dehydrated caper powder), served in a handsomely outfitted space (sage–green millwork, bevelled mirrors and vintage china). Don’t miss the spongy morels, Manila clams and escargot oozing with garlic, white wine and clam liquor, just begging for more brodflour baguette to soak up their jus.

Heavy–on–the–veggies offerings at Ten The menu at this Little Portugal spot (“fiddleheads/seeds/ramps”) reads more like a feast for rabbits than humans. But don’t judge the 10 courses by their cover: Although there’s only a small piece of (supremely crispy–skinned and delicious) cod on offer, and a few crunchy bits of chicken skin, it’s the Ontario white beans, mushrooms and buckwheat, slow–cooked cassoulet–style, that will amaze. And there’s no rabbiting–on when it comes to the decor. A sleek, wraparound counter serves the tasting menu to only 10 guests at a time. Ten claimed the #10 spot on Canada’s Best New Restaurants list in 2019.

Biodynamic wine at Paris Paris At the newest venture from the folks behind pizza fave Superpoint, come for the cheese, charcuterie and smoked duck breast, but stay for the wine list as long as the Champs–Élysées (with a focus on natural and biodynamic wines). Don’t leave without snagging one of the freshly made sourdough loaves.

Chantilly–cream mille feuille at Alobar Yorkville Aloette’s mid–century–modern vibe just got upped several notches (think curved leather banquettes, a wood–panelled bar and copper–coloured light fixtures) with Patrick Kriss’ third spot, hidden along the high–dollar edge of Yorkville. The food goes luxe, too, with creamy foie gras piped onto brioche toasts and splashed with a sweet–tart maple gastrique (a PB&J for adults reminiscent of Le Fantôme in Montreal, which made Canada’s Best New Restaurants list in 2016) and a Chantilly–cream mille feuille that hides an explosive, gooey raspberry centre. Alobar Yorkville was a contender for Canada’s Best New Restaurants in 2019.

Ceviche and pisco at Kay Pacha Peruvian cuisine has long been shaped by Chinese, Japanese, Italian and Amazonian influences, and you can taste them all at Kay Pacha on St. Clair West. Standouts include tuna ceviche with passion fruit, and sea scallops with chili peppers and Parmesan. And, of course, the pisco.

Angus brisket and poblano slaw at Beach Hill Smokehouse Two former football players (and cousins!) from Louisiana’s Grambling State University are the masterminds behind the spice–rubbed and wood–smoked hunks of beef and pork at Toronto’s best new barbecue joint. The goal is to reclaim Southern barbecue’s African–American roots, and the aromatic beef makes for an open–and–shut case. The Angus brisket delivers sweet/salty blackened–skin meat that you don’t need teeth to enjoy. Pile your tray with poblano slaw, whole–kernel cornbread and iced tea for the win. Beach Hill Smokehouse was a contender for Canada’s Best New Restaurants in 2019.

Mushroom patties at Planta Burger Have napkins at the ready as you bite into the Classic, a juicy mushroom patty packed with lentils, black beans and grated beet, at this boho burger hut in the Financial District.

Build–your–own charcuterie plates at Grand Cru Deli What happens when you mix a geeky wine bar, Euro–style deli and wine school? You will learn how to tell the difference between a Loire Valley chenin blanc (wet wool notes) and an Ontario riesling (the gasoline nose), surrounded by (very relaxed) sommeliers–in–training “studying” for their next blind tasting. Coral–painted walls and Madeleine Peyroux on the stereo will pleasantly distract as you decide between a build–your–own charcuterie plate or the muffuletta sandwich (pressed for an hour in the panini machine until the provolone and olive tapenade become one). Grand Cru Deli was a contender for Canada’s Best New Restaurants in 2019.

Cocktails on tap at Bangarang With cocktails on tap, cornhole lanes (book ahead or make new friends on the walk–in court) and minimalist wooden decor, the team that created Track & Field Bar brings friendly competition to College Street.

Club sandwiches and caviar at Le Swan Duelling menus of French bistro (caviar–topped mound of smoked trout rillette) and lunch–counter classics (club sandwich) play out in this former diner turned art–deco dreamland. Jen Agg, one of the owners, could easily be a Hollywood production designer: Think buttery globe lighting, a fleet of arch–necked ceramic swan pitchers and vintage glass coupes set to a 1950s/’60s soundtrack of the Andy Williams and Bobby Vinton variety. And the drinks keep up: a chartreuse–coloured Provence cocktail (gin, dry vermouth, herbes de Provence, lime and absinth) tastes like a licorice stick crossed with a Mediterranean herb garden. Le Swan was a contender for Canada’s Best New Restaurants in 2019.

Eggplant and plum pickle gyoza at Sakai Suave and sake–mad sommelier and owner Stu Sakai is pouring glasses of lean, fruit–forward Okunomatsu junmai ginjo from a large–format issho–bin to the tunes of Hall & Oates and Earth, Wind & Fire. On order tonight at this Dundas West sake bar where gyoza skins are rolled daily in–house and shaped by hand? There are the “OG” fukujinzuke (soy–pickled mixed vegetable) and eggplant and plum pickle (shibazuke); the East–West hybrid vegetable plate of radishes lightly steamed in kombu dashi, served on a bed of umeboshi beurre blanc and showered with Japanese greens from the garden out back and the yaki udon (enriched with trout bones and a mackerel cream, studded with mushrooms and finished with sea parsley). Kanpai! Sakai was a contender for Canada’s Best New Restaurants in 2019.

Roast kimchi chop cheese sandwiches at Seoul Shakers Once you have made it past the graffiti–splashed entrance to this Bloordale speakeasy, you will find some of the most seductive Korean–inflected street food in the city. Leemo Han (Hanmoto, Pinky’s Ca Phe) and Jason Poon are masters of the genre, serving up tart and gooey roast kimchi chop cheese sandwiches in a mashup of grandpa’s old tavern and dive bar – with Madlib on the stereo. “I don’t even like eggplant and I love this,” our server says of the Eggplant Kanpungi, washed down with the house makgeolli: Korean rice wine, peach schnapps, tequila and lime, served in a silver teapot. Seoul Shakers was a contender for Canada’s Best New Restaurants in 2019.