Petit Socco in Winnipeg takes the number five spot on the Top 10 list of Canada’s Best New Restaurants 2023.
Petit Socco
Winnipeg, MB
Street Address
256 Stafford St.
City + Province
Winnipeg, MB
Reservations
Yes
Website
This has to be the Littlest Restaurant on the Prairie. It’s got just 10 seats, a tin can of an open kitchen and two employees, co-owners and life partners Adam Donnelly and Courtney Molaro. There’s intimate dining, and then there’s Petit Socco.
A decade after enjoying chef Donnelly’s food at his former Winnipeg restaurant Segovia, I still remember his exciting flavours. He’s doing even more with less here, serving four-course menus twice a night, creating a delicious sense of anticipation. Whatever he’s cooking, we’re having.
So, what are we all having? Tempura shishito peppers first, crisp and airy, dragged through house berbere-spiced mayo sprinkled with sesame seeds. Then a giant tostada for two piled high with chopped poached prawns, chunks of sushi-grade tuna, Salvadoran curtido with a jalapeño sting and a cooling base note of avocado crema. Buttery cubes of pork belly are unearthed from beneath a bright and acidic mound of panzanella made from Donnelly’s own sourdough, juicy tomatoes and nectarines, and a zingy lime vinaigrette. There’s olive oil cake for dessert, with homemade strawberry-rhubarb ripple ice cream and almond praline crunch. I’ll remember Donnelly’s panzanella for another decade.