Best View, Service and More from Air Canada’s Best New Restaurants 2024

Best view: Maison de Soma

It’s hard to beat Maison de Soma, where floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall windows look off into the fields. The restaurant sits on a slight hill, and the landscape rolls out from under it. Through those windows, servers point to where the ingredients on your plate were harvested.

The evening I was there could not have been scripted better. We started with sunshine and finished with a thunderstorm. We had a golden-orange sunset, light streaming through the fields and dining room, then sheets of rain washing over the windows in the darkness of the storm.

Best kitchen view: Parapluie

The best views are also of the kitchen. That’s where the magic happens. I seized every chance I could to sit next to the kitchen, whether at Mhel, Parapluie, Gary’s, Crumb Queen/Andy’s Lunch, or Ada Culinary Studio, where I could spy their focaccia recipe on the whiteboard. You can catch the extra details that restaurants don’t need to do but choose to do. From that vantage point, after watching chefs prepare and plate your meal, you can’t help but have a little bit of extra gratitude for it.
 

Best bathroom: Maison de Soma

The bathrooms at Maison de Soma felt like a switch from public space to intimate space. The restaurant has Scandinavian-style light-toned woods, whereas the washroom was dark and dim with black accents. The mirrors are small and cloudy. You can still see yourself, but the reflection is almost as textural as everything else in the restaurant.

Also, shoutout to Ada Culinary Studio, where the washrooms are stocked with complimentary care essentials and sanitary products. Really thoughtful.
 

Best bathroom view: Île-de-France

The view from a restroom is not something you often hear about, but at Île-de-France, the windows of the women’s room offer an unparalleled view of the spires of the Christ Church Cathedral on Rue Sainte-Catherine O. Inside, everything is marbled, shiny and glamourous. You could easily be in fur and heels. There are old-school phone booths just outside. It’s such a delightful throwback. The view from the men’s washroom is nice, too, according to my son.

Best service: Bar Prima

Bar Prima deserves a tip of the hat for top-of-the-game service. My girlfriend and I kept using the word “professional” to describe the evening. That doesn’t mean overly formal, put upon or routine-like. Professional in the sense that it was easy, fun and engaged. Banter was specific to each table. We talked about travel, tastes, childhood, our moods. Before the end of our meal, we were already planning our return visit. If you want someone to fall in love with restaurant culture, or if you want to impress the in-laws or a first date, take them to Bar Prima. You are going to be in a good mood when you are in their care.
 

Best glassware: Bar Henry

I love when a drink has a glass that it is meant to be in. It’s all about how the glass delivers the sip to you, whether the shape, the thickness of the glass, its weight or the way you tip it. It all dictates the volume that hits your palate. And the pleasure of the experience.

I came home from Vancouver with glasses in my carry-on. At a shop in Gastown, I found a close match to the squat tumblers at Bar Henry, where I had a frosty Cardamaro with my tiramisu.

Best accessory: Enamel pins

At both Elio Volpe and Bar Prima, staff wore enamel pins on their uniforms. At the latter, the chefs wear them on their aprons, and the bartenders wear them on their lapels. I would happily steal one of those. I like that extra glitz.
 

Best solo dining spot: Tradish’s The Ancestor Café

The Ancestor Café in Fort Langley is so comfy and cozy and the staff utterly welcoming. Sit with your bannock and sweetgrass lemonade at a picnic table. Appreciate the profound gift of traditional medicine and bannock on that land. You don’t need anyone but yourself for that.

Sometimes, with menus that offer shareable dishes, you end up with portions for two or four people. At Juliette Plaza, the portion sizes were perfect for a drink and a snack, like the bacon-wrapped cocktail sausages or Red Lobster scallops. I also keep thinking about Bar Henry’s potato chips. Everyone needs to have them in their life. Casavant in Montreal had snug banquettes along the wall, so you feel like part of the crowd without sticking out.

There are also stellar takeout options on the longlist, like Crumb Queen/Andy’s Lunch in Winnipeg, Black Cat Pizzeria in St. John’s and Café Malabar in Victoria.

Best not-new restaurant visited on the road: Namjim

Namjim, a little restaurant in the back of Bannerman Brewing Co., was on the longlist in 2022, but it was my first time eating there. I was completely blown away by their food. They have such confidence when it comes to flavours: not bashful and exceedingly specific. Thai flavours play with extremes, and when you get them right, it’s an orchestra that hits you like a wall of sound. If I lived in St. John’s, I’d be a regular.