TORONTO — Innovative plant-based dishes feature prominently on Air Canada's best new restaurants list, with Quebec City's Arvi restaurant snagging the top spot.
Air Canada and presenting partner American Express have revealed a Top 10 list that highlights Arvi, where guests can watch three chefs cook, plate and serve their food tableside.
Air Canada pointed to the eatery's five-course vegetarian tasting menu as one of the highlights.
In second place is Vancouver's Como Taperia, described as a boisterous tapas restaurant, while the third-place eatery is Donna's, a laid-back Toronto neighbourhood haunt.
The annual list is crafted by a panel of leading industry experts from across the country who recommend candidates and an anonymous food critic then narrows down the list through secret restaurant visits.
Other picks include the fifth-ranking Nowhere *A Restaurant, in Victoria, Toronto's Dreyfus, a French bistro backed by two Joe Beef expats, and the zero-waste kitchen of Dispatch, in St. Catharines, Ont.
Here is the complete list of Air Canada's Best New Restaurants 2019:
1. ARVI, Quebec City
2. Como Taperia, Vancouver
3. Donna's, Toronto
4. Pluvio restaurant + rooms, Ucluelet, B.C.
5. Nowhere *a restaurant, Victoria.
6. Dreyfus, Toronto
7. Wayfarer Oyster House, Whitehorse
8. Pastel, Montreal
9. Dispatch, St. Catharines
10. Ten, Toronto
The Canadian Press
