If travel to a major Canadian city is in the cards — one that’s inevitably filled with wining and dining — there are 10 new restaurants that have the expert stamp of approval. In what’s always a not-to-miss event for Toronto’s food scene regulars, Air Canada announced its 2024 Top 10 Best New Restaurants earlier this month. These spots are celebrated for everything from their multifaceted concepts and interior design, to their memorable eats, drinks, and overall vibe. In her search for the country’s best new spots, Air Canada’s Eater-in-Chief, Tara O’Brady, flew across the country, in a journey that involved 19 flights, over 30 reservations, and 176 dishes.
Here are Air Canada’s Top 10 new restaurants in Canada right now from coast to coast:
Take note, travellers… they’re listed in the order they were ranked.
1. Sabayon (Montreal, QC)
This celebrated 14-seat Montreal restaurant offers tea and dinner services by renowned pastry chef Patrice Demers and sommelier Marie-Josée Beaudoin. It’s all in the details here, from cobalt blue cutlery rests handmade by the couple, to Air Canada’s Best New Restaurants’ Dish of the Year, grilled oyster mushrooms capped with a caramelized arlette and a cloud of sabayon sauce, plus other locally sourced goodness.
Check out their Instagram here.
Find reservation info here.
2. Mhel (Toronto, ON)
This new Toronto restaurant presents an open kitchen where master chefs conjure culinary magic with six burners and two charcoal grills, blending Korean and Japanese flavors. Among its delectable offerings, Mhel proudly showcases Air Canada’s Best New Restaurants’ Dessert of the Year; purin, a delicious and simplified Japanese interpretation of crème caramel.
Check out their Instagram here.
Find reservation info here.
3. Maison de Soma (Mont-Tremblant, QC)
A true farm-to-table restaurant, Maison de Soma sits on a 600-acre property in the Laurentians, where nearly every ingredient is cultivated. Whether serving a crunchy and custardy take on okonomiyaki, a Japanese cabbage pancake, or a tropical tasting Somananas sour (Air Canada’s Best New Restaurants’ Cocktail of the Year), Maison de Soma is definitely a spot to during a Mont-Tremblant ski or hiking trip.
Check out their Instagram here.
Find reservation info here.
4. Takja BBQ House (Toronto, ON)
This upscale west end Toronto Korean barbecue (KBBQ) spot is unlike any other in the city. It showcases a assortment of grilled house-dry-aged meats, seafood, and seasonal veg and Air Canada Best New Restaurants’ Sides of the Year: shareable banchan small plates, including kimchi two ways, mustard greens, spicy jalapeño muchim and a scallion salad.
Check out their Instagram here.
Find reservation info here.
5. Café Malabar (Victoria, BC)
On the west coast, interaction is the name of the game at Café Malabar. Here, guests press the button for service at a kitchen stall in Victoria Public Market and moments later a parade of coastal Keralan dishes arrives at communal tables. This includes everything from clay pots of fish chatty choru to flaky egg puffs and lacy rice hoppers.
Check out their Instagram here.
Find reservation info here.
6. Parapluie (Montreal, QC)
This lively bistro in Montreal’s Mile End neighbourhood, with its crisp white tablecloths, serves up classic boulangerie bread and frites alongside perfectly cooked eight-minute eggs in airy tarragon emulsions. The menu also features things like delicately seared trout in a light horseradish dill cream — a crowdpleaser among its first-time guests and repeat customers alike.
Check out their Instagram here.
Find reservation info here.
7. Bar Prima (Toronto, ON)
In Toronto’s Queen West neighbourhood, Bar Prima has become as known for its design and decor as its comforting, yet refined, Italian fare. It’s no surprise that the hot spot is judge Tara O’Brady’s pick for the Air Canada Best New Restaurants’ Design of the Year. Here, classics like beef tartare come spruced up on a bed of chives, laced with fermented chili and punctuated with sardine and bone marrow cream.
Check out their Instagram here.
Find reservation info here.
8. Fat Rabbit (St. Catharines, ON)
Led by chef and co-owner Zach Smith, St. Catharines’ Fat Rabbit is not your average restaurant. As a full-time grill house, zero-waste butcher, live-fire caterer, and grocer, this multi-hyphenate earned Air Canada’s Best New Restaurants’ Concept of the Year. A quick favourite for the carnivorous set, the restaurant makes all of its own charcuterie in house and features a rotating menu of small, sharable plates.
Check out their Instagram here.
Find reservation info here.
9. Gary’s (Vancouver, BC)
Gary’s, the first restaurant from industry veterans Bailey Hayward and Mathew Bishop, brings supper club vibes to Vancouver’s South Granville neighbourhood. The spot features an open kitchen, expertly crafted cocktails, and an intimate, yes bustling vibe, where locals and visitors alike enjoy dishes like crudo, gem salad, hen-of-the-woods, and rabbit.
Check out their Instagram here.
Find reservation info here.
10. Crumb Queen/Andy’s Lunch (Winnipeg, MB)
At this one-two punch Winnipeg eatery, you can kick off your day with Cloe Wiebe’s naturally fermented round loaves of bread and the place’s legendary pastries. Then, just before lunchtime, Andrew Koropatnick pops up to whip up some next-level sandwiches on their homemade pizza bianca, which they split in half. Plus, they’ve got some tasty pasta, salads, and rice balls to share.
Check out their Instagram here.
Reservation info N/A.
Editor's note: All article images by Sylvie Li.
