12: Lumiere, Vancouver

Lumiere has received too many awards and honorable mentions to list, but the amount is akin to Jack Nicholson’s Oscar rack. The décor is fabulous and the kitchen is worth a million bucks, but the reason everyone is paying attention to Lumiere is the cuisine Chef Rob Feenie dishes out on the regular. Feenie trained in Paris, Canada and America picking up Italian and Japanese culinary tricks along the way. He intermingles the five regional cuisines to create dishes that are essentially his own; original and fresh. There is the Venison Loin dish with edamame beans, mustard seed yoghurt and port sauce, for example. So, if you aren’t a regular already, visit Lumiere for summer to see for yourself what all the fuss is about. –J.T. 2551 West Broadway, Vancouver, BC. 604-739-8185.
101 Essential Restaurants: Complete Guide

11: Nuances, Montreal

After years of the same nuances that really didn’t distinguish Casino de Montréal’s restaurant from the crowd, Nuances had a major renovation this past March to update their décor with a more modern distinction. Gone are the old uniforms, dinnerware and décor. The new space has an elegant yet hip vibe that is enhanced with the same beautiful view of MTL’s city skyline. Executive Chef Jean-Pierre Curtat partners with Chef Olivier Rault to showcase both their skill and ingenuity in the kitchen with a refined menu. After all, the CAA-AAA awarded the restaurant with Five Diamond prestige for a reason (and no, there wasn’t any money exchanged). –E.J. 1 Du Casino Avenue, Montreal, QC. 514 392-2708.
101 Essential Restaurants: Complete Guide

10: Cioppino’s, Vancouver

Pino Posteraro, the Executive Chef of Cioppino’s and Enoteca, serves up traditional Italian fare that has guests returning regularly to experience his expertise. The classical restaurant has received the Vancouver Restaurant Gold Award for best Italian fare for the last five years and running. It’s fairly easy to find crowd-pleasing dishes like linguine with a half lobster in a light tomato-cream-lobster sauce ($30) or a grilled veal chop with rosemary in a light lemon-shallot-Cabernet juice ($40), but Posteraro adds his special flare. Health conscious diners tend to steer clear of Italian food because of the high fat content in the sauces, so Posteraro avoids cream at all costs and uses healthier replacements that let guests enjoy the delicious fare guilt-free. –J.T. 1129 Hamilton Street, Vancouver, BC. 604-688-7466.
101 Essential Restaurants: Complete Guide

9: Lucien, Toronto

This entry to the Hutchinson block-Toronto’s white-hot dining destination-has proved to be the equal of its peers, garnering an impressive following for restaurateur Simon Bower and executive chef Scot Woods. Designed solely by Bower, the interior (including whimsical flourishes to conceal an otherwise boring ceiling and a specially rigged lighting system that gently dims during the late hours) is a class act. While Bower is keenly aware of the impact of décor and atmosphere on a dining experience, he still knows that the real star has to be in the kitchen. Scot Woods’ menu primarily focuses on familiar ingredients, but uses them in inventive and exciting dishes. You’ll still get your beef, lamb, salmon and chicken, but in a manner that blow away the rustic favourites that you grew up with. While it might be an overstatement to suggest that Lucien's doling out rustic molecular gastronomy, it is fair to assert that Woods is a confident chef eager to share culinary skills, making Lucien one of the finest restaurants in the city .–E.J. 36 Wellington East, Toronto, ON. 416-504-9990.
101 Essential Restaurants: Complete Guide

8: Tojo's, Vancouver

Omakase" is Japanese for "entrusting" and that is exactly what I recommend you do when you visit Tojo’s. Just let your server know what you like and dislike, what your allergies are (if you have any), and what your price range is. The server will dutifully impart all the info to Tojo in the kitchen and he will prepare a personalized meal to suit all your desires. There is also a delicious set menu for the less adventurous, but where’s the fun in that? –J.T. 1133 West Broadway, Vancouver BC. 604-872-8050.
101 Essential Restaurants: Complete Guide

7: Nu, Vancouver

The décor of Nu is made up of steel, glass and stone with a three hundred degree floor-to-ceiling glass view of the water. The room is sleek and modern just like Chef Robert Belcham’s French-inspired menu. Dishes like duck confit and caramelized lamb cheeks roll out of the kitchen and everyone holding a menu has their nose in the air taking stock of the delicious aroma to dictate their decision. There’s no denying how irritating the title is, but everything else about the restaurant is strong enough to keep it from being a problem. –J.T. 1661 Granville Street, Vancouver, BC. 604-646-4668.
101 Essential Restaurants: Complete Guide

6: Vij's, Vancouver

When the New York Times calls a restaurant one of the “finest Indian restaurants in the world” you know it’s going to be worth your time to visit. With their use of Vancouver's local ingredients, Veekram and Meeru have single-handedly made Indian cuisine contemporary, bringing new flavours to traditional Indian dishes. The restaurant itself is exotic and lush and provides the perfect backdrop for the excellent cuisine. –J.T. 1480 West 11th Avenue, Vancouver, BC. 604-736-6664.
101 Essential Restaurants: Complete Guide

5: Cowbell, Toronto

Don’t let the grating clag of a cowbell come to mind when you picture Mark Cutrara’s new Parkdale hotspot. What the name should conjure is happy, well-fed cows grazing wide pastures under the Canadian sun. Chef and owner Cutrara has a firm belief in working with local farmers and cooking up hormone and antibiotic-free meats. Cutrara is the ex-head honcho of The Healthy Butcher so he knows his meat and he’s got more than one way to slice it. Since Cowbell’s opening last summer the place has stirred up quite a vibrant buzz. The people of Toronto have good taste when it comes to eating out so you can be sure that Cowball’s popularity is not unwarranted. I only hope you can avoid hearing the clang every time you hear the name. –J.T. 1564 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON. 416 849-1095.
101 Essential Restaurants: Complete Guide

4: West, Vancouver

West's layout is stylish and chic and simple and comfortable. The menu may be small, but the offerings are impressive. Executive Chef David Hawksworth truly knows his stuff; the fare sounds great on paper and it delivers in your mouth (wait, what?). Select from a variety of seafood, such as Yellowfin Tuna with miso mustard. West also has a prix-fixe dinner and extensive tasting menu that offers vegetarian choices. If you’re one of those animal lovers who will pass up a juicy steak, have no fear, you can still have an equally delicious meat-free meal. While passing up some of the meatier options may have your carnivorous date in shock, you’ll both end up with a sumptuous dinner fit for going down a belt notch. –S.B. 2881 Granville Street, Vancouver, BC. 604-738-8938.
101 Essential Restaurants: Complete Guide

3: Blue Water Café, Vancouver

Chef Frank Pabst and cut master Yoshi Tabo have come together over their love of seafood in a meeting of East and West. With a raw bar in one corner and a kitchen for cooking in another, the fusion is distinct but not complete. The most important aspect to any seafood restaurant, or any restaurant at all for that matter, lies in the selection of ingredients and this is something Pabst and Tabo agree on wholeheartedly. All the seafood that enters the Blue Water Café comes from wild and sustainable harvests as a strict rule. As a result, their Lobster Ceviche ($24.00) with avocado and sweet potatoes in a creamy red jalapeno sauce tastes like it’s lived a good life and was happy to end up in your tummy. You’re tummy will certainly be happy, anyway. Another favorite is the Sablefish caramelized with soy and sake with green beans in a tamarind-orange reduction ($35.50). A pairing like Pabst and Tabo in the kitchen is enough to make one praise globalization. –J.T. 1095 Hamilton Street, Yaletown, Vancouver, BC. 604-688-8078.
101 Essential Restaurants: Complete Guide