Is "Canadian food" the next Vancouver culinary trend?

Vancouver has plenty of Italian, French, Chinese, and Japanese restaurants. All of a sudden, it seems, there’s a run on “Canadian” restaurants.

Don’t ask me what we were eating before.

Two weeks ago, I wrote about the opening of an Edible Canada restaurant at Granville Island. The former Edible B.C. store has expanded into a bistro and gone national with its theme. While the shop has expanded to include products from across the provinces, the bistro menu focuses heavily on B.C. ingredients, such as Sloping Hills pork and sustainable seafood.

Today, Michelle da Silva blogged about the Flying Pig, a days-old Yaletown restaurant that bills itself as a “nouveau Canadian Bistro”. As Michelle notes, entrees include short ribs, halibut, and skirt steak.

Obvious “Canadian” items on the Flying Pig’s menu include a pea soup and maple sugar pie. And the website notes the proprietors’ backgrounds are “strongly influenced by the Canadian blue-collar work ethic.”

Now, I’m looking at a news release for Oakwood Canadian Bistro a new restaurant that’s just opened in the short-lived Cabin eatery space at 2741 West 4th Avenue near MacDonald. It specializes in “down-to-earth Canadian fare” with a seasonal menu made up of locally-sourced products, OceanWise seafood, and organic, local, hormone-free meat.

Looking online at the dinner menu, mains run $16 to $24 and include fish and chips, a burger, seared scallops, and a striploin steak. Starters ($6 to $15) include steamed mussels and an “All Canadian Poutine”, made with house-smoked brisket. Executive chef Mike Robbins (ex Glowbal Group) is at the helm, and the menu blurb states that there’s “No smoke and mirrors, just casual, comfortable, honest, unpretentious food.”

The weekend brunch menu features a Lumberjack breakfast ($15) of scrambled eggs, house-made sausage, bacon, hash browns, salted cucumber (intriguing!), and toast.

So what's up with all the new "Canadian" restaurants? The common marketing thread seems to be good-guy people, simple and hearty food, local B.C. ingredients, and responsible sourcing.

So are these restaurants any more “Canadian” than others? Or is this just typical West Coast fare (which is a debatable term anyway) with some French Canadian favourites thrown in?

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