Chefs and their bosses reveal their faves

Readers' Choice Winners

Critics' Picks

People who cook and run restaurants know a thing or two about good food. And, inevitably, they check out the competition. That's why Georgia Straight staffers called up more than 50 industry insiders and asked them what they think are the best places to get a good meal in this town.

Other than their place, that is.

We didn't really expect them to toot the competition's horn, so we recorded their responses anonymously and didn't permit them to vote in their own category of cuisine. Responses ranged from casual sushi joints to white-tablecloth stars. The top picks are listed below.

Some respondents were generous enough to give their contemporaries a public pat on the back. "There's the greatest sense of camaraderie in this city," says Sean Heather of the Irish Heather, noting that Vancouver chefs will recommend other good restaurants to customers if asked. Heather praises Fuel for bringing in whole animals—such as a pig or a lamb—and creating menus around them. "It's great that they're using local animals and taking care where the animals come from”¦that's something that should be encouraged for everybody."

For Heather's money, Chow has "definitely the tastiest food coming out of any kitchen in Vancouver" right now. Chambar co-owner Karri Schuermans also likes it. "Chow has a great menu, a great chef; service is great," she says. "They're only now starting to get the recognition that they deserve."

Schuermans is also a "big fan" of Rangoli. "It's just so well run. When you have a restaurant, you appreciate a restaurant that has really good operations. The service, the whole flow, everything is happening really seamlessly. That, for me, is just as much a part of the experience as the food."

Other respondents voiced high praise for Vikram Vij, for both his skills as a restaurateur and his cooking. "He deserves every accolade the man gets," says C's Robert Clark, noting that Vij seeks out quality ingredients, using local spot prawns, for example. "Vij's should be compared to being one of the best restaurants in the city, but he's often lumped into best Indian or best Asian," says the Pear Tree's Scott Jaeger. "If I had somebody visiting from out of town, I would take them there, and that to me would showcase Vancouver's food scene very well."

"The restaurants in Vancouver are probably some of the best in the world. I travel quite a bit. In terms of the quality of the food and service, I think we have something special to offer at a much lower price.

"The workforce is a problem right now. We need more people to come into it [the industry]. We have a shortage of staff, and we have a shortage of qualified people."

Manuel Ferreira
Owner,
Senova Restaurant

Parkside's Andrey Durbach did a stint in Cambodia and calls the food at Vancouver restaurant Phnom Penh "terrific" and "really authentic". Durbach also likes Pino Posteraro's cooking at Cioppino's Mediterranean Grill. "He's a terrific chef, uses fine-quality stuff, and the wine list is as extensive as you'll find anywhere."

Michel Jacob's Le Crocodile garnered the most accolades in the Best European category. But Jacob himself—under whom both Rob Feenie and David Hawksworth have worked—is happy to see the city's new crop of chefs succeeding on their own. "We try to teach them at Le Crocodile the discipline, the work ethic, and, number one, to be consistent," Jacob says. "It's easy to cook one dish once to be perfect. But you have to repeat it, and repeat it. All those small new restaurants with those new chefs, they have a very good work ethic, they are happy to be chefs, and they are consistent."