A food and entertainment blog for people passionate about cooking, travel, and dining experiences
Remember when I said that the definition of a foodie is someone who doesn’t hesitate to travel for hours just to try a new restaurant? Well, this was one of those situations. In early March 2021 we made a long-awaited pilgrimage to Cambridge, Ontario (a mere 5 hours and 500 kilometers from our front door), to visit Langdon Hall – billed as one of the top restaurants in the country. And you know what – it was well worth the trip.
Back in July we had the opportunity to visit sEb L’Artisan Culinaire in the small village of Mont Tremblant (not the ski resort) in Quebec. The namesake of talented Chef Sébastien Houle was opened in 2006 has been gained momentum and accolades ever since. The restaurant now boasts a CAA Four-Diamond rating and is considered to be one of the top establishments in the Tremblant area.
We had tried unsuccessfully for two years to get a reservation at Joe Beef, one of Montreal’s top-rated dining establishments and #2 on the Canada’s Top 100 list. Now, this said, it wasn’t like I was sitting by my tablet each month when the new reservation periods opened up. Rather, I would check fairly regularly just to see if something was available – even one or two months out. We had even decided that if something did come up, we would make a special trip just to have dinner. And this is exactly what we did – booking a hotel and making a two-hour trek to Montreal – just to experience this legendary restaurant.
I had had my visit to Edmonton restaurant Biera circled on my calendar for weeks. After all, it’s one of the top-rated dining establishments in the city and currently sits at #61 on the Canada’s Top 100 restaurant list.
On a snowy February night a group of colleagues and I trekked through downtown Edmonton in search of Bündok – one of the cities top rated restaurants. Located only a stones throw from beautiful Rogers Arena in the newly created “Ice District“, Bündok has received a lot of great hype since opening it’s doors in 2017 and is ranked at #93 on Canada’s Top 100 list for 2019. As a result, we were excited to see what all the fuss was about.
My recent trip to western Canada began with an on-board flight announcement congratulating Chef Roger Ma on his recent win at the Canadian Culinary Championships in Ottawa. Being a foodie, I was very excited just to be in the same general vicinity of such an accomplished chef, and was blown away when two days later I had the opportunity not only to dine at his amazing Boulevard Kitchen and Oyster Bar, but also to meet the man in person.
My visit to RGE RD (pronounced Range Road) restaurant was somewhat of an afterthought. Although reservations had already been made for Biera and Bündok (two Edmonton properties appearing on Canada’s Top 100 list) during my stay, RGE RD never came up on my radar. It was only after a last minute search for other top restaurants in the city that I found it – and boy am I glad I did!
On a recent seven day trip to Western Canada, I had the opportunity to visit St. Lawrence restaurant in Vancouver, British Columbia. Located in the popular Gastown district, St. Lawrence currently holds the #5 ranking on the 2019 list of Canada’s Top 100 Restaurants and has received several other accolades since opening in 2017. The restaurant is a testament to the signature “haute country” cooking of Chef/Owner Jean-Christophe (J-C) Poirier and pays homage to his French-Canadian roots.
While on a quick foray to Quebec’s beautiful Eastern Townships in November, we had a chance to stop over in Montreal and visited the popular Garde Manger restaurant. The first thing I will say is that this place is tricky to find, but once you do, you’re in for a real treat!
When my wife first approached me about taking a trip to Ireland to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary I thought, wow, that’s an expensive gift! However, after I got over the initial shock I said to myself, “hey, Ireland has Michelin-starred restaurants“, and I was all in. You see, although we have very high quality restaurants everywhere in Canada, we don’t get to enjoy the cool and prestigious rating system that almost every other place in world has. So, I was thrilled with the idea that I might get finally see what all the fuss was about.