Crumb Queen/Andy's Lunch, which has blown away locals since opening in early 2024, has now landed at No. 10 on Air Canada's much respected best new restaurants list.
The Osborne Village spot serves as both a bakery called Crumb Queen, and a fresh pasta and sandwich joint named Andy's Lunch. Lines are a regular occurrence when it is open from Thursday through Sunday.
Owned by chef couple Cloe Wiebe and Andrew Koropatnick, the small space received great praise rave from 2024 Air Canada head critic Tara O'Brady. In the magazine O'Brady wrote, "With every bite, we grow more envious of the locals," while sampling items like Andy's tagliolini with morel butter and Bianca-bread sandwiches, and Cloe's famed crullers and sourdough, which O'Brady sites as, "indeed regal."
It's a massive achievement for the couple and their crew, as we cannot recall a time in Air Canada's Best New Restaurants 20-year history when a counter service establishment cracked the top 10, a list typically dominated by wine bars, omakase counters and tasting menu spots.
The Air Canada top ten guide begins as a long list generated by a panel of chefs and food writers from across Canada (last year, Winnipeg's Bar Accanto was on the long list), with the senior judge then tasked with eating at all 30 restaurants, consuming 176 dishes in the process this year.
Number one on this year's list is Montreal's Sabayon.
Winnipeg locals will also be proud to note that this is the second year in a row that a local restaurant made the top 10, as Petit Socco claimed the No. 5 spot last year, along with "dish of the year" from critic Amy Rosen. Prior to that, chef Scott Bagshaw's Enoteca which reopened last week as Né de Loup, reached No. 9 in 2015.
Crumb Queen/Andy’s Lunch operates in Osborne Village at 166 Osborne, a location some locals will recognize as the former home of Stella’s. It is open Thursday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with lunch starting at 11. Here’s Crumb Queen/Andy's Lunch's website.
