The annual Canada's 100 Best Restaurants list has been revealed for 2024 and three Winnipeg restaurants have made list.
Tasting menu spot deer + almond (#39), brunch sensation Clementine (#74), and Japanese restaurant Yujiro (#92) can all be found on this year's list, while the publication's Canada's 50 Best Bars was also released tonight with The Roost perched at #39.
Chef Mandel Hitzer's deer + almond (85 Princess St.) has made the list several times since the inception of Canada's 100 Best in 2015, and has jumped up 20 spots from #59 last year to land at 39th. During the Canada's 100 voting period –– which is done by 150 food writers, chefs, restauranteurs and industry veterans across the country (I usually vote, but have not for the past few years due to lack of in-Canada travel) –– the Exchange District restaurant was run by both Hitzer and his cousin, chef Kris Kurus, who also won the Winnipeg leg of the Canadian Culinary Championships and had a great showing at the national competition. Along with frequently appearing on the list, chef Hitzer also does an incredible job putting the city on the international culinary map with RAW:almond. This temporary winter restaurant on the frozen Assiniboine River (created annually with architect Joe Kaltrunyk) brings in chefs from all over the world (including many on this current Canada's 100 Best list) to serve tasting menus in January and February.
Many locals will rejoice at seeing The Exchange District's wildly popular Clementine Cafe (123 Princess St; just down the street from deer + almond) make its first appearance at #74. The restaurant — helmed by chef/co-owner Chris Gama, co-owner Raya Conrad and chef du cuisine Paul Eccles — has received much love and acclaim since opening in spring 2016, with lineups for brunch a regular occurrence. In a 2018 rave review, food critic Dan Clapson (who also votes for Canada's 100 Best), wrote of Clementine in The Globe and Mail, “Can a brunch restaurant also be considered one of the country's best restaurants?” Given that the majority of the Canada's 100 Best Restaurants spots fall under the fine-dining/tasting menu genre, we now have an answer.
Yujiro Japanese Restaurant (1822 Grant Ave.) is by award-winning chef Ed Lam and co-owner Esther Lo, who also have Saburo Kitchen in Hargrave Street Market. River Height's Yujiro is equally known for its excellent ramen service at lunch, along with its selection of sushi and izakaya-style dishes at dinner and its omakase events. During the voting period last year, the restaurant's dining room also received a stylish makeover, now providing a fitting setting for its beautifully plated Japanese cuisine. Chef Lam is also a past Winnipeg-leg champion (2022) at the Canadian Culinary Championships.
This isn't the first time The Roost (651 Corydon Ave.) has made the Canada's 50 Best Bars list, having placed as high as #27 in 2019. Located on a second floor above the Corydon strip (which includes a lovely patio) this charming, tiny, small plates bar is guided by Winnipeg's cocktail queen Elsa Taylor, who also illustrates the room's whimsical menus by hand. Taylor and her partners also own and operate Oxbow Natural Wine Bar and Parcel Pizza.
The 100 Best Restaurant list also features plenty of former Winnipeg talent, particularly in the top 10 with chef Gus Stieffenhofer-Brandson’s Published on Main in Vancouver and chefs Ari and Pablo Schor of Montreal's Beba, which are listed at 7th and 8th respectively.
Montreal’s Mon Lapin has retained its spot as the #1 restaurant in the country, while Toronto’s Bar Pompette made the #1 spot on Canada’s 50 Best Bars.
This is the first time Winnipeg has had three restaurants on the 100 list, and the first time a Winnipeg restaurant has cracked the top 50 since Segovia was ranked #46 in 2018.
Canada's 100 Best Restaurants and Canada's 50 Best Bars were both revealed at a gala in Toronto this evening.