Michelin’s rating system is simple: one star means “worth a stop”; two stars is “worth a detour”; and, finally, three stars “worth a special journey”. But what happens when you find out your dream city just had eight bestowed on it? You follow that culinary constellation across the world to Vancouver — only the second city in Canada, following Toronto, to welcome the cartoon man made of tyres.
Home to hyperlocal foodie hotspots, fine-dining dens, an on-the-rise coffee culture and world-class Asian-inspired cooking, Vancouver has long been held in high esteem by lovers of good food. Michelin has simply acknowledged what travellers of taste already knew. But that’s not to say the city hasn’t enjoyed the spreading of a little stardust.
The Michelin honours — eight restaurants given single-star status, a dozen honoured with a Bib Gourmand good value designation, a further 40 recommended — had barely been announced when I arrived late last year. My last meal had been the one I ate on the plane in economy class, so as far as I was concerned the only way was up.
The taxi whisked my appetite and me to the celebrated Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, where — like so many after a long flight — I was more than happy to look no further than the street I was on for supper.
Luckily, in downtown Vancouver you never have to look far for a star foodie attraction and on this street — all trees, designer storefronts and gallery plazas — it was Hawksworth. This is a restaurant with pedigree: one of four in the city on La Liste’s most exciting restaurants for 2023 and included in Canada’s top 100 list for 2022. My cheffy Canadian boyfriend had told me Hawksworth was a Michelin dead cert, and though it made the recommended list, it did not gain the coveted star, much to the chagrin of the restaurant’s chef-owner, David Hawksworth, who, rumour has it, raised two middle fingers at the ceremony. It was just about the least Canadian thing I’d ever heard.
Advertisement
David’s restaurant certainly got my vote. The oysters — £4 a pop and dotted with crème fraîche and Northern Divine caviar — gave me the wake-up I needed; I could taste how close we were to the harbour (an eight-minute walk exactly). Next came the wagyu beef carpaccio speckled with tiny pine mushrooms that would have winked ice-white from the forest floor before they were picked. It was fancy, sure, but I did spot a three-course lunch for just £18 for the more cash-conscious. I left with two hypotheses: the Michelin inspectors had hit a bit of a lull when they came to this one. Or the restaurants that did get a star were going to blow my mind.
But that was to come. My first port of call the next day was another on the recommended list, Cioppino’s in Yaletown, named an “early pioneer” in the Michelin write-up. Since opening in 1999 it has attracted celebrity diners including the rapper Drake and the actor Stanley Tucci. Between courses the chef-owner, Pino Posteraro, came over for conspiratorial chats (Michelin doesn’t award stars to restaurants as big as Cioppino’s, Hawksworth shouldn’t have lost his cool). Posteraro’s linguine, served with lemon butter and Japanese uni (mix it into the pasta; it unravels like a sauce), was one of the standout dishes of the whole trip. When I read that Cioppino’s recently ranked in 50 Top Italy’s list of the world’s best Italian restaurants, I was not surprised.
Further pleasures awaited — at Como Taperia in the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood, another to be recommended, the rosemary-flecked, spicy-honeyed, deep-fried aubergine discs are something I still daydream about. I’m propped elbow-to-elbow at the stand-up counter; a glass of sherry or vermouth (they have both on tap) comes with small bites during happy hour, just like in Spain.
So what of those eight establishments that did earn a Michelin star? Nabbing reservations wasn’t easy — inquiries had shot up in all eight. In the end I managed to get a place in three.
In the first, Published on Main, I sat in a dimly lit corner lathering whipped butter on to bee pollen Japanese milk buns, mopping up elderflower béarnaise with pink slices of bison and licking verbena-flecked elderflower mousse from my plate. I could only wonder: how had Michelin not got here sooner? Half-bear, half-woman, I snatched another candied salmon snack — just one showstopper on a tasting menu full of hits — but no one was judging.
Advertisement
As far as restaurants go, Published is big — big enough to cast doubt on Pino Posteraro’s theory that larger venues are never awarded stars. And it made my next port of call, Burdock & Co, seem tiny in comparison. Its general manager, Jordan, an embodiment of that capable Vancouver cool, joked that Michelin was the man who changed her life in 2022. But that was not to say it had been easy.
“It’s amazing to be recognised,” she told me, “but when you get an influx of publicity and bookings like that, it does come with challenges. You have to suddenly recalculate your stock in a big way and ask questions like, do we even have enough staff to do this?”
That said, you’d never know they had felt even a single creak of strain. The dining room, dressed in pampas with white brick walls and wooden benches, was buzzy and slick; Jordan and her merry band of servers felt like friends and every course of the tasting menu sang. I sampled delicate matsutake porridge, drizzled in onion oil and served alongside a glass of local sake, but since menus change with the seasons, they will almost certainly be showing off some other culinary craftsmanship by now.
Finally, in Chinatown I headed up the stairs of an unassuming building to Kissa Tanto — another Michelin star winner and possibly Vancouver’s toughest reservation.
The “vibe” is inspired by the jazz cafés (or jazu kissas) of Tokyo, with vinyls on the wood-panelled back bar and old-timey bankers’ lamps lighting up the booths. The first page of the menu — Thank you for coming. You look perfect — commences the great flirt. Things got serious with the serving of the silken, white-truffle-topped omelette, which can only be made by Kissa’s half-Italian, half-Japanese head chef, Joël Watanabe. It cost £33 on its own, making the multiple-course omakase menu in which it is often included seem cost-effective at £90. I savoured my Miyazaki wagyu and sipped on my Midori sour at the glacial speed of someone refusing to acknowledge they would ever have to leave.
Advertisement
Of course I did have to leave — not least because I’d eaten more than enough and needed to work off some of those calories. Welcome to Vancouver’s impossibly beautiful outdoors. That night I walked through the neon awnings of Chinatown as if I was in a Blade Runner prequel. The next morning I put in some 15,000 steps at the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park. Once across the bridge, I didn’t so much forest bathe as dive into the cover of the Douglas firs and western red cedars. I barely used Uber or took a taxi throughout my stay, walking from Granville Market to Jericho Beach via the clapboard mansions of Kitsilano; from the darling streets of Downtown to the soaring treetops of Stanley Park and down every delicious mile of Main Street.
Post-hike, try Phnom Penh, which gained a Bib Gourmand for great value and has queues down the street, or Ask For Luigi, with its suitable-for-two pasta portions.
I also looked in on another Fairmont — the Pacific Rim — with its Michelin-recommended Lobby Lounge and Venetian-inspired restaurant, Bacaro — even its cocktail bar, Botanist, won Michelin’s new “exceptional cocktails” award.
At Bacaro, Scott Korzack’s insalata verde, tossed with sliced fennel and shiny with bergamot vinaigrette, reminded me how good salads can be. Any health points gained, though, were immediately nuked by the fried carrozza sandwich, golden and crunchy as katsu and weeping with mozzarella.
● Best things to do in Vancouver
Advertisement
All too soon I had to run for a flight — a 20-minute seaplane tour departing from the neighbouring seafront (harbourair.com). I finished the last of the carrozza as we banked high above the North Shore Mountains and wondered if there has ever been an association of snack and scenery so spectacular.
I spent my final morning at Café Medina, another Michelin-recommended venue, with its justly celebrated selection of Belgian-style waffles. The owner, Robbie Kane, had already opened the popular brunch spot in 2008, he told me, when his future wife walked through the door. Her name? Medina. Robbie recounted the story as if it was the first time he’d told it. “It must have been fate,” he said, smiling. And that’s when I realised: Michelin isn’t just a book worth travelling for. In Vancouver it’s a love story worth falling for. Even Michelin can’t put a star on that.
Hannah Ralph was a guest of Destination Vancouver (destinationvancouver.com) and Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, which offers room-only doubles from £200 a night (fairmont.com)
What to see and do in Vancouver
Best foot forward
With the great outdoors all around you, the swirling waters of the Strait of Georgia on one side, North Shore Mountains on the other, even a gentle stroll in this city connects you with nature. Stanley Park is where Vancouverites head. Want more of a challenge? Tackle the “Grouse Grind” — a steep ascent up a zigzagging trail to the top of 1,230m Grouse Mountain. The views of jagged peaks and a shimmering Burrard Inlet will make it all worthwhile (honest).
Whale meet again
Humpback whales, orca (killer whales), dolphins, minke and porpoises — the proximity to the Pacific Ocean means that the waters around Vancouver teem with some of the most dramatic sea creatures in the world. Wild Whales offers tours of between three and five hours when the season kicks off in April (from £95; whalesvancouver.com).
Advertisement
Totem pole position
Stanley Park on the coast around Vancouver is the place to head for totem poles, whose carvings tell stories of North America’s indigenous people and places. There is a fine collection of nine of the poles at Brockton Point, the city’s most-visited attraction. An even more dramatic collection at the University of British Columbia’s Museum of Anthropology will go on display when it reopens later this year after refurbishment (moa.ubc.ca).
Jolly (ice) hockey sticks
Passions run high when it comes to ice hockey in Canada and with a host of world championship titles and Olympic gold medals, the national team is legendary. In Vancouver, locals cheer on the Canucks. Catch a game at the Rogers Arena between October and May (from £37; rogersarena.com).
Hit the road or rails
Soak up Vancouver’s classy urban vibe for a few days and then set off on an adventure. Fancy a road trip? For dramatic views, the Sea to Sky Highway 99 between Vancouver and Whistler more than lives up to its name. Cover similar ground then head further inland to Lake Louise and Banff on the fabled Rocky Mountaineer train on the three-night First Passage to the West (from £1,613; rockymountaineer.com).
Where to stay
Rosewood Hotel Georgia
Over the road from the Vancouver Art Gallery this celebrated grande dame of a hotel — think lavish marble staircases, retro wooden furnishings and a cocktail bar containing works by Damien Hirst — has hosted Elvis, Sinatra and the Beatles. Add your name to the list.
Details Room-only doubles from £270 (rosewoodhotels.com)
The Burrard
Playfully kitsch without trying too hard, this former 1950s motor inn in downtown Vancouver has retained its retro roots. Neon signage splashes across walls, palm trees shade a courtyard with a ping-pong table, and cocktails are served in a wood-panelled bar.
Details Room-only doubles from £105 (theburrard.com)
Adrian Bridge
Sign up for our Times Travel newsletter and follow us on Instagram and Twitter
Meet the team
Experts from the Times Travel team will be at Destinations: The Holiday and Travel Show in London, which takes place February 2-5 at Olympia (destinationsshow.com). Subscribers to The Times can claim two complimentary tickets (a booking fee of £1.50 per ticket applies) using the code TIMES+ when booking here
