Eight Vancouver Restaurants Now Have Michelin Stars

The Michelin Guide has finally come to Canada’s third largest city. Not only did Michelin award eight Vancouver restaurants with coveted stars, a dozen other restaurants received Michelin’s Bib Gourmand designation, which recognizes value and quality. Michelin also added another 40 Vancouver restaurants to their recommended list.

Dining out in Vancouver

Vancouver’s culinary scene benefits from its mountain-ocean-valley location in the southwest corner of Canada’s western-most province, British Columbia (yes, Vancouver is just north of the parts of the U.S. dubbed the Pacific Northwest, but Canadians just call it the West Coast since what’s south and north is all relative).

Vancouver’s chefs maximize the bounty of British Columbia’s ingredients and you’ll find the cuisine of almost every country in the world represented in Vancouver’s restaurants.

As you’d expect, fish and seafood—much of it designated as sustainable by Ocean Wise—feature prominently on Vancouver’s menus. Fields and farms from the nearby Fraser River delta supply Vancouver’s restaurants with everything from unique cheeses to poultry to beef (even to rival next door Alberta’s). British Columbia’s mild weather means foods like cherries and peaches—even goji berries, pawpaw, wasabi, and rice—are grown here. Plus, more than 80 grape varieties are grown in BC and turned into wine by 370 licensed wineries.

Vancouver’s Michelin-starred restaurants

The eight Vancouver restaurants each receiving one Michelin star are: AnnaLena, Barbara, Burdock & Co., iDen & QuanJuDe Beijing Duck House, Kissa Tanto, Masayoshi, Published on Main, and St. Lawrence. Destination Vancouver’s website describes each.

In addition to its new Michelin star, Japanese-Italian fusion restaurant Kissa Tanto also received the Michelin Service Award for general manger Justin Isidro and his team. Not only recognizing Published on Main’s executive chef Gus Stieffenhofer-Brandson and his culinary team, Michelin also awarded Published on Main’s wine director Jayton Paul with the Michelin Sommelier Award.

Vancouver’s Bib Gourmand restaurants

Michelin’s Bib Gourmand designation is for restaurants that offer both great value and quality, specifically for two courses plus either a glass of wine or dessert for under $60 (Canadian, currently about $45 US). Bib is short for Bibendum, the Michelin Man’s actual name, and in the guides you’ll see his face with his tongue licking his lips designating “restaurants offering exceptionally good food at moderate prices.”

Vancouver’s 12 Bib Gourmand restaurants are: Anh and Chi, Chupito, Fable Kitchen, Fiorino Italian Street Food, Kin Kao Song, Little Bird Dim Sum + Craft Beer, Lunch Lady, Nightshade, Oca Pastificio, Phnom Penh, Say Mercy!, and Vij’s.

An additional 40 Michelin-recommended restaurants in Vancouver

The October 27, 2022 announcement caused the restaurants receiving Michelin stars to max out their reservations as far forward as their systems allow. Until the buzz subsides, there’s still opportunity to sample Michelin-endorsed restaurants.

Of Vancouver’s 40 Michelin-recommended restaurants, some of my favorites include:

• Botanist: Inside downtown’s Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel, Botanist pairs whimsical cocktails with exquisitely-plated dishes featuring BC ingredients. Michelin also awarded Botanist’s Jeff Savage and Grant Sceney with the Exceptional Cocktails Award.
• Café Medina: Breakfast, brunch and lunch including Liège waffles with a variety of toppings (choose the passionfruit—you won’t be disappointed).
• Hawksworth Restaurant: Within the elegant Rosewood Hotel Georgia, Hawksworth shows off the quality of its mostly-BC ingredients with just the right amount of innovation.
• Maenam: One of several Vancouver restaurants by chef Angus An, the menu here reminds me of some of my best meals in Thailand.