I logged a few Aeroplan points for this one. And steering wheel time spent chasing around rural Ontario and Quebec and Vancouver Island. (The drive from Nanaimo, BC, out to the island’s west coast, remains one of my favourites anywhere on the planet.) And VIA rail kilometres. And ferry rides, both in Dartmouth, NS, and from Tsawassen, BC. As for the calories, let’s just not go there right now.
But you’re not here for the planes, trains and automobiles. My list of Canada’s 20 Best Places To Eat dropped just minutes ago over at the Maclean’s site, and I want you to be the first to see it. It’s a solid 9,000 words or so, so I’m not going to overdo things here—you’ve got some reading ahead of you.
Before you go, three quick things.
Lists are ridiculous, always. But they matter, too, because whether consciously or otherwise, they’re how you and I often make decisions in life. And decisions about where to eat seem a bit more serious of late, at least to the people I know, because as I discuss at some length in the list’s accompanying essay, going out to eat is a financial commitment. All that said, the only thing more ridiculous to me than best restaurants lists is ranked best restaurants list. So although I’ve arranged my picks into some sort of order, there’s a reason I haven’t numbered them. Where they fall into my own personal rankings—and yours, I presume—will depend on your budget, location and desires.
I’ll have more on this list in the coming weeks, including a few deep-cut reviews I’ve pulled from my files, as well as a rundown of some of the trends I saw on my travels. (For instance: get ready to meet the haskap berry. It was everywhere.)
If you plan on cooking or eating outside this spring, summer or fall, or know people who will, I hope you’ll consider buying many, many copies of my new cookbook, Cook It Wild: Sensational Prep-Ahead Meals for Camping, Cabins and the Great Outdoors. I’ve spent the last couple weeks on full-time publicity for the book—a very new and strange but wonderful experience—and your response so far has been overwhelming. Cook It Wild is top of the Amazon charts here in Canada, and climbing fast over in the US. (Also: as of yesterday at lunch, there were still a few signed copies available at Flying Books, on College Street, the Book City out in the Beach, and Type Books, on Queen. Please support your locals!) And far more important, the response from ordinary readers has been a joy to experience. But I KNOW you like good food, or you wouldn’t be here. And let’s be honest: you probably love the idea of eating said good food (and drink) out on a sun-warmed rock, or on the deck of a cozy cottage, or on a boat, or a mountain top, or in a secret, crystal-watered cove where you kayak-surfed to shore. If any of that rings true, Cook It Wild’s prep-ahead and make-ahead recipes and advice are here not only to make that possible, but pleasurable too. Here’s a feature from Epicurious about the book’s simple slushy make-ahead Negronis. And here’s a lovely interview with Taste cooking about how and when I got into all this outdoors stuff.
Hope you have a lovely long weekend. See you soon.
CN-S