Air Canada’s Best New Restaurants 2024 long list!

It’s a classic, every autumn for over 10 years, we celebrate excellence in gastronomy with Canada’s Best New Restaurants, which seems to have changed its name to Air Canada’s Best New Restaurants, celebrating new establishments showcasing the art of the table from coast to coast. While the Michelin guide has been around for a few years now, with the 2024 edition coming to Québec in 2025, this program celebrating the country’s distinctive culinary scene in a different way through its iconic program is Canada’s longest-running restaurant ranking. Let’s take a look at Air Canada’s Best New Restaurants 2024 long list.

Over 30 finalists for Air Canada Best New Restaurants 2024 long list

More than 30 finalists make up this long list of establishments combining quality, finesse and creativity in both cuisine and service. “We’re thrilled to shine a light on Canada’s emerging culinary talent through Air Canada’s annual Best New Restaurants list,” said Andy Shibata, Vice President, Brand, Air Canada. “Food is an important part of culture and heritage, and by sharing the very best of Canada’s creative culinary scene, we hope to inspire people to seek out great food experiences across our country. In doing so, we are proud to celebrate the best of Canadian talent and support the vitality of Canada’s restaurant and hospitality sector.”

How are establishments chosen?

The Air Canada Best New Restaurants 2024 competition, whose finalists you’ll find below, is the only pan-Canadian restaurant ranking to involve a single anonymous food critic, whose mission is to taste dishes in establishments across Canada. This person discreetly conducts a month-long gourmet marathon in search of the country’s most outstanding new restaurants, based on the recommendations of our national committee of restaurant experts.

Air Canada’s Best New Restaurants 2024 celebrate the most innovative restaurants opening across the country between late spring 2023 and May 31, 2024, offering outstanding experiences through the quality of their products, service and culinary creativity.

The long list of Air Canada’s best new restaurants 2024

Here’s the long list of finalists in the Air Canada Best New Restaurants 2024 competition. Of course, we have a soft spot for Sabayon, the tiny restaurant run by the talented couple Patrice Demers and Marie-Josée Beaudoin, who are also the restaurant only two employees. It would be hard to miss Charles-Antoine Crête and Cheryl Johnson’s latest project. It’s really interesting to see lesser-known provinces like Manitoba and Saskatchewan joining the fray. I hope that in the years to come, there will be a finalist restaurant in at least every province and territory, showcasing the diversity of the culinary arts across the country.

• Alberta
  • Bar Gigi (Calgary)
  • Bar Henry (Edmonton)
  • Bernadette’s (Edmonton)
  • Little Wolf (Edmonton)
• British Columbia
  • Bravo (Vancouver)
  • Tradish The Ancestor’s Café (Fort Langley)
  • Cafe Malabar (Victoria)
  • Dovetail (Vancouver)
  • Gary’s (Vancouver)
  • Lila (Vancouver)
  • Osteria Elio Volpe (Vancouver)
• Prince Edward Island
  • Ada Culinary Studio (Charlottetown)
• Manitoba
  • Crumb Queen/Andy’s Lunch (Winnipeg)
• Ontario
  • Bar Prima (Toronto)
  • Conejo Negro (Toronto)
  • Contrada (Toronto)
  • Fat Rabbit (St. Catharines)
  • Martine’s Wine Bar (Toronto)
  • Mhel (Toronto)
  • Takja BBQ House (Toronto)
  • The Starlight (Stratford)
• Québec
  • Caméline (Gatineau)
  • Casavant (Montréal)
  • HENI (Montréal)
  • Île-de-France (Montréal)
  • Juliette Plaza (Montréal)
  • Maison de Soma (Mont-Tremblant)
  • Parapluie (Montréal)
  • Sabayon (Montréal)
• Saskatchewan
  • F&B Restaurant (Saskatoon)
• Newfoudland-and-Labrador
  • La Roca (Bay Bulls)
  • Black Cat Pizzeria (St. John’s)

The 10 finalists for Air Canada’s Best New Restaurants 2024 will be unveiled in Toronto on November 4, 2024. They will also be featured on the website and in the November issue of Air Canada enRoute magazine.

Discover the list with comments on the various finalists on the website