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Ottawa Citizen
16-05-2025
- Ottawa Citizen
Which Ottawa restaurants are Michelin Guide-worthy? Peter Hum weighs in
The Michelin Guide, which handed out stars and kudos Thursday to Quebec restaurants, may well never get around to surveying Ottawa's dining-out scene. But, if it did, the restaurants below are the ones that I think should make the cut. Article content Article content Some are obvious picks, given, for starters, their regular appearances on the annual Canada's 100 Best Restaurants list, the closest thing the country has to a nationwide appraisal of its eateries. Article content Article content My choices are also based on having eaten at Michelin-starred and -recognized restaurants in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, Paris, Amsterdam, Hong Kong and Vancouver. While the food that Michelin smiles on varies from market to market, its inspectors are always seeking the food that truly stands out and even gives a city or region its culinary identity — think one-star barbecue joints in Texas or one-star roast goose in Hong Kong. Article content Article content In Michelin's shorthand, a restaurant with three stars is said to offer 'exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey.' A two-star restaurant offers 'excellent cooking, worth a detour.' A restaurant with a single star is distinguished by 'high-quality cooking, worth a stop.' Article content More common are so-called Bib Gourmand restaurants, established only in 1997 to laud 'friendly establishments that serve good food at moderate prices.' Article content Most recently, Michelin launched its 'green star' designation in 2020, an accolade going to restaurants that 'prioritize sustainable practices, ethical standards, and environmental considerations in their operations.' Article content Article content Michelin also has one other category — 'selected restaurants' — which can include restaurants of all price ranges as long as they have 'good cooking.' Article content Article content Michelin's anonymous inspectors are said to arrive at their rankings according to five criteria: quality of ingredients; mastery of culinary techniques; harmony of flavours; the personality and emotion that the chef conveys in the dishes; and consistency throughout the entire menu and across different visits. Factors such as service, tableware or the atmosphere at a restaurant are noted by inspectors, but are not supposed to be part of the decision to award a star. Article content If Michelin came to Ottawa, here are the kudos I would want it to award. I've stopped at three one-star recommendations, one green-star recommendation, six Bib Gourmands and seven selected restaurants. If that list feels short to you, add your suggestion via the comments. Article content Antheia: This pick is abnormally far-sighted because Antheia, the upcoming restaurant by chef-owner Briana Kim, is not likely to open until late summer of 2025 at the earliest. But Kim, the winner of the 2023 Canadian Culinary Championship, is a haute cuisine force to be reckoned with who may well be Canada's premier expert on fermentation in a culinary context. The follow-up to her acclaimed restaurant Alice, Antheia will be a 'fermentation R&D lab and a chef's counter experience.' If that's not catnip to Michelin inspectors, I don't know what is.
Vancouver Sun
15-05-2025
- Business
- Vancouver Sun
Hey, Michelin! Ottawa restaurants deserve attention, too, city's top chefs say
Now that Quebec's best restaurants have received Michelin Guide stars and kudos, Ottawa's most celebrated chef-restaurateurs say the famously rigorous inspectors should consider eateries in Canada's capital. 'The challenge was bringing (Michelin) to Canada. Now that they're here, adding the nation's capital will be the natural next step,' says Marc Lepine, chef-owner of Atelier on Rochester Street and winner of the Canadian Culinary Championship in 2012 and 2016 . 'I'm glad Michelin is expanding within Canada, and I think it only makes sense for Ottawa to get the recognition it deserves,' adds Ottawa chef and restaurateur Briana Kim, winner of the 2023 Canadian Culinary Championship . Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. Both of these leading-light chefs have new restaurants in the works in Ottawa . Kim, who closed her acclaimed restaurant Alice in early 2024, is to open its successor, Antheia, which will similarly focus on Kim's plant-based, fermentation-forward cuisine. Lepine says construction of Sauterelle, his new restaurant featuring a year-round, indoor garden that will yield esoteric produce, is to begin in the next few weeks. 'When Sauterelle is open, along with Briana's Antheia, we will bring Michelin to Ottawa,' Lepine says. On Thursday, Michelin's inaugural picks for restaurants in Quebec were announced . Nine restaurants in the province received stars, including five in Quebec City, three in Montreal and one in Rimouski. Of those restaurants, only Tanière 3 in Quebec City received two stars, while the other eight each received a single star. In addition, Montreal had 44 Michelin-recommended restaurants, while Quebec City had 15. France-based Michelin, the tire company, began its guide to restaurants in its homeland in 1900 and started giving out stars in 1926. It grew to become a global arbiter of dining excellence and now awards stars and recommendations in 37 countries across Europe, Asia and North and South America. In early October 2022, Michelin touched down in Canada in Toronto , which has since seen updated annual assessments of its restaurant scene. Less than two weeks later, the Michelin picks for Vancouver were announced . But, if Michelin were to inspect and rate Ottawa restaurants, it would take one thing: significant monetary support from tourism boards and even levels of government. While Michelin does not discuss its funding agreements, some details and rumours make their way into the public domain. The Vancouver Sun reported last fall cited a rumour that Michelin's five-year agreement with Destination Vancouver, the city's tourism organization, was said to have cost $5 million, or a million a year. The story's writer, Mia Stainsby, then called the rumour 'overblown,' noting that 'the entire province of Quebec's recent deal reportedly cost $550,000 over three years.' However, in a September 2024 Montreal Gazette article , Lesley Chesterman, the newspaper's former fine-dining critic, said the province of Quebec's deal with Michelin cost $2.1 million over three years. Jérôme Miousse, director of public affairs for Ottawa Tourism, said the agency welcomed the idea of Michelin considering Ottawa's restaurants, but added: 'It's a complex process that would need thorough evaluation and significant investment to bring to Ottawa.' Michelin's picks for Quebec came a week after the prestigious Canada's 100 Best Restaurants list for 2025 was released. Four Ottawa restaurants cracked that list , including Lepine's Atelier (41st), Arlo (49th), Riviera (88th) and Perch (95th). Arlo on Somerset Street West enjoyed its highest ranking yet on the annual list, and its owner-sommelier Alex McMahon said the list's 'pat on the back' was great for both his staff's confidence and the five-year-old restaurant's business. 'We are seeing reservations for the next few months jump like crazy,' McMahon said. In past years, as many as eight Ottawa restaurants have landed on Canada's 100 Best list, and McMahon said it was too bad more Ottawa restaurants weren't listed this year. 'It's not lost on us how many peers that operate on a really high level were not recognized,' he said. McMahon says he doesn't expect Michelin to come to Ottawa any time soon. 'It doesn't appear to be on the radar of the city,' he said. 'I don't believe Ottawa Tourism is all that eager' to bring Michelin to Ottawa, agrees Justin Champagne-Lagarde, the chef-owner of the tasting-menu restaurant Perch on Preston Street. But Ottawa Tourism should do more to boost the city's culinary scene, especially with the threat of climate change weakening the Rideau Canal's appeal as a tourist attraction, Champagne-Lagarde said. 'They're going to have to pivot, and restaurants are a really good option.' Citing Lepine, Kim, Arlo and the Somerset Street restaurant Le Poisson Bleu, Champagne-Lagarde said Ottawa had 'great little spots that should get more recognition nationally.' phum@ Our website is your destination for up-to-the-minute news, so make sure to bookmark our homepage and sign up for our newsletters so we can keep you informed.
