Niki Nakayama: How a JA Angeleno Conquered the Rarefied World of Japanese Kaiseki Cuisine
Nakayama’s genius is her intuitive ability to orchestrate Japanese techniques and Southern California ingredients into something completely new and all her own.
17 cities, 23,000 kilometres, one undercover writer — I zigzagged across the country to pick Canada’s Best New Restaurants 2022
“When I tell people I spent a good part of my summer traversing the country to select Canada’s Best New Restaurants, a look of envy passes over their faces.”
Best Trailblazer
Edmonton’s Pei Pei Chei Ow is a multi–faceted champion of Indigenous cuisine, art and culture that’s blazing a trail for the next generation.
Canada’s Best New Restaurants 2022: The Top 10
The Top 10 list is back by popular demand. Our anonymous food critic reprised her culinary marathon, landing in no fewer than 17 cities to taste-test menus at the most tantalizing restaurant openings across the country (polishing off 226 dishes along the way).
Restaurant Trends Spotted on the Road
I was the peripatetic restaurant critic who travelled from St. John’s to Tofino, observings the common interests and obsessions of chefs and restaurateurs across the country. Here are six industry trends that stood out on my cross–country culinary odyssey.
Feeding Community and Growing Opportunities in the Boreal Forest
“We both cared a lot about community, were interested in growing food, and we didn’t want to pursue a traditional academic career.”
Music at Work
City Pop is not your typical restaurant kitchen music. While many male-dominated kitchens skew toward “hip hop and metal, often aggressive metal that makes you move fast, City Pop offers a special, more rarefied niche in the kitchen, emotionally elevating rather than punishing.