The 2023 Canada’s Best New Restaurants Top 10 were unveiled by Air Canada, with Toronto restaurant Kappo Sato taking the coveted top spot.
Led by chef Takeshi Sato, Kappo Soto is a Kappo-style Omakase restaurant where the tasting menu is prepared entirely in front of guests. In second place, the lavish steakhouse Wild Blue elevates fine dining in the mountain ski town of Whistler through its prime selection of meat and seafood. This year’s third-place winner, Marilena Café and Raw Bar, serves upscale seafood in a relaxed environment in Victoria on Vancouver Island.
“We are incredibly proud of Canada’s Best New Restaurants program, which for over 20 years has provided a platform to spotlight emerging culinary excellence across the country,” said Andy Shibata, vice president, Brand at Air Canada. “Dining and travelling are important economic contributors within our communities, and part of our objectives every year is to help new businesses flourish and for our travellers to see the possibilities of where culinary experiences can take them.”
Canada’s Best New Restaurants 2023 highlights the top restaurants that have opened across the country between late spring 2022 and May 31, 2023, and deliver exceptional experiences through the quality of their food, level of service and commitment to culinary creativity. It is the only cross-country restaurant ranking to use a single, anonymous reviewer, and now in its 22nd year it is also the longest running. From the culinary vision and quality of ingredients on the menu to the team spirit that surrounds it, every element factored into an equation to determine the Top 10 list.
The Top 10 were selected by food critic and author of Canada’s Best New Cookbook, Amy Rosen, who returns to the program having been the program’s first anonymous writer from 2002-2003. Over the course of a secret month-long cross-Canada journey, Amy dined anonymously at more than 30 establishments that were nominated by a panel of food industry experts.
