First-time restaurateurs Lucais Syme (left) and Adam Pegg garner top honours among the best new restaurant of 2008 with their northern-Italian-themed La Quercia.

Credit: Doug Shanks

ON THE PLATE: The best new dining of 2008

This year may not have brought Vancouver over 100 new eateries, as 2007 did, but if quality trumps quantity, this was another stellar 12-month period for the city’s eating-out scene, with dozens of new arrivals making a well-deserved splash. Ranked one through 10 in order of awesomeness, here are my picks for 2008’s best new restaurants.

1. LA QUERCIA
(3689 West 4th, 604-676-1007, LaQuercia.ca)
I’m a sucker for small neighbourhood joints that are chef-owned and hyper-serious about their food. This northern Italian gem, standing way west on West 4th, hits all the right notes for me, especially on the cuisine front. Italian food has always been under-represented in Vancouver, with very little in the way of regional specificity, but the enthusiasm for exactitude displayed on the plate by first-time owner-chefs Lucais Syme and Adam Pegg sold me at first bite. La Quercia is about as flawless as it comes.

2. DB BISTRO MODERNE
(2563 West Broadway, 604-739-7115, DbBistro.ca)
It took two visits just last week — one of them on opening night — and just eight plates to cement my affection for New York celebrity chef Daniel Boulud’s first Canadian restaurant. Located in the former Feenie’s location, right next to the newly relaunched Lumière (which I’ve yet to test drive), DB is a testament to the value of that old restaurant mantra, “Details, details, details.” From its air-tight service to its juicy, truffle-laced DB Burger, this beautifully designed newcomer has it all.

3. CAMPAGNOLO
(1022 Main, 604-484-6018, CampgnoloRestaurant.ca)
The second effort from Robert Belcham and Tom Doughty, the boys who gave us West 4th’s award-winning Fuel Restaurant, brought a little modernity and style and a lot of kitchen prowess to the same block of Main Street that houses the Ivanhoe Hotel. (If there were a separate trophy for Most Ballsy Location, they’d win.) The funnily-named Campagnolo (“country bumpkin” in Italian) includes a gorgeous 25-seat wine bar and a 60-seat, open-concept dining room, plus the pan stylings of chef de cuisine Alvin Pillay. Think simple, affordable Italian, done extremely well.

4. LA BRASSERIE
(1091 Davie, 604-688-0459, no website)
Davie Street got an early Christmas present with this wonderful little restaurant from two sibling chefs who share duelling passions for beer and for Franco-German food. The price points are very accessible (a bonus in these trying times), and what it lacks in formality it more than makes up for by being unapologetically genuine. The suckling pig is already legendary in the foodie community, and the selection of hard-to-find European beer is one of the best in town.

5. CIBO
(900 Seymour, 604-683-4251, CiboTrattoria.ca)
The new Italian restaurant in the recently revamped Moda Hotel has plenty going for it, not least being the talents of U.K.-import chef Neil Taylor. His West Coast translations of classic Italian dishes are delightfully fresh and local-ingredients driven. And the service, led by front-of-house veteran Sahara Tamarin, is rock solid. The sleek décor, which is so far removed from the stigmatic Italian vernacular as to be unrecognizable, is a breath of fresh air.

6. TWO CHEFS AND A TABLE
(305 Alexander, 778-233-1303, TwoChefsAndATable.com)
When chefs Karl Gregg and Allan Bosomworth took over the little vacant space on the northeast corner of Alexander and Gore, they went where angels feared to tread. The location, two agonizing blocks beyond the tourist track of Gastown, and well off the radar of most Vancouverites, may have been a gamble, but Two Chefs’ charming, super-cozy interior gets its hooks into you quick. Those who appreciate good, unpretentious food at a fair price have been flocking.

7. VOYA
(1177 Melville, 604-639-VOYA, VoyaRestaurant.com)
The opening of the dark and sexy Voya, in the Loden Hotel, marked the long-anticipated return of Marc-Andre Choquette (former chef de cuisine at Lumiere) after a year-long absence from our restaurant scene. Widely acknowledged in trade circles as one of the best chef-arbiters of French-Asian cuisine, Choquette tabled an opening menu that impressed with its mix of brashness and subtlety, and totally killed on the palate. Cocktails by Jay Jones show an outstanding understanding of booze alchemy.

8. TRATTORIA ITALIAN KITCHEN
(1850 West 4th, 604-732-1441, TrattoriaKitchen.ca)
The fifth Vancouver venture from restaurateur Emad Yacoub (Glowbal, Coast, Sanafir, Italian Kitchen) hit my sweet spot when it opened this past summer by offering good value and remarkable consistency in a deluxe environment. Packed to the rafters since day one, the modern Italian restaurant has clearly struck a harmonious chord with its fickle Kitsilano neighbourhood, and made competition on the increasingly crowded West 4th strip all the more fierce.

9. THE IRISH HEATHER
(217 Carrall, 604-688-9779, IrishHeather.com)
Many a die-hard lamented the loss of its creaky-floorboard character when Gastown’s iconic Irish Heather made the move last summer to new digs across the street. I am not among them. The re-invention grabbed me immediately with its exposed brick, beer-barrel floors, and stand-up bar. It does an admirable job at blending the old with the new, and the food has improved immeasurably. The steak-and-Guinness pot pie is an enriching hour well spent, and few places pour a pint with more care.

10. CAFE MEDINA
(556 Beatty, 604-879-7119, MedinaCafe.com)
It may serve breakfast and lunch only, but it’s some of the best eats to be had in this town while the sun is up. Owned by the same couple who brought us the much-celebrated Chambar (located next door), Cafe Medina’s food follows a high-value Euro track, and the room echoes Chambar’s exacting eye for design. The fricasse of short ribs and applewood-smoked cheddar is a startling wake-up, and the Belgian waffles are worthy of addiction.