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FAB FOOD NATION

Twenty-two days, 19 flights, three cars and one ferry. This was the whirlwind tour enRoute took this past June, visiting 42 new restaurants, east to west. From St. John’s to Tofino, we ate the best desserts, drank the coolest cocktails and even checked out the swankiest restrooms. Here are the hottest food, wine and dining trends from across the country. Dig in! (We sure did.)

Text: AMY ROSEN

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For full restaurant listings and links, click here.

Ubiquitous Menu Items of 2003

Caper berries, chicken livers, chorizo, enoki mushrooms, escargots, flavoured foams, fresh tarragon, frisée, Gold Label balsamic vinegar, golden beets, grapefruit, high-end imported bottled water, key lime, organic everything, pineapple, pine nuts, pommery mustard, sea bream, shaved fennel, skate wing, smoked paprika, Vidalia onions, white truffle oil… and a gooseberry garnish.

Next Year, Watch for…

Bone marrow, handmade pastas incorporated into classic dishes, pearl barley, rabbit, seared pork belly, spaetzle, sturgeon, yuzu… and many more oysters.

Noticed

_ Your choices are tapas or tasting menus. À la carte is taking a break.

_ Chickpea fritters are the new french fries.

_ Island cuisine is big in B.C. but not so much in PEI.

_ World cuisine is big in the East but not so much in the West.

_ Private dining rooms have come out of the closet, while chef’s tables have moved into the kitchen.

_ Loads of new restaurants are doubling as bars and serving food loud and late to urban scenesters.

_ Dessert trends may come and go, but chocolate is forever.

Best Freebies

Welcoming mini bowls of vichyssoise infused with mushrooms and white truffle oil at Brunoise (Montreal); roasted red pepper purée with avocado and a basil chiffonade at Celestin (Toronto); a warm quenelle of lobster-and-snapper mousse at Eau (Toronto); and the finishing sweet nothings of hot sourdough doughnuts rolled in cinnamon sugar at Beckta Dining & Wine (Ottawa).

Gorgeous Views

Take in the open-air architecture and juicy vineyards of the Mission Hill Family Estate Winery’s Terrace restaurant (Kelowna); the sweeping greens and tees of Provence Bistro at Niakwa Country Club (Winnipeg); the natural splendour of the Tofino Inlet, Mears Island and the island mountain ranges from Shelter (Tofino); and the rugged beauty of the Adonis waiters at Rosalie (Montreal).

Cheesiest Comeback

Raclette is a semi-firm cow’s milk cheese similar to fondue’s Gruyère – and a 1970s mainstay newly back from the brink. It turned up in a fresh-as-outdoors salad of organic Clayoquot field greens tossed with shavings of Qualicum cheese at Shelter (Tofino); in pan-fried gnocchi lashed with olive oil at Vintropolis Tapas Bar (Kelowna); and as oozing mellow melted cheese in the vaguely Swiss potato rounds peppered with diced smoked bacon at Tribeca Bar, Bistro & Cafe (Halifax).

Standout Service

When you’ve got a sommelier like the relentlessly friendly and skilled Yves Larose at Les Chèvres (Montreal) on your team, everybody says "Cheers!"

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