8 - Fleur de Sel

Proprietors Sylvie and Martin Ruiz Salvador have taken a beautifully preserved wooden house, painted it bright yellow with white and red accents, and divided it into an utterly charming and sophisticated restaurant where locally sourced, carefully prepared ingredients meet French technique and Spanish influences.

A hearty but delicate terrine layers ham hock with Portobello mushrooms like striated marble, all wrapped in Savoy cabbage. Baby squid are stuffed to bursting with saffron risotto and served with an expressionist slash of squid ink sauce. Dark chocolate fondant is paired with a playful white chocolate milkshake. If the 110-km drive from Halifax seems daunting, well, we advise you to book one of the cozy rooms upstairs and make a weekend of it.

53 Montague St., Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, 902-640-2121, Open May to December

www.fleurdesel.net

9 - Panache

A former maritime warehouse is now one of the most romantic dining rooms in Canada, where ancient stone walls, cast-iron railings and hand-hewn beams co-exist with exquisite crystal stemware and deep, pillowy banquettes.

Chef François Blais’ talent is in sourcing the best possible local ingredients and giving them full expression. Pristine Arctic char is served as tartare, its flavours pure and clean. Special­ly raised Goulu farms duck is spit-roasted and glazed with maple syrup tapped at a nearby farm owned by the Price family (which also happens to own the restaurant and hotel). The macaroni and I’lle aux Grues cheese with wild mushrooms is foreplay in a mini cast-iron pot. And the ice cream Beignet, served on sabayon with car­a­melized apples… let’s just say that 200 years from now, people will still be raving about it.

10, rue Saint-Antoine (Auberge Saint-Antoine), Québec, 418-692-1022

www.saint-antoine.com

10 - Thuet Cuisine

Marc Thuet’s well-documented role as an en­fant terrible has at times threatened to overshadow his reputation as one of Canada’s best chefs. However at his newest venture, the food is making the headlines.

The simple room evokes a European feeling that complements the Alsatian-inspired cuisine. Flavours are bold and almost aggressively confident: Lobster poached in Muscat butter and dressed with sea urchin is rich in the extreme; veal comes with an ethereal cauliflower mousse.

Thuet’s cheeky dessert “ménage à trois” changes frequently; it might include a trio of choc­olates or perhaps crème brûlée, lavendar ice cream and a milk chocolate and raspberry frappé with sour cream. He likes to keep us guessing.

609 King St. W., Toronto, 416-603-2777

www.thuet.ca