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Canada’s Best New Restaurants 20061 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | CBNR Mission Statement & Index | Home  Photo by Edward Pond 08. TREADWELL 61 Lakeport Rd., Port Dalhousie, Ont., 905-934-9797, treadwellcuisine.com Treadwell’s purveyors are listed on the back of the menu like film credits, making a fun dinner game out of tracing dishes back to their source. Those tender, sweet golden and Chioggia beets must come from Wyndym Farm, the accompanying smoked ricotta from the Upper Canada Cheese company. The Niagara vinegar? Self-explanatory. Chef Stephen Treadwell’s “farm to table cuisine” is all about celebrating the region’s best. His son, sommelier James, has built a wine list just as full of rare and delicious treats from the Niagara region. The chef is no zealot, however. Although his pork is naturally raised by Cumbrae Farms and served with a local baco noir vinegar jus, it has been braised for 10 hours in 7UP – possibly from a local vending machine.  Photo by Louise Savoie 09. JOE BEEF 2491, rue Notre-Dame O., Montréal, 514-935-6504 The original Joe Beef was a celebrated 19th-century Montreal saloon keeper: Imagine a cross between Yosemite Sam and Santa Claus. His spirit lives on in this tiny, exuberant restaurant. (With just 25 seats, call early and often to reserve.) The larger-than-life tattooed presence shucking sweet oysters behind the raw bar is chef David McMillan, who with Joe Beef partner Fred Morin left the more formal confines of Rosalie and the Globe for their own joint. This Atwater market neighbourhood restaurant is relaxed and casual. Buffalo frog’s legs are a clever riff, right down to gingham wax paper, blue cheese dip and celery sticks in a basket. A plate-busting steak Diane is served with a little cast iron dish of corn and bok choy. Don’t even try finishing if you want the root beer float for dessert. The new Joe Beef? A legend in the making.  10. SAINT GERMAIN Hotel Arts, 115 12th Ave. S.W., Calgary, 403-290-1322, hotelarts.ca In a former Holiday Inn dining room, a considerably more ambitious restaurant welcomes. Leather the colour of chocolate and velvet the shade of Cerignola olives create an appetizing colour scheme; a curvaceous raw bar is elegantly lit with subtle, shaded built-in lamps. Intertwined pork loin chops rest atop a stew of du Puy lentils, their sweet jus an ideal foil for the rich meat. Striped bass is expertly cooked with a red slash of hibiscus, on a plate already bright with fresh peas and purple potatoes. Outstanding deserts (like old-school Valrhona milk chocolate macadamia nut bombe) are the handiwork of the talented Karine Moulin. This restaurant's transformation is a feat worthy of its patron saint. 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | CBNR Mission Statement & Index | Home |
