Vancouver_Magazine_May_2017

18 VANMAG.COM MAY 2017

PORTRAIT: EVAAN KHERAJ;

STYLING BY LUISA RINO, MAKEUP

BY MELANIE NEUFELD; DRESS COURTESY NORDSTR

OM; WATCH COURTESY TIFFANY & CO. PHOTOGRAPHED AT THE AVIARY, THEAVIARY.CA. BOTTOM: TR

ACEY KUSIEWICZ.

BECAUSE WE’RE celebrating our 50th this
year at Va n Ma g, we’ve all been spending a
fair bit of time in the magazine’s archives.
As w ith any back ward reflection, we’ve
been marvelling at how much things have
changed in what feels like a short period of
time. Fashion is particularly glorious—one
excellent men’s photo shoot from 1985
features both paper-bag-waist white shorts
and, in another photo, the caption “yes,
you can mix print and plaid, especially
when the print is a paisley shirt.”
And our Restaurant Awards have
naturally evolved over time as well. They
began nearly three decades ago as a one-
man show, with then-Associate Editor
Scott Mowbray tackling the entire dining
scene solo and awarding honours in 11
categories. In that first year, Le Crocodile
took top honours and, 28 years later, it still
reigns in the Best French category. But
despite a few standout consistencies, the
awards, like our food scene, have grow n in
scope and depth over the decades—and for
2017 you’ll see yet a few more shifts that are
keeping us up to date w ith the cit y’s ever-
changing dining culture.
We’ve condensed a few categories
(combining several “upscale” and
“casual” into just “best”) while further
differentiating others—Casual Japanese is
now Best Sushi and Best Izakaya. And there
are brand-new categories, too: Best Bakery,
Best Vegan/Vegetarian and Best Pacific
Northwest make their debut, along with
one we- can’t-believe-it-ha sn’t-appeared-yet
award: Best Brunch.
And even if our list of judges has
expanded to 18, what hasn’t changed is the

Anicka Quin

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

[email protected]

The challenge: to sample all of the winners of our 28th annual restaurant awards.

There’s Going to Be

a Lot of Eating

ED

NOTE

Coming Up

Next Issue

The Drinking Issue

We’re toasting the

summer with our

definitive list of the

best places to drink

in Vancouver, with

editors’ picks, the

coolest weekly pub

nights, local haunts

and bartender secrets.

Cheers!

FOLLOW US ON

seriousness with which they approach the

task, dining in hundreds of restaurants a ll

year, quietly (and less quietly) debating on

the merits of the shortlisted entries in their

designated categories. Under the guidance

of our food editor, Neal McLennan,

their final ballots make their way to the

careful calculators at Crowe MacKay, our

chartered accountants, who tabulate the

final golds, silvers and bronzes in each

category with the same gravity (but more

accuracy) of an Academy Awards’ tally.

They tabulate all the final medals, that

is, but one. To be eligible for our Restaurant

of the Year award, you need to have won

your category—be it Best French, Best

Pacific Nor thwest or Best Latin. So our

judges get together for one last night of

debate and secret ballots to choose our top

honour. And though the discussions get

heated, we’re all pretty thrilled for this

year’s w inner. (You’ll have to t urn to page

34 to find out who that is.)

But palates are personal, and every

year our awards are followed by public

discussions as fierce as those held by our

judges. So have a look at this list of where

to eat in 2017—and then share w ith us

your personal favourites, whether it’s the

winners in these pages or the secret spots

that are winners for you. The post-awards

debates start today on Facebook.