58 VANMAG.COM MAY 2017
El SantoA surprising tie for Gold La Mezcaleria
between newcomer El Santo
and La Mezcaleria shows
the growing presence of Lat-
in cuisine on Vancouver’s
restaurant scene. El Santo’s
hibiscus and jicama enchila-
das and serious bar program
kept our judges coming back
time and again, while La
Mezcaleria’s queso fundido
and mezcal-based cocktails
make for what one judge
describes as “the best Friday
night on the Drive.” Casual
lunch spot Molli Cafe nabs
the Bronze, thanks to its
deeply ear thy pulled lamb
tacos and two-fi ster tortas.Best Latin
Molli Cafe
1225 Burrard St.
mollicafe.com
HONOUR ABLE MENTIONS
La Taqueria, Cacao3TIE
El Santo/La Mezcaleria
680 Columbia St.,
New Westminster
elsanto.ca;
Multiple locations
lamezcaleria.caEL SANTO: TRACEY KUSIEWICZ; SID & JOAN CROSS: AARON SACCOLifetime Achievement
Sid and Joan Cross
IF YOU TRAVEL anywhere
people love food and wine,
and you tell someone you’re
from Vancouver, the common
response is, “How’s my friend Sid?”
or “Plea se say hi to Joan for me.”
Long before you couldn’t visit a restaurant without a
smar t phone in tow or have a mea l w ithout “rev iew ing” it
online, there was but a small cadre of people who dedicated
themselves to seeking out and celebrating those pioneering
folks who were changing the way we were eating and drink-
ing. And in the then-provincial town that was Vancou-
ver, there were two who stood out above all others: Sid, a
high-powered lawyer at Ladner Downs by profession but an
oenophile with an encyclopedic knowledge of the world ofwine by passion; and Joan, a cookbook editor and tester who
shepherded many a culinar y tome from idea to fr uition. To-
gether—and even after a lmost fi ve decades, they’re always
together—they not only raised the bar for what was possible
for B.C.’s hospitality industry, they also used their frequent
travels to preach the gospel of this up-and-coming cit y on
the Pacifi c to chefs, winemakers and producers throughout
the world. They’ve judged almost every event worth judging
in B.C., and the awards and decorations that are the result
of these eff or ts are notable: Sid is an offi cer of France’s
prestigious Ordre du Mérite Agricole (Jacques Pepin and
Jacques Chirac are only knights) and the only Canadian to
be inducted into Bordeau x’s L’Aca démie du Vin, and both
have received the highest honour from the International
Food and Wine Society. We now proudly add the Va n c o u v e r
magazine Lifetime Achievement Award to that list.RESTAURANT AWARDS