Michelin Comes to Vancouver

The big announcement today that has foodies excited

The Michelin Guide is coming to Vancouver.

It was announced earlier today in a press conference hosted by international director of the Michelin Guides Gwendal Poullennec, who had just arrived from Singapore where the latest stars were announced.

In the press release he revealed the Michelin inspectors have already come to Vancouver to "shine a spotlight on all that Vancouver has to offer".

Poullennec stands next to the Michelin Man

"Vancouver is celebrated by international travellers for its artistic vibe and multi-faceted identity -- from impressive buildings to outdoor spaces -- and we're pleased to focus on its very promising culinary potential," he said.

The westcoast city is the second Canadian destination for the prestigious French dining guide after Toronto. Many had speculated that Montreal would be the next spot, but it looks like Vancouver snapped up the opportunity instead.

The guide will include the restaurants awarded one, two or three stars, as well as non-rated ones called Bib Gourmand, as well as the Michelin Green Star for those restaurants offering sustainable dining, ie locally sourced ingredients.

Chefs like Gus Steiffenhofer-Brandson, chef-owner of Published on Main which recently ranked as the top restaurant in Canada -- welcome Michelin here.

"Vancouver arguably has access to some of the best produce in the world and we have so many great cooks. It's always been a bit of a struggle, not being an internationally recognised city, so it's a positive thing for Vancouver," he says. 

Steiffenhofer-Brandson won't change his cooking

But he says he won't be cooking for the inspectors, which is the right attitude to have. 

Though when you see a well dressed single diner, it's most probably an inspector...

Nevertheless, one has to wonder -- Vancouver with a population of 2.6 million  -- does it have enough fine dining restaurants to merit a Michelin Guide?

A chef friend from Vancouver who is now working in Hong Kong wondered why his hometown doesn't have many fine dining restaurants. 

He observed the only ones that were busy were the mid-range, casual places like Earl's, Cactus Club, and Brown's Social House. Several fine dining restaurants have closed over the years, like Lumiere, West and most recently Bishop's.

There are a lot of rich people, the chef said, mostly Chinese so the Chinese restaurants do well, and wealthy non-Chinese, but seems like they aren't as willing to shell out for good food.

When I posed this question to another friend, he said the only people who can afford to eat out at fine dining restaurants on a regular basis are bankers with big expenses accounts. And those people would be bankers, those in finance.

Many places like Bishop's have already closed

Vancouver is not the finance capital of Canada -- Toronto is.

What Vancouver has going for it is the fresh produce, and restaurants that are in the upper mid-range that are in not-so-easy to reach locations (for cheap rent), but at the same time they are able to take risks and experiment with ingredients and concepts.

So is the Michelin Guide going to be more heavy on the Bib Gourmands than stars? Or is it going to bump up these mid-range restaurants to star accolades? 

Restaurant owners might be blinded by the stars and start raising prices after, driving their core customers away.

In any event we shall see a few months from now when the stars are revealed in the fall. In the meantime try to eat in the purported top restaurants in Vancouver now because they may get pricier once the guide is out...