Toronto scores two deserved, but predictable, spots in enRoute’s 2009 best restaurant ranking
Anyone who has spent hours sitting on a delayed Air Canada jet (an astronomical number of people, to be sure) is familiar with the airline’s boredom-thwarting magazine enRoute and its annual countrywide search for the best new restaurants. The 2009 choices were announced this morning, and the Toronto entries, while not surprising, reflect the kind of eating we’ve come to appreciate in a year riddled with closings, cutbacks and comfort food.
The author of the list—former Toronto Life food editor Chris Nuttall-Smith—picked two Hogtown hot spots: The Black Hoof ranked second, and Pizzeria Libretto ranked eighth. Coincidentally located around the corner from one another, these are remarkably casual restaurants (especially compared to the T.O. choices in previous years: Nota Bene, Lucien, Colborne Lane, etc.) that are perfectly at home in a recession-year ranking that put Vancouver’s rustic Italian restaurant Cibo Trattoria in the top spot.
• Canada’s Ten Best New Restaurants [enRoute]
