Air Canada's enRoute magazine announces 2013 Canada's Best New Restaurants and inaugural People's Choice Award winner

/UNDER STRICT EMBARGO UNTIL OCTOBER 24, 2013 AT 9:00 A.M. (EASTERN TIME)/

-- Bar Isabel named Canada's Best New Restaurant, People's Choice awarded to Vij's Railway Express --

TORONTO, Oct. 24, 2013 /CNW/ - Canada's award-winning inflight magazine, Air Canada's enRoute www.enroute.aircanada.com is pleased to announce the Top 10 list of Canada's Best New Restaurants 2013, and the inaugural winner of the People's Choice Award.  On a month-long culinary odyssey that took noted food writer Andrew Braithwaite from Vancouver Island to Fogo Island, he discovered a bumper crop of adventurous chefs who continued to redefine what it means to dine out in Canada.

The Top 10 restaurants in order are:

1. Bar Isabel, Toronto: "looks, feels and tastes vaguely Castilian but does far more than ape a menu straight out of Madrid."
2. Shoto, Toronto: "a storybook of a tasting menu, with all the typical annoying bits - the repetition of ingredients, the showy caprice, the monotonous pacing - smartly edited out."
3. Fogo Island Inn, Joe Batt's Arm, Nfld. and Labrador: "There's a terrific survivalist spirit bursting out of Chef McDonald's kitchen, where most everything is made from scratch."
4. Supply and Demand, Ottawa: " It's not supposed to be this easy for a first-timer ... you notice all the little things that rookies Steve and Jennifer Wall are getting so right."
5. Pidgin, Vancouver:  "The cuisine of Winnipeg-born Chef Ono, who ran restaurants in Beijing and Hong Kong, draws from multiple languages."
6. Carino Japanese Bistro, Calgary: "a Japanese-Italian wine bar that defies logic in the most wonderful ways."
7. Maison Publique, Montreal: "A mere 250 years after the Treaty of Paris, cooking Anglo food in Montreal is cool again."
8. Le Bouchon du Pied Bleu, Quebec City: "one of the most convivial, playful, unabashedly fun dining experiences I've had anywhere in North America."
9. The Acorn, Vancouver: "That the food is meatless is almost beside the point unless you're a foodie vegetarian who's long hankered for a compromise-free night on the town."
10. Electric Mud, Toronto: "Electric Mud is a twisted hymn to the American South."

Short films directed by John Cullen, shot behind-the-scenes at the top three restaurants can be viewed onboard Air Canada flights and on enroute.aircanada.com and winners will be profiled in the November issue of enRoute.

Voted by the people for the people
In partnership with lead sponsor, Jaguar Land Rover - one of the world's premier manufacturers of luxury vehicles - Air Canada's enRoute encouraged Canadians to select their favourite restaurant on eatandvote.com.  Vij's Railway Express - a mobile restaurant inspired by an Indian rail carriage with a menu that explores regional flavours and dishes of India - receives the inaugural People's Choice Award as Canada's favourite new restaurant.  The contest offered a chance to vote to win a trip for two to the 2013 Canada's Best New Restaurants gala event in Toronto, with the use of a vehicle.

"We're very proud of the strong regional representation from coast to coast this year," said Ilana Weitzman, editor-in-chief, Air Canada's enRoute magazine.  "And I love that the People's Choice Award went to a food truck from one of this country's great chefs."

"This year's search wasn't just about what was on the plate," explained Andrew Braithwaite. "We went looking for good people who've dedicated themselves to delivering memorable experiences.  From chefs to sommeliers, these are talented people we want to champion.  I think readers will be intrigued by the diversity in our 2013 Top 10 list."

About Jaguar Land Rover Canada ULC
Jaguar Land Rover is a business built around two great British car brands that are designed, engineered and manufactured in the United Kingdom.  Jaguar Cars Limited, founded in 1922, is one of the world's premier manufacturers of luxury sedans and sports cars.  Since 1948, Land Rover has been manufacturing authentic 4x4s that define "breadth of capability" in their segments.  The Jaguar Land Rover business employs 16,000 people in United Kingdom, including 3,500 engineers at two product development centres.  Headquartered in Mississauga in Canada, Jaguar Land Rover Canada ULC is represented by 25 retail outlets.

About Air Canada's enRoute magazine
Air Canada's enRoute is seen by over 1 million readers each month.  The magazine - available exclusively on all Air Canada flights and in Maple Leaf Lounges worldwide as well as in select hotels and boutiques across North America - is an inspirational authority for the global traveler, known for its strong visual presence and innovative design.  Air Canada's enRoute is published by Spafax, one of the world's leading content marketing agencies and providers of in-flight media, with offices in nine cities around the world.  Spafax is a part of tenthavenue, a division within WPP, created to bring innovative content and sales solutions to mobile consumers everywhere.  WPP is one of the world's leading communications companies.   Follow on Twitter @enroutemag #enroutetop10 or download Air Canada's enRoute Eats app.

Image with caption: "Photo by John Cullen courtesy of Air Canada's enRoute magazine. Chef Grant van Gameren of Bar Isabel, Toronto, winner of enRoute's Canada's Best New Restaurant 2013 (CNW Group/ENROUTE)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20131024_C6288_PHOTO_EN_32501.jpg

SOURCE: ENROUTE

For additional information, visuals or to request an interview, please contact Susan Willemsen, Alexandra Muszynski-Kwan or Ashleigh Mair at The Siren Group Inc.  Tel:  [phone].  Fax:  [phone].  Email: [email protected], www.thesirengroup.com or on Twitter @thesirengroup.