Toronto’s Alo tops 2017 Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants list

Alo, which launched in 2015 with fine-dining tasting menus, made the jump from the seventh spot on last year’s list. (Photo: Alo Restaurant/ Facebook)

Toronto’s Alo has topped the 2017 Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants list while Vancouver eatery Kissa Tanto has been named the country’s best new restaurant.

Alo, which launched in 2015 with fine-dining tasting menus, made the jump from the seventh spot on last year’s list.

It’s the second time in recent months that chef Joel Watanabe’s Kissa Tanto, which features a blend of Italian and Japanese cuisines, has been called the hottest new restaurant in Canada. In the fall, enRoute magazine put Kissa Tanto – which means House of Plenty –atop its list of best new restaurants, while Alo placed second.

The annual list of top restaurants is determined by an 82-member panel of judges and printed in the Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants magazine. Other awards were also handed out by the publication on Tuesday night, including a lifetime achievement honour for Susur Lee.

The Hong Kong-born chef oversees Luckee, Lee, Lee Kitchen at Pearson International Airport, Bent and Fring’s in Toronto along with TungLok Heen in Singapore’s Hotel Michael. He’s been a judge on “Chopped Canada” and “MasterChef Asia” and was a finalist on “Top Chef Master” and tied with Bobby Flay on “Iron Chef America.”

Charles-Antoine Crete of Montreal Plaza also got an award for most innovative chef, Claude Guerin of Maison Boulud at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Montreal was named best pastry chef, and The Design Agency won for best restaurant design for Lena Restaurante in Toronto.

Here is the list of the top 10 ranked restaurants:

1. Alo – Toronto
2. Toque! – Montreal
3. Joe Beef – Montreal
4. Le Vin Papillon – Montreal
5. Edulis – Toronto
6. Hawksworth Restaurant at the Rosewood Hotel Georgia – Vancouver
7. Buca Osteria & Bar (Yorkville) – Toronto
8. Canoe – Toronto
9. Dandylion – Toronto
10. Pigeonhole – Calgary