Best Formal French: Lumière

Now a decade old, and following a serious refurbishment in both the dining room and kitchens, Lumière’s (Gold) sense of maturity and purpose is found in transcendent tasting menus and quality wines. “One suspects there is a mind-reader on staff; at Lumière your needs are met before you realize you have them,” said one judge. Management changes have seen the arrival of Sebastien Le Goff, whose disciplined style and enormous wine knowledge have pushed the restaurant into a more European feeling. Michel Jacob (also see Lifetime Achievement Award), who might be the fittest chef in Vancouver, still mans his sunny kitchen at Le Crocodile (Silver) daily. The Alsatian-inflected menu sings with terrific sauces, and other classically rendered dishes—“it’s the best place to get someone to do something they don’t want to,” perhaps over a convincingly chosen wine list, served with just the right amount of ceremony, but never pomp. Lee Parsons’ menus at Bacchus (Bronze) have grounded his métier in local ingredients; his use of game says he’s on it, his soups are beautifully composed. At Whistler’s Bearfoot Bistro (Honourable Mention), chef Melissa Craig now enjoys bragging rights as the finest female chef in B.C. for her tireless dedication to multi-course tasting menus that resonate with Andre Saint-Jacques’s theatrical wine list. Also honourably mentioned: Le Gavroche, where the cooking is now the measure of the wine cellar—the house of gemütlich.

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