4 Vancouver eateries make Air Canada's Best New Restaurants finalists list | Daily Hive

Air Canada just revealed its 2026 Best New Restaurants finalists list, highlighting 30 of the nation’s best new dining destinations worth flying across the country for, and four Vancouver spots made the cut.

“For 25 years, this list has served as a go-to discovery of how Canadians eat and travel, celebrating the incredible diversity, breadth and creative energy of Canada’s dining scene. Whether you’re chasing a must-try table close to home or planning a flavour-first trip across the country, ACBNR is your passport to discovering Canada’s next great plates,” wrote Air Canada in a release.

The first of the four new restaurants on the list is Angela Pastificio (1869 Powell St., Vancouver), an Italian restaurant in East Vancouver on the same block as two of last year’s best new restaurants, Niwa and Nero Tondo.

“The eight-course tasting menu moves from antipasti through five handmade pastas before finishing with dolce. From nearly every angle of the restaurant, you can watch sheets of dough being rolled, filled, folded and stamped just across the counter. Gnocco fritto with mortadella gets things started with one of the most memorable bites of the summer: the mortadella draped over the hot, pillowy dough, warming until it nearly melts like lardo,” wrote Air Canada on the restaurant.

Kavita (250 W. 3rd Ave., Vancouver) was also among the finalists. The restaurant is brought to us by Tushar Tondvalkar and is inspired by the diverse regional cuisine of India.

“Kavita is rooted in tradition without being confined by it, a deeply personal expression of Mumbai, Malvan and memory, anchored confidently in Vancouver, where Tondvalkar now calls home,” wrote Air Canada.

Thirdly, Nui (4811 Main St., Vancouver) was also included in the list, known best for its comforting Korean fare.

That warmth runs through the cooking. Chefs JJ Hwang and Kyle McIntosh bring a thoughtful, contemporary lens to Korean comfort food, layering fermentation, smoke, spice, and acidity with a remarkably light touch. The aromatic pork-bone gomtang is the star, its milky broth deeply comforting and served with chive oil, chile-shrimp paste and house-made kimchi to season as you go, each spoonful becoming a little more your own.

Last, but certainly not least, is Canada’s first contemporary Cambodian restaurant Touk (1152 Alberni St., Vancouver).

“At Touk, chef Chanthy Yen turns toward his Cambodian-Canadian roots, drawing on the flavours and traditions he first encountered cooking alongside his grandmother. His career has since taken him through some of the world’s most ambitious kitchens, into the Prime Minister’s residence as Justin Trudeau’s personal chef and, most recently, to a win on Top Chef Canada. But Touk feels like a return to something more personal: Cambodian cooking expressed through the exceptional seafood, produce and meats of British Columbia,” wrote Air Canada.

It’s not just Vancouver that’s getting the love, as two other B.C. spots were also named finalists, including Alfred’s in Revelstoke and Lumache in Victoria.

Among the 30 finalists, only 10 will go on to make the Top 10 list, which will be announced on Nov. 16. Be sure to check back here to see which Vancouver restaurants make the final list.

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