Paul Grunberg of Vancouver’s Savio Volpe was beaming upon hearing the news. His four-year-old restaurant landed as one of the top 25 destinations in the world for foodies.
“Feels pretty great. We built it as a destination neighborhood restaurant,” Grunberg said.
The ranking came from travel website Kayak and online reservation service Open Table, which teamed up to conduct a survey about travel and food.
“We took data on the top 50 most popular destinations globally from Kayak and then we wanted to find the top 25 hidden gem restaurants that existed in those destinations,” said Steve Sintra of Kayak Canada.
Two Canadian restaurants made the list. Savio Volpe ranked 13th and Toronto’s Terroni Queen was 19th.
According to the survey, 70 per cent of B.C. residents will travel an hour or more to eat at a good restaurant. While on vacation, 33 per cent of Canadians said they’d take a day trip to get to one. And Canadians are 38 per cent more likely than Americans to plan their vacations based on food.
“I don’t know what exactly that says about the American palate but I think it does showcase the adventurous nature of Canadians,” added Sintra.
Some travellers at Vancouver International Airport emphasized the importance of eating well on vacation.
“I don’t want to go somewhere where food’s not good," said Cheryl, a traveller who spoke to CTV News at the airport. “I went to Cuba once, the food was horrible. Never went back."
The survey also found nearly 28 per cent of Canadians will research restaurants in other countries before booking flights and 10 per cent would even make reservations before booking.
Top 25 Restaurants – Fly for food
- 12th Avenue Grill - Honolulu, Hawaii
- Alux Restaurante - Cancun, Mexico
- Battista’s Hole in the Wall - Las Vegas, Nevada
- Bistro Campagne- Chicago, Illinois
- Cafe Luxembourg- New York, New York
- CRUST- Miami, Florida
- Frances- San Francisco, California
- Gilda by Belgious- Barcelona, Spain
- Mamma Maria - Boston, Massachusetts
- Musso & Frank Grill- Los Angeles, California
- Nusr-Et Dubai- Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Omonia Taverna & Bar- Frankfurt, Germany
- Osteria Savio Volpe- Vancouver, British Columbia
- Paddock & Vine- Sydney, Australia
- Rosetta- Mexico City, Mexico
- Schnitzelei Charlottenburg- Berlin, Germany
- Serafina by the Water- Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- Stella Cocktail Club- Dublin, Ireland
- Terroni Queen - Toronto, Ontario
- Tatel Madrid- Madrid, Spain
- The Tap Room at Dubsdread- Orlando, Florida
- Van Speyk- Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Westerns Laundry- London, England
- Wirtshaus in der Au- Munich, Germany
- 開花屋(Kaikaya by the Sea )- Tokyo, Japan
