The Winnipeg Free Press would like to show you notifications for breaking news and noteworthy local journalism.
No Thanks
Allow
Notification Settings
This browser doesn't support push notifications at the moment. Check browsers features, update your browser or try to use one from the list of recommended to manage your notifications settings:
Firefox (27+)
Google Chrome (30+)
Safari ( MacOS 13+ with browser 16.1+ and iOS 16.4+ ) / Note make sure Push API support enabled under Settings > Safari > Advanced > Experimental Features
Microsoft Edge
If you wish to manage your notification settings from this browser you will need to update your browser's settings for this site. Just click button below and allow notifications for this site
Note Safari 16.4+ working on iOS devices also need this site app to be installed at device's Home Screen for Push Notifications to work
Notifications are blocked for this site. If you wish to manage your notification settings from this browser you will need to update your browser's settings. Usually you'd need to click on site options icon to the left of address bar and change notifications preferences/permissions from there
Breaking News
Urgent and important stories
Recommended Reads
Noteworthy news and features
Close
Taking a bite out of 2018
Free Press restaurant critic names the year's best
It’s a tough to narrow down a year’s worth of delicious dinners, scrumptious snacks and lovely libations to name Winnipeg’s best new restaurants, but no one denies that doing the research is a treat.
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
It’s a tough to narrow down a year’s worth of delicious dinners, scrumptious snacks and lovely libations to name Winnipeg’s best new restaurants, but no one denies that doing the research is a treat.
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/12/2018 (2845 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
It’s a tough to narrow down a year’s worth of delicious dinners, scrumptious snacks and lovely libations to name Winnipeg’s best new restaurants, but no one denies that doing the research is a treat.
For 2018, we’ve chosen five dining establishments for special mention, as well as singling out some standout dishes and tracking the top trends.
THE TOP FIVE
JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Oxbow has dropped its prix fixe format and is focusing on a tight menu that takes honest Prairie ingredients in intriguing directions.
Passero (1 Forks Market Rd.): With a gorgeous approach to modern Italian cooking, Passero is classic where it should be and innovative where it can be.
From an iconic spaghetti carbonara to brussels sprouts given a little edge with horseradish mascarpone and apple mostarda, everything at this cool venue — a wood-framed room carved out within The Forks Food Hall — is thoughtfully conceived and beautifully executed.
Oxbow (557 Osborne St.): This South Osborne resto and bar has dropped its prix fixe format and is focusing on a tight menu that takes honest Prairie ingredients in intriguing directions: Think smoked beet purée or pickerel whipped into light croquettes and served with fennel aioli.
The adventurous wine list features natural wines and trendy pet-nats, and the vibe is good, with a darkly beautiful room and warm, well-informed service.
JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES
Spaghetti ‘carbonara’ with guanciale, egg yolk, cured egg, black pepper and cream is among the beautifully executed dishes at Passero at The Forks.
Black bird Brasserie (101-300 Tache Ave.): A prime St. Boniface location with the friendly feel of a neighbourhood spot, this brasserie — from the team that runs the Grove and the Cornerstone — relies on a concise, considered menu of unpretentious French classics.
There are old-school staples like Lyonnaise salad with a perfectly poached egg, satisfying boeuf bourguignon and lovely little chocolate pots de crème.
JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES
Black Bird Brasserie relies on a concise, considered menu of unpretentious French classics.
Cho Ichi Ramen (1151 Pembina Hwy.): This bright, casual Fort Garry resto is all about the ramen, with a choice of two basic long-simmered broths (or a vegetarian option), some springy fresh noodles, and a bunch of add-ins — from marinated egg to sous-vide chicken — to customize your bowl. Warming and wonderful.
Capital Broadway Grill and Bar (100-275 Broadway): The longtime Charleswood favourite added a downtown location this fall, with a light, open space looking out on Broadway.
The menu offers refined takes on familiar favourites, like the standout truffle fries made with Kennebec potatoes or the cauliflower soup given a complex umami undertone with a hit of miso.
This is comfort food done right.
SOME OTHER GOOD STUFF
The baked egg with gruyere at Little Goat (2615 Portage Ave.) is an adorable little marvel of simplicity and just one of the outstanding breakfast and brunch options at this sunny St. James spot.
ANDREW RYAN / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES
A bowl of Cho Ichi’s original tonkatsu ramen, served with green tea panna cotta, left, tokoyaki and agedashi tofu, right.
I just adore the feijoada – an iconic Brazilian black bean stew with all the fixings — served on Saturday afternoons at Deli Brazil Café (510 Sargent Ave.) in the West End.
Down the street, the beef and huitlacoche and pork mole tacos at the hole-in-the-wall Sargent Taco (698 Sargent Ave.) are super-tasty and crazy-cheap.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES
Little Goat’s breakfasts and brunches are outstanding.
At the relocated Ivory (141 Donald St.), the Indian buffet is packed with good dishes — palak paneer, lamb vindaloo, the much-loved chicken 99 — and not a bad deal, with the lunch buffet priced at $13.99.
TRENDS IN 2018
Coffee culture: Good-looking coffee shops continued to pop up this year, with Little Sister opening a bright, beautiful second location on South Osborne (539 Osborne St.), with the option of coffee made by the mad-science siphon method.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Owner and 'antojitos expert' Carlos Bosque makes chicken molé tacos at the Sargent Taco Shop in Winnipeg.
Grey Owl Coffee and Pub on Main (272 Main St.) offers some third-wave java, beers, ciders and wine, along with small, snacky plates, in a handsome and richly dark interior.
On the tea side of things, the Amsterdam Tea Room and Bar (103-211 Bannatyne Ave.) has added some really intriguing tea-infused cocktails as well as a recently expanded food menu.
Ice cream goes upscale: Chaeban (390 Osborne St.) had its first full summer in 2018, bringing its innovative natural flavours of hard ice cream — vanilla bean, cottage cheese and local honey; rosewater, orange blossom and ricotta — to crowds who were happy to line up out the door. You can also try the posh lavender soft-serve at Little Sister.
RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES
Grey Owl Coffee & Pub on the main floor of the Scott Block takes the coffee house concept to elegant new heights, with its its dramatic colours and large front windows.
One true thing: Remember when fine dining conjured up epic-length menus, leather-bound, tasselled and going on for pages and pages? These days many restaurants choose to focus on doing one thing and doing it well.
Cho Ichi Ramen does it with ramen, Kevin’s (141 Bannatyne Ave.) has made a religion out of mac ’n’ cheese, and Hildegard’s (100-686 Portage Ave.), along with its excellent organic baking, concentrates on very good thin-crust pizza.
Plant-based possibilities: No longer just an awkward afterthought on conventional menus, vegan eating is ready for its close-up.
RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
This City Sunday Special, Hildegard's Bakery at 686 Portage Ave.
Photo of loaves of their prairie sourdough sliced.
Owners Dave & Judith Newsom and Michael Harms.
Various photos for feature on locally owned bakery in heart of city (Portage and Maryland).
Place used to be a car dealership, so floor to ceiling is about two stories tall; pics of the brick stove, which was built brick-by-brick, as well as varieties of breads, muffins, etc.
Photo of baker, Luke Friesen lighting brick oven.
Dave Sanderson story.
April 16, 2018
You can get some fresh approaches to salads, smoothies, juices and sweets at the all-vegan and gluten-free Circle Kitchen (709 Corydon Ave.), as well as vegan soups, wraps and baked goods at the Acorn Café (located inside the Generation Green store at 433 Main St., Unit 100).
There are dairy-free frozen treats at Le Monkey Bar (50 Provencher Blvd., kiosk 3) and sweet and gooey vegan cinnamon buns at Cinnaholic (1600 Kenaston Blvd., Unit 170).
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES
Vegans have lots to choose from at Circle Kitchen, which serves up meat-free treats like this taco salad.
R.I.P.
And in bad restaurant news, that seemingly cursed corner of Osborne and Stradbrook saw not one but two restaurants — Ward 1 and Pete’s Place — come and go this year.
alison.gillmor@freepress.mb.ca
PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Peter and Samantha Vlahos pose in Pete's Place in their new Osborne Village location, Thursday.
Alison Gillmor Writer
Studying at the University of Winnipeg and later Toronto’s York University, Alison Gillmor planned to become an art historian. She ended up catching the journalism bug when she started as visual arts reviewer at the Winnipeg Free Press in 1992.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Alison Gillmor Writer
Studying at the University of Winnipeg and later Toronto’s York University, Alison Gillmor planned to become an art historian. She ended up catching the journalism bug when she started as visual arts reviewer at the Winnipeg Free Press in 1992.
Last week, provincial and territorial health ministers held an emergency meeting on the looming expiration of federal health funding and the financial pressures facing health systems across the country.
As they gather again in Winnipeg later this month, there is a critical piece missing from the conversation — prevention.
Canada has a strong public-health tradition, but its gains cannot be taken for granted. In 2021, Canada reported zero measles cases. By 2025, more than 5,400 cases had been reported, costing Canada its measles elimination status and Manitoba saw this firsthand.
It’s a tough to narrow down a year’s worth of delicious dinners, scrumptious snacks and lovely libations to name Winnipeg’s best new restaurants, but no one denies that doing the research is a treat.
For 2018, we’ve chosen five dining establishments for special mention, as well as singling out some standout dishes and tracking the top trends.
THE TOP FIVEPassero (1 Forks Market Rd.): With a gorgeous approach to modern Italian cooking, Passero is classic where it should be and innovative where it can be.
Outside the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, digital billboards flashed fans their singular photo op for the night: “I took this photo before I saw Phoebe Bridgers: The Lost Tour 2026.”
It is, as it is for so many other people, my only documentation of a concert by one of my favourite artists. The American singer-songwriter — who I discovered at the Winnipeg Folk Festival in 2018 — has had a meteoric rise in the past few years, winning three Grammys in 2024 as one third of Boygenius, the indie-rock supergroup rounded out by Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker, and opening for Taylor Swift on select dates of her titanic Eras Tour.
Now, Bridgers is touring in support of Lost Weekend, her third album and first since 2020’s Punisher. It’s a feat of a record, a richly textured meditation on loss and grief, written in the aftermath of the death of her dad, with whom she had a complicated relationship.
So she is in a position to not only play multiple sold-out arena shows, but also insist that those shows be phone-free.
This spring, I adopted a three-month-old rescued German Shepherd mix. To say she is easily excitable is an understatement.
It is not really her fault. A puppy’s frontal cortex, the part of the brain that helps with decision-making and impulse control, is still developing. When an older dog, or a human, gets tired, we generally understand we should rest. Puppies have not quite figured that out. They often interpret tiredness as a signal something is wrong, which makes them more alert, more reactive and harder to settle.
That creates a feedback loop. The puppy gets tired, which makes her frantic, which makes her more tired, which makes her even more frantic. Eventually, this becomes what people call the “zoomies”: frantic sprinting, biting, jumping and general chaos.
From the outside, it looks like the puppy has too much energy. In reality, the opposite is true. The zoomies are not a sign of excess energy. They are a sign the puppy is overtired and does not know it yet.
It seems obvious the world’s first trillionaire thought he was helping separatists within the Canadian federation when he encouraged three provinces — Alberta, Saskatchewan and Quebec — to leave Canada.
Unfortunately for Elon Musk, a man suffering from a profound deficit of self-awareness, his comments may only help those who want to keep the country together.
Musk entered the national unity debate on Wednesday, two days after the pro-independence Parti Quebecois was returned to power in Quebec with a minority mandate. The PQ has promised to hold a third referendum on separation at some point in its current term.
Musk — who has a Canadian mother and attended university in Ontario — took to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter (which he owns) and encouraged Quebec to forge ahead with plans to separate. He said Alberta — which will hold a vote this fall on whether to hold a binding referendum on separation — and Saskatchewan should follow suit.
