Duck Confit and Cocktails at Alouette Bistro

Chef David Hawksworth's marble-and-velvet Rosewood room, for the night you want them to think you eat like this every Thursday.

A restored downtown heritage atrium where soaring marble makes charred octopus feel like a civic event.

Chef Hector Laguna's plant-draped Coal Harbour room, where the world-ranked cocktails alone justify the good shirt.

A dim, jazz-soaked 1960s Tokyo cafe in Chinatown, where tajarin with uni is just how dinner starts.

Fort Langley's artisan bakeshop on the site of a 1910 blacksmith's, open at 7am for breakfast, oversized laminated pastry and Republica coffee.

Flame-kissed aburi sushi by Burrard Inlet, where the salmon oshi arrives, gets photographed, and makes the table go silent.

Michelin-listed Main Street kitchen where Peru meets Tokyo and Canton: alpaca tartare, arroz con pato, and a pisco bar that hums until close.

Chef Hawksworth's two-storey heritage hall for wood-fired pizza, buttermilk fried chicken, and the share-everything format that actually works.

South Surrey's tiny, fiercely good open-kitchen bistro: Chef Veen's French technique, BC farm sourcing, and a 4.7 that politely destroys every chain nearby.

A Michelin-name Italian on Kingsway where spit-roasted meats, seasonal handmade pasta and wine do more romantic work than you ever had to.

Vancouver's first Michelin Young Chef Award winner cooks seasonal BC plates in a warm wood room beside the Pacific Spirit forest.

The Langley sleeper with a 4.8 rating and seats so few that booking one is basically a love letter.

A tiny, beloved West Point Grey room near Alma serving slow-cooked northern Italian with a menu that changes nightly and often isn't printed at all.

Port Moody's number-one table, where Executive Chef Juraj Dado's seasonal European cooking makes the Tri-Cities feel like a very good idea.