There is a long tradition of companies benefiting from travel giving out culinary
awards. It makes sense. How many of us judge our travel experiences by the quality of the food we enjoyed?
The Michelin Guide is undoubtedly the world’s most recognized authority on restaurants, with its coveted one-, two- and three-star ratings regarded as globally recognized standards of excellence. Once the bastion of white linen establishments, the list now embraces a broader concept of fine dining. While its focus has widened globally, in Canada, Michelin is limited to Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, sponsored by San Pellegrino and Acqua Panna, is similarly famous but restricted to a rarified group of restaurants few of us could ever imagine, let alone afford, eating at.
Air Canada’s Best New Restaurants awards, by contrast, are uniquely Canadian. They don’t confine themselves to Canada’s big three cities, nor discriminate by province, though there is a tendency to lean urban over rural. Although glitzy city-based restaurants often soak up the glamour, Canada’s food story is written not just in urban towers but also along our rocky coastlines, on the main streets of small towns and through farm-to-table experiences from the farms themselves.
This year, Atlantic Canada has been recognized as offering outstanding new dining experiences. Three restaurants have made the coveted 2025 Best New Restaurant finalists list: Halifax’s Mystic and Tribute, and St John’s’ Rabble.
Each brings a different voice to the table. Mystic promises an elevated, coastal-inspired tasting menu. The scenery, inside and out, is both dramatic and welcoming, with architectural nods to seafaring and locally crafted dinnerware by Heather Waugh Pitts. Mystic’s décor elevates Maritime identity to a new level of sophistication. Housed beneath Halifax’s iconic Rise Again stairs in the Queen’s Marque district, diners look out over the harbour through wraparound floor-to-ceiling windows. The food is exceptionally well executed, meticulous in form and presentation. While not all diners will embrace its “less is more” approach or its all-tasting menu format, Mystic offers a striking counterpoint to Halifax’s reputation for casual pubs and fish and chips.
Where Mystic draws on Maritime flavours with a purpose-driven approach, Tribute delivers Halifax on a plate through atmosphere, vibe and soul.
Tribute is led by Halifax-born chef and owner Colin Bebbington, whose culinary journey began in the Napa Valley at the Culinary Institute of America. From there, opportunities took him to Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry and Bouchon, before a pivotal chapter at Chicago’s legendary Michelin-star Spiaggia, where he developed a passion for pasta and Italian traditions. “Working at Spiaggia really opened my eyes,” he recalls. “It was a place with history, thirty years old, rooted in Italian tradition, but also pushing boundaries. That’s where I fell in love with pasta and live-fire cooking.”
His career also took him to London to work at Claridge’s and Davies and Brook with chefs Dimitri Magi and Daniel Humm before a formative stint at Nuno Mendes’ Chiltern Firehouse. Of the experience, Bebbington says, “that kitchen was a lesson in high-level, high-volume woodfire cooking,” he explains. “I learned how to slow things down, layer flavour differently.” Bebbington describes the movement of food on, and sometimes above, the grill as being like a conductor bringing out new notes from different parts of a fiery, smoky orchestra. Of the techniques learned, he says, “it was almost like cooking sous vide and using smoke to add flavour at the same time. Together with reverse-searing to hold onto smokiness and create that beautiful crust, it changed the way I thought about (woodfire) cooking.”
After returning to Nova Scotia, Bebbington launched pop-ups before travelling to Bologna for pasta school. “Using rolling pins and wooden boards in Emilia-Romagna… it was transformative,” he says. “I had two incredible teachers who really influenced my career. That’s where the heartbeat of what we do at Tribute comes from. Pasta is a huge part of me, but the restaurant isn’t labelled as Italian. The menu can go in any direction, but there’s always that thread of Bologna and Emilia-Romagna in the background.”
That philosophy plays out not just on the plate but in the dining room itself. Tribute blurs the lines between kitchen and floor, inviting guests into what Bebbington calls a “Nova Scotia kitchen party.”
“The kitchen and dining room are fully connected,” he explains. “It’s open, relaxed, not pretentious. Guests can see us cooking, hear us talking, even feel the energy. When the dining room is full, it’s a vibe. Sometimes we’re dancing on the spot while plating. The kitchen becomes part of the dining room, and that connection is real.”
The music adds to the atmosphere. “Me and some of the team grew up on 90s rap, R&B and hip hop, so that’s what we play in the dining room and in the kitchen,” Bebbington says. “It sets the tone. Guests feel it. It’s fun, it’s fast-paced, but also deeply passionate.”
For Bebbington, the recognition by Air Canada feels like validation of his team’s work. “Honestly, I’m blown away by what we’ve been able to create in under a year,” he admits. “It’s amazing to be recognized nationally. The team deserves it. It’s an honour to be part of this list, and it’s just great to have a shot to win.”
Rounding out the list is Newfoundland’s Rabble, which weaves heritage and island ingredients into something both comforting and contemporary. Like Tribute, Rabble is chef-driven, with legendary St John’s chef Todd Perrin of Mallard Cottage fame, and partner Jynnifer Gibson heading up the front of house. While I have not yet visited Rabble, I expect Perrin has brought his signature sense of elevated comfort food to his new space, this time downtown in an old heritage building on St John’s famed Water Street. The setting, as you would expect by the name, and according to Gibson, is “lively, energetic, and relaxed. We want people to know we aren’t just a special occasion restaurant. We simply serve really good food and drinks. It’s the type of restaurant you can come down on Wednesday night and sit at the bar or sit down on Saturday night for a longer meal. We are for everyone, for every occasion.”
As for Rabbles’ success, Gibson says, “it’s all in the details, whether it’s the food, the drink or the décor of the restaurant. We (Todd and Jynnifer) think about everything our guests don’t have to.”
So why does recognition like this matter? Because Atlantic Canada’s culinary landscape is too often underestimated, seen through the narrow lens of boiled lobster and chowder. Yet the region’s best chefs have been building something deeper, something more exploratory. Of their inclusion, Gibson says, “We are simply honoured to be included amongst so many accomplished and talented restaurateurs. We didn’t open the restaurant for critics or awards, but it feels really nice to be appreciated for what we are building.”
Still, the story doesn’t end with the three finalists. Part of what makes lists like this exciting is the conversation they spark. Who’s missing? Who’s next? I can’t help but think the list could also step beyond capital cities and take the road less travelled. A fine example is Woodroad in Cape Breton, a restaurant quietly shaping a reputation as one of the most distinct dining experiences in Atlantic Canada. Tucked away in Margaree, Woodroad is said to channel both the ruggedness and poetry of Cape Breton into an exemplary dining experience. From all I’ve heard, it deserves to be spoken of in the same breath as Mystic, Tribute and Rabble. I’ll confirm this next month, when I make my first visit to this much-talked-about, though less frequented, destination.
Air Canada should be praised for giving these local restaurants a national stage. But the truest measure of success will be how Atlantic Canadians themselves embrace these restaurants, support their chefs and continue telling stories of pride, place and passion through every plate.
At the same time, it’s worth noting that not all recognition needs to come from the national stage. The Coast’s Best of Halifax awards remain one of the most personal and highly localized approaches to celebrating food and drink. Voted on by the community, they capture the intimate relationship between diners and the places they cherish most, whether a fine dining room or a late-night pizza joint. If Air Canada’s awards put our region on the national map, The Coast reminds us that food culture is at its heart a shared, everyday experience rooted in local pride.