The ranking that we publish each spring begins with a poll of our judges, who are asked to rank their top 10 dining experiences of the previous year. They are based all across the country, distributed across our regions according to population. But every year we fine-tune the balance and also bring new voices onboard. If you’d like to be a judge for 2021, please see page 110 of the magazine for details of our new contest.
This year we increased the size of the national panel to 103. That’s two more than last year, and—what with turnover—that includes 22 expert voices that are new to us. Among those we are especially pleased to welcome Sarah Musgrave, Peter Hum, Pay Chen and Pierre Jury in the food writer category, along with blogger Elise Tastet and, from Top Chef Canada, Mijune Pak. Likewise, Jessica Noël and Nathan Guggenheimer to our chefs’ panel. And to count Zita Cobb among our hoteliers.
Our data gathering also took a leap forward last year. The C100B survey is now conducted using SurveyMonkey, its data exported into Excel, which generates infallible results instantly. (Much as I’d love to take credit for this, it’s all due to one of my oldest, closest friends, David Jones, a 30-year veteran of Microsoft. Thanks again, David.)
We’ve presented our results differently this year, de-emphasizing ranking and reviews to allow space for a closer look at what our restaurants are doing during the Covid crisis, in their battle to survive. From all of us at Canada’s 100 Best, congratulations on making the list. We miss you, wish you the best, and—be assured—are desperately impatient to be your customers again.
