WITH HIS BURGEONING FULL HOUSE HOSPITALITY GROUP (Longtail Kitchen, Sen Pad Thai, Popina and two locations of Fat Mao Noodles), chef Angus An is now one of Vancouver’s most prolific restaurateurs. But Maenam, which opened in 2009, remains his crowning achievement. This restaurant forever broadened Vancouverites’ understanding and appreciation of Thai cuisine, well beyond pad Thai and green curry. An worked in London at Nahm (the world’s first Thai restaurant to receive a Michelin star) and travelled extensively in Thailand to better understand its diverse regional cuisines. Back in Vancouver, he and wife/business partner Kate Auewattanakorn (who was Nahm’s front-of-house director) blew everyone away with Maenam’s intensely flavourful dishes.

The carefully prepared sauces combined with fresh local ingredients will have your taste buds longing for more. Caren McSherry

While an excellent à la carte menu is available for walk-ins at the understatedly chic dining room, greater emphasis is given to the family-style chef’s menu, which changes seasonally. In springtime, this could mean a chicken stir-fry with morel mushrooms, and in the colder seasons, perhaps a hot-and-sour soup of pork, clam and lemongrass. Kurtis Kolt’s meticulously chosen wines and sakes provide a revelatory showcase for bottles from B.C.