The Acorn

Vegetables With Something to Say

3.5 of 5

Vegetarian cooking has a reputation problem, mostly earned by places serving sad lentils with a side of virtue. The Acorn, at 3995 Main Street, solves the problem by cooking well. It has been a vegetarian and vegan fixture on Main for years, and Michelin's inspectors say it is clearly not resting on its laurels. The menu changes constantly with whatever local ingredients are peaking, and the kitchen treats a cabbage with the respect most places save for a rib-eye.

Dishes come and go with the season. Recent menus have carried Parisian gnocchi with nettles, morels and goat cheese, and cabbage with potato gratin and caramelized onion, along with sauces borrowed from all over the map, from a nutty Mexican pipián rojo to a Thai nahm jim. That range is the point. Nobody here pretends a mushroom is a steak. They make the mushroom taste like the best version of a mushroom, which is a far more interesting ambition.

There is à la carte and there is a tasting menu, and first-timers should take the tasting. The service is warm and a little evangelical, in a good way. Dinner runs on weeknights and brunch takes over on weekends. Daily Hive has reported it named among the best vegan restaurants in the world. Bring your most committed carnivore, say nothing, and watch the expression change by the third course.

Order this: The tasting menu, Parisian gnocchi with nettles and morels when in season, Anything with the pipián rojo
The damage: $$$
Go: A weeknight dinner for the tasting menu, or weekend brunch
Find it: 3995 Main St, Vancouver, BC V5V 3P3