The Toronto skyline at sunset prior to the FIFA World Cup on June 06, 2026
FIFA via Getty Images
For the first time ever, Canada is co-hosting the men’s FIFA World Cup, welcoming the tournament alongside the United States and Mexico. Running from June 11 to July 19, 13 matches will be played across the two cities of Toronto and Vancouver as the country prepares to welcome significant international crowds.
While fans will of course come for the sporting excitement, they’ll also have the opportunity to experience two of North America’s most exciting culinary destinations. Toronto’s multicultural neighborhoods and Vancouver’s ingredient-driven, Pacific Northwest cuisine offer distinctly different tastes of Canada, shaped by each city’s geography, history and communities.
To help visitors eat like locals, I asked a celebrated chef in both Toronto and Vancouver to share some insight into restaurants they return to and recommend.
Toronto
From its iconic skyline featuring the CN Tower to its significant financial, cultural and sporting influence, Toronto is one of North America’s most dynamic urban centers. And its restaurants reflect the city’s international character, with neighborhoods offering cuisines from nearly every corner of the globe.
As a legend of the Toronto food scene, Susur Lee is nearly synonymous with the city itself. Born in Hong Kong and based in Toronto for over 40 years, Lee has earned international acclaim for his innovative blend of French technique with Asian flavors and ingredients. Frequently recognized among the world’s leading chefs, Lee has had a lasting influence on contemporary Canadian cuisine, and his flagship, Lee Restaurant, has remained a fixture of Toronto’s dining scene for more than two decades.
Interiors of Lee Restaurant
Lee Restaurant
In addition to sampling Chef’s signature 26 Ingredient Singaporean Style Slaw, tossed table side at Lee, I asked him to point World Cup visitors in the direction of another delicious local spot that he loves to frequent.
- Favorite local restaurant right now: Taste of China – Downtown Toronto Dundas / Spadina
- The one dish to order there: Moo Shu Chicken (#111A) on their menu
- Why I love the place: This restaurant reminds me of where I grew up in Hong Kong. Sharing meals here with friends and family brings back a lot of great memories and a sense of nostalgia. The chef has great wok sauté skills, and the Moo Shu Chicken is a perfect example. It features fresh vegetables and chicken breast fillets tossed in a garlic, ginger, and sweet soy glaze, topped with a shredded egg omelette, and served with Chinese crepes. The flavors are balanced, the ingredients are fresh, and the build-your-own wraps make it a fun dish to enjoy and share.
Vancouver
On the other side of the country lies Vancouver, a nature-centric metropolis framed by the Pacific Ocean and the rugged North Shore Mountains. Long known in the culinary world for its hyper-fresh seafood—caught from the cold Pacific waters— Asian cuisine and farm-to-table dining, few chefs embody the city’s ethos better than Chef Andrea Carlson.
A pioneer of Vancouver’s seasonal, locally sourced cuisine, Carlson has become one of Canada’s most respected culinary voices. Her restaurant Burdock & Co., was awarded a Michelin Star in October 2022—the first Canadian restaurant owned and operated by a female chef to receive a Michelin Star. But her commitment to showcasing Vancouver’s botanical, wild and vegetal ingredients stretches outside of the kitchen through her embrace of the 100 mile diet (only using foods grown within 100 miles of residence).
Chef Andrea Carlson
Hakan Burcuoglu
In addition to sampling her tasting menu at Burdock & Co., her Hi-Fi wine bar, Bar Gobo, or her neighborhood eatery/grocery Harvest Community Foods, I asked her to point World Cup visitors in the direction of another delicious local spot that she loves to frequent.
- Favorite local restaurant right now: Kavita
- The one dish to order there: Chef Tushar’s rabbit curry
- Why I love the place: This place is all heart. Chef tells the tale of his Indian homeland flavors in inventive modern expressions of traditional taste profiles.