Saskatoon restaurants to check out in 2020

Whether it is the various food festivals showcasing local cuisine or the ever-growing number of star chefs, Saskatoon is well known for its food scene.

Darby Sutherland, epicure and media specialist with Tourism Saskatoon, offers her top five restaurants you should get a taste of in 2020.

Odla

801 C Broadway Ave.

"I think it gives the most accurate taste of what Saskatoon has to offer," Sutherland said. "They order all of their food directly from farmers and skip out the middleman.

"They are co-owned by Farm One Forty so it's just all Saskatchewan ingredients all year long. It's super fresh and super delicious."

Sutherland said the pasta dishes are great along with the gluten-freefried chicken and that Odla's cocktail game is excellent.

St. Tropez Bistro

238 Second Avenue S

St. Tropez just opened their new cocktail bar Parlor that is located above the restaurant.

"It's a speakeasy and the only way you can tell if it's open is if their blue neon cat sign is lit up," said Sutherland, adding it offers beautiful cocktails, great lighting and 'a very Instagrammable' bathroom.

The restaurant itself has offered French-inspired cuisine for the past 40 years.

"It's still delicious," Sutherland said, adding that the spinach balls are a must.

Hearth Restaurant

2404 Melrose Ave.

Hearth is off the beaten path in the Avalon area. Its mandate is to use local ingredients whenever possible with a menu that changes with the seasons.

"It just feels so cozy," Sutherland said. "I go there enough that I'm known by name, so I feel very welcome, but I think that everybody experiences the same amount of welcome.

"It has been two years in a row on the OpenTable Top 100. Their service is amazing and it's clearly recognized."

Primal

423 20th St. W

"Primal is this beautiful cozy hole in the wall on 20th. Dark lights, Italian inspired food using Saskatchewan ingredients and amazing cocktails," Sutherland said.

Primal and The Hollows are both run by Christie Peters and Kyle Michael.

Peters has just returned from studying at the Noma Fermentation Lab in Copenhagen, Denmark.

"In the fermentation lab you learn how to change flavours and preserve ingredients which is something that Christie was already doing with their super seasonal menu," Sutherland said. "(Peters) would have to preserve all the things that she harvested in the fall so they last all winter long.

"I'm just so excited to see how the menus change and evolve with all that she's learned."

The Hollows

334 Ave C S.

Sutherland said the restaurant takes local cuisine to a different dimension.

"They have perogies, they have steak and their brunch is to die for," she said.

The restaurant is located in the former Golden Dragon building on the corner of Avenue C and 19thand haskept almost all of the decor.

Sutherland said that in Saskatoon you can actually literally see your food from farm to table.

"Driving into the city you see where the grains are being farmed and then you meet the people," she said. "In bigger places you don't necessarily meet the people behind the food. But if you're at The Hollows there's a good chance you're going to see Christie Peters running around. And if you're at Odla you'll definitely see chef Scott Dicks at the bar working on the menu.

"That really makes people feel welcome and involved in the community."