Vancouver, CANADA — The Michelin Guide is a newcomer to this city, having debuted its first dining guide only in 2022. Among the first eight restaurants to garner a Michelin star for the first time in is Published on Main, which has continued to maintain that achievement.

Serving elegant, contemporary Canadian cuisine with global influences and an emphasis on sustainability, it was opened in December 2019 by Executive Chef Gus Stieffenhofer-Brandon, a native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, who worked at Michelin-starred restaurants in Germany and spent a summer working at restaurant Noma in Copenhagen.

It’s located in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood that’s plenty pleasant, indeed, with an abundance of parks, gastropubs, bakeries, and restaurants.

The restaurant, done up in white, gray, and black, sports bar-height chairs throughout the dining room that are quite comfortable, too, with built-in bars to rest your feet.

Choose either a tasting menu or a la carte dishes that are easily shareable. The latter is what my husband and I chose. With a favorable exchange rate, we ate like kings, too (and queens).

Honey-glazed milk buns ($9) come with whipped butter dusted with bee pollen. The buns are soft as down pillows, and laced with a lovely floral sweetness.

Don’t sleep on the hiramasa ($30), a stunning dish of thinly sliced yellowtail amberjack that gets firmer from aging. It’s lightly torched, then finished with burnt nori dressing, and tangy pickled kelp. The fish explodes with umami taste with a touch of brininess. If a fish could somehow taste as savory as meat, this would be it.

Lily spears ($25) were a new one to me, so I had to order them. Turns out they are a distant relative of asparagus that’s foraged in British Columbia. The spears are nearly pencil thin, with a taste like that of asparagus crossed with green beans. Grilled, they pick up a nice smokiness that complements the puddle of creamy wild rice miso sauce on the bottom of the plate.

If you hate to admit how much you love Kentucky Fried Chicken, Published on Main’s chicken-fried maitake ($22) offers a more virtuous way to enjoy that. Hen of the woods mushrooms get a crusty, crunchy breading that is highly seasoned much like KFC. A homemade ranch enlivened with garlic scapes comes along side to dunk into. Once you’ve had this dish, you’re sure to order it every single time thereafter.

The next dish veers to Thailand with crisp and tender scored squid in a citrusy, lemongrass green sauce with spicy ‘nudja coated cabbage and fresh basil. It’s spicy, acidic, and so fragrant.

For something more substantial, the pork cheeks ($36) are fall-apart tender and sticky glazed. An almond-garlic ajo blanco sauce with a touch of vinegar, along with tangy gooseberries help cut the richness.

First of the season British Columbia fire morels star in a gnocchi dish ($33). They’re morels that have cropped up in forests that have experienced wildfires. Woodsy and so nutty tasting, the morels get tossed with tender, cheesy gnocchi that have been seared golden and crisp on one side. A touch of truffle enhances the earthiness of the dish, which has the depth of a reduced jus with a hint of fresh squeezed lemon juice. If you have any leftover milk bread, use it to sop up every bit of this sauce.

Six desserts are available — a large number for restaurants these days — and you can’t go wrong with the coffee one ($14). It’s an architecturally formed log of coffee mousse and milk chocolate, drizzled fancifully with caramel-miso sauce, and decorated with toffee discs and a malted barley crumble. It’s airy and creamy like thick whipped cream, none too sweet, and a true coffee lover’s delight.

The final bites are mignardises of lemon jellies and sticky-soft sesame caramels.

Thank you, Michelin Guide, for putting Published on Main on more people’s radar, including mine.

Coming on Friday: Michelin-Acclaimed Vancouver Eats, Part II: Pidgin