Air Canada’s inflight magazine, enRoute, recently announced that Vij’s Railway Express has been nominated for the People’s Choice Award for Canada’s best new restaurant of 2013. The mobile restaurant, created by Vancouver-based award winning chef Vikram Vij, is one of 35 nominees and among the seven restaurants nominated from Vancouver.
“I am really honoured that our Vij’s Railway Express has been chosen as one of the top dining experiences in Canada,” says Vij, who owns two restaurants in Vancouver – Vij’s Restaurant and Vij’s Rangoli. “ As the only mobile restaurant to be nominated within the contest, we are up against some tough competition, but know that our home cooked quality style of Indian cooking is very unique.” He also notes that “we consider ourselves as more of a mobile catering service, as we provide food for many corporate and private events around the city, as a way of bringing the Vij’s hospitality to the streets”.
The food panel who decides the list includes some of Canada’s leading food professionals from coast-to-coast, with each recommending the most interesting restaurant openings in their area which opened between June 2012 and June 2013. On being chosen by the panel, Vij was thrilled. “I’m delighted that the panel and enRoute has chosen to highlight Indian cuisine within their selection, as they have listed a high caliber of chefs and restaurants across the country.”
So what will it take for Vij’s Railway Express to make the top 10 list which will appear in enRoute’s November Issue? Vij says there is a lot of support for Indian food: “It is great to see that people across Canada are enjoying Indian food more and more, and putting it up to the level where other major cusine is on the culinary scene, and I hope the votes will reflect that!”
Starting this week, any Canadian resident can enter the contest online at eatandvote.ca, with a limit of one entry per day per person. There is also a grand prize to be won consisting of two round-trip air tickets from the winner’s residence to Toronto, including two nights accommodation and use of a Jaguar or Land Rover during the stay and an additional week’s use within the winner’s hometown. For more information on the rules and regulations please go to http://eatandvote.com/en/pages/rules-and-regulations. Contest closes September 30, 2013.
ABOUT VIKRAM VIJ
Vikram Vij and his wife Meeru Dhalwala are the co-owners of the award-winning restaurants Vij’s and Rangoli in Vancouver, British Columbia. Vikram was born in India and grew up in Amritsar and Bombay.
Vikram Vij is a familiar face in Canadian cuisine. He is a featured guest on Top Chef Canada and has appeared on Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations as well as The Marilyn Denis Show and Cityline. As well, Vij recently hosted Canada’s first ever live webstreamed cookalong.
Vij has published two award-winning cookbooks – Vij’s: Elegant and Inspired Indian Cuisine and Vij’s at Home: Relax, Honey. As well, he has his own named brand selection of frozen foods that are available in the frozen food aisle at fine retailers across the country.
