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The long list is generated from recommendations from a panel of food experts. (Note: I am not on this panel.) The short list will be determined by one writer, sent on a month-long research trip to eat at all of the contenders, and published in the November of enRoute.

A few observations, for what they’re worth, from this Ottawa restaurant critic:

• I’ve found that many such lists reflect the geographic distribution of their judges as much as anything else.

• I’ve dined at a few enRoute long-list restaurants in other cities in recent years, and have sometimes been struck hard by their quality — and other times felt that lesser-known Ottawa restaurants without the big-city buzz were just as worthy of kudos.

• In my 2017 roundup of Ottawa’s restaurant scene, I sang the praises of more than a handful of new Ottawa-area restaurants, such as the upscale options Sur-Lie and Oz Kafe in the ByWard Market, and Stofa on Wellington Street West and Orto Trattoria in the Glebe, plus the less fancy Flavours of Kerala in Kanata and Meatings Barbecue in Orléans. Had any of these restaurants cracked the enRoute long list, I would have thought the recognition was merited.

phum@postmedia.com

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