There are plenty of reasons to plan a trip around food. A great meal. A winery you’ve been meaning to visit. A coffee shop someone told you is worth the detour. A chance to taste something that simply makes more sense when you eat it in the place it comes from.
But great hospitality is about more than what lands on the table. It’s also about how you feel when you walk through the door.
That’s where Rainbow Registered comes in.
Developed by Canada’s 2SLGBTQI+ Chamber of Commerce (CQCC) in collaboration with Tourism HR Canada, Rainbow Registered is a national accreditation for businesses and organizations committed to providing welcoming and accepting experiences for 2SLGBTQI+ customers and staff.
And it isn't simply a rainbow decal in the window. To earn the designation, businesses are assessed against standards covering policies and practices, training, inclusive leadership and organizational culture. In other words, there’s work behind the welcome.
Across Canada, hundreds of businesses and organizations have earned the designation. Among them are some pretty remarkable places to eat, drink and experience Canadian food.
Here are a few worth building a trip around.
Sleep Among the Vines at Niche Wine Co. | West Kelowna, British Columbia
There are winery visits, and then there’s waking up at the winery.
Niche Wine Co. is a small, family-owned winery and working farm tucked into the hills of West Kelowna in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley. Small-batch wines and farm hospitality are at the heart of the experience, but what makes Niche particularly tempting for culinary travellers is the opportunity to stay awhile.
The property is also home to the Outside Inn, a collection of boutique vineyard cabins overlooking the Okanagan Valley.
Wake up surrounded by vineyards, spend the day exploring Okanagan wine country and return to the farm as the day winds down. For travellers who like to understand where what they're eating and drinking actually comes from, this is about as close to the source as you can get.
Gather Around the Fire at ROAR | Tofino, British Columbia
On Vancouver Island's wild west coast, ROAR takes its name from the things that define its surroundings: crashing waves, roaring flames and a certain rebellious streak that feels right at home in Tofino.
Fire is at the centre of the kitchen. ROAR cooks over live flame, building its menus around local ingredients and the people and producers of the region. Even the dining room is designed around the idea of gathering together around a fire.
Its sense of place extends beyond the menu. ROAR is a Tribal Park Ally, supporting the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation's work to protect and restore the Tribal Parks and advance Tla-o-qui-aht culture and governance. Guests are invited to contribute one per cent of their bill to that work.
ROAR and its home, Hotel Zed Tofino, are also part of a hospitality company that has made inclusion a very visible part of its culture — all of its properties are Rainbow Registered.
Come for dinner. Stay for Tofino.
Do Your Laundry. Drink Really Good Coffee. | Jasper, Alberta
Some of the best travel finds are the ones that make you wonder, who thought of this?
Welcome to SnowDome Coffee Bar in Jasper.
The locally owned coffee bar shares its home with Coin Clean Laundry, Jasper's longstanding laundromat. So yes, you can legitimately wash your hiking socks while drinking a carefully made latte and eating a freshly baked muffin.
SnowDome has been pouring coffee since 2004, sourcing beans from Alberta roasters and making its baking from scratch. Its sibling, Andromeda Coffee, offers another take on Jasper coffee culture, with serious espresso equipment, plenty of room to linger and the same focus on house-made baking.
Meet the Horses Behind the Harvest at Meeting Place Organic Farm | Lucknow, Ontario
At Meeting Place Organic Farm, sustainability isn't a new initiative. It's how the McQuail family has been farming for generations.
The 100-acre Huron County farm has been operating since 1973 and is now under the stewardship of the second generation of the family. Its mixed farm produces certified organic grass-fed beef and pastured pork, along with chicken, eggs, apples, apple butter, vegetables, herbs and heritage tomato seedlings.
And then there are the horses.
Meeting Place Organic Farm still works the land using Suffolk Punch draft horses, integrating animals, pasture and soil health into a farming system designed around ecological sustainability. The farm has been involved in Ontario's ecological farming movement for decades, with some products certified organic for 30 years.
It's a reminder that culinary tourism doesn't begin in a restaurant. The most interesting food stories start with the people, animals and land responsible for growing it.
Eat Your Way Through Toronto with Culinary Adventure Co. | Toronto, Ontario
Sometimes the best way to understand a city is to let someone feed you.
Since 2011, Culinary Adventure Co. has been introducing hungry visitors and locals to Toronto through food. Its walking tours wind through the city's neighbourhoods, stopping at independent restaurants, bakeries, butchers, specialty shops and food artisans along the way.
The bites might include everything from Toronto's famous peameal bacon and Ontario berries to artisan cheese, baked goods, curries and naan. But the food is only part of it. The tours are built around the people, traditions and stories behind what you're eating.
For culinary travellers, that's the good stuff. You don't just leave knowing where to eat. You leave understanding a little more about the city and with a list of places you'll probably want to return to.
Taste a Little France and a Lot of Nova Scotia at Rousseau Chocolatier | Halifax, Nova Scotia
A French master chocolatier and a Canadian hospitality professional meet in Wakefield, Quebec, fall in love and eventually decide to build a chocolate business together in Halifax.
That's the beginning of Rousseau Chocolatier.
Julien Rousseau-Dumarcet honed his craft working with chocolatiers in France, England and Scotland, while Nathalie Morin brought a background in luxury hospitality. Together, they chose Halifax as the place to build both their family and their business.
Today, their downtown boutique and café combines French chocolate-making traditions with ingredients and products from Nova Scotia. The result feels distinctly at home on the East Coast with European technique meeting the flavours of the place they've chosen to call home.
If your ideal souvenir is edible, you know what to do.
Have a Pint in an Old Butcher Shop at Tatamagouche Brewing Co. | Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia
In the heart of the small village of Tatamagouche, an old butcher shop has found a very different second life.
Tatamagouche Brewing Co. opened there in 2014 as a family-owned microbrewery. Today, its taproom is as much a community gathering place as it is somewhere to try a pint.
The brewery has deliberately built that sense of welcome into the experience. Locals, visitors, families and community groups share the space, with craft beer joined by cider, wine and non-alcoholic options.
It's a good reason to get off Nova Scotia's main highways and spend some time in the communities along the way.
Discover Labrador on a Plate at Mamattuk | Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador
If there's one place on this list that might inspire an entirely new trip, it's Mamattuk.
Located in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, the restaurant was created as a celebration of Labrador ingredients, people and culture. Its name means “delicious” in Inuttitut, and its menus draw from seasonal and locally sourced ingredients to create elevated comfort food rooted in Labrador.
Mamattuk is part of Nunacor, the business development arm of the NunatuKavut Community Council, and was conceived as more than a restaurant. With a coffee bar, lounge and seasonal patio alongside the dining room, it's intended to be a gathering place, one where visitors can encounter Labrador through food and hospitality.
That approach has earned national attention. Mamattuk has been recognized for its Indigenous tourism experience and works with local growers, fishers and suppliers as part of its commitment to telling a story of place through food.
For travellers curious about the vast and often overlooked culinary landscapes of northern Canada, Mamattuk offers a compelling place to start.
