From its elegant space inspired by 18th century English coffee houses to its internationally acclaimed wine and cocktail programs, Vancouver restaurant Publish on Main is committed to excellence. The restaurant has been awarded one Michelin star from 2022 to 2024, and was awarded the "Best Restaurant in Canada" and "Chef of the Year" awards in 2022. Led by Chef Gus Stieffenhofer‑Brandson, the team continues to push the boundaries of high-end cuisine, demonstrating that cuisine, like art, is constantly evolving and becoming a delicate and flowing dialogue between nature, tradition and imagination.
Chef Gus Stieffenhofer-Brandson
Located in a vibrant culinary capital, Publish on Main is more than a restaurant – it’s a culinary journey that changes with the seasons. Starting from the à la carte menu, Chef Gus developed a constantly updated tasting menu inspired by local terroir, paying tribute to the natural gifts brought by local farmlands and forests. The restaurant's core concepts are collection, sustainability and creativity. Behind every dish is a profound interpretation of innovation, inheritance and passion.
Between light and shadow, the intersection of time and taste
As dusk slowly fell, the noise of the city quieted down. Walking into this space is like traveling through time to an 18th century British coffee shop, with a strong sense of nostalgia mixed with a touch of modern ingenuity. The front hall is a sunroom-like space, with soft light green and rattan furnishings creating a relaxed and elegant atmosphere. The dining area at the back is decorated with dark wood, which is low-key yet has a sense of history, as if inviting you to embark on a taste adventure.
Chef Gus recalled that he was invited to join this journey in late 2018, and officially became the restaurant's chef and partner the following year. The restaurant initially focused on a traditional à la carte menu, but soon he made a decisive transformation and launched a tasting menu that changed with the seasons, making each dish a love letter dedicated to seasonal ingredients. He always believes that every ingredient has its own story, and only by respecting its natural rhythm can the cuisine transcend the dining table and become a vital and sustainable art creation.
The gift of spring, a feast of craftsmanship
For Chef Gus, spring is the time when everything comes alive. Every year from April to early May, he would go out into nature in person to look for the first surprises of that spring: wild mushrooms, delicate wild vegetables, and even ingredients that can only be picked from water, each of which is a source of inspiration for him. He has a long-term and close collaboration with local suppliers, from Kelowna to the Fraser Valley, which are his footprints in exploring local flavors. Occasionally discovering a rare herb or a unique type of mushroom can be the starting point for a whole new dish.
One of the most memorable dishes is his creation of fresh shrimp with crisp apple and chilled cucumber. The dish was originally inspired by Mexican flavors, but after his transformation, it became a refreshing creation full of local natural flavors. Sweetness, acidity and the scent of the earth interweave in a delicate balance on the tip of the tongue, and also show how through delicate matching, seemingly simple ingredients can be turned into a work of art with a story.
Adapt to the seasons, creativity without boundaries
At Publish on Main, their motto is to adapt to the seasons. There are no hard and fast rules in a restaurant, only unlimited creativity and freedom. Chef Gus said that he has never been one to follow a schedule. He prefers to let his dishes grow and change naturally over time, like a backyard vegetable garden. His almost improvisational cooking method turns the originally rigid high-end dining into a process of dialogue with nature. The dining experience here is like reading a well-written storybook. You can choose the à la carte menu and slowly savor the details of each dish; or you can choose the tasting set menu, where each dish is like a chapter, progressing layer by layer and connecting into a complete story.
As for the wine list, whether you prefer a selection of niche wines or want to try the creative cocktails carefully designed by the team, each glass has its own personality and unique style. One of the cocktails that is particularly worth mentioning is the limited edition elderflower-flavored gin brewed in collaboration with Copperpenny. The acidity and soft floral aroma are perfectly balanced in the glass, allowing you to taste the purest expression of the ingredients. The premium chocolate jointly launched by the restaurant and Beta 5 also adds more surprises to the overall food and wine pairing, sparking unexpected taste sparks from time to time.
The future is still a journey of exploration
At Publish on Main, every detail is carefully considered and every flavor is crafted to perfection. Time seems to slow down here, with the past and the future quietly conversing over shared plates and carefully selected wines. Every dining experience is a grand tribute to nature and culinary art. Chef Gus’s inspiration never stops, and he is already looking forward to the upcoming summer, because that means more colorful and vibrant ingredients will appear one after another, from wild mushrooms to kelp freshly picked from the Sunshine Coast, everything is full of possibilities. The new seasonal menu is expected to be launched in early March. Guests will be the first to taste these new inspirations from nature and witness the chef’s continuous innovation and surprises in cooking.
