The Samaritans: Antonio Cayonne, Andrew Jameson & Sean Reeve

Owners, Say Mercy!, Vancouver

The much-anticipated Southern-meets- Italian spot had just opened on Vancouver's Fraser Street when COVID hit, but instead of retreating and licking their wounds, the Collective Hospitality team (which also owns the Mackenzie Room) responded by starting the Staff Meal program, which allowed industry people and others to access low-cost healthy meals via takeout (the program collected money for hard hit local food banks, too). The largesse struck a note€”not only did restaurants like Dachi and Masayoshi sign up to join Staff Meal, Say Mercy! also became one of the first places where takeout created long (and properly spaced) lines of people itching for reasonably priced containers of deliciousness. Plus, Antonio Cayonne found time to star in a Hallmark movie€”Christmas in Evergreen: Bells Are Ringing. we're not even kidding.