Inside a large, black minimalist barnlike structure with a single row of gleaming windows overlooking vineyards and valleys, you'll find the acclaimed Restaurant Pearl Morissette, a dining destination located an hour from Toronto in the Niagara region of southern Ontario.
The prix fixe menu might include six or seven small courses with optional wine or juice pairings that change daily to take advantage of the freshest ingredients sourced from regional sustainable farmers, East Coast fishermen, and often grown on or foraged from the winery's property. The wine list includes boutique local wines and a fine selection from other low-intervention, small producer wineries around the world.
Driving it all is the concept of regenerative agriculture, one that is built around putting more back into the local ecosystem than is removed. Chef Daniel Hadida opened the restaurant in 2017 with co-chef and creative partner Eric Robertson. They both grew up in Ontario and met in Europe working at some of the world's finest restaurants. Just one year after opening, Pearl Morissette captured the top spot on enRoute magazine's 2018 list of Canada's best new restaurants, and in 2019 it earned the #14 ranking of Canada's 100 Best Restaurants.
Hadida and Robertson's exquisite French-inspired creations might include grilled bay scallops with elderflower capers, preserved tomato water, and brown butter topped with borage flower; confit lamb crisped in fat; roasted onion with sea urchin and mirabelle plum; or Cornish hen smoked over dried peach wood foraged from the property.
Hadida and Robertson have a team of nine working in two kitchens, one indoors and one outdoors that serves their new patio dining area, both powered by RATIONAL.
