Restaurant Pearl Morissette

So when I was originally planning out which restaurants to visit while in Toronto, it was stressing me out a bit that I was going to miss out on this year's #1 restaurant in the country according to Canada's 100 Best List.  Moreover, they have been awarded one star by the Michelin Guide. Restaurant Pearl Morisette is located in Niagara region situated on a farm that is also a winery, orchard and bakery.  So I made the decision to rent a car and do the 1+ hour drive and back (each way) so I could see for myself if they were worthy of the accolades.  Let's just say right off the bat, the place is gorgeous with an old barn converted to a restaurant.  It overlooks the farm and has a setting that is both unique and vital to the whole experience.  Many of their dishes consists of components grown on the farm.

We started off delicately with the Poached Nova Scotia Lobster.  It was a beautifully plated dish with an array of colours.  The lobster was prepared properly where it had a nice rebound but was still light in texture.  It was sweet being harmonious with the lobster & scallop consommé.  It was spiked with rhubarb juice, which gave it a nice tanginess.  Textural crunch was provided by the daikon and radish.  Floral notes were not only provided by the flowers, but also the black current wood.

Coming from a strategically gentle start to the meal, we moved onto the Carrot Crisp with scallop roe pâté and dried chili.  I found these to be spicy and earthy with a balancing amount of sweetness.  There wasn't as much brininess as I was expecting, but the harmony of flavours and textures was definitely there.  These were definitely crispy and a nice progression from the previous dish.

Now looking at the picture above, you might not be very excited about a few pieces of bread.  However, the Sourdough was made with einkorn and iron fife flour.  Hence, the bread inherently had some real sweetness and nuttiness in addition to the usual tang.  It was firm around the edges, but totally fluffy with a nice chew everywhere else..  However, the star of the show was the St. Brigid's butter which was silky and very smooth.  It had a slightly higher milk fat content and hence was more pronounced in flavour with just a subtle background tang.

Stunningly plated, the West Coast Dungeness Crab was fluffy and had all of the goodness of crab brininess.  There was some textural contrast from the crunchy fried cranberry bean crumble while the pickled garlic emulsion offered up some tangy sharpness.  The most impactful component was the hay and alder custard as it had an earthy nuttiness to it.  What was moist important is that none of the components overwhelmed the delicate and delicious crab.

Staying with seafood, we were served the Lake Erie Pickerel fried Matsukasa-yaki style.  By pouring hot oil over the fish scales, it completely crisped them up.  Unlike the one we had at Alo, the scales here were light and easy to eat.  The fish itself was super moist and buttery, cooked to perfection.  Although it was properly seasoned, the emulsion underneath was earthy and bright with the combination of asparagus, coriander, chervil and false cardamom oil.

Apparently we weren't done with the fish courses yet as the next dish to arrive was the Slow-Grilled West Coast Halibut.  It was expertly prepared where the texture was delicate and flaky.  With the honey glaze, we did get some subtle sweetness, but the buerre monté was the dominant flavour with a butteriness that was also tangy and aromatic.  We found some peach leaves on top as well as some poached hakurei turnip and green mizuna.  This greenery did give some bitterness.

Onto a vegetable course, we were presented with the Pot Roasted White Asparagus topped with Acadian Emerald caviar.  Just looking at them, they seemed to be caramelized and indeed they were.  There was a deep amount of sweetness that was quite delicious.  In addition to that, the asparagus still had a snap texture.  In addition to the caramelization, there was balancing saltiness, tanginess and brininess.  Some of it was thanks to the tender razor clams (and the caviar) which had a pleasant chew to them.

Moving back to the meat courses, we had the Back to Nature Organics Roasted Duck.  As you can clearly see, the duck was cooked perfectly and was super tender.  Fat was rendered and the skin was not flabby.  The haskap glaze was a bit salty, but still delicious.  Next to the duck, we found cucumber, green strawberries and bambi gem lettuce.  Nice crunch and brightness to lighten up the dish and toning down the saltiness.

Our last savoury course was the Roasted Pork from Linton Pastures.  If you look at the picture, you can clearly see that the pork was just barely cooked with a bit of pink on it.  Hence, it was super juicy and succulent.  Once again, the demi was on the saltier side, but had plenty of meatiness.  Morels were crispy and earthy while filled with pork and lobster mousse, which had some mustardy notes.  The horseradish leaf oil and mitsuba herb brought things down a bit with some bitterness.

Just before we hit the sweets, we were presented with a Beef Consommé with a wealth of edible flowers on top.  The broth itself was full of umami and natural beef flavour.   This was seasoned well and there was some earthy root veggies underneath.  They were still a bit crunchy, which was a nice texture.  Normally, I would expect a sorbet of some type as a palate cleanser, but this acted as one in a savoury manner. 

So onto dessert, we had the Fraser Valley Rice Tartlet with marinated strawberries and black currant leaf rice pudding.  Being made of rice, the tart shell was lightly crispy and had some toasty notes.  The herbs on top were noticeable and the with the flowers, we got some floral aromatics.  The rice pudding was sweet and creamy while the strawberries offered up some tanginess.

Our second dessert was the Salsify Mille Feuille with a salsify tuile, marinated apple, black koji pureé and toasted oat chantilly.  I found the whole thing super light with crispy tuile.  The apples offered up some extra crunch albeit a wet and sweet crunch.  I found the sweetness to be on point.  The chantilly was airy and really, eating this dessert was very easy.  The creaminess was also equally aromatic from the toasted oats.

Our third dessert was a Toasted Sourdough Ice Cream Sandwich.  This was a nice little bite with creamy and smooth ice cream accented by the rich and nutty brown butter caramel.  Extra crunch and sweetness was provided by the candied sourdough bread.  We really got Danish cookie vibes from this!  Finally, we were presented with some Madeleines with whiskey and miso while dusted in allspice sugar.  These were so fluffy and light while the fermented flavour of the miso really came through whereas the whiskey was beautifully subtle.  When it was all said and done, we agreed that the meal at Pearl Morissette was special.  From the converted barn to the lovely farm setting, things were already unique before we even got to the food.  The whole experience, including the personable service, reflects its one-star Michelin rating as well as top spot in Canada's 100 Best Restaurants.

The Good:

- It is about the whole experience

- Excellent food

- Superb service

The Bad:

- A bit out-of-the-way for most people, but worth the drive

Fat Rabbit

Seeing how Pearl Morissette has captured the #1 ranking in Canada's 100 Best Restaurants for 2025, we knew a car rental was in our future.  So we made our way out of Downtown Toronto to the wine country for our tasting menu out on the farm.  However, we weren't going to do the 1.5 hour drive just to do one restaurant right?  For lunch, we headed into St. Catharines to try another restaurant on that list at #97.  Fat Rabbit is its name and a butcher shop is its game.  However, they also house a restaurant in the same space that allows you to pick your custom steak (among other things).

Even though we were only there for lunch and looking forward to a tasting menu for dinner, we went all out and started with the Crispy Humbolt Squid.  This was an excellent dish where the squid was super tender while having a slight chew.  The thin batter was definitely crispy and seemed to be almost not there.  That made each bite an airy experience which made things not as heavy as it appeared.  The batter was also beautifully seasoned where it didn't need anything else but a slight squeeze from the slice of lemon.  However, the side of scallion mayo was the cherry on top as it provided a bright, yet richly-flavoured hit.

Looking at the menu, we knew we had to get The Cheeseburger.  Freshly-ground meat prepared to medium, this thick patty was juicy, meaty and well-seasoned.  It was topped with a thick slice of gruyere as well as caramelized onions, pickles and dijonnaise.  The soft bun held everything together where the dijonnaise had a nice tanginess that helped offset the richness of the beef.  The pickles took that one step further while adding crunch.  We couldn't forget about the caramelized onions as it provided a rich sweetness.

We got a side of Crispy Potatoes to compliment and oh boy, was that a great decision.  These slices of what I believe were Yukon Gold potatoes were lightly crispy, but ever-so-creamy and moist on the inside.  This textural contrast provided a great mouth feel and kept coming back for more.  These were properly salted where they enhanced the natural potato flavour.  On the side, we found garlic mayo which was creamy and aromatic.  There was also some bomba to add a bit of spice to the dish.

For our choice of steak, we went big with the 29oz Aged Ribeye from the display case.  This was thick cut and took 30 minutes to prepare.  When it did arrive, it was a sight to behold.  Charred on the outside and perfectly medium-rare (closer to rare, just how I like it) on the inside, it was what we were looking for in a premium steak.  This was $68.00 per pound which would be around $122.00 for the steak.  Not bad for so much meat that was cooked properly.  It was also well-seasoned with kosher salt allowing us to eat this without any need for any condiments.  It was juicy and tender with a slight bite.

To compliment our steak and also get some veggies, we opted for the Turnips with picobello, bottarga and beurre blanc.  These turnips were cooked-through while still being firm with a crunch.  Natural sweetness was the initial hit of flavour, but then we got some bitterness and slight sharpness at the end.  The creamy beurre blanc helped add some luxuriousness while the bottarga afforded saltiness.  Overall, we quite enjoyed the Fat Rabbit and were glad we stopped by for lunch.  Interestingly, another couple was there, also taking pictures, and then we saw them again at Pearl Morisette!  I guess we weren't the only ones with this idea of hitting both restaurants!

 

The Good:

- Just well-prepared food

- Love that you can pick your steak

- Great service

 

The Bad:

- We enjoyed our meal but unless you are on your way to Niagara or another spot, I wouldn't necessarily drive out