On a recent visit to the Toronto/Niagara region, to celebrate a friend's important birthday, we made the most of an opportunity to dine at Restaurant Pearl Morissette. It has generated a lot more interest in recent weeks since it's elevation to #1 on Canada's 100 best restaurant for 2025.
I hesitated in writing this down given the recent excellent reviews and and way better pictures (damn my lowly iPhone 13 mini) by u/Woowiwong here and by u/puffedquinoacereal here. I think we all ate here within 7-10 days of each other. That said, given it was a special occasion, we booked the chef's table, which as of this time is $265CAD per person. The chef's table features a slightly extended menu, so in this post I will primarily speak about the differences in our menu versus the others' and the chef's table experience itself. Hopefully some people will find it of interest.
The chef's table is a private room for a single 4 to 6 person party next to the open kitchen area. It does not open into the kitchen but instead has a window peeking into the kitchen, so there are no noises or smells. It is dimly lit and painted in black which runs in contrast to the main dining area which is open, airy with lots of natural light depending on the time of day.
Compared to the main menu of about 12-15 courses, depending on the day, the chef's table menu will be 17-18 courses. Our menu was 18 courses and consisted of a combination of the previous posters' menus plus four extra. The chefs explained that the extra courses are usually composed of ingredients/produce that they simply do not have enough of to supply a whole evening's service, but do for 4-6 people. As previously mentioned they do their very best to source from their own garden/farm, local Ontario province producers and then from the rest of Canada. I think only the wines (outside of their own of course) come from out of country.
In order of pictures:
1) Chef's Table course: Grilled oyster from P.E.I – oyster crisp, onion purée, anise vinegar, apple water dots/spheres & dragon's tongue mustard greens. Simple and delicious. While very good, my only complaint is that the oyster crisp flavour overpowered the oyster itself.
2) Chef's table course: Beef Tartare – Fraser Valley rice shell, horseradish, nasturtium emulsion, yarrow, lovage, scarlet runner bean. The staff was particularly proud of this dish with the herbs and garnish coming straight from the property. At first bite it was very floral from the herbs but as you got into the meat (pun intended) of the dish it really came together. The tartare was delicate yet punchy in flavour.
3) Main menu: just to show a difference in contrast and plating from day to day. This is the mousseline/sabayon described by u/puffedquinoacereal here (picture 6).
4) & 5) Main menu: Guinea hen w/ tarragon glaze, wild garlic, grilled cucumber, green strawberry, marathon broccoli. The first time time they were serving guinea hen this season, replacing the duck from the previous menus. The chef was super excited for it. As we had a view of the kitchen we could see they were slow roasting it over their grill (about 3 feet above it). The chef mentioned that they use peach wood for the grill. It had a hint of smoke flavour and was so tender. Unbelievable cuisson on it. I asked if it was brined or manipulated in some other way and the answer was, slightly aged to dry it out a bit and straight over the grill for slow gentle roasting.
6) Main menu: again just to show a difference in the plating and ingredients from day to day. The same beef striploin as described by u/puffedquinoacereal here (picture 11) but instead of morel mushrooms we were treated to Ontario cherries, hakurei turnips, all spice and raw hazelnut.
7) Chef's table course: Beef consommé w/ turnips, atlas carrot, broccoli, daikon shoots, scarlet runner bean, alyssum blossom. Light and clean with all the produce coming from the property.
8) Chef's table course: Whiskey madeleine w/ allspice leaf sugar. Simple and not too sweet. Great way to end the meal. (not the original plating, which was wrapped in a napkin. I put it on a prop for a better photo)
Service: I cannot say if service was "better" in the chef's table. It looked to me as if all tables got the same equally good service that we did, which is as it should be.
While we did not partake in the wine or drink pairings, the sommelier really helped us choose a nice bottle, to our tastes, that would stand up and pair well with the majority of the dishes. In this he succeeded as the Clos Windsbuhl Pinot Gris he recommended to us for the meal was really on point. We also had a chance to try a small glass of the Pearl Morissette riesling, described as bone dry, but honestly was not too bad. It got better over the course of the evening as we let it breathe.
As one of the couples in party was primarily French speaking, we asked if they had any wait staff that spoke French and while they could not dedicate someone to us for the whole evening, obviously, they did come around a little more often which was a nice touch. Also one of the two chef owners, Chef Daniel, came to our table several times to present the courses as he speaks French, which was absolutely lovely. Overall it was excellent hospitality.
At the end of the meal, we were offered a brief tour of the kitchen and while it was not a tour so much as standing in the kitchen while the cook staff were cleaning up post service, we had the opportunity to speak with Chef Daniel for a good 15 minutes. The other head chef, Eric, was there as well, but as we were speaking in French, Chef Daniel was the one who spent the time answering our questions about the menu and the restaurant's philsophy. The two chefs seem to really espouse the sourcing local aspect which I though reflected well in the menu. Daniel was also super easy going and enthusiastic so it was a real pleasure to speak to him. You can tell the entire staff is very proud of the accolades they have received (Michelin star, green Michelin star, #1 on Canada 100 Best…).
If time had permitted they would likely have also given us a tour of the cellar as well, underneath the restaurant, but we were very tired and had to drive back to the Toronto area.
Before leaving, they also had gift bags for each couple with baked goods from the RPM bakery, which I can confirm as delicious.
Overall an excellent experience.
by illico