The vines of Niagara
Rick O’Brien
Niagara Falls’ reputation has largely been built on its topline novelty. There’s the famous falls, the honeymoon hotels and a viticultural focus on ice wine—a syrupy elixir produced in frigid temperatures (how Canadian). Producers pour the ultra-sweet ice wine in things like, an igloo ice wine lounge.
Underneath the novelty there has always been a lot going on, but recently, the region—situated just north of Buffalo and a few hours southeast of Toronto—has been bubbling over, thanks to an onslaught of new projects, restaurants (several of which have gained high international acclaim as of late) and wineries have made the region decidedly cooler than it’s ever been. Now, it’s dotted with wineries in barns, waterfall hikes, slick hotels (rumor has it, St. Regis is eying the area), and a blooming fine dining scene.
Restaurant Pearl Morissette—a 42-acre biodynamic farm with an agrarian-centric tasting menu—was just awarded its second Michelin Star, and sits at North America’s 3rd best restaurant. New restaurants include Fat Rabbit, who serves up whole-hog dinners and smart, city slicker-approved cocktails.
Fat Rabbit St. Catharine’s
Scott Usheroff
The wine scene has evolved from hobby industry to a buzzing, blooming viticulture scene. They’re betting big on cool, Burgundy-style Chardonnay (and host the international cool climate chardonnay summit every year, which draws in producers from Burgundy to Swartland). Big money projects, like Stone Eagle, with its slick, architecturally-driven tasting room and serious Cabernet Sauvignon, are opening up but the region keeps its agricultural, farmstand charm—the best tastings are in farmhouses or in fields with winemakers pouring samples between blooms and vines.
How do you explore this increasingly noteworthy area? Read on.
Fat Rabbit
Fat Rabbit opened in 2023, the project of a Toronto chef—Zach Smith—disenchatned by the city in its Covid chapter. St. Catharines, a few houses south-east of the city, depending on said city traffic, beckoned with the promise of small-er town life and the space to open his dream butcher-kitchen restaurant.
That he did. A few years in, Fat Rabbit—part butcher shop, part whole-hog restaurant, is unapologetic about how it exists: cured meats (lonza, spalla, coppa, lamb soppressata) hang in the window as a beacon, bringing in meat lovers from near, far, and wide.
Dishes that pull from the comfort food cannon are finessed with chef-fy tweaks. Crispy Humboldt squid (fried calamari, by virtue) is accompanied by a charred scallion mayo. Weightless and crisp tempura-fried broccolini sits on a Taleggio cream sauce and a dressing of bagna cauda. A pork loin schnitzel—the size of a dinner plate and served bone-on—is crowned with a simple, but perfect, Caesar. The move, however, is treasures from the butcher’s counter: t-bones, sirloins, coppa steaks, and striploins, kissed by fire to order.
All of the above is underlined by a staunch dedication to zero-wasted butchery. Every part of the animal ends up in a home—offcuts end up folded into croquettes, cuts end up as old school charcuterie, fat from beef is turned into chicharron.
Restaurant Pearl Morissette
Topping the list of North America’s Best Restaurants this year, in number three position, wasn’t a restaurant from New York or San Francisco: it was a restaurant in Jordan, Ontario. Restaurant Pearl Morissette centers farm-to-table dining to an extreme degree. An on-property regenerative farm is manned by Deirdre Fraser, the in-house forager-gardener. Everything is sourced hyper-locally, and with great regard to that ethos: Chocolate and citrus are off the menu as it doesn’t sync with their Niagara-made sensibilities. Those treasures are translated into dishes with a European adroitness.
For those on a budget with slightly less zeroes, RPM Bakehouse is a more laissez-faire, cafe-slash bakery.
Les Incompetents
Bar Les Incompetents—yes, that’s a Home Alone reference—is a shellfish bar by definition. There are icy Martinis, shrimp cocktails, and an icebox full of delights.
This self proclaimed bar doesn’t just rely on the freshness of its shellfish to give it swagger. The smart handling of treasures of the sea is reflected in dishes like, scallops married to sweetbreads under the cover of a sauce meunière.
The menu comes onto land for dishes like, Cordon Bleu sliders: Jambon, crunchy chicken, soft milk burns, and a Mornay sauce. Or a jambon beurre in millefeuille form: St. Brigid’s butter, herbs de Provence, Sicilian pane, and thin slices of ham.
St. Catharine’s is full of other excellent culinary gems. Pharmacii is a Korean bar with creative cocktails—served in things like, popcorn buckets and alongside surprisingly precise bar snacks. Oddbird excels in high-low: a caviar service here, foie gras pancakes there. The buttermilk fried chicken, served by the piece, by the bucket, or in one of six sandwiches, is unskippable.
Di’s pizza is a bright blue slice shop turning out New York-by-way-of Niagara-style slices. Stoke Deli Bar makes flavorful, impactful sandwiches and baked goods.
Reve
Last October, Reve lit up its live fires for the first time and brought big Sicilian energy to Niagara-on-the-lake. The big deal here is the tasting menu, available in a la carte, or in 4- or 10- courses. All explore Sicilian heart and heritage through Canadian ingredients, evident in dishes like smart pinwheels of bucatini stuffed with sea urchin and rock crab and crisped to order. Warm scacciata, a traditional Sicilian bread, is presented whole and sliced warm to order. Dishes are custom made in Italy and flown over, wine flirts between old world Italian wonders and bottles from local makers.
The Wine Scene
Oenophiles are likely here for the juice—cool restaurants and photogenic tasting rooms add to the appeal, but can fall flat if they don’t fit the landing, flavor-wise.
But there are a lot of exciting projects coming up, or continuing on in the Niagara region.
The wines of Thomas Bachelder (the Chardonnays and Pinots are deeply loved across the country, the Gamay holds my heart) sing in his namesake project but also in Le Clos Jordanne. Kelly Mason commands Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, both at her namesake Mason Vineyards and Domaine Queylus. Rosewood Wines are cool—sharp Rieslings, lightly textured orange wines, and crunchy Blaufrankish.
The Chardonnays from Dobbin Estates and Byland Estate Winery stick with me. Ice wine, a must-try for tourists, is worth digging into—when in Rome, shall we say? Pillittieri and Reif Estates make beautiful options.
Hidden Bench and Leaning Post remain benchmarks, for the unfiltered Chardonnay at the former, brilliant single-vineyard Pinot Noir and Syrah at the latter. Big Head’s slinky, expressive Chenin Blancs bat well above their price point. Once a year, the Neudorf family release the wines of The Farm, their 10-acre vineyard on the Twenty Mile Bench: two serious Pinot Noirs, a shimmering Chardonnay and a Gamay-driven (and pool-perfect) rose.
Dining and Cooking