A Niagara restaurant has become just the second in Canada to earn a second Michelin star, among the highest honours a restaurant can receive.
Restaurant Pearl Morissette in the Lincoln, Ont., neighbourhood of Jordan Station joins Tanière in Quebec City as the only two Michelin star restaurants in the country. There are 34 one star and no three star Michelin restaurants in Canada, according to the Michelin website.
“It’s really exciting to see restaurants cooking with Canadian ingredients,” Restaurant Pearl Morissette co-owner and chef Eric Robertson said about both restaurants.
Michelin announced the star alongside its latest guide on Thursday, saying Pearl Morissette is a “powerhouse.” It praised the restaurant’s tasting menu and wine and juice pairings.
Up to three stars can be given to restaurants by Michelin inspectors based on five criteria, including according to their website, “quality of the ingredients used, mastery of flavour and cooking techniques, the personality of the chef in the cuisine, harmony of flavours, and consistency between visits.”
Proximity is the best ingredient
The restaurant is part of a winery with the same name and exclusively uses locally sourced ingredients that are dependent on the season and market availability.
Most of their ingredients come from Niagara farms and lakes, and if they need anything else, they’ll grow it in-house.
“We choose to work locally because proximity is the best ingredient,” said Robertson.
Inside the restaurant are floor-to-ceiling windows showcasing their vegetable farm, greenhouse, vineyard, apiary and the pasture where Pearl Morissette farmers raise their cattle and chicken.
“I hope [guests] can learn about the growing region or some farming practices,” said Robertson. He hopes the experience will encourage guests to shop more at the farmers’ markets and discover “the delicious things growing in Ontario or in Canada.”
“Now more than ever we are reminded of the importance of the team that believes and drives us forward, the commitment of growers and harvesters we are inspired by, and the empowerment of our guests. With humility and gratitude, thank you to all,” the restaurant posted on Instagram on Friday.
The French-inspired restaurant received its first star last fall and was in top spot on Canada’s Best 100 Restaurants List for 2025 in the spring.
At the time, Robertson told CBC Hamilton, “we are so very excited and happy we’re able to showcase the little tiny corner of Niagara.”
Robertson is from Brantford, Ont. He lived in Belgium, Sweden and France, learning in European restaurants where he met Toronto-born chef Daniel Hadida.
Hadida, who was working as a chef for the Pearl Morissette estate winery in 2015, gave Robertson a call to open the restaurant together. November will mark its eighth year in operation.
