Restaurant Pearl Morissette
Price: 💸💸💸💸
Cuisine: Regional farm to table
Address: 3953 Jordan Rd., Jordan Station, ON
Why You Need To Go: Driving the country roads of the Jordan Station area of wine country, keep your eyes peeled for a distinctive statue of a red cardinal that lets you know you’ve arrived at one of Canada’s most unmissable dining experiences.
On top of being an innovative winery, Pearl Morissette’s farm-to-table tasting menu — shifting seasonally while favouring local ingredients and fine French cooking techniques — is always built to delight. Dishes frequently feature proteins, produce, grains, and herbs that are native to Canada and much of it is farmed, raised, baked, and foraged by producers and artisans of the region, including at Pearl Morissette itself.
Reservations regularly fill up for this restaurant months in advance and for very good reason. It lives up to the hype.
Restaurant Pearl Morissette website
Thrive Norfolk
Price: 💸💸💸💸
Cuisine: Regional farm-to-table
Address: 2870 Norfolk County Rd. 45, Langton, ON
Why You Need To Go: The acclaimed and coveted Thrive is a hyper-local farm-to-table dining experience in the heart of Norfolk County.
A six-course tasting menu crafted by chef Matt Demarest is built using ingredients grown, raised, and cultivated right at peak season on the 30-year-old family farm where Thrive resides. Diners congregate in the garden to enjoy a well-paced three-hour experience featuring an ever-shifting series of plates that are colourful, attractive, and delicious, with enough time in the evening to stroll the grounds and take in the calming, immersive setting of Norfolk farmland.
But keep your eye on reservations: seating each season is limited and typically fills up in the blink of an eye, with lengthy waitlists to boot.
Thrive Norfolk website
Cowabunga Pizza
Price: 💸💸
Cuisine: Pizza
Address: 536 Upper Wellington St. and 30 Vine St., Hamilton, ON
Why You Need To Go: Toronto is loaded with excellent pizza places, so you may wonder what makes Cowabunga Pizza special enough to warrant a drive down the 403 to Steel City. The answer? It’s the proud winner of some global acclaim.
This year, Cowabunga earned the title of World’s Best Cheese Slice at the International Pizza Expo, beating out dozens of other exceptional pizzerias from all over the world. Living up to such a lofty title may sound like a losing battle, but by implementing high-end ingredients and a thoughtful approach to pizza craft, Cowabunga readily proves why it managed to stand out.
If you crave more than a simple cheese pizza, don’t worry: this Hamilton favourite has an attractive menu of twisty options including their 1Up white pizza with mozzarella, truffle cream, honey, chilli, Maldon salt, truffle oil, and Parmigiano Reggiano; or the eponymous Cowabunga with Korean-style popcorn chicken, peanuts, and scallions. Hit up their sit-down restaurant on Vine Street or takeaway location on Upper Wellington and taste for yourself!
Cowabunga Pizza website
Drake Devonshire
Price: 💸💸💸
Cuisine: International
Address: 24 Wharf St., Wellington, ON
Why You Need To Go: Prince Edward County is full of picturesque destinations and exceptional food and drink, but the Drake Devonshire — a spinoff of Toronto’s own Drake Hotel — is a particular standout.
On top of functioning as a modern, playful, and homey hotel perfect for a weekend excursion, Drake Devonshire also sports executive chef Amanda Ray’s thoughtful, internationally inspired menus for breakfast, lunch, and dinner served in an atmospheric dining room.
Shareable starters use fresh, local ingredients to skillful effect, serving as the perfect precursor to mains like charred octopus, steak frites, sumac rack of lamb, chicken supreme, and the mouth-watering Drake Burger. Those plates are met by a hefty library of international wines, craft beer, and spirits that offer an embarrassment of riches for choice. This place is basically a foodie paradise, right by the waterside!
Drake Devonshire website
Down Home
Price: 💸💸💸💸
Cuisine: Farm-to-table
Address: 135299 9 Line, Markdale, ON
Why You Need To Go: Grey County is a more delicious place thanks to Down Home, a humble farm-to-table dining venture run by husband and wife team Joel Gray and Hannah Harradine, both very serious about exceptional local food and Ontario wine.
Their passion for hospitality has turned Down Home into a tucked-away destination in Markdale with a menu that changes weekly depending on what’s been most recently harvested and foraged, whether by Down Home itself or by other exceptional Grey County purveyors and producers.
Guests are encouraged to arrive with an open mind and a curious sense of adventure as they’re met with a creative 10-course tasting menu filled with delectable surprises.
Down Home website
Bluebird
Price: 💸💸💸
Cuisine: Elevated bistro fare
Address: 30 Ontario St., Stratford, ON
Why You Need To Go: The quaint town of Stratford is home to one of Canada’s largest theatre companies — The Stratford Festival — but it’s also becoming a compact destination for culinary delights.
One standout is Bluebird: a restaurant that specializes in "bistronomy," which combines the simple comforts of bistro fare with refined cooking techniques rooted in gastronomy. So, expect plenty of elevated dishes from burgers to salads to tacos to noodle bowls and beyond, all brought to vibrant life with chef-driven touches and a dedication to locally sourced ingredients that showcase what farmers and purveyors in the Stratford region have to offer.
Go grab some memorable lunch or dinner before you take in a show-stopping musical or a Shakespeare matinee!
Bluebird website
Madeline outside Bardō.
Brunch at Bardō.
Madeline holding a cappuccino. 
Brunch at Bardō.
Almond financier cake.
