Jordan, Ontario – Canada’s Best New Restaurant
https://canadasbestnewrestaurants.com/en/restaurants/restaurant-pearl-morissette/
This very understated, black, austere building harbours a unique and delightful experience.
The lunch and dinner menus are identical, consisting of 10 courses (not including an optional cheese course) and a wine pairing is available. Be sure to allow lots of time – lunch was a leisurely three hours. Service was excellent – chefs delivered and described each course and the sommelier introduced each of the pairings in detail.
Bread and whipped butter started the meal – a rustic rye sourdough.
The first wine was paired with the first two courses – charred zucchini balls with striped bass roe, red currants and edible flowers – cured wild sockeye salmon with a canteloupe vinaigrette, verbena and more edible flowers. The wine was a 2018 Domaine Reuilly Pinot Gris.
The third course – shredded rutabaga, paper thin apple and bay leaf – paired with 2017 Pearl Morissette Irreverence. This was followed by wild Atlantic turbot with beet and elderflower paired with 2017 Masseria Frattasi Taburno. Next was a fave bean dish, cooked in onion broth that was then made into a light sauce over the beans, scallion and tatsoi. This was paired with 2017 Wittmann Riesling.
Up to dish number 6. Razor clams sliced and served with tomato and smoked ham – paired with 2016 Colli Tortonesi Timorasso. Dish 7, paired with 2014 Pearl Morissette Madeline, a Pekin duck (duck breast and a little duck confit) with shallot and gooseberry. And dish 8 was goat milk curd with sweetgrass and cherry.
To finish the meal – a cheese offering enjoyed with the remnants of our rye bread (paired with Pearl Morissette Cabernet Franc), a strawberry sorbet and a raspberry tart (paired with Domaine Frederic Broura Vermouth).
Reservations are a must – well in advance!
Our lunch was a superb addition to a Niagara wine weekend.