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Located at the  on Jordan Road, the restaurant sits about 15 minutes west of downtown St. Catharines.

“We’d be lying if we said it wasn’t a goal with the restaurant from the first day,” says Eric Robertson, who runs Restaurant Pearl Morissette with co-owner and fellow chef Daniel Hadida. “We’ve been near the top (of the list) for a few years and it motivates us to refine our offering with the guest experience.”

The restaurant opened in 2017 with the goal of highlighting Canadian-grown ingredients and their growers. While the locavore movement was already in full swing by then, the restaurant opted to open closer to the farmers (the property also has its own farm and orchard). 

“We’re in the Niagara region but at the time, we’re looking out on the road and seeing how peaceful it was on a Friday night at 7:30,” recalls Hadida. “And then we realized there’s not a single car driving by and we had an empty dining room for the first year.”

But word spread quickly among foodies, turning the spot into a destination dining experience where the seasonality of ingredients determined what was on the menu each week. The restaurant serves about 55 guests each night (the tasting menu is $205 per person), and there’s a $265 per person chefs’ table option — a curated experience featuring ingredients that didn’t make it onto the regular menu.

“I’m very pleased to have such a Canadian experience at the top of the list in a year when we’re all looking more inwards and looking for reasons to travel within the country,” says Jacob Richler, editor-in-chief of Canada’s 100 Best, noting that Pearl Morissette has consistently hovered near the top in previous years. “Pearl Morissette does an amazing job of putting a region on a plate, the travel is worth it.”

For those unable to splurge on the $200 price tag, the restaurant opened  in 2022, a breakfast and lunch spot serving espresso-based drinks, breakfast sandwiches, viennoiserie, cakes, salads and tarts. The bakery also sourdough loaves as well as jams and spices sourced from the farm. “Spring lamb is coming in, so parts of it will be used at the restaurant while the shoulder is being braised and used in a sandwich at the bakery,” said Robertson. “We’re using whole animals in the bakery, so instead of having a butcher shop, we’re working directly with farmers.”

Of the 100 restaurants in the list, 29 are located in Toronto and include other fine-dining favourites that have also appeared in the Michelin guide such as (3rd), (4th), (5th), (8th), (16th) and (29th).

Montreal came in second with 24 entries, Vancouver has 14 restaurants, Calgary has five restaurants and Ottawa has four. The full list is on the .

Toronto-area restaurants that have made this year’s Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants list:

, first place, 3953 Jordan Rd. (Jordan Station)

, third place, 163 Spadina Ave.

, fourth place, 169 Niagara St.

, fifth place, 20 Victoria St.

, eighth place, 419 College St.

, 14th place, 210 Lakeshore Blvd. E. (Oakville)

, 15th place, 1 Langdon Hall Dr. (Cambridge)

, 16th place, 88 Avenue Rd.

, 29th place, 102 Yorkville Ave.

, 42nd place, 96 Harbord St.

, 43rd place, 150 York St. 

, 45th place, 202 Dovercourt Rd.

, 50th place, 66 Wellington St. W., 54th floor

, 51st place, 2066 Avenue Rd.

, 52nd place, 176 Ossington Ave.

, 53rd place, 971 Ossington Ave.

, 54th place, 979 College St.

, 57th place, 1136 Queen St. W.

, 58th place, 50C Clinton St. 

, 59th place, 440 College St.

, 62nd place, 3328 Yonge St.

, 63rd place, 503 College St.

, 68th place, 962 College St. 

, 69th place, 1471 Gerrard St. E.

, 70th place, 1 Harbour Square, 38th floor

, 72nd place, 134 Avenue Rd. 

, 73rd place, 122 Geary Ave.

, 75th place, 1194 Bloor St. W.

, 80th place, 944 Queen St. W.

, 81st place, 276 Havelock St.

, 93rd place, 7 Elm St. 

, 96th place, 972 College St.