The Restaurant at Pearl Morissette, Jordan, Ontario
No matter how hard you scan the social media or website of Pearl Morissette, it’s impossible to find a food image. There’s a simple reason. Co-chefs Daniel Hadida and Eric Robertson don’t want to be pinned down to a particular menu…or even a particular dish. This allows them to ‘collaborate directly with his suppliers’ on the most immediate basis whether it’s an array of different fish or 200 pounds of sweet potatoes that are intriguingly fresh and flavourful.
Chef Hadida came of age in the farm to table movement as he immersed himself in hyper-locality in France. He worked on farms and for long, gruelling stretches when he’d have to harvest, pack and deliver, often going without sleep for 24 – 36 hours at a stretch. It has given him a huge respect for the farmers of the Niagara region like Bob Comfort who helped cultivate the land for the winery and who now grows heirloom wheat for the restaurant. To him, authenticity = luxury and throughout the restaurant experience, that’s what diners revel in. It is that they he and his team translate so well on the meals they serve forth.
The ingredients they use read like my wish list – 100% Canadian sourced. If there’s pork on the menu, the pigs have been raised in the forest. If it’s beef, the long horn cattle are from Brian Gilvsey’s YU Ranch where they roam in the tall grasses of SW Ontario. This philosophy allows them “to follow the seasons in a micro way…even right down to the time of day it was harvested.” He says “Let the fishers dictate what we serve.” Currently they are even building a trout pond. What is so striking in this era of quick service and homogenization is his belief that “food systems will never be sustainable unless every step of the way is honoured.”
Contact The Restaurant at Pearl Morissette at the number below to reserve a Food Day Canada table.
Contactez The Restaurant at Pearl Morissette directement, au numéro ci-dessous, afin de faire votre Journée des terroirs réservation.
The Restaurant at Pearl Morissette,
3953 Jordan Road,
Jordan, Ontario L0R 1S0
T 905-562-7709
