When we closed on the development site for Project Bench at the end of 2023, our team went for dinner at Restaurant Pearl Morissette to celebrate. It's one of the top-rated restaurants in Canada, it's 8 minutes from the site, and so it was the sensible thing to do. Their architect — gh3 — is also our architect.

I still remember when chef Eric Robertson brought out the amuse-bouche to start us off. He explained what it was and then reassured us that we would not be needing Uber Eats after this fine dining experience. We would leave full, deeply satisfied, and with a new appreciation for the Niagara culinary scene.

He was, of course, right about everything.

So it's no surprise that the following year, the restaurant earned both a Michelin Star (the very first in the Niagara region) and a Green Star for sustainability (only the second ever awarded in Canada). After having eaten there, we all knew it was only a matter of time.

Fast forward to today and they have yet another reason to celebrate. Canada's 100 Best dropped their 2025 list of the best fine-dining restaurants in the country on Monday and #1 on the list was none other than Restaurant Pearl Morissette.

This is well deserved and an incredible accomplishment for the team. It's also a testament to the extraordinary food and wine that is today coming out of the Niagara Benchlands region. It's clearly some of the best in the country and the world, and it's only getting better. (RPM is also on France's La Liste.)

I obviously have a vested interest in the Bench region, but I also just love celebrating Canadian successes. I want us to be the best at everything we do, and that's what this team is shooting for. So if you're in the market for a truly exceptional culinary experience, I highly recommend you check out RPM.

This is a copy of the 1912 edition of the Michelin Guide to France. Most of you have probably heard of Michelin star restaurants, but some of you may not be familiar with how it all started.

First published in 1904, the Michelin Guide is, as you might suspect, a product of French tire company Michelin. And since the beginning, this free guide has had a pretty clear objective: Its goal was to get you to drive more.

At the turn of the 20th century, there were only a few thousand cars on the road in France. This guide tried to change that by giving you places to go, as well as telling you where to stop along the way should you need to change a tire or two.

However, its famous starred ranking system for restaurants was not introduced until 1931, and the criteria for said ranking was not revealed until a few years later:

• One Star: "A very good restaurant in its category" (Une très bonne table dans sa catégorie)

• Two Stars: "Excellent cooking, worth a detour" (Table excellente, mérite un détour)

• Three Stars: "Exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey" (Une des meilleures tables, vaut le voyage)

Curiously enough, Canada has no Michelin star restaurants. I’m not exactly sure why, but I have heard that it’s because we’re not giving money to the right people. Maybe that’s wrong. I don’t know.

I do, however, find it interesting that this celebrated restaurant ranking system started as a marketing tool for motorists. Oftentimes you never know where a new idea might lead you.

P.S. I’m also not sure how the above 1912 copy is the 13th edition when the first Michelin Guide was supposedly published in 1904.

In business we are told to listen to our customers. Be customer-centric. In city building we are told to listen to the community. Be community-focused. And there’s no question that these mantras exist for a reason. They are paramount.

But when should you not listen?

I watched a Chef’s Table documentary last night on Massimo Bottura (pictured above), who is the owner and operator of Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy. Osteria Francescana is a 3 star Michelin restaurant and widely ranked as one of the best restaurants in the world.

But it wasn’t easy for Massimo at the beginning. His goal was to bring the Italian kitchen into the 21st century and so his plates are often creative takes on classic Italian dishes. His restaurant blends the old and new; food and contemporary art.

This approach upset a lot of people at the outset. Massimo was seen almost as a traitor who was turning his back on traditional Italian cooking within provincial Modena. Don’t mess with centuries of tradition they would say. Grandma knew best, son.

Because of this, his restaurant sat empty in the early years, to that point that he was ready to close its doors. The only reason he kept it open was because his wife encouraged him to give it one more year. She said: This is the kind of food you want to make. If you don’t try, you’ll regret it.

So he gave it another year and luckily he got a few breaks, including a glowing review by a well known food critic from out of town. Once this hit, the Modenese started to quickly rethink their distaste for Massimo’s idiosyncratic dishes. Before long, his restaurant was full.

So what changed? It wasn’t the dishes. It was perception. The out of town critics and positive reviews gave people permission to like the dishes. This is critical because nobody needs permission to like tradition. It’s tradition, after all. There’s little risk in that.

But there’s risk in liking something new that hasn’t been done before. Change creates uncertainty. And if Massimo’s wife hadn’t encouraged him to stick with it just a bit longer and ignore the naysayers, the world may not have one of its top restaurants.

Sometimes we don’t know what we like and want until we are shown.

Image: Osteria Francescana