"We pick as close to service as possible. When we do tomatoes, tomatoes get picked, they never see the fucking fridge. Ever, ever, ever."

—Shane Harper, Farmer, Restaurant Pearl Morissette

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you may remember me writing about Restaurant Pearl Morissette in the Niagara Benchlands.

In 2024, they were awarded the first Michelin star in the region, as well as a Green Star for sustainability. Then earlier this year, Canada's 100 Best named them the best restaurant in Canada. This is in addition to a myriad of other accolades that I'm surely missing.

What is clear is that this place is not only the best in Canada, it's one of the best dining experiences anywhere in the world. It's that good. And I think the above video by Vice does a great job outlining what co-chefs Daniel Hadida and Eric Robertson have created with their restaurant and farm in the Bench.

Everything they serve is immediately local and/or Canadian, and they're constantly experimenting. Equally admirable is their commitment to reshaping Canadian cuisine and putting it on the world stage.

You hear that throughout the video. At one point Hadida says, "I'm interested in slightly better. So I'm willing to go significantly harder to achieve slightly better." That's what it takes to be exceptional at anything, and I think Canada could use more of this kind of attitude.

What is also clear from the video is that farmer Shane Harper needs his own YouTube channel. As a general rule, I have deep respect for anyone who approaches their work with passion and enthusiasm. He has that in spades.

I was on the Bench yesterday for meetings and, as is usually the case, I learned a little more about how wine is made. Typically when you're laying out grapevines you want to align them for sun exposure. In hotter regions, you might align them east-west to minimize the harsh afternoon son. And in cooler climates, like Niagara or Burgundy, you might align them north-south to try and maximize sun exposure.

But what I learned is that topography often takes priority over sun exposure — especially in cooler regions. In practice, this means you generally want to align the grapevines so that they follow the slope of the land. Why? Because cold air is heavier than warm air. Aligning with the slope allows cold air to naturally drain away, which helps the vines survive the winter and reduces the risk of things like spring frost.

If, instead, you aligned the vineyard rows across the slope (as opposed to up and down), well then cold air might get trapped. The same is true for water drainage. I'm told you don't want pooling. And this is why it tends to be more important to optimize for topography rather than just sun exposure, though I'm sure it gets a lot more nuanced when you really know what you're doing.

Regardless, I find all of this fascinating because it's an intensely local activity. You need to understand how the sun moves across the site. You need to understand the site contours and where air and water will flow. And then you need to optimize for these specific conditions. It's exactly how architecture used to work before we had active mechanical systems, like AC, that could do all of the work for us.

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.