Story | Renée S. Suen Photography | Renée S. Suen
Ontario’s dining landscape is rich with destinations that merit the journey. From multi-course Chinese-inspired cooking worth travelling for to a promising newcomer that’s captivating an audience beyond its own community, these are reservations you won’t want to miss.
THe Pine, Creemore (7535 County Rd. 9, Creemore; thepinecreemore.ca )
Known for its craft beer and for having the smallest jail in Ontario, the charming town of Creemore is drawing gastronomes for the contemporary Chinese cuisine served at The Pine. What began as a 12-seat popup is now a Michelinstarred destination, where chef and co-owner Jeremy Austin prepares a seasonally changing and inventive tasting menu featuring traditional flavours seen through a distinctly Canadian lens.
Austin’s cooking is shaped by his training in Italy, Hong Kong and mainland China. He reimagines classic dishes using Chinese techniques that amplify the quality of predominantly Ontario-sourced ingredients. Guests can choose the core 18-course Origins menu, which focuses on Canadian products, or the seasonally driven Abundance menu, which expands to more than 20 courses. Dishes on the latter further celebrate the country’s bounty, like Ontario squab marinated in rose honey, red yeast and beetroot that’s a very convincing cha siu dupe.
From the six counter seats overlooking the open kitchen, guests can watch Austin and his team assemble elegant, meticulously detailed bites inside the refined yet understated 30-seat space. Much of the pantry is grown and raised on The Pine’s own farm and its greenhouse; the remaining sustainably sourced ingredients come from trusted producers across Canada’s diverse landscape. Sauces and ferments, such as lilac vinegar and muscat grapes used for sweet and sour sauce, are made entirely in-house.
The meal opens with a parade of snacks, starting with a black cardamom and black tea-soaked “tea egg” filled with smoked mustard devilled egg yolk and christened with Acadian gold sturgeon caviar. Dainty jianbing-inspired Good Morning Shanghai follow, stuffing the thin rolled pastry with snow crab, lovage, Thunder Oak smoked gouda and crab tomalley caramel. It’s everything oyster in the playful riff on the Hong Kong oyster pancake which builds oyster blade beef tartare, black oyster mushroom condiment, oyster emulsion and oyster leaf on a cracker made from oyster thief seaweed.
A whimsical riff on Sichuan-style “no-boil” boiled fish.
A final savoury course: Welcome to Xinjiang, featuring charcoal-roasted Ontario lamb ribeye seasoned with Xinjiang spices.
Buckwheat and Red Fife miso lace cookie.
A starting snack of brown butter tart filled with black garlic–fried onion emulsion, topped with scallop mousse.
The “husband and wife” venison course caps a birch syrup—filled doughnut with shaved venison and venison floss. even the Chongqing specialty sour fish soup makes an appearance as a rich broth made from pheasant, fish bones, and smoked okra that’s poured table-side over B.C. red spring salmon, fried sea lettuce, pickled hop shoots, and fermented mustard greens. Finally…, The Rice arrives near the end of the meal as a cheeky tribute to the table staple, served as wild rice and niagara pear pudding with chrysanthemum wine gel that’s finished with a quenelle of burnt wild rice and Jersey milk ice cream.
The dining experience is leisurely paced and refreshing. At lunch, the minimalistic room’s whitewashed tall ceilings create a bright and airy environment that transforms to become intimate and cozy at night thanks to dim lighting. Service is warm, confident, and attentive, with knowledgeable staff who anticipate every need. Although polished and professional, the atmosphere never feels rigid–from a menu f illed with punny dish names to the team’s stylish mechanic-inspired jumpsuits that nod to the restaurant’s converted garage home.
Leaning into the automotive theme, The Pine offers guests three thoughtful “fueling” options to pair with their meal. The 90-octane pairing features versatile cool climate wines and sakes, while the 93-octane is international. But it’s the 86-octane, a clever pairing of alcohol-free culinary cocktails, that best highlights Canadian ingredients via a delightful exploration of teas and house ferments to complement the menu’s memorable flavours.
Revé, Niagara-on-the-Lake (242 Mary Street, niagara-on-the-Lake; byreve.com)
Picturesque niagara-on-the-Lake has been drawing tourists for its charming heritage streets, the Shaw Festival, historic sites, and awardwinning wineries. Since late 2025, however, locals and Torontonians alike have been making a new pilgrimage: dinner at Revé, a farm-to-fire restaurant that brings Sicily and niagara together.
Founded by friends and business partners nicole Pisarenko, chef Adriano Cappuzzello, Anna Kruusi and Kevin Gillingham, Revé takes its name from the idea of dreaming boldly and the determination required to realize it. The dimly lit room is moody and inspired by the four elements. The green and black washed space has a hanging moss installation and mushroom details on tables and chairs to signal earth, while custom glassware made by a Sicilian artist ripple with textures or sweeping paint strokes evoke water. But it’s fire–the kitchen’s hearth where chefs cook on an open flame–that’s the heart and an eyecatching focal point of the restaurant.
Cappuzzello trained at Sicily’s Michelin-starred Locanda Don Serafino, Langdon Hall, Berlin’s two-star restaurant Tim Raue, and the UK’s influential three-star The Fat Duck. His weekly-changing menu is shaped by niagara’s seasonal ingredients, much of it sourced from June Organic Farm nearby, and the chef’s Sicilian heritage. Guests can order à la carte or opt for a four- or 10-course tasting menu in the 11-table dining room, while a premium 10-course experience paired with Sicilian and niagara wines is reserved for the coveted Chef’s Counter, which flanks the kitchen pass and offers a front-row view of the team at work.
The Moving to Toronto: sablefish with Hakurei turnip kimchi, served with black sesame custard.
The Chef’s Wife: a scallop dish inspired by the classic pairing of salmon roe and crepes, with sliced scallops over savoury brioche French toast, finished with beurre blanc, dill oil, and salmon roe.
Seasonal greens such as Sicilian Winter Fields, featuring broccoli, sunchoke, artichoke, and smoked mussels.
The Moving to Toronto: sablefish with Hakurei turnip kimchi, served with black sesame custard.
There’s house-made rigatoni, for instance, that reimagines Cappuzzello’s late grandmother’s beloved S cookies as a savoury trio of pastas filled with pheasant farce and lobster mushroom. It’s gussied up with sweet potato velouté, hen jus, and matsutake mushrooms. The Chef’s Wife scallop dish is a tribute to Cappuzzello’s wife, Pisarenko, her eastern european heritage, and the classic combo of salmon roe and crepes. Here, the bivalve body is sliced and placed over savoury brioche French toast that’s crowned with foamy beurre blanc, bright dill oil, and pops of pristine salmon roe.
The First Time in France: potato crespelle topped with sliced beef bavette, finished with truffles and Bordelaise.
Revé offers à la carte options, including up to four different pastas.
Heatherbrae Farms beef might show up diced as a smoked f laxseed kissed tartare hidden beneath garlic espuma or as a medium rare bavette draped over crisp potato crespelle (a mashed potato fried dough). The latter appears showered with sliced black truffle and given a table-side finish with Bordelaise. An architectural marvel, views from the Window riffs Spaghetti ai Ricci and sandwiches shredded rock crab between two spooled spaghetti disks set atop a sauce made with newfoundland sea urchin and clothbound cheddar. The flight concludes with Chef’s First Dessert, a silky thyme-infused crème caramel that’s been refined over time and topped with toasted chaga-tea gelato. The latter’s mild and earthy flavour hints of carob and vanilla.
Pisarenko leads a wine program that champions distinctive bottles from Sicily and Ontario, ranging from Lipinski, Big Head’s premium label to respected Sicilian producers such as AlCantàra, Benanti, and Tenuta di Castellaro. Crafted cocktails come as classics, numbers inspired by the elements, and zero-proof options. As the general manager, Pisarenko also spearheads the team’s commitment to providing “unreasonable hospitality”–a concept coined by acclaimed American restauranteur Will Guidara which champions creating thoughtful, unexpected moments or gestures that lead to memorable experiences–that one might keep dreaming of.
