Why Michelin stars can’t save Toronto-area restaurants

Michelin restaurants in Toronto are taking hits like never before.

With food culture becoming the norm, as one-third of Instagram and TikTok are food influencers, and prestige TV dramas are now in kitchens, Michelin awareness is becoming more recognized in modern households.

For those unfamiliar, Michelin (yes, the tire people) has had a prestige food guide since 1926, in which culinary players who wow in-house critics get awarded recognition, or beyond that, the coveted Michelin Star(s).

At the time of reporting, southern Ontario hosts 17 Michelin Star restaurants, as well as numerous locations that have received recommendations from the official Michelin Guide.

However, in the last calendar year, several recognized locations — one with a star — have shuttered amid an inescapably hostile dining ecosystem.

Vietnamese favourite Cà Phê Rang, from celeb chef Matty Matheson’s mentor, Chef Rang, and the beloved pasta window of Famiglia Baldassarre closed this year, despite both being vouched for by the century-old gastro handbook.

But it was Hexagon, whose chefs had been awarded a star two years in a row, whose closure tilted the Toronto fine dining scene off its axis, which begs the question — is a Michelin Star still the armour it once was?

“There have been a lot of lagging indicators, especially as things have been progressing over the last two years. What we are facing now is the other shoe dropping, mainly through trickle-down effects of people’s spending, global conflict and daily costs, on top of a myriad of other things,” Daniel Hadida, co-executive chef and owner of Restaurant Pearl Morissette, told yourcitywithIN.com.

[Seasonal selections at Restaurant Pearl Morissette — one of Canada’s best]

Pearl Morissette is one of only two restaurants in Canada with two Michelin Stars, next to Tanière in Quebec City.

Even with the protection a second star brings, Hexagon’s sudden closure, for Hadida, is an indicator of how no matter how good today is, tomorrow can still sneak up on you, as even though Pearl Morissette ranks third among North America’s best, nobody is invulnerable.

What Pearl Morissette does have going for it, according to Hadida, is that it is out of the highly competitive landscape of Toronto proper, as being just outside St. Catharines gives it exclusivity and a direct line to U.S. tourists coming to get as much bang for their (much more stable) buck in the southern Ontario playground as possible — which is a lot.

“We’re really fortunate that we are in a great spot, and we are going to keep leveraging that, strictly, by hiring the right kind of people who can help us stay nimble during a time where really any locally focused Canadian businesses are shutting down left and right,” says Hadida.

However, the recently shuttered Hexagon also had the benefit of being outside the big city, as it was in Oakville, and much like Pearl Morissette, had numerous accolades beyond its star, such as a winner of the S. Pellegrino Young Chef Academy competition, Victoria Rinsma, serving as its sous chef.

While Hadida could not attest why Hexagon shuttered — despite universal praise — he hinted that any misstep can be costly, as operational costs can collapse if the global economy so much as sneezes in the wrong direction.

[Excelling at using only locally grown Canadian ingredients, Pearl Morissette is a cut above]

“We’re using strictly Canadian ingredients, and honestly, if it weren’t for our success, nobody could operate at those margins. If you go into our bakery kitchen, it is a nice space, but objectively, we’re running pretty f***ing lean there,” says Hadida. “To do this right can be completely cost-prohibitive and expensive; I’m sure people even look at us and say, ‘wow, they must really be making a killing,’ and we’re not; our margin is laughable.”

While Pearl Morissette has its own farm and bakery to keep import expenses down, helping it stay above water alongside its rotating menu, Hadida is observing what else is getting the eyes of the Michelin to help futureproof his restaurant against the fate of many others in the GTA.

Taking into account global economic disaster and its accompanying exhaustion, Hadida has highlighted a new constant in the world of global cuisine — authenticity over flash.

Over the last decade, Hadida stated there has been a push away from the world of ‘molecular gastronomy,’ popularized by Noma (once the world’s best restaurant), where dishes were presented with a focus on the science of food and its corresponding enhancement of flavours.

In earnest, Hadida now states that the modern diner does not have the cash or patience for their likely one major expensive dining night out a year to be built on the condensed ‘scientific method’ of food.

“There are economic and financial incentives, when the cards are down, and there is a public sentiment around instability, people want comfort,” says Hadida.

Pearl Morissette has luckily already cornered a genuine identity, as their rotating menu is built on ingredients you can only find in Canada, forcing the kitchen to remain authentic in its approach to invention, while maintaining a strict rural Canadiana profile.

This attitude is also reflected in the Toronto additions that have made the Michelin Guide — stars or otherwise — as places as simple as Mother’s Dumplings in Chinatown, the White Lily Diner in Riverside, or Cherry Street Bar-B-Que, all excel in cuisine stated bluntly on the sign.

“What we are dealing with now is a desire, a hunger towards cultural authenticity, of any variety. When something is clearly made by someone who grew up with it in their household, neighbourhood, or backyard, there is a natural inclination to trust that it will be made to the highest standard,” says Hadida.

Hadida further highlights that, especially concerning Michelin, it’s never the restaurant that gets the star, but the chef, and it is on the chef to bring the earnestness that the modern diner is looking for.

“Rafa [Covarrubias], who was running Hexagon, has moved to Restaurant 20 Victoria in Toronto, and now gets to play a lot more in terms of building flavour profiles while working with Mexican food way more than he was at Hexagon.”

As for the future of Toronto, and whether a Michelin Star will forever ward off the dreaded ‘we have some news’ Instagram post every restauranteur fears they’ll have to share one day, Hadida had some closing insight.

“Quality is the standout; quality will keep your star, and quality with meaning will keep people coming.”