One of St. Catharines best new restaurants is carving a niche in the Niagara food scene and beyond. Part restaurant, part butcher; Fat Rabbit has been catching everyone’s attention with its unique dinning experience since opening in September 2023, including the renowned Michelin Guide.
Aiming to provide the highest quality meats, everything served and sold is butchered in house from ethically-raised animals that live outside on small Ontario farms. From sharable plates featuring its house-cured charcuterie to small and large cuts of steaks, to a daytime menu with sandwich and smash burger features and one of the best breakfast plates around, Fat Rabbit is making a name for itself and St. Catharines if the positive fanfare online is any indication. Certainly, Chef Zach Smith stands with other transformative restauranteurs energizing the food scene in St. Catharines and attracting foodies and diners from all over.
One of my favourite items on the daytime menu is the breakfast sandwich with peameal.
The 2024 edition of Toronto Michelin restaurants was recently unveiled with Fat Rabbit making the cut as a Recommended Restaurant. While there are a number of respected food guides, the Michelin Guide is widely considered as the most influential of them all, renowned for its high standards and anonymous inspectors, among people passionate about cuisine. With roots in France in the late 19th century as way to encourage more road trips and, in turn, more tire sales, the Michelin Guide now rates more than 30,000 establishments around the globe.
The Michelin Guide expanded to Toronto in 2022. For this year’s edition, the Michelin Guide’s search for the best restaurants to feature went outside the Toronto area for the first time and also includes three Niagara gems: Fat Rabbit; Trius Winery Restaurant in Niagara-on-the-Lake and Restaurant Pearl Morissette in the Niagara Benchlands.
Restaurant Pearl Morissette was also recognized with a Michelin Star, identifying this establishment as very good in its category, and awarded the rare Green Star, recognizing excellence in sustainable gastronomy.
Congratulations to all three restaurants and the talented culinary professionals on their teams on these remarkable achievements. And, if you haven’t tried Fat Rabbit yet, get going! There’s a delicious meal waiting for you.
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