#FOOD: MICHELIN-RECOMMENDED DOWN HOME OPENS NEW RETAIL STORE

Down Home, the MICHELIN Guide–recommended restaurant in Grey County, has opened a new retail store, giving visitors the chance to take home some of the same local ingredients that shape the restaurant’s cooking.

The store features fresh produce from across Grey County, including carrots, squash, beets, radishes and winter kale, along with edible flowers grown on the Down Home farm. Guests will also find farm-fresh eggs, local honey, small-batch jams and Canadian-made glassware by local artists.

It’s a natural extension of the restaurant and a new stop for anyone visiting Grey County who wants to shop local and bring a little of the Down Home experience home with them.

Learn more about DOWN HOME here. Reservations only.

#FOOD: NEW FALL 2026 MENUS AT REVÉ, AKIN, DOWN HOME AND CASA PACO

Fall menus are rolling out across some of Ontario’s finest reataurants with new tasting menus, seasonal ingredients, dishes and drinks on your radar. Some of these just receiving 2026 Michelin distinctions last week!

Revé, Niagara-on-the-Lake

Revé’s fall menu will highlight richer, colder-weather ingredients across its 10-course journey, featuring partridge, razor clams, cuttlefish and Ontario lamb. On the drinks menu, expect a brown butter brioche cocktail and an Etna Bianco Brut exclusive to the Chef’s Counter.

Reservations are now open here.

aKin, Toronto
At aKin, the new tasting menu focuses on Asian BBQ, exploring the spirit of gathering with friends and family through barbecue traditions from across the continent. Different ingredients, techniques and cultures come together through the same elemental act of cooking over flame.

The menu includes Eric Chong’s take on a BBQ snack platter, Korean yukhoe, roasted duck noodle soup and satay.

Reservations are now open here.

Down Home, Grey County
Down Home’s 10-course fall menu follows the season with wild mushrooms, fire-roasted duck and homegrown delicata squash. New this fall, the restaurant has also opened a retail shop featuring fresh produce from across Grey County, including carrots, squash, beets, radishes and winter kale, along with edible flowers grown on the Down Home farm. Guests will also find farm-fresh eggs, local honey, small-batch jams and Canadian-made glassware by local artists.

October bookings are now open, November reservations open Oct. 30.  More here.

George Restaurant, Toronto
Autumn at George means transitioning from lighter dishes to more comforting flavours. The menu moves from crispy fried sweetbread, hamachi sashimi and grilled veal tenderloin to braised bison cheeks, roasted black cod and venison. Seasonal produce shifts as well, from English peas, tomatoes and strawberries to Brussels sprouts, squash and pears.

Reservations are now open here.

Casa Paco, Toronto
Casa Paco’s fall menu brings Spanish red prawns from Palamós, cuttlefish braised in its ink, sea urchin, charcoal-grilled Dover sole, smoked wild mushrooms, black truffle and lemon-roasted rabbit to the table. 

Bookings for November open Oct.15.  More here.

#FOOD: AKIN, LES INCOMPETENTS, REVÉ, TAKJA, DOWN HOME, GEORGE AND FAT RABBIT RECEIVE 2026 MICHELIN DISTINCTIONS

Seven restaurants represented by Really Good People have been recognized in the 2026 MICHELIN Guide Toronto & Region, spanning One MICHELIN Star, Bib Gourmand and MICHELIN Selected distinctions.

aKin, TORONTO (ONE MICHELIN STAR)
Founded by chefs Eric Chong and Alvin Leung, aKin retains the One MICHELIN Star it first
received in 2025. Chong leads the restaurant’s tasting menu, drawing from his heritage
alongside flavours and traditions from across Asia. He was also named the 2025 MICHELIN
Guide Toronto & Region Young Chef Award winner.

LES INCOMPETENTS, ST. CATHARINES (BIB GOURMAND)
Les Incompetents earns its first Bib Gourmand, one of five restaurants newly awarded the
distinction this year. The downtown St. Catharines restaurant and bar is from Zach Smith, Owen
Walker, Adam D’Intino, Bee Lim and Geoff Dillon, with a menu centred on French-ish cooking,
seafood, wine and cocktails.

REVÉ, NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE (MICHELIN SELECTED)
Revé joins the MICHELIN Guide in its first year. Founded by Executive Chef Adriano
Cappuzzello, Nicole Pisarenko, Anna Katherine Kruusi and Kevin Gillingham, the
Niagara-on-the-Lake restaurant serves a 10-course tasting menu built around live-fire cooking,
local farms and producers, seasonality and Cappuzzello’s Sicilian background.

TAKJA BBQ HOUSE, TORONTO (MICHELIN SELECTED)
Led by chefs Jeff Kang and Edward Bang, Takja joins the MICHELIN Guide for the first time.
The College Street restaurant focuses on Hansang, meaning “a full table of food,” with seafood,
banchan, house fermentation, dry-aged meats and tableside Korean barbecue designed to be
shared.

DOWN HOME, MARKDALE (MICHELIN SELECTED)
Chefs and co-owners Joel Gray and Hannah Harradine are behind the 16-seat restaurant,
where the tasting menu is shaped by what the team grows on their own farm, gathers and
sources from nearby farms and producers. Down Home returns to the MICHELIN Guide for its
third consecutive year.

FAT RABBIT, ST. CATHARINES (MICHELIN SELECTED)
Fat Rabbit, the St. Catharines restaurant and butcher shop from chef and co-owner Zach Smith,
works with whole animals sourced from Ontario farms, supported by an in-house butchery and
charcuterie program and a seasonal menu. Fat Rabbit returns to the MICHELIN Guide for its
third consecutive year.

GEORGE RESTAURANT, TORONTO (MICHELIN SELECTED)
Executive Chef Lorenzo Loseto has overseen George’s kitchen for more than two decades, with
seasonally driven menus and a signature double-blind Chef’s Choice tasting experience tailored
to guests’ preferences. The restaurant returns to the MICHELIN Guide for its fifth consecutive
year.

#FOOD: MICHELIN-RECOMMENDED “DOWN HOME” IN MARKDALE

Since opening in August 2022, Down Home has earned Michelin Guide recommendations in both 2024 and 2025 and was named No. 39 on Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants list for 2026. Created by Joel Gray and Hannah Harradine after relocating to Grey County in 2019, the restaurant has built a reputation for deeply personal cooking and hospitality.

Gray and Harradine met working in traditional restaurants where quality local ingredients were being used, but they felt the stories were getting lost from the kitchen to the guests. At Down Home, that connection is brought directly to the table.

“We wanted to open a place in the heart of Grey County, in the farmland, 10 minutes from our favourite producers. The stories behind the ingredients are just as important to us as the ingredients themselves,” says Gray.

Down Home operates directly from the century farmhouse and property where they live and grow food, with little separation between the restaurant and daily life around it.

“The restaurant is our everything. Because it’s in our home, there’s really no separation between work and life and we designed it this way. It goes far beyond a restaurant. It’s a heartfelt glimpse into our lives, and I think that sincerity is why people continue to find us.”

— Hannah Harradine

THE MENU

The menu changes constantly throughout the year, driven by Grey County’s four distinct seasons and what is available nearby.

The garden is the main showpiece at Down Home during the summer months, influencing much of the menu from week to week. Guests are invited to walk through the gardens before dinner, where the team grows dozens of herbs, fruit trees, and varieties of vegetables used throughout the meal.

While the summer months center around the gardens, winter menus shift toward preserves and open-fire cooking.

The kitchen frequently incorporates ingredients not often seen in restaurant kitchens, including peach leaf, black currant wood, and carrot tops, sourced directly from the property’s permaculture gardens.

Signature dishes include:

The Garden Dish

An ever-changing plate built around what is being harvested that week, from early spring dishes to overwintered carrots.

Springhills Whole Grilled Fish

Fresh fish picked up weekly, then brined, dry aged, stuffed, and grilled over open fire.

Good Family Farms Pork

Whole-animal preparations using cuts like pig’s head and pork trotter.

The beverage programme focuses on Canadian producers, including small-scale wineries, cider makers, and seasonally driven cocktails.

Down Home also hosts seasonal community gatherings throughout the year, including an annual Maple Sap Boil open to locals.

THE SPACE

The dining room retains much of the home’s original character, with each room carrying a slightly different atmosphere. Artwork throughout the space reflects Joel Gray’s East Coast roots in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, alongside natural wood textures, antique furnishings, and handmade objects sourced from regional artisans. The name Down Home is also a nod to Gray’s East Coast upbringing and the kind of hospitality both he and Harradine wanted the restaurant to embody.

The restaurant collaborates with ceramicists and glassmakers across Ontario on custom plateware and glassware used throughout the dining experience. A dining room refresh in
collaboration with designer Ashley Montgomery is currently in development.

Down Home seats 16 guests and operates Thursday through Saturday, 6:30 p.m.–9:30 p.m., by reservation only. Tasting menus range from $175–$200 per guest.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The restaurant can accommodate select dietary needs including no red meat, pescatarian, nut allergies, shellfish/seafood restrictions, and pregnancy-related modifications. Vegan, dairy-free, and gluten-free menus are not available.
Nearby accommodations include The June Motel Beaver Valley, Rocklyn Inn, The Post Office, Airbnb Kimberley, Back Forty Glamping, and Penny’s Motel.

Down Home is located at 135299 9 Line, Markdale, Ontario. downhomerestaurant.com

ABOUT DOWN HOME
Down Home is a 16-seat restaurant in Grey Highlands, Ontario, led by Joel Gray and Hannah Harradine. The restaurant offers a 10-course seasonal tasting menu driven by nearby farms, open-fire cooking, and the region’s four distinct seasons. Down Home received Michelin Guide recommendations in 2024 and 2025 and was named No. 39 on Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants list for 2026.