County Fare

Lovebird Beer x Belle Marche

82 Sykes St. N., Meaford, lovebird.beer

1 This past spring, Alex Chramow and Emily Fonberg packed up Lovebird Brewing, their boutique Thornbury brewery, and moved it up the road to Meaford. The new location has two things the old one didn’t: a kitchen and a sit-down dining room. So they tapped chef Ryan Praskey (formerly of the Oxley and the Queen and Beaver), who now serves Acadian barbecue with East Coast kindness at Belle Marche (named after the Cape Breton area where his grand­parents live). It’s a match made in Maritime heaven.

What to eat: The “toe rags”— smoked trout croquettes with dill sauce (pictured above)—the barbecue brick chicken or the brisket platter with all the fixings.

What to drink: Glasses of Screech go for just $10—and you don’t even have to kiss a cod to get the deal.

Good Grief Coffee Roasters

28 Bruce St. S., Thornbury, and 7535 County Rd. 9, Creemore, goodgriefcoffee.com

2 Last year, Alix Haddy opened an offshoot of her Thornbury café and roastery in Creemore, complete with a large patio that’s already popular with the area’s cyclists. Haddy’s priority was to roast and brew coffee made from sustainably sourced beans, but her house-made doughnuts have stolen the show from the humble cups of joe.

What to eat: With rotating flavours like freeze-dried raspberry and rhubarb (a springtime hit) or peaches and cream (hello, peak summer), there is no wrong doughnut choice.

What to drink: A cup of Ethiopian coffee, which has its own sweet and fruity profile of strawberry and chocolate milk.

Related: Nine unique culinary experiences in Ontario worth the road trip

Chin Chin

180 Mill St., Creemore, chinchinshop.ca

3 Creemore’s new wine bar and bottle shop is run by Toronto expats Kieran Coyne (Union, Côte de Bœuf, Heart’s Tavern) and his wife, Tammy Yiu, and feels plucked from the streets of Paris. The 361-square-foot space is filled with barrel tables, though guests often spill out the doors to sip on sidewalk benches.

What to eat: They’re keeping the food menu simple—think grazing boards loaded with freshly baked baguette, olives, cheeses and charcuterie—but they also host local chefs and businesses for summertime pop-ups.

What to drink: Chin Chin has a list of more than 100 bottles plus a rotating roster of wines by the glass, which can be sampled in two- or five-ounce portions.

Down Home

135299 Ninth Line, Markdale, downhomerestaurant.com

4 Hannah Harradine and Joel Gray’s Michelin-recommended restaurant was born out of their catering business, Sumac and Salt. The farm-to-table kitchen will soon be open three nights a week for 16 guests to enjoy a 10-course menu that showcases the produce from their own property alongside local, sustainably raised meat. No matter the weather, everyone takes their first bite around the outdoor kitchen’s open fire, followed by a walk through the gardens before heading back inside to gather around the table. The couple also recently opened an on-site retail outpost, offering farm-fresh ingredients and Ontario-made artisanal goods to go.

What to eat: A recent show-stopping main was fire-grilled duck breast with hakurei turnips and preserved golden plum.

What to drink: The all-Canadian wine pairing (at an extra cost).

Bello Pizza

72 First St., Collingwood, bello-pizza.com

5 This pizzeria, helmed by former Soho House chefs Andrew LeBlanc and Mike Trudeau, had a short life in Bloor West Village, tucked inside a café and bottle shop. The closing of Bello’s BWV location had Redditors mourning the loss of its Roman-meets-New-York-style pies. Thankfully, the Collingwood outpost retains the hits, which means the popular Spicy Goat—cold-fermented dough piled with fresh goat cheese, Calabrian chilies and hot honey—is only a two-hour drive away.

What to eat: The Spicy Goat, obviously.

What to drink: The Georgian Bay Mule, a refreshing blend of vodka, ginger beer and peach.

The Gate

14 Sydenham St., Flesherton, thegategreyhighlands.ca

6 Jonathan Gushue (Fogo Island Inn, Langdon Hall) and Jennifer Belanger (One Restaurant, the Bruce Hotel) like to say their new restaurant in the quiet community of Flesherton feels like your favourite pair of blue jeans—comfortable and easy to slip into. The menu, which celebrates the bounty of Grey County’s farmers and producers, is gently European inspired, with dishes meant for sharing. Gushue and Belanger also firmly believe in supporting education, so students of any age can order an app, a main, a side, a dessert and a mocktail for just $25.

What to eat: For lunch, charred albacore tuna salad with fennel and radish in a brown butter vinaigrette or house-made semolina pasta tossed in a pistachio pesto. For dinner, popcorn bread with a side of pork butter and rosemary honey, followed by poached scallops with mayo, cucumber and toasted hazelnuts.

What to drink: Here’s to You Mr. Robinson, a riff on a manhattan made with maple syrup from a local sap tapper.

Après Snack Bar at Penny’s Motel

141 King St. E., Thornbury, pennysmotel.ca

7 Roadside motels aren’t exactly synonymous with freshly shucked oysters and glasses of chablis—but Penny’s is no ordinary motor inn. It’s co-owned by John Belknap of John and Sons Oyster House, so it’s no surprise that the menu at the motel’s lobby bar is laser-focused on seafood—including a garlic-roasted shrimp cocktail and a bright and spicy scallop-­shrimp ceviche. There’s also a wide range of elevated snacky staples, including brisket sliders, oven-baked nachos and “share-cuterie” boards. You don’t need to be a guest of the motel to grab a bite at the bar or enjoy a drink on the covered patio, but anyone staying the night can end their day with fireside s’mores and a schvitz in the courtyard sauna.

What to eat: A dozen oysters (only $2 each on Tuesday nights).

What to drink: An equally briny dirty martini.

Bar Gondola

209 Hurontario St., Collingwood, bargondola.com

8 This après-ski-themed bar schussed onto Collingwood’s food-and-drink scene last spring. Inside, an avalanche of cedar panelling, retro posters and vintage sports equipment brings Alpine chalet vibes just a 15-minute drive from Blue Mountain. And while winter is for snow bunnies, summertime means the sidewalk patio is in full swing.

What to eat: Guests can scarf fresh slices from Bar Gondola’s sister spot, Later Pizza.

What to drink: Pints of locally made lager, refreshing highballs or (for those who don’t plan on rising with the sun) the “shotski,” four shots lined up on a vintage Fischer ski for friends to shoot back in tandem.

Georgian Bay Surf Club

135 Hurontario St., Collingwood, georgianbaysurfclub.com

9 What’s a surf club doing in Ontario? It turns out that salt water doesn’t get to have all the fun. Fresh­water surfing is just as cool, which is why Curtis ­Eichenberger started his community surf club in 2017. Earlier this year, he joined forces with some local entrepreneurs and opened their new spot: a totally tubular restaurant, bar and surf shop in a former Play It Again Sports.

What to eat: The menu transports guests to beach towns—be they in Hawaii, Florida, Spain, Mexico or Morocco—with dishes like ahi tuna and avocado salad served on a bed of fresh greens, confit beef tongue skewers slathered in guava barbecue sauce, and octopus and bone marrow tacos with Spanish romesco sauce and tomatillo salsa.

What to drink: Tequila, mezcal and rum cocktails adhere to the tropical theme. Try the rummy Kingston Negroni, the Italian classic by way of Jamaica.

Pom Pom

6 Bruce St. N., Thornbury, and 25 Sykes St. N., unit 2, Meaford, pompomtreats.com

10 Andrea Greyerbiehl and Rheanna Kish have been making small-batch dairy- and plant-based ice cream (the latter with an oat and coconut milk mix) for more than a decade, and their pints have made it into the freezers of Summerhill Market. They churn out a list of flavours that includes classics like bubblegum, cookies and cream, and rocky road as well as seasonal one-offs like strawberry-­rhubarb and cherry-lemonade. Pom Pom’s butter-yellow-and-white-brick hut in Thornbury is a go-to for scoops, floats and ice cream sandwiches, while the year-round storefront in Meaford also offers coffee, making for some interesting affogato-esque combos. Bonus: both locations are within walking distance of a beach.

What to eat: A family-sized ice cream flight of five flavours.

What to drink: A Neapolitan ice cream latte—the best of both worlds—or a key lime float.

The Pine

7535 County Rd. 9, Creemore, thepinecreemore.ca

11 Husband-and-wife team Jeremy and Cassie Austin co-own this Michelin-starred kitchen, where they serve up a dynamic tasting menu inspired by Jeremy’s travels to Italy, Hong Kong and China. Currently, the set 17-course journey highlights hyper-local seasonal produce, much of which is grown on Cassie’s parents’ farm in Proton Station.

What to eat: Jeremy’s signature dish, the Tea Egg, is a free-range hen’s egg from Conestoga Farms soaked in black tea, star anise and tsaoko (Chinese black cardamom); stuffed with smoked mustard and whipped yolk; and topped with red frill, Acadian sturgeon caviar and coriander blossom.

What to drink: The PEC sparkling wine that starts and steals the show, Last House Vineyard’s Joie de Vivre.