A little 10-seat restaurant in Collingwood’s downtown is making big waves at the national level.
The Pine Restaurant was named No. 51 on Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants for 2022 list, and No. 9 on their list of best new restaurants in Canada.
Co-owners Jeremy Austin and his wife Cassie opened The Pine’s brick-and-mortar location in August 2020.
“It’s pretty wild,” said Jeremy. “It’s crazy because, outside of any major city in Canada, there’s very few restaurants that made the list.”
“We’re pretty blessed for that.”
Jeremy is originally from Thornbury. He worked as a chef in Italy, France and Shanghai, China over the years, but always had a thought in the back of his mind that he’d like to return to South Georgian Bay one day to open a restaurant and make fusion food based on his learnings.
“I wanted to come home to be closer to family and the farm. (My wife and I) decided to leave our life behind in Shanghai and open a restaurant here,” he said. “We saved up every dollar we had and worked really hard. It’s very special to us.”
He says the food is inspired by cuisines he has learned about abroad, while using ingredients that make sense locally. The restaurant is linked to Jeremy’s family farm where most of the served produce is grown.
“It’s a very Canadian style, I would say. It includes many cultures, but mainly we focus on Chinese and Italian,” said Jeremy.
The couple opened their restaurant in the middle of the pandemic, which was notoriously difficult on the industry as a whole.
“COVID sucked for everybody. We were pretty lucky that we are a small restaurant. If we were bigger, it would have been harder during those time periods,” said Jeremy.
Jeremy says he would like to expand the restaurant one day, under the right circumstances.
“It’s amazing to be recognized nation-wide. It’s surreal. We don’t really know what to think,” he said.
The Pine Restaurant is located at 203 Hurontario Street in Collingwood’s downtown.
