Collingwood's LORE Restaurant earns Michelin recommendation months after opening

COLLINGWOOD — LORE Restaurant in Collingwood has been added to the Michelin Guide's recommended list, less than five months after opening its doors.

The selection for the Michelin Guide Toronto and Region was revealed on Sept. 22. LORE is one of a few restaurants outside the Toronto area to receive the Michelin Recommended designation.

The restaurant's general manager, Eric Roell, also received a Michelin service award.

READ MORE: Four Canadian wines recommended for fall celebrations

READ MORE: St. Catharines restaurant owner cooks 200 pancakes weekly for school children

"It's very surreal. We never thought LORE would even be considered. It's unusual that the Michelin Guide leaves the borders of Toronto," chef and co-owner Jeremy Austin said.

Austin and his wife Cassie, the co-owners, opened LORE in May as their second restaurant. Their first, The Pine, opened in Collingwood in August 2020 and moved to Creemore in 2024. The Pine has held a Michelin star for the past three years.

Austin said they moved The Pine to Creemore due to needing a larger space.

Originally from Thornbury, Austin worked as a chef in Italy, France and Shanghai before returning to the southern Georgian Bay area. He said he always had a thought in the back of his mind that he'd like to return one day to open a restaurant and make fusion food based on his learnings.

LORE opened as an a-la-carte restaurant but quickly shifted to a tasting-menu-only format. "We opened as an a-la-carte restaurant with a small tasting menu, but like 65 per cent of the guests wanted the tasting menu, so we changed to a tasting menu only," said Austin.

While The Pine focuses on Asian-inspired cuisine, LORE focuses on contemporary Canadian food. It offers two multi-course menus called Provenance and Abundance.

"We take well-known dishes and re-interpret them. I wanted to explore what contemporary Canadian meant," Austin said.

He cited dishes like LORE Poutine, made with potato dumplings, braised short ribs, cheddar fondue and cheddar curds. Another dish, Walter's Albacore, is inspired by the Caesar cocktail and features tomato broth with Albacore tuna tartare, pickled surf clams and borage leaf. The dish is named after Walter Chell, a bartender and creator of The Caesar.

The Michelin rating system includes five levels: Bib Gourmand, Michelin Selected/Recommended, one, two and three stars. It is based on factors including quality of ingredients, mastery of flavour and cooking techniques, personality of the chef expressed through the cuisine, harmony of flavours and consistency across the entire menu and between visits.

Austin said the recognition for LORE and The Pine, alongside Down Home in Markdale also being Michelin Recommended, is helping put the region on the map.

"In this area surrounding Georgian Bay, there's more and more popping up, which is really phenomenal," he said.

LORE is located at 100 Pine St. in Collingwood.

With files from Barrie News