If you’ve ever visited the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, you’ll know it sits as one of the most popular tourist attractions in the country. Around the iconic falls, there is an eclectic array of experiences to enjoy, from ferris wheels and haunted houses, to tunnels behind the falls themselves.
But with a myriad of mostly chain restaurants around Clifton Hill and the tourist centre, when it comes to looking for a good meal, most locals will head down the road to Niagara-on-the-Lake for an up-market meal with similarly delicious wine. There is plenty grown in the area after all.
However, if you know where to look, there are a number of spots in this tourist mecca where you will find some incredible meals that even attracts the locals. And in the case of the meal we had a couple of weekends ago, it also came with one of the most spectacular views in the city.
We were lucky enough to dine at Massimo’s Italian Fallsview Restaurant, which sits on the 13th floor of the Sheraton Fallsview Hotel, at the base of Clifton Hill. The hotel enjoyed a $50 million renovation that opened in 2021, while this restaurant opened back in 2018. The doors to the hotel still says “welcome to the new Fallsview”, so there’s still an absolute freshness to the whole building.
The restaurant is one of three in the region owned by celebrity chef Massimo Capra, with an eye for a quality Italian food, set against the backdrop of one of the world’s most spectacular views. Of course sunset is the perfect time to visit, and currently the restaurant is running a monthly culinary experience to accompany that view. The experiences come with a five-course meal and paired wines courtesy of the Trayvino Wine Company.
While anyone is welcome, the hotel offers packages that include the Culinary Experience, as well as a night in a room with a view of the falls. Complete with a hot tub and a balcony for good measure – one of the few you can find in the area. I’ll cover the hotel in more different in a later piece, but the stay was phenomenal. The room was comfortably designed, and there’s still nothing quite like falling asleep to the sounds of the falls; nature’s white noise machine.
Each event in their monthly series focuses on a different region of Italy. For the May affair, the theme was “From Sicily With Love”, bringing a variety of Sicilian flavours, accompanied by wines from the region. Most of the wines were from Don Tomasi, a winemaker established in 2004 about 30km from Palermo.
One of the exceptions to this was with our welcome drink, a delicious glass of Extra Dry Prosecco from Borgo Magredo, which comes from Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. It was hard not to want a second helping as we mingled with the guests and Chef Massimo, and enjoyed four canapes that were paraded around the beautiful venue.
On the list of canapes were: Beautiful raw tuna with pickled onions and fennel; Eggplant with buffalo mozzarella, tomato confit and basil; Gratin mussels with pecorino and herb crumb; and finally grilled artichoke with garlic, parsley and lemon. This set the tone for the meal that would follow – strong flavours presented simply. There was a real effort to make the ingredients pop and speak for themselves. And the wines that accompanied them were perfect, showing the level of thought and appreciation that goes into feast like this one.
Once we sat down at our table, house made olive bread was served, with olive oil and balsamic. After a couple of glasses of Prosecco, believe me when I say we devoured this plate in minutes.
The five courses that followed were a journey.
We started with a single, well sized braised veal arancini, accompanied by a King & Victoria Rose VQA. The arancini was served on a bed of sauce and was delicious. I forgot to take a photo before I cut into it, I was so eager to try it. But now you’ll get a bit of a taste for what was inside.
Next up, Roasted Quail with a Don Tomasi Grillo/Chardonnay. Though once again simple in presentation, this was easily the most complex of the dishes we experienced, with rich froi gras, hazelnuts and smoked bacon stuffed inside. This was accompanied by sweet and sour cabbage and sautéed green beans. Delicious.
Course three was the obligatory pasta inclusion. Here, Fusilli Norma with a glass of Don Tomasi Nero D’Avola – an example of a classic dish done perfectly, accompanied by some spectacular wine. While one of the most straight forward dishes on the menu, its quality made it one of the stand outs of the night. The perfect mix of tomato, basil, eggplant and ricotta – billed as a “rich Sicilian sauce” – made you want to lick the plate clean. Would have had seconds if it was on offer, even with the meal yet to come.
And indeed the biggest dish was saved for last. We finished off our mains with a slow roasted wild boar rack, served with asparagus and herb scented cous cous. Taste wise, you might call it a lean pork chop, except it was so large that it probably had a guest role in The Flinstones. There was so much meat, in fact, that the only critique would have been that there wasn’t quite enough cous cous to go with it. This was served with a Don Tomasi Nero D’Avola/Cabernet Sauvignon, which was my favourite red of the night.
The night finished up with a traditional Italian sponge cake, a Cassata, with candied fruit, sweetened ricotta mousse, chocolate shavings and finished with marzipan. This was one of two local wines served with the meal, a Maliviore VQA Riesling Ice Wine. Very sweet, as ice wines typically are, but ultimately a perfect end to the meal.
But the experience here was more than just the food – the restaurant did well to make it an event. And it’s one that people seem to keep coming back for. The dining room wasn’t filled with the run of tourists that you normally see flooding the streets of Niagara Falls. A lot of guests were locals and regulars, celebrating birthdays, anniversaries or just having a Friday night out with their favourite local celebrity chef.
Massimo was out and about to get photos with the guests, both in front of a step and repeat during the welcome drink and canapes, as well as at the seats of guests. As he kindly did with us.
Massimo was ever jovial, and though was the face of the event, made a point to thank all the chefs that prepared the meal in the kitchen; they came out for a bow as we finished dessert.
Massimo spoke before most courses, as did the team from the Trayvino Wine Company that was supplying the wine we were enjoying with each dish. The extra details (which were also available via an info sheet found by the entry) made for not just a delicious and enjoyable meal, but also something of an educational one as well. And should you have been particularly adept at answering questions during these introductions, you might have walked away with a free bottle of wine for your efforts.
And everyone enjoyed a gift bag on the way out, with a small bottle of prosecco and some delicious macaroons – both of which we enjoyed later in the weekend, from the comfort of our own beds.
If you live nearby or are travelling through, and are looking for a great dining experience to accompany your time at the Falls, look no further than Massimo’s Italian.
The next Niagara Culinary Experience offered by Massimo’s will be on June 6th, and will focus on the flavours of Venice with “A Venetian Affair”.
Individual tickets for the dinner are available, with matched wines requisite. There are also hotel packages available for a night at the hotel with a similarly magnificent view of the falls, with a culinary experience for two included. The cost is $169pp, or $274pp with an included hotel room, plus taxes and gratuity, which is a pretty great deal given the typical cost of that room.
To book your table, and/or a night at the hotel, and for more details head HERE.
The author dined as a guest of Sheraton Fallsview Hotel and Massimo’s Italian, with the kind support of Niagara Falls Tourism. Photos by the author unless otherwise credited.
