The Royal Hotel

The Royal Hotel is a restored landmark on Picton's Main Street, and its food spreads across several rooms: a dining room with an open archway onto the kitchen, a garden terrace, an all-day counter bar with booths and a bakery stand, and a parlour off the lobby for cocktails and small plates. Executive chef Albert Ponzo ran the kitchen at Toronto's Le Sélect Bistro for 11 years, and he first learned to cook in his nonna's kitchen in Sardinia.

His menu is Italian in shape, moving from antipasti and primi to pizze and secondi, and it leans on Edwin County Farms, the owners' farm, which Nuvo notes also sends the hotel its beef and organic vegetables. Recent plates include pane frattau, a squash, radicchio and gorgonzola pizza, trout, bistecca and pollo al limone, with babà al miele to finish. The Royal placed tenth on Canada's 100 Best New Restaurants list in 2023.