Our Chef
Peller Estates Winery
Meet Chef, Jason Parson
Jason brings over twenty years of culinary experience from some of the world's most renowned restaurants to the Peller Estates Winery kitchen.
What makes being a chef at a winery restaurant different than working at a traditional restaurant?
Everything we do at Peller stems from the belief that wine and food need each other. Katie Dickieson, our winemaker, and I are partners in crime, and it goes far beyond just making sure that the food we make matches the wine she makes. Katie’s naturally driven to make really food-friendly wine and that creates these amazing opportunities for unexpected wine and food pairings that you won’t taste anywhere else on the planet.
How does being located in Niagara impact the flavours that you create on a daily basis?
Niagara flavours play a huge role in everything we do here at Peller. We very quickly outgrew our kitchen garden and now have our own 10-acre farm just down the road. I keep my Wellies in the trunk of my car, so I can easily swing by to walk the rows of vegetables and see what crops are at their peak. From those walks I develop weekly menu features that really showcase what we’re harvesting from the garden.
What sets Peller apart as a dining destination in Niagara?
Niagara has so many amazing restaurants, but I think what makes Peller unique is that it all comes back to Andrew Peller’s original vision of creating a culture of sharing great wine and food with the people that you care about. Everyone here, whether it’s the person who greets you at the door, or your server, or the team in the kitchen, has a true passion for creating moments that blend wine and food and family and friends into one completely immersive experience. The meals that people have here become memories because the experience is about so much more than what’s on your plate.
Aside from cooking, what is your favourite part of being a Niagara Wine Country chef?
There are so many aspects of my job that I love, but if I had to pick just one it would probably be the opportunities I get to help promote the great things that we’re doing here in Niagara as a wine and culinary region. In addition to the meals I create for guests at the winery, I’ve had the opportunity to bring a little taste of Niagara to a variety of international destinations over the past few years, including Dubai, Brussels and two incredibly memorable experiences at the James Beard House in New York City. There’s this expression that you quite often see reflected in a diner’s face when they realize they’ve underestimated what Niagara is truly capable of producing. It might be with that first sip of one of our Ice Cuvées, or maybe a really interesting pairing of one of our wines with some locally sourced meat or cheese, but I love seeing that that noticeable shift that occurs when someone’s taste buds stand up and take notice. That makes me proud both as a chef and as a Niagara resident.
