Two Toronto restaurateurs bring pared-back perfection to Prince Edward County.

It was in 2022 that Duncan MacNeill and Jesse Fader took ownership of what is now known as Darlings — a western-themed pizza restaurant in Prince Edward County.

“I specifically remember when we got the keys, sitting on the back stoop before we had built a patio, and Jesse and I were watching the cows graze in the field as the sun set,” says co-owner and front-of-house expert MacNeill. “It felt like being in a ranch house.”

The pair of longtime Toronto restaurateurs decided to let the setting speak for itself — quite literally, as Darlings sits across from a cow farm — and built the business on inspiration that arose naturally, not from a forced concept. They wanted to do something different with Darlings than in their previous ventures: to create something that resonated with people’s universal cravings and comforts.

Fader, chef and leader of the back-of-house, decided to undershoot and overdeliver when it came to the menu. The menu is one-page and without caviar or a truffle in sight.

“The industry has spent so much time pushing the boundaries over the last decade, and now we’re seeing chefs walk it back,” he says. “My approach to cooking is to execute as best I can, and to work with my hands and the freshest ingredients.”

Co-owners Jesse Fader and Duncan MacNeill keep the menu pared back, letting simple, seasonal ingredients shine. Warm wood finishes, homey touches and the dining room’s understated design give Darlings a casual, welcoming feel that’s true to its Prince Edward County roots.

Moving from the big city to the so-called countryside gave Fader access to a bounty of local produce, such as Vicki’s Veggies and Van Stone Farms, which he uses to craft daily specials rooted in pure, pared-back flavours. There are no tricks or flashy techniques involved — Fader cooks what he wants to eat. In the years since serving the community, that philosophy has proven incredibly successful.

Not long after opening in 2023, Darlings made the Top 10 on Air Canada’s best new restaurants list. Although both owners consider the accolade an honour, after spending years in Toronto’s often highly competitive restaurant scene, they try not to put too much stock in it.

“There are so many amazing restaurants in Prince Edward County,” Fader says. “These types of things come with a level of guilt, since it really could have been anybody.”

“The nature of Prince Edward County is that people travelling here are limited in the places they can go. If someone is here for four days and wants to visit the best restaurants, I hope they visit us — even if we didn’t make that list,” MacNeill adds.

It’s this humbleness that keeps the business partners driven. Both are genuinely passionate about what they do and aren’t motivated by recognition from the masses. They simply want to give people the best experience possible. A large portion of  foodies who enjoy the restaurant’s old-world wine pairings, support Darlings throughout the year, outside the busy period between June and Labour Day when tourists visit.

For the most part, people come for the pizza but leave surprised by the other offerings. Fader always encourages customers to try the pasta, but the chopped salad — with romaine, walnuts, Parmesan, dill and green onions — often steals the show. “My favourite dishes are when Jesse shows up in the morning with an armful of veggies from nearby farmers and whips something up,” MacNeill says.

Darlings pizza is heavily influenced by New Haven-style hard-charred, thin-crust pizzas. They give the dough a long ferment — at least a few days — which gives it a good chew and mature flavour. “It’s a living, breathing thing that requires care,” Fader says.

The simple, curated menu draws on nostalgic flavours — slightly sweet tomato sauce, salty pepperoni and herbaceous focaccia. Fader admits his recipes are not special in themselves; what makes Darlings’ food so good is the attention to detail. The sauces are simmered for hours. The desserts are reimagined regularly, based on what’s in season and trending. The mozzarella is stretched to perfection in-house using Ontario curd — a special process involving salt, time and temperature. The cheese can be found across the menu — in the stracciatella and chicken Parmesan, and often on its own with farm-fresh vegetables.

Prince Edward County truly provides the perfect backdrop for MacNeill and Fader’s work at Darlings. The pair are able to block out bad reviews from online trolls and chefs trying to one-up them, because they’re confident that Darlings is meaningful and sustainable. They moved to the town to create a new life with their families, and both are enjoying the slower pace and creative freedom that comes with being in a smaller market.

With a combined 40 years of experience in restaurants, they each carry the two most important qualities of any good restaurateur: adaptability and openness to the unexpected. When Darlings was first set to open, a giant winter storm hit, freezing all the pipes, flooding the basement and collapsing the ceiling — damage so severe the restaurant had to be rebuilt entirely.

“I just remember walking into that thinking, ‘Alright, I’ve done this version 30 times before, it’s hard to shock me, and we’ve got this,’” Fader says.

Darlings Pizza
4 Wellington St., Bloomfield 
1.877.275.1737 | @darlings.pec | darlingspizza.ca