On Sept. 19, 2025, Kitchener’s Odd Duck Wine & Provisions was added to the Michelin Guide as a recommended restaurant to visit. Odd Duck aims to be a welcoming space without tip culture that focuses on people and providing unique dining experiences.
The team shows careful attention to detail in their menus and wine pairings. Still, the Michelin recommendation came as a pleasant surprise.
“We haven’t cared about fitting into a box. So, we’re just gonna keep doing our thing. We’re glad they noticed. That’s really cool, but that doesn’t change our approach,” Wes Klassen, owner and sommelier of Odd Duck, said.
Klassen wanted Odd Duck to be different from other restaurant environments. He wanted a place that encouraged kitchen team members to be creative and actively participate in creating the menu.
“The foundation of thinking about Odd Duck came from, is how do we create a space that is a brave place for people to exist as they are, and ironically thinking about this in the pandemic, not be masking all the time, right? They’re able to be themselves,” Klassen said.
In 2020, Klassen started Purple Teeth Wine Consulting, a business that strove to make wine education accessible. Just before he was about to launch wine events, everything was shut down due to COVID-19.
“In the very beginning, we focused on wanting to build an environment that was just unapologetically inclusive,” Rob Corrigan, Odd Duck’s co-founder, partner and director of operations, said.
Stuck at home, Klassen began thinking about how to make the restaurant business more ethical. He wanted to do a lot of listening and unlearning with other individuals in hospitality to create a better work environment.
“It’s an experience. And we also know that we won’t be for everybody, in terms of people who want that mass kind of consumption. We’re more of a place you go to explore flavor,” Klassen said.
Odd Duck is driven to do things differently from restaurant chains. Every week the Odd Duck team meet and discuss changes to the menu. Whether it’s a new wine or new dish, talking about flavors is something that involves all kitchen, bar and server staff.
“We want to hear from staff. Doesn’t matter if you’re a sous chef or a head chef or someone just starting as a server. We want everyone to contribute ideas when creating our menus,” Corrigan said.
Sitting down and enjoying a meal at Odd Duck means being greeted with genuine hospitality from the staff. This authenticity is attributed to the staff feeling like a welcome and heard part of the team, according to Corrigan.
“Whether it’s ingredients from a local farmer or whether it’s a wine from a biodynamic or an Indigenous producer, we want to be able to bring our guests on that journey and transport them to that place or that environment,” Corrigan said.
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