You’ve done your homework. Made the reservation. Planned the outfit. Rallied your discerning foodie friends. Secured the babysitter (and the dog-sitter). And the group chat is buzzing. But before you call the ride share and head to that restaurant you’ve been dying to try, there’s one more thing to do: Slip your American Express Platinum Card into your wallet. Because when it comes to dining at the country’s most coveted tables, access, and how you experience it, makes all the difference.
Why The Platinum Card is a dining essential
For culturally engaged, experience-driven diners, The Platinum Card from American Express has become something of an insider’s key. It’s designed to elevate how, and where, you dine, unlocking priority access, preferred moments, and refined experiences at many of today’s most in-demand restaurants, including those on Canada’s 100 Best list.
From securing hard-to-get reservations to enjoying curated culinary events, Platinum Cardmembers tap into a dining ecosystem that goes far beyond the plate.
How the Annual Dining Credit works
One of the most compelling perks? The Annual Dining Credit
Each year, eligible Platinum Cardmembers receive a dining credit that can be used at select restaurants, including many featured on Canada’s 100 Best list. Think of it as an invitation to explore the country’s most exciting kitchens, but on your terms and schedule.
Amex Experiences
Then there’s access. Through the Amex Experiences app, Cardmembers get exclusive access to reservations and pre-fixed dining opportunities. Those coveted seats that are often fully booked weeks in advance.
Using your Dining Credit is refreshingly simple
- Enrol in the Dining Credit via your Amex account
- Choose an eligible restaurant – many from Canada’s 100 Best list qualify
- Dine as you normally would
- Pay with your Platinum Card
- The Dining Credit is applied to your account
There are no extra steps and no complicated redemptions, so the focus can stay on the post-mortem discussion of that wow meal, rather than any complicated collection of the reward.
Inside Platinum Dining Experiences
For those who see dining as a cultural event, Platinum Dining Experiences offer something rare: one-of-a-kind access to top-tier foodie moments and the chefs and restaurants redefining today’s culinary landscape. These curated, membership-only events spotlight innovation, craftsmanship, and storytelling, whether it’s a multi-course tasting menu to launch a new season or a collaborative dinner between big-name chefs and culinary trendsetters.
For the culinary-minded crowd, this is the difference between simply dining out and truly experiencing food as culture.
The Platinum Card unlocks modern luxury experiences
Dining remains one of the top spending categories for premium Cardmembers, and it’s easy to see why. For a new generation of diners, particularly Millennials and Gen Z, luxury is about lived experiences versus product consumption. The focus is on feeling, doing, seeing, living!
The Platinum Card meets that shift effortlessly, aligning with a lifestyle rooted in taste, access, and cultural curiosity. It’s not just about where you eat but about how you arrive, how you’re welcomed, and what unfolds once you’re seated. It’s about the total experience, start to finish.
10 must-book tables across Canada
These are just a few of the coveted and award-winning restaurants across Canada where Platinum Cardmembers can enjoy culinary adventure with their reservations:
- Restaurant Pearl Morissette (Jordan Station, just outside Toronto)
- Alo
- Edulis
- 20 Victoria
- Linny’s
- N.L. Ginzburg
- Casa Paco
- Don Alfonso 1890
- Dreyfus
- Sammarco
One last bite
For food lovers, The Platinum Card might just be the best thing since sliced bread. But make that warm, just-out-of-the-oven focaccia, drizzled with golden, fruity olive oil, scattered with Castelvetrano olives, and paired with a crisp glass of Sauvignon Blanc. In other words: elevated, effortless, and entirely worth experiencing.
For more details on how these benefits work, and how to use them when dining at Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants, visit the American Express Platinum dining page or download the Amex Experiences App, or follow @americanexpressca and #WithAmex.
