diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 4f72e3114..db3c8cf93 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -11,4 +11,6 @@ ao-cache
 # terraform
 .terraform
 .terragrunt-cache
-terraform/*.plan
\ No newline at end of file
+terraform/*.plan
+
+benchmark.js
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/servers/cu/src/domain/logger.js b/servers/cu/src/domain/logger.js
index dbac1fa94..adb164bd4 100644
--- a/servers/cu/src/domain/logger.js
+++ b/servers/cu/src/domain/logger.js
@@ -1,128 +1,100 @@
+import pino from 'pino'
 import { watchFile } from 'node:fs'
 import { readFile } from 'node:fs/promises'
 import { resolve } from 'node:path'
-
-import { tap, trim } from 'ramda'
 import { z } from 'zod'
-import winston from 'winston'
-
-const { createLogger: createWinstonLogger, transports, format } = winston
 
-function capitalize (str) {
-  if (!str) return ''
-  return str.charAt(0).toUpperCase() + str.slice(1).toLowerCase()
+export const logLevels = z.enum(["fatal", "error", "warn", "info", "debug", "trace"])
+
+/**
+ * Wrap a pino logger so that it can be used as a callable function.
+ * Downstream code can then do:
+ *
+ *   const logger = _logger.child('some-child')
+ *   logger('message %s', arg)
+ *
+ * This helper binds key methods (like info, child, etc.) to the original logger.
+ */
+function makeCallableLogger(logger) {
+  function callableLogger(...args) {
+    return logger.info(...args)
+  }
+  callableLogger.info = logger.info.bind(logger)
+  callableLogger.error = logger.error.bind(logger)
+  callableLogger.warn = logger.warn.bind(logger)
+  callableLogger.debug = logger.debug.bind(logger)
+  if (typeof logger.trace === 'function') {
+    callableLogger.trace = logger.trace.bind(logger)
+  }
+  callableLogger.child = function (...childArgs) {
+    const childLogger = logger.child(...childArgs)
+    return makeCallableLogger(childLogger)
+  }
+  return callableLogger
 }
 
-export const logLevels = z.enum(Object.keys(winston.config.npm.levels))
-
+/**
+ * Create a Pino logger that mimics the behavior of the previous winston logger.
+ *
+ * Options:
+ *   - MODE: runtime mode (e.g. 'development', 'production')
+ *   - LOG_CONFIG_PATH: an optional path to a file containing a new log level
+ *   - DEFAULT_LOG_LEVEL: the fallback log level (e.g. 'info')
+ *   - name: a string used as the logger's root name.
+ *
+ * The returned logger is callable (delegating to info()) and supports a .child() method.
+ */
 export const createLogger = ({ MODE, LOG_CONFIG_PATH = '', DEFAULT_LOG_LEVEL, name: rootName }) => {
   let level = DEFAULT_LOG_LEVEL
-  LOG_CONFIG_PATH = LOG_CONFIG_PATH && resolve(LOG_CONFIG_PATH)
+  if (LOG_CONFIG_PATH) {
+    LOG_CONFIG_PATH = resolve(LOG_CONFIG_PATH)
+  }
 
-  const root = createWinstonLogger({
-    levels: winston.config.npm.levels,
-    format: format.combine(
-      format.timestamp(),
-      format.splat(),
-      format.printf(({ level, name = rootName, message, timestamp }) =>
-        `${timestamp} ${name} [${level}]: ${message}`)
-    ),
-    transports: MODE !== 'production'
-      ? [new transports.Console()]
-        /**
-         * TODO: add 'production' transports for separate log levels
-         */
-      : [new transports.Console()],
+  // Use pino.destination(1) for asynchronous output for better performance.
+  const dest = pino.destination(1)
+  const root = pino({
     level,
-    silent: level === 'off'
-  })
-  const originalChild = root.child.bind(root)
+    name: rootName,
+    timestamp: pino.stdTimeFunctions.isoTime
+  }, dest)
 
-  /**
-   * Track all loggers spawned, so that we may dynamically update
-   * their log level
-   */
+  // Track all loggers so we can update their level dynamically.
   const loggers = [root]
-
   let prev = null
-  async function checkConfig (cur) {
+  async function checkConfig(cur) {
     let newLevel = ''
-
     if (!cur || !prev || cur.mtimeMs !== prev.mtimeMs) {
-      newLevel = await readFile(LOG_CONFIG_PATH, 'utf-8')
-        .then(trim)
-        .catch(() => '')
+      try {
+        newLevel = await readFile(LOG_CONFIG_PATH, 'utf-8').then(str => str.trim())
+      } catch (err) {
+        newLevel = ''
+      }
     }
-
-    /**
-     * Set level to the default if a new Level is not found
-     */
     if (!newLevel) newLevel = DEFAULT_LOG_LEVEL
-
     if (level !== newLevel) {
-      /**
-       * Technically not an error, but lowest log level,
-       * and so will always be logged
-       */
       root.error(`Logger Configuration Change: updating log level "${level}" -> "${newLevel}"`)
       level = newLevel
-      /**
-       * Change the level of each child logger
-       */
-      loggers.forEach((l) => { l.level = level })
+      loggers.forEach(logger => { logger.level = newLevel })
     }
-
     prev = cur
   }
-  /**
-   * Dynamically update the log level based on an optional config file
-   */
   if (LOG_CONFIG_PATH) {
     checkConfig()
     watchFile(LOG_CONFIG_PATH, { persistent: false }, checkConfig)
   }
 
-  function log (name) {
-    const logger = originalChild({ name })
-
-    loggers.push(logger)
-    /**
-     * For terseness and backwards compatibility
-     */
-    logger.child = (child) => log(`${name}:${child}`)
-
-    const logTap = (level) => (note, ...rest) =>
-      tap((...args) => logger[level](note, ...rest, ...args))
-    /**
-     * Default tap is at the 'info' level,
-     * for terseness and backwards compatibility
-     */
-    logger.tap = logTap('info')
-    /**
-     * tapInfo, tapDebug, ...
-     */
-    Object.keys(root.levels)
-      .forEach((level) => { logger[`tap${capitalize(level)}`] = logTap(level) })
-
-    /**
-     * By wrapping the Winston logger in a Proxy, we're able to invoke the
-     * logger as a function (defaults to 'info' level) -- a more terse and
-     * functional style.
-     *
-     * This also makes this logger backwards compatible with the previous
-     * logger implementation, but now with the addition log levels
-     */
-    return new Proxy((...args) => { logger.info(...args) }, {
-      get: (_, field) => {
-        const value = logger[field]
-        if (typeof value === 'function') return value.bind(logger)
-        return value
-      }
-    })
+  function log(name) {
+    const childLogger = root.child({ name })
+    loggers.push(childLogger)
+    childLogger.child = (child) => log(`${name}:${child}`)
+    return makeCallableLogger(childLogger)
   }
 
   return log(rootName)
 }
 
+/**
+ * Create a test logger (for use in test mode)
+ */
 export const createTestLogger = ({ name, silent = !process.env.DEBUG }) =>
   createLogger({ name, MODE: 'test', DEFAULT_LOG_LEVEL: silent ? 'off' : 'debug' })
diff --git a/servers/cu/src/logger.js b/servers/cu/src/logger.js
index 73524d26f..fddb6d523 100644
--- a/servers/cu/src/logger.js
+++ b/servers/cu/src/logger.js
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 import { hostname } from 'node:os'
-
 import { createLogger } from './domain/logger.js'
 import { config } from './config.js'