Have you heard of Beba? It’s the place owned by two Southern Argentinian brothers who grew up in Winnipeg, the place in Verdun that everyone who likes going out in the sud-ouest is talking about recently. It’s a neighbourhood spot with a menu that changes just a little every week according to seasonality.
But don’t go expecting nothing but huge slabs of Argentinian beef. One of the brothers comes to the place via the kitchen of Liverpool House, and there’s a love of seasonal vegetables and small plates meant for sharing.
One of those is the much-instagrammed swiss chard involtini with chopped zucchini and swiss chard stems wrapped inside chard leaves with pine nuts and yogurt. It’s fresh and perfect for anyone who’s not used to cooking at home simply with fresh summer produce, but I have a community garden and a wealth of swiss chard that I’ve been eating all summer, so I preferred the Ottolenghi-style eggplant dish (which isn’t on the menu anymore) with a favaganouj (fava bean babaganouj).
The savoury spread was slathered onto a simply roasted half eggplant. It’s not complicated, but the contrast of textures (creamy fava beans, slippery, chewy eggplant) worked beautifully. I’d make this at home for an upscale-casual type of vegan dinner and devour at least one entire eggplant.
Still, the meat is where the value is, because that eggplant was pricey for the size (four people got a couple bites each). And while the meat dishes didn’t have the flavour combos on each plate like the smaller dishes (often just meat with one sauce element and one thing on the side) the meat was so well executed that anything other than a complementary sauce would be too much gussying it up.
I mentioned value, though, because I can barely buy a whole rabbit for the price of the rabbit dish we had at Beba. It was basically a whole rabbit (not on the menu at the moment), perfectly grilled and succulent and served with a bit of reduced jus. I’ve always slow-cooked rabbit when I get it so that it’s tender (it’s a lean meat), but this grilled version was juicy and tender at the same time, and didn’t need to be swimming in a sauce for flavour.
If you like large piece of lamb enrobed in thick, half-inch pieces of fat, you’ll love the lamb shoulder. The fat has all the flavour, after all. It came with a lamb meatballs and zucchini, summer squash, onions, garlic and either swiss chard or spinach on top. What was cool about the lamb was that the grilling means you get a more medium cooking at the crust and medium-rare inside. So it’s good for sharing, since someone who likes medium-rare meat can take slices from inside and someone who likes medium can eat nearer the edge, and someone who likes that’s caramelized crust and all its delicious salt can sneak the entire outside…
The fish dish was a combo of halibut (I think?) with mussels, green peas and a delicious, savoury, salty broth. The fish itself was a bit under-seasoned, so you needed a good mouthful of the broth to give it flavour, but the peas and mussels were great. I’d have eaten a full bowl of just those without the fish.
I couldn’t eat the chanterelles with polenta, corn and carrots because of all the butter, but if you’re into heavy, sweet, creamy dishes, this one will fill you up. There’s no acidity or bitterness to offset the richness, though, so it’s a good thing you have a bunch of small plates to refresh your mouth before the monotony sets in. Then again, some people love a big bowl of comfortable monotony. I’m talking food.
And my gluten-eating friends gave a big thumbs up for the raspberry-almond crostata. It looked beautifully rustic, probably more Liverpool House than Tierra del Fuego, but I’ve never been…to either.
More traditional might be the flan, which the server said was also popular and would stick around year-round, once those lovely local raspberries are all gone from their bushes.
You’re probably going to want to come here often if you live in Verdun, assuming you have a bit of disposable income. It’s not cheap, but it’s not paying downtown rent prices either. So it’s too bad the spot is so small. It’s also too bad for the owners, since they’d make more money with more customers and more than one or 1 1/2 services per evening. But maybe that’s why they’re pushing the zucchini involtini more than the rabbit. The money-making dishes, the ones you could order two or three of for a group, the ones made with seasonal veg that are prepped quickly and in advance that people swoon over because they’ve never learned to sauté zucchini and swiss chard and thought about wrapping it up pretty in a chard leaf (because who would make the effort?). I feel almost bad saying you should go eat more rabbits. I’d order one for myself and call it dinner and be full and happy.
In fact, don’t get that rabbit. More rabbit for me.
Beba
3900 Rue Éthel, Verdun, Quebec
How much: ~$40-$60 per person plus tax and tip
Hours: Wed-Sun 5:30-10pm
514-750-7087
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