Thalissa Gailloux and Michel Malo are committed foodies, restaurant enthusiasts who want to share what turns them on. After a breakfast restaurant, a food truck and a Neapolitan pizzeria, the couple from Lac-Brome has just opened Babar, the first Mediterranean cuisine restaurant in Bromont.
“My father is Lebanese, so it’s in the family, it was like a must for me to open a restaurant of Middle Eastern cuisine, underlines Thalissa Gailloux. We visit my family every year in Paris, then my grandmother receives us, my taste comes from there. »
The fresh menu is presented with simplicity, which highlights the quality of the ingredients, enhanced by cooking over charcoal — Michel Malo had a grill built from scratch to integrate it into the restaurant’s kitchen. A table is also set up in the kitchen for a more immersive experience.
Michel Malo and Thalissa Gailloux may be only 30 and 33 years old, Babar is already their fourth restoration project in 10 years; in the fall, they sold Bistro M, a popular breakfast restaurant located near the Bromont airport, choosing to concentrate their activities on their Masa Mexican food truck as well as the excellent pizzeria La Selva, which is a hit in the downtown Bromont.
But that was mostly to focus on opening Babar, which took nine months of renovations and an investment of nearly $1 million. All without doing any proper market research — the young couple are clearly in tune with their community. “The response from Bromont residents and people from the region is even better than we had imagined,” says Thalissa Gailloux. We realized that people wanted fresh, healthy cuisine, with vegetarian and gluten-free options. You know, Bromont is an active town, it’s a sports town, people want variety. »
Great wine lovers, the owners have also provided their restaurants with a fine selection of drinks, Babar offering a more classic side than the rather left-field pizzeria. It is now Guillaume Lemay who is responsible for the menu of the two restaurants.
This mixologist trained at the Institut de tourisme et d’hôtellerie du Québec (ITHQ) before going to work for three years at the Pinard et Filles vineyard fell in love with wine: “I find that the Babar’s cuisine offers really interesting pairings , said the young sommelier. I find it easy because these are wines that I like to drink; Rieslings, Jura whites, fine Sangioveses, Gamays, Pinots, wines that have aromatic depth and a nice acidity that supports the spices and freshness of the food. There are just as many great reasons to visit this new address!
