Nestled between two downtown Sudbury restaurants, there was a nook of leftover, unused property.
That space between Laughing Buddha and the Townehouse Tavern once belonged to Fergie’s Barber Shop 25 years ago.
Later it was used for storage, but Veronica Desjardins, the general manager of the two restaurants, always had an idea in the back of her head for a 100-per-cent plant-based cafe.
The eatery on the Elgin strip started out as a test market pop-up last fall and is now a permanent fixture called Beaucoup! And Desjardins can add the word owner to her resume for it.
“For 11 years, I travelled the world as a vegan looking for alternatives to eat. I would visit mothers in Ethiopian communities. I would visit markets, farms and street food stands to source out good eats. When in doubt, I would eat mangoes and avocados,” Desjardins said.
Desjardins admits that her inability to travel during the pandemic made this all possible.
She returned from India in March of 2020, took a vegan chef course and started a meal plan with the goal of bringing global influences to Sudbury. What she was really missing was a great name to bring it all together.
“This name took years. I would text my dad names as they would come to me and this one stuck. We have a large French community. I have French heritage. It’s clever, short and catchy,” Desjardins said.
The menu is not only flavourful but also colourful.
The top seller is the Bad Ass Bao, which uses bao steamed rice buns from China and stuffs them with various toppings, crispy tofu and mushrooms with in house made Beaucoup! sauce. The sauce is a cross between a chilli crisp oil and salsa matcha from Mexico.
The Caesar-ish salad blends romaine and kale with crispy garlic polenta, coconut bacon, purple radish with a homemade creamy dressing.
The third favourite is the Street Corn Bites, fried corn niblets mixed in a chipotle mango aioli, cilantro, lime and green onion.
And for breakfast, meet The Bruncher, Sudbury’s only vegan breakfast sandwich served with polenta home fries.
While it is hard in a harsh Northern Ontario winter to source local foods, the mushrooms featured in most of the dishes are supplied by Ugly Barn Farms in Markstay.
Desjardins said many visitors don’t come because they are vegan, but they want to experiment and experience the colours, the smell and the taste.
Her goal is to one day open something like this abroad and she figures if she can succeed in Sudbury as her test market, she may be able to replicate it anywhere around the globe.
Beaucoup! is at 204 Elgin Street. You can visit their website here. It can be found on Facebook @beaucoupplantbased and on Instagram @beaucoupvegan.
The hours are as follows:
- Wednesday 11:30 a.m. - 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. - 7 p.m.
- Thursday & Friday 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. - 7 p.m.
- Saturday 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- Sunday 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The hours will change in the summer with the re-opening of its patio and a selection of vegan wines on the menu.
Anastasia Rioux is a freelance writer in Greater Sudbury.
