Preston and Melissa Jeaurond are not your typical restaurant owners.
Neither come from a culinary background, although Melissa did do some time as a bartender and server prior to a career in the healthcare field. Preston, meanwhile, worked on the oil rigs out west prior to moving to Ontario, where he worked in the home renovation business. But Preston’s cooking skills and some family pressure has led him and Melissa, who has a love for baking, to create Bourbon and Baco, which they opened recently at the former home of Peter Piper’s, at 111 Hwy. 20 East, across the road from the LCBO plaza.
“We had toyed with the idea of opening a restaurant. My parents have pushed me for years and years and years to do a restaurant,” Preston said. "And they just said, do a food truck and then they pushed for a restaurant.”
The name of their restaurant comes from the couple’s love for the two beverages – bourbon for him, baco noir wine for her. And yes, they are both on the drinks menu.
“We have a passion for food,” Melissa said. “We both love to cook. I’m like, his sous chef. I kind of let him take the lead at home with cooking, and I like baking."
The menu at Bourbon and Baco does features a few pub favourites like wings, pizza and sandwiches, but there are some also items not often found, including chicken or eggplant parm and – a specialty of Preston’s – steakhouse spring rolls made with beef tenderloin, garlic mashed potatoes and creamed spinach inside a crispy wrapping.
“It's served with a demi-glace sauce and sauteed mushrooms,” Preston said.
There are other unique items on the menu as well, Melissa added.
“And our surf and turf skewers are another one that are different. You don't see them anywhere.”
So, what’s popular?
Handhelds and apps, including the spring rolls, have drawn a lot of attention from hungry customers. Melissa said.
“Our grilled cheese sandwiches, especially the short rib grilled cheese is a big one, but our apps are probably the thing that people talk about the most, just because they are different than what you see everywhere else.”
Most importantly, all dishes are made from scratch, Preston said.
To drink, there are craft beers from Cool Beer Brewing Co. in Etobicoke, including that brewery’s Stonewall Light and St. Andre, as well as brews from Oast House in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
The couple decided early-on to feature only VQA wines from Niagara. Bourbon and Baco’s house wine comes from not far down Hwy. 20, at the Sons and Daughters Winery in Ridgeville.
“We decided, because they were so close and we liked their wine, that we would carry them,” Melissa said.
An emphasis was placed on hiring what Preston referred to as “high-end staff” as he wanted to ensure every dish coming out of the kitchen was of the highest quality that not only tasted but looked great.
“Our food is to be displayed one way. And when people come in, they’ll eat with their eyes, and then they eat with their mouth,” he said. “We want everybody to go, ‘Wow. I want that.’”
But Bourbon and Baco goes beyond food. The restaurant features a mix of karaoke on Fridays, live music Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons, and trivia on various nights of the week.
Thursday nights will feature an open mic night in the near future as well, Preston said.
There are also licenced slot machines in the lower level, and soon there will also be a pool table available as the Jeauronds get more settled in.
Current operating hours are Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to midnight; Thursday from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m.; Fridays and Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. and Sundays, 11 a.m. to midnight.
More information and updates, plus a copy of the restaurant’s menu, can be found on Bourbon and Baco’s Facebook page.
