BEAST 96 Tecumseth, at Whitaker, 647-352-6000, thebeastrestaurant.com.
The Beast Feast ($80 per person)
If you ever get the hankering to go the whole hog – or goat or lamb or bunny rabbit – Scott and Rachelle Vivian have the all-vertabrate tasting menu for you. With a week’s notice, they’ll create a multi-course prix fixe for two or more based on the critter of your choice.
“We’ve had customers ask for swan,” says the hairier of the Vivians. “And another party wanted reindeer at Christmas. That was kind of weird.”
Most are game for wild boar. A typical first course kicks off with Cajun rice balls studded with the pig’s liver, while the second consists of crostini spread with a terrine fashioned from the haunch and the head. A salad of cauliflower and pickled banana strewn with grilled heart, and poached tongue, chorizo and Manila clams in boozy cider broth provide an intermezzo.
Shoulder gets braised in ragu before being shredded over house-made gnocchi thick with Monforte Dairy Toscano cheese, while the chop comes grilled and dressed with spicy romesco pepper sauce and piquant salsa verde.
And what better way to finish than with Rachelle’s maple-yogurt panna cotta paired with shortbread cookies rich with smoked bacon and rendered boar fat?
Dinner Wednesday to Saturday 5 to 11 pm. Brunch Sunday 10 am to 3 pm. Closed Monday, Tuesday, holidays. Licensed. Access: one step at door, washroom on same floor.
