Ventura’s Signature Restaurant
- Mel Gedruj
- 27 Jan 2016
The owner of Ventura’s Signature Restaurant, Virgilio, is a complex individual. Having worked in engineering, then in military and restaurant kitchens in Portugal and its colonies in Africa, he decided to open a pub on James Street North in 1997. Originally in the same location, it occupied a fraction of the restaurant’s current space.
Less than two years later, Ventura’s expanded in size to what the restaurant is today. If you sit down with Virgilio, he will regale you with details about all the engineering issues he had to solve, including his amazing feat of moving a massive beam on his own. Resourceful and tenacious, he is proud of his restaurant and what it has to offer. After all, this is the labour of a lifetime.
It took months of painstaking work for Virgilio to imprint his personal touch and his obvious love for all things maritime on the decor. You will find old wooden models of ships of various shapes and sizes throughout the space.
Hanging on the walls, ceramic renderings of the 15th century explorers’ vessels boasting sails adorned with the cross of Malta contain silent memories of a time of imperial expansion and conquest in what was known as the New World. Back then, Portugal was a dominant seafaring nation in search of new overseas possessions.
Located next to the mansion-like Armoury on James Street North, Ventura’s has character galore. The restaurant becomes an enclosed patio in the summertime as its stunning trademark glass doors roll open. The tables are elegantly set with white cloth and there are two bars used primarily by staff. Occasionally, you will see patrons enjoying a glass of bubbly at the bar near the kitchen.
The menu is composed of authentic Portuguese appetizers and main dishes including fish, seafood, and meat options. During the summer, you may decide to enjoy the good weather and the breeze brought in by the open overhead doors and go for appetizers served tapas style. Try codfish cakes, Portu- guese rissois filled with shrimp, and add the grilled chourico. Consider concluding with an assorted Portuguese cheese platter, which you can pair with the white or red house wines.
If time is of no concern, order two famous delicacies: the fisherman’s mariscada and the feijoada de marisco. The former is a seafood feast platter with a mixture of king crab legs, green New Zealand mussels, and jumbo clams sautéed in a white wine garlic sauce. The latter derives its name from the Portuguese word for beans (feijao) and is a bean stew very popular in Portuguese cuisine. While in Northern Portugal they use white beans, in Brazil, where feijoada is a national dish, they make it with black beans. Usually containing pork, the feijoada at Ventura’s is made with seafood, a recipe originating in the Algarve region in the southern part of Portugal.
Although Virgilio’s roots are in the northern region of Aveiro, his cuisine reflects more than one district and region. Try the “carne pork Alentejana,” a dish served in clay pot originating from the Alentejo region in the Evora district. And of course you will also find the famous beef a casa: steak topped with an egg, sunny side up.
A word on wine: The wine list does not cover all Ventura’s has to offer. If you want to ask the owner to suggest a premium Portuguese wine, he is always delighted to offer descriptions of the contents of his cellar. For instance, if you’re craving a balanced wine that’s complex and elegant, he’d probably recommend a bottle from the northern wine regions, but if you prefer a bold, full-bodied red, then southern regions may be your best bet. I found Virgilio to be very knowledgeable in both gastronomy and wine.
The last word must cover Fado, a musical genre from Lisbon and Coimbra. To get a sense of this form of music, some compare it to the blues, though that hardly begins to describe it. It apparently developed from the longing for people who go to sea, either fishing or on long journeys. The origins of this art are not entirely clear, but Ventura’s features Fado singers with dinner on a regular basis. The next such event takes place on January 30.
When one explores any given cuisine, one opens a window on a culture and a treasure trove of new things to learn and appreciate. Every visit to Ventura’s is an opportunity to step back in time, enjoy a décor inspired by history, and sample foods from old Europe.
TRY IT YOURSELF
Ventura’s Signature Restaurant
178 James St N, Hamilton
(905) 777-8490
www.venturasignature.com
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