“Confounding, quirky, and charming, Babas on Cannon is at once familiar and peculiar,” wrote food critic Vanessa Wolf in her November 2018 review of the old world cafe. “The small, stylish establishment has seemingly achieved the near-impossible, creating a unique destination worth seeking out in an already crowded cafe scene.”
While Babas is a destination in its own right, they also know how to share the spotlight. Last week, the cafe hosted Storey Farms for a three day pop-up from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. This week, Babas is hosting chef Alex Lira every night starting at 5 p.m. through Sat. March 30.
You may know Lira from The Lot or Bar Normandy; he’ll be a culinary partner with forthcoming Spring Street Spanish tapas restaurant, Estadio, set to open early summer 2019. Estadio in Charleston will be a satellite of its D.C. mothership.
[content-4] The Estadio pop-up menu will change each day, but will feature braised beans, cured fish, “lots of peppers,” and Estadio D.C. staple, pintxos (one of our favorite bites from Wine + Food 2019, BTW). Lira will also be prepping some softies (woo!) and highlighting Royal Red shrimp and pompano from Abundant Seafood.
Babas owners Edward Crouse, Marie Stitt, and Lane Becker have been fans/friends of Lira for a while — they were all serious patrons of Bar Normandy. A rep for Estadio says that “the Babas team is pumped that Alex is going to be in the neighborhood with upcoming Estadio Charleston. The idea of eating Alex’s food and sipping Lane’s drinks has been an idea that started brewing over wine months ago.”
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