When I Dip, You Dip, We Dip

Now available by the tub: The buzzed-about dips from Sweet Basil and Juniper make easy work of summer entertaining.

dip

Photograph by Toan Trinh

1. Becker uses high-quality Lebanese olive oil from ­Sudbury-based ­importer Olive Harvest (here, on fresh tzatziki).
2. Becker’s famous nut-free pesto uses sheep’s milk ­Romano instead of Pecorino.
3. Our favorite? The rich skordalia, a thick paste of roasted garlic, toasted almonds, and potatoes.
4. Butternut-squash hummus is a top-selling item at Juniper.
5. Muhamarra, a zesty, smoky roasted-pepper-and-walnut spread, is “just good on everything,” Becker says.

For years, the complimentary pesto served alongside bread at Sweet Basil incited such a frenzy in diners that chef-owner Dave Becker began packing pints of it to go. In 2014, a savvy Sweet Basil employee convinced Becker to start ­selling his liquid gold to nearby Volante Farms and Wasik’s Cheese Shop. “We would bring over 10 [tubs] at a time, and now we are bringing over 120 at a time,” Becker says. That retail venture has now expanded to packaged pesto and a slew of Middle Eastern–inspired spreads—muhammara, hummus, tzatziki, and more—from sibling restaurant Juniper, where they’re sold on the premises from a vintage-style fridge. “I see them as edible business cards,” Becker says.