the dining diva

capricciosa pizza

Kate and I had just finished a great yoga class at my new home, Flow Yoga, and were looking for somewhere to grab a good bite to eat, but also get away with our post-yoga glow.

Admittedly, there’s not a lot around that area (Smithe and Burrard) that isn’t a chain. I was curious about Pacifico Pizzeria Ristorante, as it used to be the home of a Lombardo’s – the same one that you can find on Commercial Drive. It was pretty busy, so we decided to give it a whirl.

The curiosity was killing me, so I asked our server. Turns out two people – one connected to the Commercial Drive location and the other an independent – opened the restaurant under the Lombardo’s name. The partner tied to Lombardo’s decided not to stay, so the other continued the restaurant under the new name. Everything except the name and a few items on the menu remained the same.

The menu was definitely expanded on the pasta side, which I always thought was a little sparse under the Lombardo’s banner. A few items struck me as a little strange, such as Spaghetti alle Cozze – B.C. Honey Mussels sautéed with garlic in a light coconut curry reduction. But for the most part, it stayed true to its theme of Italian cuisine with touches of BC ingredients.

I tried really hard to find something different than my usual, but sometimes tried and true is best. My absolute favourite pizza is the Capricciosa, which has Genoa Salami, ham, artichoke hearts, black olives, mushrooms and mozzarella cheese. I discovered this pizza while travelling in Italy eight years ago, where it often called quattro stagioni (four seasons) pizza.

Kate and I also decided to order a carafe of wine (okay, so we may have negated any effects of the yoga class… but so what!). We decided to go with cheap and cheerful and ordered the Naked Grape Shiraz. No, it didn’t exactly blow us away, but it hit the spot that rainy Thursday night.

our cute carafe of wine

The pizza arrived and it was like an old friend returning home. I tore into it so quickly that I forgot to take a picture until I was a slice and a half into it (my first attempt at taking photos with my Blackberry – not bad!).

“I don’t think I’ll be able to finish this,” said Kate, who had ordered a half vegetarian and half Vesuvio (pepperoni , spicy Italian sausage, capicollo and Genoa salami, topped with mozzarella and quark cheese).

“Oh, I’m finishing mine,” I said. “Even if it take me all night.”

What is it that I love so much about the Capricciosa? In a simple sense, I love all of the ingredients separately. Maybe it’s the way earthiness of the mushrooms ground the saltiness of the olives, artichokes, ham and salami. Maybe it’s the occasional hit of spice from the salami. Or maybe it’s like an unlikely couple. It’s hard to imagine the two of them in a relationship, but when you see them together, it just works.

Needless to say, I finished every bite of that pizza (although it did take me a while).

The server said that many people who’ve been to both versions of the restaurant swear they’ve changed the recipes (although he says they haven’t). It doesn’t matter to me. All I know is that my old favourite was just as satisfying as ever. But maybe next time I’ll try something different. Maybe.

Pacifico Pizzeria Ristorante
970 Smithe Street
Vancouver | BC
604.408.0808
pacificopizza.com

grilled venison with brussels sprouts

I haven’t felt much like the dining diva these days. I’ve felt like the go-to-parties diva, or the lie-on-my-couch diva – but certainly not the dining diva.

So despite the chaos of the holidays and my strained budget, I was excited when Melanie announced that she had made reservations at Cibo for her birthday. I had been dying to try Cibo for a while and was even more intrigued when En Route magazine named it 2009’s best new restaurant.

Cibo is located in the Moda Vancouver Hotel – a boutique hotel just off Seymour and Smithe. I had been in the liquor store – the Viti Wine and Lager Store – several times and was always impressed with the selection and service. And I had also been a few times to Uva, the wine bar located next door. So it seemed fitting that I try the restaurant as well.

Cibo’s concept is simple: Italian cuisine made with fresh and local ingredients. Seemed like a good match to me. I checked out their menu online ahead of time, and although small but impressive, I waited until that evening to make my decisions.

The interior is beautiful and in some ways is a bit of a contradiction to the menu. Dark, modern and sleek, the walls are adorned with giant pop art canvases. It doesn’t hint of the food that’s to come (which isn’t a bad thing).

Melanie had a great turn out – about 10 or so of her best work and personal friends. So I was interested to see how the restaurant managed such a large crowd.

Melanie, another friend and I spilt a bottle of the cantina santa maria la palma le bombarde cannonau (which I noticed they had jacked up $10 since publishing the menu online). It was a good choice and considering the imposing list, I was happy we were able to find something under $70 (since the majority of the bottles are well over this price). It was light with a subtle berry flavour and a hint of spice.

local mussels

I’m sometimes leery of Italian restaurants who divide their menu by appetizer, pasta (first course), and mains (second course). In Italy, it’s expected that you order one of each, and therefore each of the courses are fairly small. But here in North America, we have different expectations, so it’s always important to clarify with the server the portion sizes. This was the case with Cibo, so Melanie and I split the mussels as our appetizer and then I ordered the grilled venison with horseradish sauce and roasted Brussels sprouts as my main.

While waiting for the appetizers or pasta courses, our table was given a selection of breads. I held off and waited for the mussels, as I know the broth always begs to be soaked up by bread.

The mussels arrive and sure enough, accompanying them are two pieces of crostini. But instead of leaving them naked, they’ve slathered the bread with some sort of aioli. But what about the broth? I try dipping the toasts in the broth and it’s okay, but half the aioli melts under the heat and slides into the bowl.

The mussels themselves were pretty good and the chilis added a nice kick to the usual white wine sauce. But at least four of the mussels didn’t open. Seriously? I’m paying $14 for maybe 20 mussels and a bunch of them don’t open? I wonder how that would have gone over in Executive Chef Neil Taylor’s last restaurant – the famous River Café in London?

I decide to try a piece of the bread as the crostini just aren’t enough to mop up the broth. The bread is very light and is topped with either some caramelized onions or parmesan cheese. It’s good, but definitely not to die for (but maybe I’m already a bit jaded at this point).

The venison arrives and it’s a good thing I had the mussels to start, as it definitely wouldn’t have been big enough for my hungry belly (but I guess you’re expected to order a side).

At first glance, I’m leery. The Brussels sprouts have been oven roasted, which sounds like a delicious way to cook the mini cabbages. But as they were all different sizes, they obviously needed different cooking times. So the little ones were over done and the bigger ones were either just right or slightly under done.

The venison did look like it was cooked as suggested – medium rare. But my first bite into the meat told me how well Cibo handled large parties – it was cold. If it wasn’t Melanie’s birthday, or if we weren’t part of such a large group, I might have sent it back (and probably should have). But instead I chose to suffer in silence.

On my second bite of the meat, I decided to try it with some of the horseradish sauce. Two seconds in, my nose began burning so much I really did think it was on fire. I thought that maybe I had taken too much, or it was a fluke bite, so I tried again. Nope – same inferno in the back of my nose.

cibo latte

Everyone was full from the meal, but we did all order the chocolate nemesis to share, which is also on the River Café’s menu. It was truly delicious. It was like a chocolate mousse cake, but slightly denser.

And we all decided to end the meal with a coffee drink, and I ordered a latte. They did a lovely job with the presentation – in the same style as Caffé Artigiano.

I really wanted to love Cibo. On one hand, the menu itself is simple yet creative in its execution. But on the other hand, they seemed to miss some basics:

• crostini doesn’t need anything on it when serving it with mussels
• different sized food needs different cooking times
• don’t serve mussels that aren’t open
• horseradish shouldn’t blow out the back of your nasal cavity
• …and the simple rule I learned while serving at the Olive Garden – hot food served hot!

I’m not so sure I’ll be back at Cibo any time soon – unless it’s for a piece of chocolate cake and a latte.

Cibo Trattoria
900 Seymour Street
Vancouver | BC
604.602.9570
cibotrattoria.com