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

Italian sausage, chilles and sweet onions pizza

It was the kind of evening that already felt European. John and I had just spent a few hours checking out the Vermeer, Rembrandt and the Golden Age of Dutch Art exhibit at the Vancouver Art Gallery, and wanted to grab a bite to eat nearby. So to continue on the European theme, we decided to try Nook – a new Italian trattoria that just opened on Denman and Robson.

When I walked by a few nights before, the place was jam packed. It was just the same the night John and I went – even though it was nearly 8:30. But we only needed to wait a few minutes before a cozy table opened.

The West End is full of authentically ethnic restaurants, but a lot of them lack polish. Nook is different. Although it’s small (maybe only enough seats for about 25 and 10 of them are along the bar/kitchen), no space is wasted. Modern smooth lines paired with classic tiles on the floor and in the open kitchen create a sleek, but still relaxed diner.

We ordered a bottle of the Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Riparosso Illuminati to start. The wine list is small, but carefully selected (all Italian, with the exception of the rose). We were both surprised at the wine, as neither of us had tried it before, and found it to be full-bodied with hints of raspberries and cherries.

Because I couldn’t decide on just one dish, we decided to share a pizza and a pasta dish – the Italian sausage, chilles and sweet onions pizza and the spaghetti Bolognese.

The pizza is made in their wood-stone oven, so I was excited to see how that would compare with some of my favourite pizzas in town (namely Marcello’s on Commercial). Although the flavour combination was rich and robust, I was a little disappointed in the crust (which can make or break a pizza, in my opinion). It was a little on the soft side. Not exactly soggy, but certainly not crispy either. But the sausages were juicy and the sweet onions were mild and not overpowering.

Would I order it again? Probably. It was still really good – just not as good as I expected.

spaghetti Bolognese

The spaghetti Bolognese was also simple, but flavourful. The meat was tender and the sauce still light. I was surprised to learn that a classic Bolognese sauce actually doesn’t have a lot of tomato, so it wasn’t as heavy as some others that I’ve tried. It was almost like an olive oil sauce with meat. And the hits of garlic also shone through, creating a dish that isn’t exactly innovative, but comforting all the same.

As we were lingering over our last glass of wine, the place started to slowly empty out. All that was left were a few tables, enjoying good conversation amidst the flickering candlelight.

Nook isn’t exactly breaking new ground in Italian cooking. But maybe that’s not what they’re trying to do. Sometimes, just like a piece of good art, it’s the classics that keep you coming back for more.

Nook
781 Denman Street
Vancouver | BC
604.568.4554
nookrestaurant.ca

Campagnolo

The milestone birthday is a cause for a celebration. And for someone who likes food as much as I do, choosing a great restaurant for that celebration is a difficult choice. I didn’t want something too out-of-reach for some of my friends, but yet it had to be something that would rise to the occasion.

So I chose Campagnolo to celebrate my 30th birthday.

Campagnolo is a restaurant that I had heard a lot about, despite the fact that it only opened about six months ago. It was added to Condé Nast Traveller’s 2009 Hot List Tables and mentioned in Vancouver Magazine’s restaurant awards in the new and notable section.

Plus I loved the concept – locally sourced ingredients served Northern Italian style. And the people behind it have a great pedigree – the chef, sommelier and front-of-house manager are all from Fuel.

One of the quirkiest things about the restaurant is its location. When I was giving the address to my friends, one said, “Oh yeah – there’s some really hot restaurants opening up on South Main.”

“Um, yeah,” I agreed. “But Campagnolo isn’t in that part. It’s more north. Like, next door to the Ivanhoe?”

“Oh,” he replied. “Well, if that’s what you want…”

But trust me. It’s well worth the trip to the edge of the Downtown Eastside. The room itself is kind of downtown loft meets mountain lodge. We sat in the back by the bar, which gave us a lovely view of the binners walking by (okay, so the view is not the reason to go). The ceilings are laced with exposed pipes, and are framed by a honey-comb pattern of fir slates.

It was a bit challenging for me (especially during a relaxing birthday dinner) to be critiquing all the food that came by our table that night. But let me give you a little sample of what we had.

To start, a bunch of us ordered the crispy ceci, marinated olives and the pan-fried spot prawns. I decided on the Polderside chicken brasato and shared a side of the soft polenta for my main.

Ceci is chickpeas in Italian and I don’t think my friends and I knew what we were getting ourselves into when we ordered them. They’re made by taking cooked chick peas and drying them off before frying. They then toss them up with some lemon olive oil, mint and peperoncini. They’re lightly crisp on the outside, but then buttery soft on the inside. It’s like taking hummus and frying it. Do not go to Campagnolo and not try these!

The olives were delightful and you could tell they were cured in-house. The hazelnuts added a nice crunch to the dish, and they all hinted of the orange that was used to make them.

I had never had spot prawns before (a shame considering I live so close to the boats that drop them off next to Granville Island). I suppose I didn’t expect them to be so… whole. Maybe I expected them to be de-veined and not served so rustic-style. Don’t get me wrong – I love rustic food (Campagnolo actually means “country bumpkin” in Italian). But it seemed like a lot of work to get through to the actual meat of the shrimp.

Seeing that it was my birthday and all, I decided to have a glass of the Mionetto, Pergolo Prosecco Spumante to go with my dinner. I thought their wine list was small, but diverse enough and reasonably priced. I liked that it focused just on BC and Italian wines. And even though I didn’t try it, several of my friends raved about the Allegro cocktail – amaro montenegro, amaretto, and limonata served tall over ice.

Some thought our server over-explained each dish and the concept of the restaurant (when he found out he hadn’t been there before). But I personally loved to hear the story of the place and each of its dishes. But maybe I’m just kind of nerdy like that.

Our mains were all great, but don’t expect them to look pretty. As I mentioned, this is Italian done rustic. But the flavours and care that were put into each dish were well noticed.

The pastas, I should mention, are meant to be a first course – they are not North American sized. Having said that, I think that the concept of having pasta as a first course is a great one, but then it should be priced accordingly. Fifteen bucks for a small bowl of pasta seems excessive to me.

The chicken was delicious and fell right off the bone. I didn’t expect the dish to be so soupy though. Should I have ordered some bread to sop up the juices? But the polenta was gorgeous. I have a sweet spot for cornmeal dishes, as one of my favourite Ukrainian dishes is a cornmeal casserole. The polenta was creamy and thick and melted in your mouth. I imagine there was a tonne of butter, but who cares? It was my birthday after all.

We finished the night with a citrus panna cotta (complete with birthday candle!), and I had the Batasiolo Moscato d’Asti desert wine. I should have been bold and tried a grappa, but maybe I’ll leave it for next time.

The panna cotta was creamy and smooth, with just a hint of citrus and crushed hazelnuts on top. It was a perfect end to a perfect birthday dinner.

Campagnolo
1020 Main Street
Vancouver | BC
604.484.6018
campagnolorestaurant.ca