BEST NEW RESTAURANT
Savio Volpe
IS SAVIO VOLPE really
new? Somehow in the
short time it’s been
open, it’s woven itself
so inextricably into the
fabric of our food scene
that, like Jack Nicholson
in The Shining, it seems
like it’s a lways been w ith us. It wa sn’t the fi rst spot to open
in the now-burgeoning Fraserhood (Les Fau x Bourgeois
was there pre-Olympics), but it’s tough to imagine that
triangle of hipness w ithout it as the anchor. Nor was it
fi rst to go for a neighbourhood take on regional Italian
cuisine—La Quercia already had the high end, Ask for
Luigi, the low—but it somehow already seems the leading
player in this genre. It’s brought to us by an Avengers-
esque dream team of talented partners: L’Abattoir’s
Paul Grunberg, who is quite simply the hardest-working
restaurateur in tow n (see page 72 for proof ); Craig
Stanghetta, who fi rst carved out the niche of restaurant
design, and then so thoroughly dominated it that it’s rarewhen a high-profi le new room isn’t designed by him; and
chef Mark Perrier, whose solid CV (he spent the previous
two and a half years at Two Rivers Meats, and time before
in supporting postions at CinCin, West and London’s
Le Gav roche) gave scant indication that he was not only
ready to helm his ow n room but to absolutely knock it
out of the park in one that’s been packed seven nights a
week since the fi rst day it opened. The fl uid menu changes
frequently, but already there are some stalwart dishes
that have become sought-after signatures: a bagna cauda
of such warmth and depth that it grounds the entire
dining experience as a joint venture between diner and
chef, an old-school garlic bread that shows a kitchen
confi dent enough to put delicious before st ylish, a take
on rosemary-lemon grilled chicken that sets the city’s
standard with its balance of rusticity and class (take a
look at our cover if you doubt us on this)—all backed by
old country-inspired cocktails that, at $9, are 25-percent
less than what similar spots charge, and a hyper-
focused all-Italian w ine list that’s only slightly more
dense than Dante’s Inferno (but far more rewarding).40 VANMAG.COM MAY 2017Kissa Tanto
263 E Pender St.
kissatanto.com
Nightingale
1017 W Hastings St.
hawknightingale.com
HONOUR ABLE MENTIONS
Café Ça Va, Vij’s2
3RESTAURANT AWA R D S