Vancouver's romance with Italian food has perhaps never been stronger, whether it's enjoyed as casual, loaded deli sandwiches or elegant feasts of pasta and spritzes. This spring, a new venture cropped up downtown, as the indie Locanda dell'Orso entered the chat, taking over the space that had been home to one of three Autostrada locations (and its precursor, Cinara, before that).
Named in honour of the fable of the innkeeper and the bear - which found an escaped bear finding a welcoming home in an inn's hospitable courtyard - Locanda dell'Orso is positioned as a family-style upscale restaurant spotlighting northern and coastal Italian fare.
The crew behind Locanda dell'Orso is comprised of Vancouver-based hospitality pros, including Restaurant Director Ianna Vazquez (Nuba, Glowbal), Head Chef Marquella Uhrig (Osteria Savio Volpe, Kevin & Kevin Juice, Glowbal), Bar Manager Riccardo Farina (La Bottega Di Mangia/Mangia Cucina, CinCin), and General Manager Doireann Walsh (Donnellan's Irish Pub).
Locanda's dining room demonstrates a swift, slick upgrade to the space, which is located at the base of the historic Victorian Hotel, with lots of modern touches and vibrant pops of red. Fans of Netlfix's Always Be My Maybe might still recognize the spot as the location used for Judy's Way restaurant at the end of the movie.
What's on the menu at Locanda dell'Orso
The menu is ideal for sharing and mix-and-matching between courses, though anyone who prefers to let the kitchen lead the way can do a five-course tasting menu (two people minimum per table) priced at $84 per person.
House-made focaccia pairs nicely with Locando's tender meatballs as a means to scoop up more red sauce, but for a lighter option, a spot prawn crudo with orange and fennel made terrific use of the sweet, plump, special shrimp, making the most of the delicacy's last days in season. Though the menu proclaims the dish features cucumber, the slices were thickly cut and pickled, which did create a bit of a visual disconnect as they did look more like pickles (in the traditional sense) than cucumber, though overall the flavour was not impacted.
A sleeper hit of the meal offered a bit of a tastebud awakening, which is Locanda's terrific beet salad served with earthy walnuts and Macedonian feta. A vinaigrette made with espresso worked wonders at adding a subtle bitterness that balanced the sweetness of the beets beautifully without being disruptive.
Locanda makes its pasta in-house, which means hearty, wide almost sheet-like pappardelle in a rich bison ragu and lesser-known shapes like gramigna, which is a sort of hook-shaped narrow cylinder hailing from Emilia-Romagna (like a coiled segment of bucatini). The gramigna is done with a Dungeness crab, tomato, and saffron sauce and was one of the top dishes of the meal. The kitchen takes al dente very seriously at Locanda, and our pappardelle was just about 45 seconds shy of being perfect, landing on the underdone side and rigid, though the ragu's terrific taste was hard to undermine.
For dessert, the olive oil cake is wonderfully moist, paired with fresh whipped cream and crunchy marcona almonds. The restaurant also has a nice selection of house cocktails, like a Campari Shakerato (a shaken gin and Campari cocktail) that makes a great opener, and a nice selection of wine.
Locanda dell'Orso is located at 350 W Pender St and is open Tuesday through Sunday from 5 to 10 p.m. for dinner.
Video: What I tried at Locanda dell'Orso in Downtown Vancouver
@forkingawesomevia I love to try new restaurants in Vancouver. Located Downtown, Locanda dell’Orso (the Inn of the Bear) opened in mid-May and has a menu of northern and coastal Italian food. They make all their pasta and bread in-house too! Here is a look at what I tried. #forkingawesome #vancouverbc ♬ Bossa Nova Easy Listening(1302379) - yousuke
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