What do you do when you are a team of new restaurateurs and the space you land has a killer pizza oven? If you are Gastronomy Gastown, you create an Italian-forward concept where creative - and tasty - pizzas are at the heart of the menu.
Launched in early 2023, Gastronomy (62 E Cordova St) is in the former Nicli Antica Pizzeria space. The crew did a lovely job of livening up the brick-walled dining room, creating a cozy, engaging atmosphere with flickering candlelight perfect for date night or dinner with friends.
Owners Sahand Bigloo (of North Van's Kingpins Bowling) and Kiarash Tarikhi got to work on plotting out Gastronomy Gastown last summer, and assembled a terrific panel of industry experts, including acclaimed Consulting Chef Alessandro Vianello (previously of Kitchen Table Restaurants and Wildebeest, among other high-profile ventures) and Bar Manager Stephen Sherry (previously of Greta Bar and Uva).
The result is a lively menu of share-plates, including raw bar selections like spicy "Crazy Oysters" (oysters on the half shell with fiery tomato water and pickled chiles and a creamy mayo), along with starters, a few hearty mains, and a line-up of cleverly-named pizzas with enticing flavour combos.
While you will do well choosing dishes like Gastronomy's riff on a Caesar salad, made with arugula and roasted broccoli punctuated with thin sheets of pickled broccoli stalk, or a rich, creamy squash lasagna with salty pistachios, the pizzas are the stars of the show here.
Of course, you can opt to keep it simple with Gastronomy's Margherita (called "Marge"), but pizzas like the Queen Bee, with four kinds of cheese, figs, chili honey, and edible flowers, or the Smoke & Mirrors, featuring a charcoal cream sauce, double-smoked bacon, fior di latte, shaved Brussels sprouts, and toasted pistachio should have you considering going with one of their more inventive creations. They've also got a pie that features gold leaf, and for true ballers, a pricey one with lobster carpaccio and caviar. And though their mushroom pizza isn't a departure when it comes to ingredients, you might get a giggle out of its name: Fungilingus.
I went with the "Pot Head" which features thinly sliced fingerling potato, Genoa salami, smoked egg yolk, a preserved lemon cream, smoked Gouda, and toasted hemp seeds. It's rich and creamy on a beautifully chewy, bubbly, and charred crust, and gets a nice kick from a swipe through some of the restaurant's house-made chili garlic oil.
Gastronomy is also doing some seasonally-inspired specials, including their current feature pizza (which also happens to be one of the entrants in the city's current Pizza Challenge) called "i Giardini di Marzo." Designed by the restaurant's in-house chef, Selim Dahmane, the pizza reflects that transition between winter and spring, with shaved raw strands of preserved lemon brine-marinated squash, bright fresh herbs, whipped goat cheese, spicy nduja sausage, toasted pumpkin seeds, and edible flowers. It's bursting with big flavours, and also quite possibly the prettiest pizza I've ever eaten.
If possible, take note of Gastronomy's fun cocktail menu, which can adapt for those in need of spirit-free sips (a raspberry cocktail is among the bar's most popular). And if you save room for dessert, there's a playful panna cotta with banana and peanut butter, called "Elvis" that makes for a fun sweet finish to a meal.
Gastronomy Gastown is open for dinner Wednesday to Monday, from 5 to 11 p.m.
Video: Trying out Gastronomy Gastown
@forkingawesomevia Trying a new-ish Vancouver restaurant: Gastronomy Gastown. (And count how many times I say “really” 😳) #forkingawesome #vancouverbc 🎙️@LindsayWR ♬ Showw the Worlddd - ABAH IMY
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