Luciano Loi

Last night was a new one on us. We had a 12 booked at 8:30, confirmed the night before. When they were 20 minutes late we called the cell number and the man who made the reservation (I recognized his voice) laughed at me when I asked if they were on the way and then hung up. Needless to say they did not show but his name is William and if anyone else has large parties booked under that name please PM me and I will compare phone numbers with you. We did however fill the spot with some of our great neighbourhood regulars so all was not lost. Ciao Luciano

Since we are in our first year this is our first Dine Out at Adesso. We had several no shows but were able to fill them last minute. It was actually a great night. The 8:30 turn was a little hairy since everyone wanted to stay for the night but it worked out and everyone was happy. We managed to peek at some comments on the Dine Out cards and saw only good things! Looking forward to tomorrow. Ciao Luciano

Also open New Years Brunch and dinner. Best of the season everyone!

You have truly said it like it is. And...it never gets any easier. If you're in this business for the money, well... there must be hundreds of easier ways to make money. I think it's like throwing a big party every night and hoping people will firstly, show up and secondly, enjoy themselves and appreciate the effort that went into it.

Thanks for the kind words and great pictures. We should add them to our new website. Cheers Luciano

Absolutely. Will post it tomorrow. ← We will be covering all 22 regions of Italy. Our first one was Emilia Romagna and it is ongoing until Monday. Tues we start Calabria. The menus are $30 for 3 courses or $45 with wine pairings. Calabria 1st course Spinach Leaves with roasted bell peppers , shaved Fennel , orange segments , Black olive vinaigrette and Pecorino. Baby eggplants, stuffed and roasted with Roma tomato cippolini onions, Capers, anchovies, fresh herbs and Cacciocavallo cheese. 2nd course Spaghettini – With Calabrese sausage, Hot chillies, garlic, eggplant, lemon zest , fresh basil Ferrazzuoli pasta - Cauliflower, roasted pine nuts, raisins, Bottarga, and fresh parsley 3rd course Albacore Tuna, Agro dolce, lemon risotto Pork loin – Seared, with braised fennel; Honey –Pepperoncino glaze Ciao Luciano

Absolutely. Will post it tomorrow.

Most restauranteurs will tell you that there are no slow seasons ! We are a funny bunch. Walk into a quiet restaurant and ask the owner where everybody is and he will tell you they were rockin' busy and everybody just left ! Easter is the next slow time. Luciano, pick up the ball and run with it ! ← Could be fun. No slow times???????????? We're no stranger to hard work. I believe when we had Papi's in Steveston in 1993 we had the only wine club with monthly wine dinners in the lower mainland. Would be a great way to meet our restaurant neighbours too!

Surfer, I am not sure what this means. I did not realize the media had their own world, and had no intention of shaking it up. That being said, I am very pleased with the results so far, at least for myself. I have heard a couple of comments comparing this to that giant Juggernaut Dine Out Vancouver. Tourism Vancouver were huge in teaching people about the price fixe format and the power it had when lots of restaurants took part in it. I understand it was a challenge for them to get people to sign on for the first year. Their work made Taste of Yaletown so much easier to get people on to as they already understood what it was and the impact it could have on their business. I have taken part in Dine Out Vancouver for two years and as we know, it is an unbelievable success. I had one cocky bugger making a comment about this stealing Tvan's thunder. I turned to him and said it was not about that at all. It was about highlighting our neighbourhood and the culinary diversity in it. I added that I have a responsibility to my staff to keep them employed for 365 days a year, and Dine Out was only 13 of them. Taste of Yaletown is 11 days so now I only have to worry about another 340 some odd days. A few more days to go and then we will see where the numbers lie. I am already looking forward to next year. ← Perhaps other culturally diverse neighbourhoods could join in.

Just heard back from the recipients of said gift certificate, son & daughter-in-law. They used it last night, & by all accounts each had a great meal. Halibut for her (enjoyable, that's all I know), for him a short rib pasta dish, lots of rib meat, great flavour & a $17 price tag. Said they were busy...still meaning to get there myself. ← Thanks Jayhay Hope to see you soon. I actually remember when you came by to purchase the gc. Regards Carol at Adesso

Not true! The oddly named Fish and Gift across from Papi's has great fresh seafood. They had the best halibut cheeks.

The lounge at Bacchus is nice. We went there for our anniversary last December and enjoyed the music and ambiance very much.

Certainly second that choice. The chef/owner (Terry) is a great cook - we had a staff party there a couple of years back and everything was wonderful. Carol at Adesso oops I should have specified that I meant Rex.

Funny you should mention that Andrew. We have had a surprising number of young couples with little ones dining in our small private alcove at the front of the restaurant. Because there are no other diners within the vicinity, they feel comfortable and keep coming back. Cheers Carol at Adesso

We joined one of their Saturday night dinners in the orchard and it was great fun. The dinner started off with sabre-opened champagne on their beautiful deck overlooking the lake and from there we all walked down to a long table set with white linen set up in the orchard. The food and wine pairings were wonderful. All in all a great evening... however you need to reserve well in advance.

We always visit the Wine Bar at the Naramata Inn ( in Naramata) - they have a great wine selection and a good menu. Another favorite is the Hillside winery (also in Pentiction/Naramata area) - open only for lunch now I think.

Can't believe we've had so little time to eat out. It's taken months just to get to three. Numerous trips to Capers for takeout - mostly good but sometimes awful. The chocolate oatmeal cookies are always winners. Last week we went to Hapa Isakaya for the first time and it was a great experience. The ebi mayo (prawn appetizer) and the grilled squid were our favorites but we also reordered the crisp salty pea pods three times. Four of us ate LOTS and drank a fair bit for very little money. We will definately be going back there. The third was our old favorite for pizza - Rebellious Tomato on 16th. It was so bad we threw out most of it. What happened to that place? Anyone else had a bad experience there lately? It used to be very good.

I have to say that maybe twice a month someone brings in a cake for a special occasion. We do charge for plating etc and if they did inquire about bringing a cake they are told beforehand, otherwise they are told upon arrival. It certainly isn't a favorite with management or staff but it also isn't a big deal. You just hope to sell some special coffees or moscato to go with it! Cheers Carol at Adesso

Jamie We do a restaurant herb garden every year and this year will be no exception. I know Travis is looking forward to it. We have had luck with the quality and unique products at Prickly Pear in Steveston. Rather than making the trip out you could call and ask for Patty, one of the owners and buyers. I also know that they deliver. Happy growing Carol at Adesso

Too bad they didn't have the homemade cookies at Tomato. They are huge and fabulous.

Last three places we've been 1. Tomato Cafe - our neighbourhood and it's consistently good plus we like the chef, owner & staff 2. Quattro on Fourth to see Patrick and for the platters. 3. Cin Cin - the only real disappointment, we had a pizza and vongole and I had to send the vongole back to be remade. They're very nice about it but not even good on second try.

My first restaurant job in Vancouver was at Charlie Browns night club/ restaurant in 1973. The place was owned by Harry Moll, Pat Macleary, Herb Capozzi et al and I started out as as a bus person. My first day on the job I dropped a plate of sauteed mushrooms down the back of a ladies dress. We both survived the humiliation and eventually I was promoted to the bar and never looked back.

Headline reads " Ch'ic kitchen has some catching up to do"

Just read Tim Pawsey's review on Ch'ic in the Courier. Overall it's pretty positive but I have to wonder about a prominent review done just within days of opening. Maybe they had a press opening? In any case we will definately try it with our "30 somethings" daughter and son in law.

Luciano..... can you answer this? (if you don't mind ) Am I correct in my assumption that there was another Italian restaurant in place after "Yew First" and prior to Adesso? I am almost positive I saw signage to this affect and even read something about it (otherwise I would not have posted so above ) but as no one has since confirmed it... I'm beginning to wonder... ← I recall that there was a family that bought Da Pasta Bar. I don't remember if they were Yew First or prior to that. Shortly after they bought it, one of the brothers discovered he had a brain tumor. They closed up before they even got off the ground. Understandably so. ← Sorry to take so long in answering your question. Nyles is quite right. Yew First had two sets of owners. It was open about 18 months in all under that name. Both owners were Korean families.