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Adesso Bistro and Lounge


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I don't know about the food (I only attended the drinks afterwards), but I nominate Andrew as the Best eGullet Christopher Walken Imitation.

If I ever have another Oscar party, I'm inviting Andrew.

Edited by *Deborah* (log)

Agenda-free since 1966.

Foodblog: Power, Convection and Lies

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Uh-oh...now I have a rep to protect. :laugh:

Gimme a beer, half a bottle of Sangiovese and 2 Americanos and out Mr. Walken comes. :biggrin:

As for Adesso...wow. I'm sold.

I'll be doing a write up later today (here and later in wb) but the short of is that executive chef Travis Williams' plates were simple, straight-forward, and excellent. An old exec chef I used to work for in Toronto had a philosophical mantra that still holds true for me today:

The best Italian food should be the simplest expression of the fewest ingredients.

Pretty basic, but true. Adesso gets it. As a well-meaning mangiacake, I converted to this approach to Italian cuisine long ago, and last night I found that if there was any dish that could sit side by side and compete with the mythological significance of Neil's hangar steak, it Travis' vitello tonnato.

(Ling, I also had the risotto balls and they, too, were delicious). :wink:

I enjoyed myself. The vibe of the place is completely without pretension. The bar is literally at the kitchen's edge, so as you sip you can't help but watch Travis work. Mr. Maw's pizza looked delicious (but that's his business... :wink: ). Great wine list with an overt italian focus, but not at the expense you'd find in the more shishi Italian joints in town. Very well chosen for the price points, I thought.

Above all, the hospitality was beyond reproach. This is very much a family affair, with Travis, Joseph and Lucas playing the role of the well-loved adoptees.

Thanks to Gianfranco and Travis for a great evening, and to Mr. Maw for the company.

Ciao, Vitello Tonnato! I'll be back soon. :wub:

Edited by editor@waiterblog (log)

Andrew Morrison

Food Columnist | The Westender

Editor & Publisher | Scout Magazine

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Sounds very interesting. As a "mangiacake" married into a deeply Sicilian family, I have a wife at home who has grown up eating her mother's traditional and uncompromising Sicilian cooking. This was back in Toronto, this lady has tomatoes growning on hockey sticks in her back yard. Every summer there is the highly ritualistic tomato sauce making event during which the house is full of Italian ladies that are crushing tomatoes and drinking grappa. To this day she Fedexes us overnight packages containing such delicacies as pork lard, garden snail pasta sauce, polpete (little meatballs), etc.

Anyhow, I digress. I can rarely convince my wife to eat Italian since her standards are exacting. I may bring her to Adesso and await the verdict. She can be bribed with ricotta filled cannoli in case of disaster. :smile:

Seriously, we haven't eaten Italian out in a long, long time. Time to rectify that situation.

Stefan Posthuma

Beer - Chocolate - Cheese

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Not that it matters... but I am curious to know whether or not there actually was a restaurant in operation during the transition time between "Yew First" and "Adesso"..... was I perhaps hallucinating? (not the first time :wink: )

Although... I could have sworn another establishment that's name also started with an "A", popped up in this spot in the not so distant past.

sarah

Always take a good look at what you're about to eat. It's not so important to know what it is, but it's critical to know what it was. --Unknown

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I don't know about the food (I only attended the drinks afterwards), but I nominate Andrew as the Best eGullet Christopher Walken Imitation.

Oh great. Now everytime I see Andrew, I'll be thinking about Christopher Walken in that FatBoy Slim video. :wacko:

Kidding aside, we'll be visiting the Adesso crew next Wednesday evening for our post-Valentine's Day repast. After I talked up a sneak preview, dear husband took one look at the menu and didn't hesitate to make the reservation. In like Flynn!

Joie Alvaro Kent

"I like rice. Rice is great if you're hungry and want 2,000 of something." ~ Mitch Hedberg

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I haven't been to Adesso yet, but the last time I was at that location it was Da Pasta Bar. I have an opinion about this location and I'm hoping Adesso will prove it wrong. Or perhaps my superstitious mind will help with a somewhat expensive renovation on the part of the owners; the reason I'm writing this message is only to help. Although feng shui is not supposed to be based on any superstitious nature I can't help thinking about what I have read in the Feng Shui books that started appearing a few years ago and that fact that my husband went through a stage believing everything he read and making sure we didn't travel at certain times of the year etc. (luckily (or not) that phase of his life is over). I'm more of a realist than how I appear in this message, but occasionally when walking under a ladder or when a black cat crosses my path I wonder whether I'll have bad luck or not. My point is that it's supposedly bad feng shui to have an entry door on a corner and it would be better if the door was either on 1st or on Yew. Not to mention I remember when entering Da Pasta Bar you are faced with a bathroom door. Luckily when I was there it was closed and had an "out of order" sign on it. If it was open (according to feng shui) the money coming into the restaurant (via customers) could easily flow into the bathroom and down the toilet. So, I'm wondering for those of you who were there on Tuesday night, is the door still on the corner and is there still a bathroom when entering? My curiousity abounds and whether feng shui works or not I think it's something to consider...design logistics if you may. I personally don't like seeing a bathroom door when entering a restaurant. (The same goes for the location where the newly moved Juliet's Cafe on Cornwall is re: their entry door.) Is there a successful business that anyone knows of with corner doors in Vancouver? To the Adesso owners, when taking over this site, did you consider this when creating the design? Just curious and look forward to the replies.

"One chocolate truffle is more satisfying than a dozen artificially flavored dessert cakes." Darra Goldstein, Gastronomica Journal, Spring 2005 Edition

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I haven't been to Adesso yet, but the last time I was at that location it was Da Pasta Bar. I have an opinion about this location and I'm hoping Adesso will prove it wrong. Or perhaps my superstitious mind will help with a somewhat expensive renovation on the part of the owners; the reason I'm writing this message is only to help. Although feng shui is not supposed to be based on any superstitious nature I can't help thinking about what I have read in the Feng Shui books that started appearing a few years ago and that fact that my husband went through a stage believing everything he read and making sure we didn't travel at certain times of the year etc. (luckily (or not) that phase of his life is over). I'm more of a realist than how I appear in this message, but occasionally when walking under a ladder or when a black cat crosses my path I wonder whether I'll have bad luck or not. My point is that it's supposedly bad feng shui to have an entry door on a corner and it would be better if the door was either on 1st or on Yew. Not to mention I remember when entering Da Pasta Bar you are faced with a bathroom door. Luckily when I was there it was closed and had an "out of order" sign on it. If it was open (according to feng shui) the money coming into the restaurant (via customers) could easily flow into the bathroom and down the toilet. So, I'm wondering for those of you who were there on Tuesday night, is the door still on the corner and is there still a bathroom when entering? My curiousity abounds and whether feng shui works or not I think it's something to consider...design logistics if you may. I personally don't like seeing a bathroom door when entering a restaurant. (The same goes for the location where the newly moved Juliet's Cafe on Cornwall is re: their entry door.) Is there a successful business that anyone knows of with corner doors in Vancouver? To the Adesso owners, when taking over this site, did you consider this when creating the design? Just curious and look forward to the replies.

Interesting! now that you mention it, I remember being a bit taken aback by the bathroom door placement the time I went to Da Pasta Bar there (I don't get out in Kits much).

Regarding corner entry doors, I can't think of any in Vancouver off the top of my head, but it's something quite common in corner bars in Philadelphia, the sort of bars that are there for 10 or 20 years at a time...maybe Feng Shui isn't so powerful there!

Agenda-free since 1966.

Foodblog: Power, Convection and Lies

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Not to mention I remember when entering Da Pasta Bar you are faced with a bathroom door.

Not any more.

When you enter you are staring at a two man open kitchen bar (complete with Blue Water ex Travis Williams on the grills of steel) and either of two brothers, Gianfranco or Luciano (or his wife Carol).

Putting Feng Shui aside for a moment (though layout is extremely important!), it's the food that will be the big draw here.

Vitello Tonnato.... :wub:

Andrew Morrison

Food Columnist | The Westender

Editor & Publisher | Scout Magazine

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This place sounds great, i had a friend that went to opening night and also went for brunch which said was great. The fritattas very good, might have to make a jaunt this weekend to check it out.

DANIELLE

"One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well."

-Virginia Woolf

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evening all

i was thinking today ( i don`t normally do that on thursdays ) , about this corner door thing .

not restaurants per se , but i know of two starbucks locations with corner doors , one down the road from adesso at cornwall , and one of the robson/ thurlow sites .

i cant imagine anything stopping the flow of money in that company.

i `m a straight-a-head kinda guy , and feng shui don`t normally enter in my thoughts or vocabulary. me , cynical yes very. but butter thanks for making me think today

i wish the guys at adesso well, door positioning or otherwise.me and Pretzels( yeah the new chic is my wife ) will pop in for some eats soon as we live round the corner .

tt
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Am I the only one who feel's a bit uncomfortable reading this thread? It just seems as organic as the 99 cent a pound Peruvian Asparagus I saw today at Kin's Farm Market. As much as I love to see the chef and his commis participating, I just get the feeling it's a bit of an advert.

I think my love for Italian food and wine is well known in this and the Wine forum. This sounds like the kind of place I would love to go to. I loved it when Andrey cooked there as Bogas' replacment but I just feel that maybe it would have been best to maybe just post about the place and then just wait to see what people who eat there think.

Edited by Coop (log)

David Cooper

"I'm no friggin genius". Rob Dibble

http://www.starlinebyirion.com/

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I just feel that maybe it would have been best to maybe just post about the place and then just wait to see what people who eat there think.

:unsure: that's what I did. I went. I ate. I posted. :smile:

go ahead and eat.

Edited by editor@waiterblog (log)

Andrew Morrison

Food Columnist | The Westender

Editor & Publisher | Scout Magazine

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As always in the Vancouver thread...post at your own peril!!!

This is getting seriously silly folks......

Addesso is a new room in our GEOGRAPHICAL area...posts here are meant to reflect our GEOGRAPHICAL area's tastes.....that might not do much for 'crushedtesticles' in New York...but is of great service to us in Vancouver....

I had a great experience on my first venture to the DOOMED location that alot of eG'ers have raved about on another thread...lets get back to what matters....and leave the idle chit-chat for " I-need-a -foodie-date.com"

John

It was the Law of the Sea, they said. Civilization ends at the waterline. Beyond that, we all enter the food chain, and not always right at the top.

Hunter S. Thompson ---- R.I.P. 1939 - 2005

"Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society."

--Mark Twain

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...lets get back to what matters....and leave the idle chit-chat for " I-need-a -foodie-date.com"

OMG! I agree with dodger!

I'ver started a new thread (CLICKETY) to discuss the "ethics" of owners & chefs posting about their own restaurants. Travis & Luciano, please keep posting! We all just need to keep discussing the food.

A.

ps: Feng Shui? really butter? That is sooooo 1990's! :laugh:

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We have a pretty decent menu available for this Valentine's weekend. All items have been priced a la carte, as we are still quite new, and don't want to charge a price per person. The regular menu is available both Saturday and Sunday night in adittion to the Valentine's menu. Then on the big day Monday the Valentine's menu is only available. We do of course have vegetarian options available. Check the Valentine's menu at our website. Most weekends you can find a lovly braised dish as a special. Tonight we did a very classic Osso Buco Alla Milanese.......MMMMM......Braised meat. :biggrin::wub::wub:

Ciao

Adesso Chef

Travis Williams

Executive Chef

www.adessobistro.com

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J & I did the eGullet tour of Vancouver last night ... coffee at The Elysian Room, went to see Sideways at the 5th, and then wine, appetizers & dessert at Adesso Bistro.

Have I ever mentioned my aversion to Kits? It's primarily due to the parking or lack thereof, especially between Cornwall & 4th. This is usually my excuse for not venturing into dining establishments in this part of town. Adesso Bistro presents a strong case for finding a way to deal with the parking.

We arrived just after 10 ... still a number of Valentine's diners. I had never been to Da Pasta Bar or any of this location's previous incarnations so I can't comment on how the chi flowed in comparison (sorry butter!). It's a nice room ... a little noisy for my ears, but then again I have a hard time hearing in any crowd, the result of too many nights listening to Led Zeppelin & Queen at ear splitting volumes.

We ordered a couple glasses of Mt Boucherie ... Pinot for me, Merlot for J (appropriate since we'd just seen Sideways) ... and a couple appy's. The Vitello Tonnato and the Arancini. Excellent on both counts, but the star, as mentioned by others, has to go to the rissoto balls! I may have to learn how to make these myself! Nicely crispy on the outside with the sweet, almost sticky arborio inside. I hadn't read the menu all that closely to be honest, so the parma and provelone was a big suprise!

The veal had an off start with me ... or more to the point it was the tuna mayo. The fishyness caught me by surprise (again, I hadn't read the menu too closely :rolleyes: ) and didn't really work with the veal IMO. Then J told me to have some of the crispy shallots with the mayo & veal. Bingo! The saltiness of the shallots, along with the capers, brought it all home. Really well calculated.

A couple glasses of muscat accompanied our dessert ... the White Chocolate Panna Cotta. I don't think we could have finished the evening on a better note. "Smooth as silk" may be cliché but is describes this dessert perfectly. I love Italian desserts ... tiramisu being one of my all time faves ... so I can't wait to try the rest of this menu.

Travis came by and introduced himself, and our server was none other than manager GianFranco. My apologies to Luciano & Carol for not introducing myself. As many other eGulleters will tell you, I'm a bit of an intovert :raz: Next time. Everybody was working so hard last night and seemed really proud of what they were doing. I like it when I see the owners bussing tables!

As I said, Adesso presents a good reason for me to get over my aversin to parking in kits. Perhaps I need a Vespa?

A.

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J & I did the eGullet tour of Vancouver last night ... coffee at The Elysian Room, went to see Sideways at the 5th, and then wine, appetizers & dessert at Adesso Bistro.

Have I ever mentioned my aversion to Kits?  It's primarily due to the parking or lack thereof, especially between Cornwall & 4th.  This is usually my excuse for not venturing into dining establishments in this part of town.  Adesso Bistro presents a strong case for finding a way to deal with the parking.

We arrived just after 10 ... still a number of Valentine's diners.  I had never been to Da Pasta Bar or any of this location's previous incarnations so I can't comment on how the chi flowed in comparison (sorry butter!).  It's a nice room ... a little noisy for my ears, but then again I have a hard time hearing in any crowd, the result of too many nights listening to Led Zeppelin & Queen at ear splitting volumes. 

We ordered a couple glasses of Mt Boucherie ... Pinot for me, Merlot for J (appropriate since we'd just seen Sideways) ... and a couple appy's.  The Vitello Tonnato and the Arancini.  Excellent on both counts, but the star, as mentioned by others, has to go to the rissoto balls!  I may have to learn how to make these myself!  Nicely crispy on the outside with the sweet, almost sticky arborio inside.  I hadn't read the menu all that closely to be honest, so the parma and provelone was a big suprise!

The veal had an off start with me ... or more to the point it was the tuna mayo.  The fishyness caught me by surprise (again, I hadn't read the menu too closely  :rolleyes: ) and didn't really work with the veal IMO.  Then J told me to have some of the crispy shallots with the mayo & veal.  Bingo!  The saltiness of the shallots, along with the capers, brought it all home.  Really well calculated.

A couple glasses of muscat accompanied our dessert ... the White Chocolate Panna Cotta.  I don't think we could have finished the evening on a better note.  "Smooth as silk" may be cliché  but is describes this dessert perfectly.  I love Italian desserts ... tiramisu being one of my all time faves ... so I can't wait to try the rest of this menu.

Travis came by and introduced himself, and our server was none other than manager GianFranco.  My apologies to Luciano & Carol for not introducing myself.  As many other eGulleters will tell you, I'm a bit of an intovert :raz:  Next time.  Everybody was working so hard last night and seemed really proud of what they were doing.  I like it when I see the owners bussing tables! 

As I said, Adesso presents a good reason for me to get over my aversin to parking in kits.  Perhaps I need a Vespa?

A.

Thanks for your review. We welcome all feedback as we're new in town. Just a note re: parking. We have our own small lot underground. On Fri, Sat a valet service parks the cars (on Valentines too) and the rest of the week we "click" you in to the secure space.

Thanks again

Carol

ps please introduce yourself next time. We'd like to meet all egulleters!

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I was just wondering whether the regular menu is available for lunch tomorrow (I know you have the V-Day menu during the dinner service). After reading the reviews on the rissotto balls, I think I'll have to get down there for a snack!  :smile:

Hi Ling

We are not open for lunch on Mondays, so we hope to see you Tuesday through Friday for lunch at some point. Our Arancini is pretty much always available, lunch or dinner. Please be sure to introduce yourself when you come by. :biggrin:

Ciao

Adesso Chef

Travis Williams

Executive Chef

www.adessobistro.com

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