Passport Quest Italian Kitchen

Italian Kitchen as part of the Glowbal Passport Quest. As part of the promotion that Glowbal Group ran in February - March 2013, I visited all seven of the restaurants. Here is my post of Italian Kitchen on Alberni.
I also have posts for:

• Trattoria
• Glowbal Group
• The Fish Shack
• Coast
• Black and Blue
• Society

This time, I met up with Stephanie whom I met at last year's passport quest at Glowbal. Funny how food and twitter is what brought us together again! This time we decided to hit up Italian Kitchen, since I already had the Glowbal stamp. 

 

Our meal started off with an amuse bouche similar to a Caprese, with tomatoes and burrata. This was light and the burrata was melt in your mouth creamy. The colours were lovely and vibrant too, but what really made the dish great was the fresh and meaty tomatoes. 

 

For my lunch, I opted for the Prosciutto Pizza. It was a bit of a tough call, because I was also in the mood for the Garganelli too. Oh well, I think I made the right choice going for something a bit fresher. The prosciutto was really lean, which I liked. And the fresh and slightly bitter arugula gave the dish the bite it needed. Although there is some burrata in the pizza already, a bit of extra parmesan never hurt anyone, right? Oh, and if you like it spicy, get the chilli flakes on the side, but instead of just spooning them over the pie, crush them up in your hand first to really release the heat. 
I rarely, very rarely, will order a vegetarian dish, but man, I would order this one! This is the Vegetarian Lasagna (yes, there is a traditional meaty one too, and that's probably what I would end up getting to be honest), with a ton of vegetables. There are zucchini, spinach, slices of eggplant, peppers, ricotta and it all comes with a light green salad with a touch of fennel. This smelled amazing. The meat one is next on my to-eat list.

 

Bonus! The week before, I had lunch here and decided to try the Hero Panini. Yes, another dish with prosciutto, but this time accompanied by even more meat, such as mortadella and pepperoni. They lightened things up with some arugula and then made it even better with provolone and some pepperoncini. Served with a nice light salad, this is great for a quick lunch if you're not in the mood for hearty Italian fare. BTW, I know you are staring at the Spaghetti & Wagyu Meatballs across the table from me. I don't blame you. 

Take Note: 

• Pizzas, Paninis and Pastas are what they do best here 
• Lots of platters for sharing, great for family style meals 
• Gluten-free pastas available.

Italian Kitchen - Passport Quest

Glowbal Passport Quest. As part of the promotion that Glowbal Group ran in February - March 2012, I visited all seven of the restaurants. Here is my post of Italian Kitchen.
I also have posts for:
Glowbal Grill
Society
Coast
Trattoria
Sanafir
Black and Blue

One of the best thing they do at Italian Kitchen is their Burrata. And this one was a special made for us by the chef...featuring cured meats with prosciutto and braseola, this was amazing. Rounding it out was a side of Beef Tartare, a smattering of olives and a lightly dressed arugula salad. This is why I love Chef Craig.

And how are you supposed to eat all this goodness? With their forno grilled bread of course! I like the rustic feel of the food being served on a wooden board, seems to enhance the freshness of the ingredients somehow. 

On another occasion, we had a starter of Brushchetta with a tomato basil topping, again with the cutting board!
Another all-time favourite of mine is Bone Marrow, and here at Italian Kitchen, they do it well! You get two large slabs of bone marrow, a heaping pile of beef tartare, some lightly dressed greens and a few garlic crostinis. If you are having this all by yourself, this is probably enough for a meal. It's not a lot of food, but it's rich. Best to share with a friend so you can have something else too! 

Starting from the left, the Pasta Platter consists of a Braised Veal Cannelloni (not part of their platter anymore), a Lamb Sausage Pappardelle, a Rich Truffle Cream Sauced Spaghetti with some of their famous Kobe Beef Meatballs, as well as a bit of Ragatoni Pomodoro at the far right.

We also got the Pappardelle with Lamb Sausage. I love the thick flat noodles and usually try to eat them one at a time. The sausage is the same that is on their pizza, with a nice texture and a subtle gamey flavour.

Another favourite is their Garganelli. I am a sucker for this pasta and again, I eat this one at a time too. Actually, I try to uncurl them before I eat them. It comes with oven roasted chicken, sun dried tomatoes and a sprinkle of peas. Love this dish!

Another friend ordered the Linguine Carbonara, done in the traditional style with pancetta, green onions and egg with a dusting of parmesan, pure comfort food. 

Fans of the Glowbal Group will no doubt recognize these Zeppole di Cioccolato - powdered sugar dusted doughnuts with chocolate ganache inside, ready to burst into your mouth once you bite into it. Make it extra rich with the side serving of cream anglaise.

First Post for VancityBuzz!

As seen on...

I will feature the food porn shots here, but for the review, please click go to the post on VancityBuzz.

Kobe Meatball Panini

Tartufo Funghi

Mille Folglie

Lunch at Italian Kitchen with the family...

A few months ago, when my sister was still in town, my mom made an almost unheard of trip downtown to have lunch with me while I was at work. Given she only travels by Skytrain (to downtown), we decided somewhere near my work would be perfect, and my niece and nephew love pasta, so we settled on Italian Kitchen, a short walking distance from Burrard Station.

Since we already knew we were going to have pasta, and there were five of us, three adults and two kiddies, we ordered their Pasta Platter...for 2 people, $16/person, minimum of 2 orders. On the platter, from left to right, are: braised veal cannelloni with wild mushroom cream, pappardelle with lamb sausage, cabbage and potatoes, spaghetti and spicy kobe meatballs with truffle cream, and the rigatoni pomodoro. My absolute favourite was the pappardelle because the lamb sausage was so good. My niece liked the rigatoni, gigantic macaroni, as she referred to them. My nephew liked the spaghetti because of the meatballs, and my mom loved the cannelloni. My sister liked everything, but she was waiting for her other order...   

The Tartufo Funghi...$17, their most expensive pie, but well worth it for the portobello mushroom and truffle cheese. Everyone liked the thin crust, and the aroma of truffles was unmistakeable. Even the kids loved this one!

Our next dish was ordered by my mom, who loves her ahi tuna. This Seared Ahi Tuna for $16 was the perfect dish for her. It's light, with a bunch of greens and baby tomatoes, all paired with oranges, artichokes, fennel, in a cerignola olive vinaigrette. The thick slices of tuna was perfectly well done.
Alas, there was too much food for the five of us...we ended up packing a slice of the pie as well as some of the tuna. Guess what my stepdad had for dinner that night?

Lunching at Italian Kitchen, on the Pati-OH

A few weeks ago, one of my fellow foodies came to downtown for a patio lunch. Having been to Coast recently for my mom's birthday, we decided to try another of the Glowbal Groups restaurants, Italian Kitchen. We made resos so we knew we would have a table, but we totally lucked out with a table on the patio. Awesome! 

We both love mushrooms, so the Tartufo Funghi Pizza with portobello mushrooms and truffle cheese was a sure bet. Large slices of portobello baked right into the cheese, and topped with a small pile of arugula. What more do you need? One order is more than enough for a meal, or as an appetizer for two very hungry people, or three people who actually ate breakfast.  At $17 a pop, it's their most expensive pizza, but much more inspired than the usual pepperoni you'd find elsewhere.

The entree we decided to share (yes, we filled up on the pizza bigtime) was a panini. Known for their Kobe meatballs, Italian Kitchen found the perfect way to serve them up for lunch, for those of us who don't relish devouring a whole plate of pasta for lunch. They put their meatballs into a panini! And they didn't just shove a few Kobe meatballs into some slices of bread...oh no.  Accompanying the panini was a small green salad, but the presentation of the dish on a rustic wooden board made the dish much more fun. 

The meatballs were stuffed into the mushroom, along with roasted portabellini, provolone and a crispy onion ring. Nice and spicy, but we still asked for a few chili flakes on the side. The onion ring was perfect...much better than the raw slab of onion you get at some other places. They have a Lobster and Crab Monte Cristo that I might have to try next time, but we'll need more than two people to eat something that rich! The Spicy Kobe Meatball Panini is a great deal at $13.
For the two of us, a pizza and a sandwich were all we needed...some carbs, some veggies and some Kobe beef...a very satisfying lunch, even if I did have to go back to work afterwards.