Adesso Bistro

more on Toronto after this guest post!

When my blogger friend, Joy Luck Club, suggested I do a "guest spot" I figured I was up for the challenge.  However, I have learned a great deal from my experience and will strive to do a better job next time.  Plates would arrive at the table and we'd start digging in...only to realize I had missed the best photo opp.  So, please excuse the poorly executed food photos and the lack of other photos for the venue.  I'll do better if I'm ever invited back.

Dee


Adesso Bistro
1906 Haro Street
Vancouver, BC V6G 1H7
(604) 568-9975

A Bit of Nostalgia and a Bit of Good Food

For those of you who have been experiencing the Vancouver restaurant scene for a number of years you will be familiar with the location that now houses the Adesso Bistro.  A recent Groupon brought Garden Guru and I in for what turned out to be a great meal.  Adesso takes up the ground floor of a small building on Haro Street that was once a hotel.  The small courtyard on the east side serves as a lovely patio in the warmer months.  Here's where the nostalgia comes in (those of you who used to be regular consumers of martinis and great food in the 80s and 90s have already figured this out) ...this is the original location of Delilah's.  Although Delilah's is now closed, many of us remember it as a dining icon in its day (esp back in the time of its Haro Street location).  Walking down those few steps to the front door and entering to see the reception desk still in its original location had us thinking that we would find the "paper check-list menus" still on the tables.  But this is now Adesso, so I will suppress my fond memories and fill you in on our evening...

This is an Italian restaurant.  You feel it in the menu, the staff and most importantly the food.  Our server was knowledgeable about the menu and her descriptions helped us to make our choices.  We ordered a bottle of Liberty School Cab and then were pleased when an 

amuse bouche was served - a wee serving of fried gnocchi.  

It was a nice tasty treat and we were more than happy when another server brought us a second serving!  There were so many excellent sounding options on the menu that choosing was difficult.  The pizza on the table next to us looked and smelled divine.

We shared the prosciutto and mozzarella stuffed Arancini served with pepperonata to start. 

If you are familiar with these fried balls of risotto heaven you will know what I mean when I say that our "comfort-food themed" meal was off to a good start.  The arancini were beautifully crisp on the outside; the taste was good, but not great.  We actually didn't taste the prosciutto and found them to be a little dry.  These inspired me to think about making some arancini soon as I haven't made them for some time and know that my creations are just the way we like them.

We each chose a pasta for our main course.  I'll start off by saying the pasta was excellent and perfectly cooked.  I had the Tagliatelle with Heritage Berkshire Pork Sugo. Essentially a sauce loaded with pulled pork goodness.  Slowly cooked with an excellent tomato sauce.

Garden Guru had the Pappardelle with Whole Roasted Duck Leg, but the best part of the duck was the ragu.  This sauce also tasted as though it was made with a great deal of care and patience (just like nonna used to do it).

If you are looking for some good food and something to trigger fond memories I would recommend Adesso.  We are anxiously waiting for better weather and a selection of starters on the patio...come join us!