Savio Volpe is truly a dining experience to be genuinely savoured. Recently voted as ‘Best New Restaurant’ by Vancouver Magazine, the team behind Savio Volpe offers rustic Italian fare with focus on fresh local ingredients featuring house-made pastas. The menu will rotate according to what’s seasonal, but they do keep a few of their most popular staples.

Last month I had to opportunity to revisit this neighbourhood gem with a group of friends. We ended up selecting a few dishes from each category to share ranging from: appetizer, vegetable, main, pasta, and sides.

Fontodi Chianti Classico ($80.00) A dense and velvety wine with black chocolate and cherry character. Medium to full body, fine tannins and a fresh finish. I thought the wine of choice was okay-  not a big fan of young red wine in general.

Olives ($4.00) Marinated olives, wild fennel seeds, spruce tips, lemon. For starters, we opted for olives. They’re intentionally unpitted to preserve taste and quality. The black olives had a much softer in texture compared to green olives due to their lengthier growing time.

Salumi ($16.00) pan rustico, giardiniera. Salami three ways with house made sour dough and pickled vegetables. Portion size was great for sharing!

My favourite was the mortadella. One thing I love about this place is that they really emphasize the concept of family style as most of the items on their menu are meant for sharing.

Carne Cruda ($22.00)dry aged beef tenderloin, capers, egg yolk. The Italian variation on steak tartare. Meltingly tender with bold, fresh flavours. Perfect for carnivore lovers like me.

Kale Salad ($15.00) lemon pepper dressing, romano, pangrattato. The salad had the perfect balance of taste, texture, and brunch. And refreshingly light.

Sunday Sugo ($18.00) Tortiglioni, beef braciola, Sunday sauce. This is one of the few dishes that stay on the menu for patrons because it’s just that good. It’s essentially pasta pasta lightly tossed in tomato based sauce. Incorporating fresh pasta really makes a difference and I do commend them for going the extra mile for making them fresh daily!

Cavatelli ($18.00) broccoli, anchovy, chili, pangratatto . Cavatelli are small pasta shells that resemble miniature hot dog buns. I wasn’t a huge fan of this one as I thought it was a little on the salty side. However, this was Cay’s favourite out of the two pasta dishes.

Garlic Bread ($6.00)Their garlic bread is seriously to die for. This is a must order! You won’t regret it.

10oz New York  Strip Loin($46.00)with arugula, pine nuts, vincotto. We enjoyed it medium rare- good quality meat and paired well with the sweet balsamic vinegar dressing.

So… so.. delicious!

Spit Roasted Veal Loin ($39.00) with blue chanterelle mushrooms. This was on their special menu board! The veal was slightly overcooked, however the cream sauce was fantastic.

Grilled Asparagus $12 with anchovy, lemon

Salted Dark Chocolate Tart ($10.00) with olive oil and pine nuts. As expected, the dark chocolate was dense and rich.

Cannoli ($8)with ricotta, orange, cocoae, hazelnuts. Aside from their housemade pasta, they also make their cannoli from scratch as well!

Tiramisu Sundae ($14.00) with Beat 5 gelato, marsala, and hazelnuts. Another must order! Please save room for dessert if you ever get the chance to come here. You won’t regret it!

Location:
615 Kingsway
Vancouver, BC

Rating: 4/5
Price: $$$
Service: 4.5/5
Reservation? Yes
Website: http://www.saviovolpe.com/