The simple, deconstructed decor, including exposed cement walls and wooden beams and tables, immediately drew me to think of salt tasting room in Gastown. With that being said, the bar was highly raised. Next, my eyes grazed over the menu in the window, with a wince, expecting the prices to be a slap in the face....
12 dollar pizza?!?!?!
It was like a dream come true. My foodie friend, Benjamin, and I made a date to experience this place.
The meal started out with some delicious parmesean-crusted croutons (which happened to be about two-foot long sticks), which we ripped through quickly and asked for seconds.
We decided to share the beet salad. Now, I personally don't think you can go "wrong", with beet salad, because beets are truly delicious (IMO). But still - this salad rocked my world. They took it to a new level.
House-made ricotta cheese, cracked pepper, olive oil, mint, shaved vegetables and, of course, beets. It tasted like there was some sort of citrus (maybe lemon?).
This tower of deliciousness was fresh, light, slightly tangy, and the beets were perfectly cooked. Nothing worse than feeling like you're going to break some teeth chewing on beets.
My friend had spotted the Duck Ravioli on the online menu, and boy, was he determined to get it:
The meal was definitely "gourmet food-sized", as I like to call it, holding 5 pieces of ravioli. With that said, these were jam-packed with duck, and my friend loved every bite (Taking his word for it, as I am a pescatarean... gawd, I hate that term). He said it was smoky, with carmelized onions and the duck was very flavorful.
Now, I love gnocchi, and I was intrigued by a food called "gnudi" on the menu: Basically, these are a take on gnocchi, but rather than potato filling, they are filled with cheese. SOUNDS LIKE HEAVEN, right?
Oh, and they were...
The slightly crunchy, bread crumb exterior, matched with a rich, basic tomato sauce, and the gnudi brimming full of their house-made ricotta and spinach. It will be challenging for me to ever get something different at this restaurant, I liked this so much.
Since Benjamin was not "sufficiently suffonsified" (I have no idea what it means, either.. inside family joke), he ordered the salami pizza.
From my travels in Italy, this looked like the real deal. Super thin crust, to the point where the middle falls apart into a gooey, delicious mess of cheese and tomato sauce. I had a piece of pizza that didn't have any salami, and let me tell you... This pizza blew my mind. EVERYONE in this city, needs to go try this pizza. It is zippy from the acidity of the tomatoes, incredibly savoury from the cheese. So damn GOOD!
So all in all, great experience. The server was very helpful, and the atmosphere was not too stuffy. Found myself saying "I need to come back for that pizza..." while I was still in the restaurant.
Campagnolo
1020 Main Street
Vancouver
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