by Andrew Morrison | I’ve been hunting rock wrens and roadrunners in the desert for the last little bit so I missed this missive when it landed in my inbox yesterday…

Nicholas Gandossi, General Manager of OPUS Vancouver, is pleased to announce a new partnership that will see Adam Pegg and Lucais Syme of Vancouver’s award-winning Northern Italian eatery La Quercia, open a new restaurant concept at the globally recognized OPUS Vancouver. Gandossi sees the involvement of Pegg and Syme, together with Peter Girges, as yet another opportunity to keep OPUS Vancouver on the leading edge of hospitality. “We like being ahead of the curve,” says Gandossi. “We were the first hotel in North America to embrace the pop up restaurant and we will continue to be at the forefront of dining and drinking trends.” For their part, Pegg and Syme see the collaboration as an opportunity to expand their culinary repertoire beyond the walls of their acclaimed west side trattoria. “We’ve always wanted to work on a larger food program and we were thrilled when this conversation began,” says Pegg with Syme adding: “We’re looking forward to working with a new dining concept in such a vibrant part of the city.” Restaurateur and nightlife impresario Peter Girges, of Cento Notti and OPUS Bar, is thrilled to welcome his friends Adam and Lucais. Since Girges’s involvement with OPUS Vancouver began, he has been instrumental in the operation of the pop up strategy and he will continue to host and welcome guests. OPUS Vancouver’s current pop up, Cento Notti, will close on the evening of August 12 for renovations and a new restaurant is scheduled to reopen in early September 2012. Award-winning hot spot OPUS Bar will remain open throughout this changeover.

The food at the OPUS has terrified me since Elixir Bistro was shuttered, so at first glance this press release read (to me) like a bit of far-fetched fiction, like chef/restaurateur David Hawksworth announcing a pop-up at The Old Spaghetti Factory or Rob Feenie joining the Cactus Club as Food Concept Architect (oh wait, what?). Stranger things have happened, and if it’s the weirdest thing the OPUS has done since they installed closed circuit TV screens above their urinals (so every male guest could awkwardly scope their date at the bar, penis in hand?), it’s definitely the smartest move Girges has made since leaving the Glowbal Group. So before you food wonks have a freak out, it’s good to remember that while the “nightlife impresario” and the chameleonic Yaletown hotel may have dropped the ball in the past, Syme and Pegg throw strikes. If Girges et al can resist the temptation to interfere with the soundtrack, stop themselves from outsourcing the decor to a graffiti artist, and generally leave the chefs entirely to their own devices, I expect they’ll shine with blinding wattage. The new joint will be called La Pentola della Quercia.

ALL ANTICIPATED RESTAURANTS