GOODS: Yaletown’s La Pentola Continues Famiglia Series With Frutti Di Mare Supper
May 17, 2013
La Pentola is located in the Opus Hotel at 350 Davie St. in Vancouver, BC | (604) 642-0557 | www.lapentola.ca
The GOODS from La Pentola
Vancouver, BC | On Sunday, May 26, La Pentola’s Famiglia Supper Series continues with a Frutti di Mare dinner hosted by chef Lucais Syme. Join us at 6pm to dine alla famiglia style at a communal table with your friends and neighbours. This month we feature local Ocean Wise seafoods like local spot prawns, Dungeness crab, oysters, halibut and salmon. Details after the jump… Read more
GOODS: “La Pentola” Waiving Corkage For BYOB Nose-To-Tail Pig Supper On March 31
March 20, 2013
La Pentola is located in the Opus Hotel at 350 Davie St. in Vancouver, BC | (604) 642-0557 | www.lapentola.ca
The GOODS from La Pentola
Vancouver, BC | Adam Pegg and Lucais Syme will host La Pentola della Quercia’s first ever nose-to-tail pig dinner on March 31. Join them promptly at 6PM to dine alla famiglia style at a communal table with neighbours and friends. The restaurant is waiving corkage for this seating, so it’s BYOB. The cost is just $45 per person, and seating is limited. Call 604-642-0557 or email info [at] lapentola.ca to reserve. Our full menu will also be available throughout the evening for those not reserving this event. Read more
DINER: Casual West Side “La Ghianda” Set To Serve Its Last Customers This Weekend
March 12, 2013
by Andrew Morrison | One of our favourite West Side lunch spots is shutting down for good after service this Saturday. The Italian-themed La Ghianda delicatessen at 2083 Alma St. has proven to be too much work for chefs Adam Pegg and Lucais Syme, who also own the nearby multiple award-winning La Quercia, it’s neighbouring L’Officio wine bar, and Yaletown’s new La Pentola Della Quercia. “It’s our fault for not being able to spend enough time there.” Adam told me by phone this afternoon. “That’s the bottom line. We just couldn’t be there as much as we needed to be, and that’s not fair to both our cooks and our customers.” They could keep it as a commissary space (for salumi, etc.), but since it picked up a liquor license back in August it would be a crying shame to see the West Side lose an option for a solid meal with a glass or two. Word has it that Yuji from Yuji’s Japanese Tapas has taken a peek at the address, and that’s pretty exciting. He may have shut his West 4th location nearly two years ago, but he’s been on the lookout for new digs. Wouldn’t a finely tuned 20 seat izakaya be awesome for this space? Either way, I’m sad to see La Ghianda go. After a muddy, Saturday morning hike through the Endowment Lands, their meaty orrechiete with ragu always hit the spot!
ALL ANTICIPATED RESTAURANTS
WELCOME: “La Pentola” In The OPUS Hotel Has Joined The Growing Scout Community
March 9, 2013
We’ve invited Yaletown’s La Pentola in the OPUS Hotel to join our GOODS section. The Northern Italian-themed restaurant (from the same folks who brought us the award-winning La Quercia) are now proud members of Scout, and as such we will be posting their news in addition to hosting a page for them on our awesome list of goodnesses. We’d like to take this chance to thank them for their support, and for making Vancouver a more delicious city to live in.
ALL THE LOCAL “GOODS”
La Pentola
March 1, 2013
Details
350 Davie Street | Vancouver, BC , V6B2G2
Telephone: (604) 642-0557 | Email: info@lapentola.ca
Reserve: reservations@lapentola.ca
Website: www.lapentola.ca | Twitter | Facebook
Hours
Open 7 days a week (closed daily 3-5pm)
Breakfast: 7am – 3pm | Lunch: 11:30am – 3pm
Dinner: Sun-Thu: 5pm | Late, Fri & Sat: 5pm – Later
Gallery
People
Chef / Owner – Lucais Syme
Chef / Owner – Adam Pegg
General Manager – Jay Pare
Restaurant Manager – Ricardo Ferreira
About La Pentola
Adam Pegg & Lucais Syme of Vancouver’s award-winning La Quercia restaurant deliver artfully crafted, Northern Italian cuisine at La Pentola della Quercia inside OPUS Hotel Vancouver. Complementing the chef-duo, the city’s most passionate and experienced servers, each expertly trained in all aspects of the menu, skillfully present handmade pastas and “nose to tail” meat and fish dishes at this Vancouver hot-spot.
“La Pentola is inviting and warm. Ditto the service. The food is rustically elegant, a distillation of real Italy and the food is similar to their northern Italy-based La Quercia and La Ghianda offerings – they zero in on great ingredients and capture the Italian soul. Their pilgrimages and work experience in ‘Slow Food’ Italy is evident”. Mia Stainsby, The Vancouver Sun
DINER: Long Awaited “L’Officio” Is (Almost) Ready To Open Next Door To La Quercia
November 16, 2012
by Andrew Morrison | Yes, it’s true. The second most delayed restaurant in the entire city (1st is the new Vij’s) has passed all its permits and is on the very cusp of opening to the public at 3687 West 4th. I saw the finished L’Officio with my own eyes last night, and the wee 20 seater is clearly ready to go. But there’s a snag, because of course there’s a snag! It might even be open to the public already if they weren’t short three or four workers. They can’t pull an opening off without them. Specifically, they’re looking for at least two wine-savvy front of house people and a pair of cooks. So if you know of any good people with a passion for food and wine who are currently looking for work (sure you do), please instruct them to send their resumes to owners/chefs Adam Pegg or Lucais Syme at info@laquercia.ca as quickly as possible to save us Vancouver diners from further wait. As you can see in the shots above, right now the staff from La Quercia next door are using the little would-be wine bar as a place for staff meals alla famiglia before service. I consider such behaviour to be of a taunting nature. That could be us, damnit! So tell you friends – look under rocks – let’s get this place staffed and good to go. Thank you.
ALL ANTICIPATED OPENINGS
DINER: La Ghianda Gets Upgrade, L’Officio Back On Track, And La Pentola Staffs Up
August 15, 2012
by Andrew Morrison | Adam Pegg and Lucais Syme’s acclaimed West Side lunch spot, La Ghianda, has just secured a liquor license. It has accordingly shuttered for a rapid aesthetic upgrade and will reopen with table service, beers, tumblers of wine and new hours this upcoming Tuesday (11:30am until late). The deli is shrinking to accommodate the expansion – to 9 joinable two tops – but rest assured we’ll still be able to score their awesome sauces, cured meats, pastas and such at retail. As for the menu, it will be a set affair of La Ghianda greatest hits: veal scaloppine, orecchiette bolognese, duck confit, penne arrabiata, and so on. The “no reservations” policy will continue as is. Stoked.
In other news, the long anticipated L’Officio (a seemingly false-started restaurant project next to Syme and Pegg’s award-winning La Quercia), has been resurrected after a lengthy entanglement with red tape. They are on track for an opening this winter – November at the earliest.
And there’s also good news for Syme and Pegg’s upcoming Yaletown adventure, La Pentola Della Quercia (in the Opus Hotel): they’ve hired on former restaurateurs Nathalie and Stephan Meyer as manager and chef respectively. This will be the French couple’s homecoming to the Vancouver restaurant scene. You may remember that they gave up “the life” a few years ago when they closed their restaurant, Saveur, on Thurlow off Robson (it became the Corner Suite Bistro De Luxe and is now home Ensemble). Welcome back!
ALL ANTICIPATED RESTAURANTS
DINER: “La Quercia” Chefs To Open New Restaurant In Yaletown’s OPUS Hotel
July 19, 2012
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
GOODS: “La Quercia” Welcomes Tenuta Sant’Antonio To Supper On The West Side
March 7, 2012
The intimate La Quercia is located at 3689 West 4th Ave on Vancouver's West Side | 604-676-1007 | www.laquercia.ca
The GOODS from La Quercia
Vancouver, BC | On Wednesday March 14th at 6:30pm, La Quercia will welcome Aldo Steccanella from Italy’s Tenuta Sant’Antonio (makers of fine Amarone, Valpolicella and Soave). We will be pairing six of Aldo’s premium wines with a menu crafted by La Quercia chefs/owners Adam Pegg and Lucais Syme. The menu will reflect the Veneto, offering several classics dishes from the region. The event is nearly sold out already. Tickets are $150, which includes all wines, food, taxes and gratuities. To book, call 604-676-1007. Learn more about the restaurant after the jump… Read more
DINER: A Sneak Peek Inside Syme & Pegg’s “L’Officio”, Soon To Open On West 4th Ave
December 8, 2011
by Andrew Morrison | After a lovely lunch out on the West Side at La Ghianda the other day, co-owner/chef Lucais Syme invited me across the street to take a look at how the much anticipated L’Officio was coming along. As you can see from the shots below, it looks as if they might actually open ahead of schedule – as in before Christmas – which would rejoicing. I particularly love how deep the bar top is – perfect for amassing dishes – and the back bar wall blackboard, which will list all the plates and wines on offer. Here’s a recap just in case this is the first time you’ve ever heard of the place… Read more
Chefs Lucais Syme & Adam Pegg Of La Quercia To Open L’Officio
September 14, 2011
by Andrew Morrison | Lucais Syme and Adam Pegg, the chefs/owners of the award-winning La Quercia (inarguably one of the most respected restaurants in Vancouver), have secured the address next door to their location at 4th and Alma with the aim of turning it into an Italian wine and tapas (stuzzichini) bar.
Syme and Pegg (who also own the nearby La Ghianda) are calling it “L’Officio”, or “The Office”. It is so named because the new project will finally afford them the square footage for an office. The new – and rather small – restaurant at 3687 West 4th (formerly a shop called “Garden Party”) will have separate frontage from La Quercia (though it may umbilically connect at the rear near the kitchen), fewer than 20 seats, many wines poured by the glass, and what I can only imagine will be a menu card of Italian bar bites that will blow us all away. L’Officio is still in its conceptual stage (ie. construction has yet to begin), so we can only ballpark the date for opening in early 2012. Since these fellows aren’t in the business of doing anything half-assed, I’ll wager it’ll be well worth the wait.
ALL ANTICIPATED RESTAURANTS
La Quercia Offshoot La Ghianda Looking To Staff Up This Week…
January 10, 2011
The intimate La Quercia is located at 3689 West 4th Ave on Vancouver's West Side | 604-676-1007 | www.laquercia.ca
Job posting from Scout supporter La Quercia
Vancouver, BC | La Quercia owners Adam Pegg and Lucais Syme are looking for a good cook or two as well as a counter-person for their new deli/lunch spot, La Ghianda (2083 Alma). Applicants are asked to please drop either establishment with a resume between 10am and 5pm. Read more
West Side’s “La Quercia” To Dish Six Courses Of Alba Truffles
November 13, 2010
The intimate La Quercia is located at 3689 West 4th Ave on Vancouver's West Side | 604-676-1007 | www.laquercia.ca
News from Scout supporter La Quercia
Vancouver, BC | At 7pm on Friday, November the 19th, La Quercia restaurant will play host to twenty lucky gourmands for an incredible feast of white truffles paired with the Piemontese wines of Angelo Gaja. Chefs Adam Pegg and Lucais Syme have built a menu of classics, highlighting the exquisite nature of this rare tuber that will be served in hedonistic proportions.
James Johnson of CRU distribution, Angelo Gaja’s exclusive importer in British Columbia, will talk about the Piedmont region and the wines of Angelo Gaja. Angelo Gaja is internationally recognized as not just one of Italy’s, but one of the world’s greatest winemakers. Angelo Gaja’s wines have been described by Wine Spectator as “perhaps the finest Italian wines ever made.” Menu and details after the jump… Read more
