I took a look inside the upcoming Vicino Pastaria & Deli next to Nicli Antica Pizzeria the other day. We published the press release detailing its coming back in January…

Vancouver’s first and foremost Vera Pizza Napolentana Nicli Antica is about to expand. Owners Bill and Alison McCaig are working tirelessly to bring the same level of quality and passion for Italian food to the logical next step, literally next door!

The new restaurant, named with the help of Vancouver-based Industrial Brand, will be called Vicino Pastaria & Deli. “’Vicino’ means “neighbour” in Italian, which seems fitting considering its location next door to Nicli, yet is also meant to express their commitment to the Gastown neighbourhood.” says Ben Garfinkel, Creative Director.

“Fresh filled and extruded dried pasta will be made on site using the best ingredients,” promises McCaig, “with cured meats, imported, local and some made in house available to enjoy on premises or for your table at home.” The plan is to not only curate a terrific retail selection of ingredients, but apply the same approach to quality and authenticity used next door at Nicli to create a suite of signature sauces and which customers can take home and finish themselves, or sit down at the long share table and enjoy with other likeminded food fanatics from the neighbourhood.

It’s come a long way since, as you can see from the shots below. In fact, it’s now only about eight weeks away from completion, which is pretty impressive considering how there was no existing kitchen to work with when they started construction. I’ll be writing about it and four other upcoming restaurants in my Westender column next week, so stay tuned for all the details as to what we can expect.