This series maps out our editors’ picks for Vancouver’s best and most legendary comfort foods. We encourage readers to steer us towards their favourites in the comments or by using the hashtag #ScoutYVR on social media.
“Wait..garlic knots? Oh, we’re totally having those…” That was me over the menu at Savio Volpe the other night. I try to avoid preceding meals with a bunch of carbs, but I’ll make happy exceptions when they’re warm and loaded with garlic, pecorino and Grana Padano cheese. They’re even better when dipped in plainly perfect marinara sauce. Invented in Brooklyn during the Second World War, the garlic knot is an American comfort food almost exclusively found in red sauce joints and pizzerias looking to stretch the value of their dough. They are uncommon on the west coast, and usually poorly executed. They’d actually be more at home at Savio’s casual sister restaurant, Pepino’s Spaghetti House on Commercial Drive, but these were the best I’ve ever had outside of New York City so the address of their service doesn’t matter (just so long as I can eat ’em).