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A Sneak Peek Inside ‘Giovane Bacaro’

Kitchen Table Restaurants’ new Giovane Bacaro is opening later this week at 1049 West Cordova St. on the main floor of the Fairmont Pacific Rim.

Earlier this week I took a look inside the St. Marie-designed space as staff were gathering for training with GM Mark Taylor and some finishing touches were being made to the 100% bar-height dining room and mostly open kitchen. It’s a unique space, one that feels at once casual, comfortable and slick enough for both business meetings and evening hangs. Of the many things to dig about the woody room, I think diners will be especially partial to the narrow, standing-only high-top tables (if not using them then just watching those who do); the 20-bottle Enomatic wine-dispensing system (from a 60+ bottle list developed by Wine Director Cassandra Mosher); and one or two of the many decorative elements intended to evoke the City of Canals, such as the replica of a fully beaked 17th century plague mask (because it’s been that kind of year).

GM Mark Taylor and Executive Chef Scott Korzack.

Chef Scott Korzack’s menu reads temptingly and thematically close to the point with dishes like a Harry’s Bar-inspired carpaccio (with peas and Piave Vecchio cheese) and plenty of snackable, wine-friendly cicchetti. Seeing as the project is coming from the Kitchen Table crew (see also Ask For Luigi, Pizzeria Farina, Pourhouse, Farina a Legna) across the board deliciousness is fairly expected. We’ll more than likely be in good hands on the food front, and though I have yet to see Bar Director Tyson Davies drinks list I know it’s Aperitivo-focused, which is to say not too complicated and in complete lockstep with the restaurant’s focused concept. The appointment of Mark Taylor (ex-Siena, Cru) to oversee service is also super reassuring. Good signs, all.

The new, 65-seat Venetian-inspired concept launches for sit down lunch and dinner services on June 10th with the attached (and already open) caffe launching earlier in the mornings.

Here’s the full presser if you missed it earlier this week, plus a bunch of photographs from this week’s walkthrough…

Award-winning, BC-based hospitality group Kitchen Table Restaurants will introduce a Northern Italian-inspired wine-and-cicchetti bar experience that brings the very best culinary aspects of Venice to the heart of Vancouver when it officially opens the doors of giovane bacaro on Thursday, June 10.

Opening on the lobby level at the Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel, giovane bacaro will take its guests on a sensory tour of the style, service, and atmosphere of Northern Italian’s quintessential ‘bacaros’ under the guiding hand of General Manager Mark Taylor (Cibo Trattoria, Siena).

Chef Scott Korzack’s (Ask For Luigi, Autostrada, L’Abattoir) food menu will be informed by the seasons and strong relationships with local farms and purveyors, infused with Italian sensibilities, traditions, and techniques, while encouraging patrons to explore and embrace a choose-your-own-adventure dining experience via Venice’s signature cicchetti (small plates).

Award-winning interior design firm Ste. Marie Studios has brought the space to life by paying homage to mid-century contemporary Italian style and design pioneers by incorporating feature marble, intermittent pops of colour, and the focal point and showpiece of the space — a metre-long forcola, (a wooden oarlock used in Venetian gondolas) — as a nod to the space’s heritage and mode of transportation in its storied canals.

Aperitivi rules the day — and night — at giovane bacaro with a beverage menu overseen by Bar Director Tyson Davies that includes cocktails, spritzes and spirits that incorporate an array of chilled Italian vermouths, artisanal amari, bitters and prosecco in drinks inspired by traditional Italian culture and the new Aperitivo movement.

giovane bacaro’s wine program follows the lead of Wine Director Cassandra Mosher, who believes “wine is meant to be enjoyed, not dissected, fawned over or fetishized” and aims to take the pretension out of the wine experience. Bacaro’s approachable yet thoughtfully curated selection will showcase varietals from small, family run wineries of Northern Italy as well as special, standout gems from BC’s own backyard in a list offering by the glass and bottle options and flights that encourage adventure.

In the newly dedicated giovane caffé space, espresso aficionados have a fresh destination to enjoy ‘caffé speciali’ and a thoughtfully curated selection of beverages that includes mandorlattes, marocchinos, bicerins and affogatos, among others. Guests can also enjoy singular espresso experiences via Italian engineer Alfonso Bialetti’s iconic Moka Pots — a staple in many Italian households and, at giovane caffé, one that marries old-world Italian heritage with contemporary techniques by utilizing a rotation of local small-batch roasted beans and ideal extraction times to produce superior coffee with each pour.

Take a closer look inside…

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Neighbourhood: West End
1049 West Cordova St.
604-687-9887

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