Vancouver Good

I give my friends a tour of Granville Island often, but we were all in the mood for something different this weekend, so we went to Commercial Drive.

The Drive is an interesting spot in the city.  People usually call Commercial Drive Vancouver’s “Little Italy.” It is very Italian, but I can’t say there are any Italian restaurants on the Drive I need to eat at. Don’t assume the Italian food is good just because you’re in the Italian district (that said, people would tell me Lombardo’s and Marcelo’s are okay bets. But just okay to me. And only the Commercial Drive Lombardo’s, not their other location).

The Commercial Drive Website has a nice guide of the ‘hood online here (pdf).   I usually spend my time between E 1st ave and E 6th ave. But if I have the time I’ll walk further north towards Kitchener and Charles St, which has more restaurants and a slightly different vibe.  Grandview Park on a summer day is always lovely, as is ice skating at Britannia Community Centre.

But, back to Saturday. Our focus was mainly food, and we only had a couple hours, so we hit what I think are the best spots:

First, brunch at Cafe Deux Soleils – casual vegetarian eatery with big portions and tasty cheap eats. Organic coffee, fresh baked muffins, smoothies, and breakfast eats like veggie hash, eggs benny, veggie sausage.

Next, Prado Cafe for me, as the coffee at Cafe Deux Soleils didn’t quite have the punch I needed. One shot of espresso and a shot of water. Perfectly smooth and strong. Prado is one of many good coffee houses on the Drive. Look for JJ Bean, Prado, Joe’s, Continental, or anything independent. Not Waves or Starbucks.

Suitably caffeinated, we got distracted shopping at Barefoot Contessa (lovely, girly things) and Wonderbucks (for cheap housewares).

And then came the food shopping.

- The First Ravioli Store for fresh pastas and Italian ingredients like olive oil packed tuna, olives, and all sorts of pasta shapes.

- Fratelli Bakery , which always smells amazing when you walk in. Italian pastries (plus a few French pastries for good measure). In additional to breads and cakes, they also carry a big variety of little tarts and squares that are great for dinner party desserts. The best deal here is their frozen pizza dough, which comes in white or whole wheat for cheap (I paid $1.25 last time I bought it, but that was a while ago).

- La Grotta Del Formaggio. My go-to place for Italian meats, pastas, olive oils, cheeses, and San Marzano tomatoes.  I often see the same olive oil they carry at Urban Fare for $5-10 more. Their sandwich bar is very popular – piled high with different meats & cheeses and grilled.

- JNZ Deli. There was a line-up out the door when we arrived. We patiently waited and were rewarded with the lovely smell of smoked meat when we opened the door. I bought some bacon, which was AMAZING. So good.

- Belgian Fries. The fries and poutine here are good, but they are really just carriers for their wasabi mayo dip, which is addicting.

After a big cone of fries and lots of shopping we were broke, full, and happy….and done! If we had more time, we would have ventured north on Commercial Drive, but we’ll save that for another day.

See map for location details of all places.