When I was a young boy in the earliest years of elementary school, my mother and I were effectively adopted by a kindly Italian grandmother who lived across the street from us.
This grandmother, who was named Leontina, and who would, on her insistence, eventually be known to us simply as Nonna, had watched me and my mother from a distance for some time, sizing us up.
She finally determined that we were decent folk and ordained that I should be friends with her granddaughter, a pleasant enough girl who was in my grade but in a different classroom and with whom I had not previously had much interaction.
Nonna had an affable but insistent way about her and soon my mother and I found ourselves whiling the after-school hours away in her company, invariably enjoying an endless supply of treats, including cookies, preserves, pastas, cheeses, olives and cured meats.
Nonna maintained an impressive garden replete with herbs and vegetables, as well as an expansive chicken coop from which issued incomparably fresh brown eggs.
In addition, Nonna’s house had a thoroughly stocked pantry that was home to all manner of Italian sundries for which I have developed a lifelong affection.
What always struck me about Nonna was how effortless she made every impromptu meal seem, throwing together a veritable feast in a matter of minutes.
As I write these words, my mother, who is visiting from Ontario, is downstairs playing with the kids, including our newest addition, Baby N, who she is meeting for the first time on this trip.
My mother and I broke away from family activities a few days back to check out Caffe Al Mercato, the bright and airy Italian café and delicatessen on Marine Drive that is owned by the team behind Mangia e Bevi, which is situated right across the street.
I wrote about Mangia e Bevi back in May of last year, recounting the excellent, decadent meal I had there. Nearly a year later, walking into Caffe Al Mercato, I felt like I had discovered the backbone of Mangia e Bevi’s menu, the restaurant’s equivalent of Nonna’s garden and pantry.
The café, with its high ceilings, concrete floor and minimalist, modern furniture, is home to a wonderful retail operation, supplying West Vancouver with a robust selection of Italian goods, including ready-to-roll pizza dough, oils and vinegars, cheeses, cured meats, soups, pastas, sauces, gelato and so much more.
Showing rare and commendable discipline, I emerged from Al Mercato bearing only some pizza dough and a small selection of biscotti, but the market is one of these places in which I could see myself spending every available dollar on Italian indulgences. After all, I can pay the Hydro bill next month, can’t I?
I must confess that in addition to my modest retail purchases I also left Al Mercato with a belly full of tasty pasta from the lunch I shared with my mother.
The café has a nice menu of ever-changing pasta dishes available daily, in addition to breakfast items, panini, soups, salads and an extensive list of espresso-based beverages. They are also licensed, offering a small but considered list of wines and beers.
Guests select and pay for their meals at the till and are given a number, which is eventually called out when the kitchen has plated the order.
On hand during my visit was Mangia e Bevi/Al Mercato co-owner Antonio Sauro, who helped run food to tables and worked the room as host to a substantial crowd of largely tennis wear-clad guests who he seemed to know by name.
My mother and I shared a bowl of fresh and bright minestrone soup to start, reasonably priced at $5 and jam packed with still al dente vegetables including cabbage, beans, and potatoes.
We also shared a substantial caprese salad, featuring ripe red tomato slices with torn basil leaves and springy medallions of bocconcini, all drizzled with a fragrant, tangy olive oil.
For her main course, my mother chose Tagliolini Pasta with Prawns, thin, linguini-like noodles tossed in a chili, garlic and herb-infused olive oil with seven perfectly seared, tail-on prawns.
A glass of simple, fruit-forward pinot grigio cut nicely through the roundness of the oil.
Simplicity is the name of the game at Caffe Al Mercato, as the kitchen employs only a few lovely, fresh, complementary ingredients in each dish, finding the best expression for each flavour.
I also opted for pasta, selecting Vesuvio with mild Italian sausage and mushrooms in tomato sauce. Vesuvio pasta, presumably named after the volcanic mountain in Campania, bears a slight resemblance to girolle mushrooms, with flat, round discs and thin, curved stems.
The tomato sauce was fragrant and not overworked, with a punchy acidity that nicely balanced the richness of generous chunks of heady sausage. I chose a glass of deep, round Falasco Valpolicella to accompany the pasta.
Our meal was $61 before gratuity. Caffe Al Mercato is located at 2215 Marine Drive in West Vancouver. 604-922-4334
Chris Dagenais served as a manager for several restaurants downtown and on the North Shore. A self-described wine fanatic, he earned his sommelier diploma in 2001. Contact: [email protected].
