Have you ever noticed that grandparents, grandmothers especially, seem to be singularly focused on feeding their grandchildren?
My grandmother, for instance, was never without a full pantry of treats to dole out whenever I’d visit, irrespective of the time of day, duration of the visit, or proximity to the next meal.
Perhaps it’s because older generations better understood that food holds a tremendous capacity to forge bonds between people and to reveal commonalities between seemingly disparate traditions, generations or ideologies.
My grandmother and I had radically different world views, but over a bowl of Fricadelle Zupa, a traditional Latvian meatball and potato soup, we shared a proud heritage and relished, in empathic unison, the fundamental human pleasure of a good, warm meal. I miss her and the philosophical debates we had that could only be tempered by our mutual regard for honest cuisine.
And so it is that I now find myself actively seeking out meals that transcend polarizing differences in perspective and invite shared enjoyment. Frequently, it seems, it is Italian cuisine that rises to the occasion, with its deep commitment to shareable plates, high quality ingredients that usually remain unencumbered by over-handling, and passionate creators that so often helm the kitchen.
My recent dinner experience at Mangia e Bevi, which celebrated its seventh year of business in West Vancouver earlier this spring, upheld my belief that the food of Italy is a powerful unifying force.
Accompanying me on my visit was my wife DJ and our friends Sue and Chris. Despite it being a mid-week evening, Mangia e Bevi was busy hosting several larger groups of six or more diners; I counted four such groups in the immediate vicinity of our table, each occupied with patrons of discernibly different ages, engaged in carefree conversation, passing prime morsels of their meals back and forth to each other to sample.
While the restaurant is elegantly appointed and features subtle background music, thoughtful lighting and polished service, there is a welcoming sense of community here, an intrinsic accessibility that is instantly disarming.
I think that the group of us, all parents of young children, were feeling the elation of a rare night out at a nice restaurant and decided, without explicitly discussing it, that we were going to exploit the experience to its fullest potential. Our meal was, in a word, decadent.
It began with a shared plate of Tagliolini Della Maiella, a robustly flavoured dish of narrow, ribbon-shaped pasta with smoked duck, assorted wild mushrooms and a sage-infused truffle oil, all topped off with paper-thin shavings of cheese.
The oil, while earthy and fragrant, was not breathtakingly potent (as can often be the case with truffle infusions) and allowed each of the ingredients to remain identifiable in the mix.
Next up was a round of appetizers, the star of which, by a narrow margin, was my dish of Tortino di Pere, an ingenious creation of flaky puff pastry filled with warm poached pear and creamy blue cheese, topped with arugula and drizzled with truffle honey. The blue cheese, once again sensibly portioned so as not to overwhelm, melted under the heat of the pear and provided a delicious sauce for the pastry.
Chris’s appetizer was another winner and consisted of tender baby squid and grilled calamari steak sautéed in a fresh and simple tomato and caper sauce.
Our main courses were exceptional all around and included Alaskan black cod in a pistachio crust, a rich and unique spaghetti preparation with asparagus, pine nuts, walnuts, oven-dried tomatoes and goat cheese, Dijon-crusted rack of lamb with scalloped potato, and beef tenderloin with homemade ricotta gnocchi, braised shallots and Marsala jus.
Now, about that beef: it was easily among the best steaks I’ve had in recent years. The melt-in-your-mouth, aged tenderloin arrived at perfect medium-rare temperature and was stunningly enhanced by a thin film of Taleggio cheese on top. The handmade gnocchi, plump and tender with indulgent ricotta goodness, were a wonderful complement to the beef and served as ideal vessels for the concentrated Marsala reduction.
A bottle of Lucente, a bold and luscious merlot and sangiovese-based Tuscan red wine, provided a pitch perfect accompaniment to the mains. Sue discovered a new favourite dessert in the form of a warm fig pudding in caramel sauce with vanilla gelato.
Beyond its food and hospitality, Mangia e Bevi also fosters a sense of community through its charitable activities, which include BACIO (Because A Cure Is Obtainable), a cancer fundraiser hosted by the restaurant that has raised more than $230,000 since its kickoff in 2008.
Our bill, which is not necessarily representative of a typical meal, included five appetizers, four mains, a bottle of admittedly indulgent wine, and dessert, and came to $320 before gratuity.
Mangia e Bevi is located at 2222 Marine Drive in West Vancouver. mangiaebevi.ca
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].
