Common wisdom has it that you can never really go home again once you have left.
As time passes, memories become idealized and our perspectives of the world change, making even home, once a place of instant comfort and intimate familiarity, seem strangely alien upon revisiting.
When I look back on my childhood it is not the exhilarating "wow" moments (the trip to Disneyland, the first BMX bicycle, the arrival of a kitten) that stir me and make me long for a simpler time. It is the comparatively pedestrian, everyday routine of early life that plucks a nostalgic chord now. I remember meals at the kitchen table with my mother, for example, with tremendous fondness. She always took time to prepare something hot and nutritious for dinner, and took pride in introducing me to new spices and flavours as my palate grew more adventurous.
When I cook for my children now, an enthusiastic "yum" or a request for seconds from them satisfies me more profoundly than a 20 per cent gratuity ever did when I worked in restaurants. I understand now, as an adult living on the other side of the country from my mother, that every meal we take the time to cook for our children, no matter how simple or seemingly commonplace, is prepared with a view to making them happy.
I blame these wistful meditations on a recent visit to Mama's Italian Café, a bright and tiny diner situated in the heart of the industrial centre along Riverside Drive in North Vancouver. As I sat and ate a dense, hearty, and all around comforting bowl of curried lentil soup with spinach, Enza Ungarini, the café's eponymous Mama, owner and lead chef, described to me her philosophy of cooking.
"I don't like to just open some can or package and there is your soup," she said, with a disdainful, dismissive gesture. "No, I make all of my soups from scratch, all with fresh vegetables."
Making soup stock from the ground up is a lot of work, particularly in the confines of a roughly 70-square-foot kitchen. Achieving a vegetarian stock that exhibits great depth of flavour and balanced seasoning, all while simultaneously preparing homemade pasta, great vats of fresh tomato sauce, housemade bread and pastries, roasts for sandwich fillings, and daily entrée specials, is nothing short of amazing.
Enza's warm hospitality made me feel like I was a guest in the kitchen of a good friend's mother. She was more than happy to describe the ingredients and techniques for the numerous dishes about which I enquired, while never taking her eye off the long list of tasks at hand to make her small, inviting diner tick. Enza and her husband Giancarlo, co-owner and instrumental member of the kitchen team, bantered in Italian as they divided and conquered both the service of guests and preparations for the next day's meal rush.
Mama's location makes it a prime destination for workers of the surrounding industrial neighbourhood. Regular lunch guests can pick up a stainless steel tiffin of hot food and return it the next day in exchange for another. This personalized approach to dining also extends to an offering that Enza describes as "family catering." Two days in advance of their desired meal service, guests can bring in their own casserole dishes and Enza will prepare either cannelloni or lasagna (both daily staples of Mama's menu) directly in the dish, saving on wasteful disposable containers.
In addition to the lentil soup, modestly priced at $3.45 for a large bowl, my lunch consisted of two massive, wonderfully spiced, lean beef meatballs and two mild Italian sausages, topped with fresh tomato sauce and accompanied by rice and salad.
The meatballs were moist and delicious, exhibiting subtle flavours of basil and Parmesan, while the sausages were plump and juicy, bursting with vibrant and herbaceous fennel notes. The tomato sauce was perfect in its simplicity; clearly the fruits of our hot summer growing season have been harnessed here. The small accompanying salad, which can so often be an afterthought in restaurants, was carefully assembled with lovely crisp radicchio, cucumber, tomato, olives, feta and balsamic vinaigrette. This tasty, generously portioned entrée was $7.95.
Mama's menu also features a host of large sandwiches, all priced at an even $5, with several containing roast meats that are prepared on the premises.
Specials change almost daily and typically feature dishes such as chicken parmigiano, meatloaf, and roast chicken.
Oh, and if you visit and wonder about all the posters and scale models of high performance Italian motorcycles that adorn the restaurant, apparently the entire Ungarini family rides. The unassuming and jovial Enza can be seen tearing through town on her scarlet red Ducati 748.
Mama's Italian Café is located at 151 Riverside Dr., North Vancouver. Phone: 604-924-1111.
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].
