By Brittany Tiplady
If you’re looking for seasonal, colourful, Italian cuisine in the Fraser Valley, the heart of Langley has a true hidden gem: The OSSO Lunchroom is a rustic, Italian break to your day, serving up fabulous lunch and dinner plates.
Helmed by the acclaimed executive chef and owner Sean Bone, the chalkboard menu is always budding with options suitable for various palates and preferences. It’s nearly impossible to decide one item: the options for soups, salads, sandwiches, pastas, pizzas and desserts seem to be endless.
The space is warm and inviting; the decor is somewhat reminiscent of a rustic kitchen or dining area that could be found in a Tuscan villa. “Our vision for the restaurant was to have a modest beginning, based on Italian cuisine. Providing food made from scratch using as much local product as we could, from the ground to your plate,” says Chef Bone. “So naturally our design for the space came from the surrounding areas of Langley: a rich history of farming and early settlement. We used local reclaimed wood, metal and stone.”
Lunch at OSSO called for an abundant feast for two. We opted for the kale, butternut squash and feta salad to start ($13.75, option to add rosemary chicken for $4.95); a generous portion accented with fresh radishes, carrots, peppers, and chickpeas. Fulled by robust greens, we moved on to the polenta fries special accompanied by a dollop dilly yogurt ($6.50); perfectly seasoned with a delightful salty crunch and a soft earthy centre. For our main, we shared the favoured prosciutto, arugula, pesto, tomato pizza ($17.50). Served flatbread style in a perfect-for-sharing-portion, with thin crust, fresh greens, and gentle notes of acidity from the tomato and pesto base.
To drink, I had a crisp glass of gamay rosé from the Bordertown Osoyoos Winery. For craft beer lovers, OSSO also has a selection of rotating taps featuring local breweries—Trading Post, Steel & Oak and Four Winds were represented. “Our wines are all from BC with some being organic,” explains Chef Bone. “We have a small variety of local wines that have great value in a restaurant setting but still provide exceptional flavour.”
Although well-hidden, OSSO is a coveted Langley spot often buzzing with hungry (and thirsty!) patrons during lunch hour. Whether you’re heading in for a quick bite to go, or for a more traditional sit-down meal, OSSO hits the spot.
“The community response to [our restaurant] has been so great. We are still in a city where big chain restaurants lead the charge with major food purveyors supplying them their goods. So to get our message across, we continue to use no major food purveyors for our produce, beef, veal, pork, lamb and seafood. We do this to prove that when you source food directly from farmers, small local producers, or when it’s grown yourself, you can truly give back to the community that you’re doing business in.”
OSSO Lunchroom
20381 #703 62 Ave.
Langley, BC, Canada
ossolunchroom.com
Open Monday-Wednesday (11 am- 8 pm), Thursday-Saturday (11 am – 9 pm).
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