Images by Michelle Mateus When the sun is out and the air is fresh, there is no reason to drink and dine indoors. Slip on the sandals, bring your friends and family, and set out to a few of Coquitlam’s best patios. We’ll be your photographic guide. First up, Pasta Polo. The Margarita pizza is topped with fresh basil from the on-site greenhouse, that even the youngest clientele love. Next up: Mariner Brewing. Click here for Part 2.
By Kristi Alexandra Imagine taking your two favourite pastimes and making them into a business. That’s what Pizzeria Ludica owner Daryl Boone decided to do. He and his wife opened up their first restaurant on Vancouver’s Keefer Street four years ago, combining the two things they loved to do together most: share a meal and play board games. “The idea is that people can come and order food, and after they’ve eaten they can stay up to two hours to play board games,” Boone tells WestCoastFood. “I’ve been in the board game hobby for 10-plus years with my wife, and we’ve been looking for a small business to do together for a long time,” he says, “we thought we’d really like it if there were more restaurants out there that had more board games.” So they decided to do it themselves, adding some of their own personal collection to the…
By Kathy Mak Dried pasta is one of the most popular staples in home pantries around the world. While it may seem like a basic food – made with flour and water – there’s far more to dried pasta than you think. Specifically, artisan-style dried pasta crafted from traditional methods is higher in quality, flavour and is better for you, as I learned from North Vancouver’s Ingrain Pastificio. What it boils down to is that their artisan pasta offers a better textured, more flavourful, highly digestible pasta with greater nutritional values. Behind an understated storefront in Parkgate Village, near Deep Cove, you’ll find the welcoming contemporary pasta-centric eatery, Ingrain, where stellar dishes are abundant and pastas are all house-made on premise by Head Chef Erick Kauko and his team. Ingrain is considered the only manufacturer of slow dried, traditional pasta in the Lower Mainland and one of a few on…
By Sheliza Mitha For those who love coffee, there is nothing quite as satisfying and soul replenishing as an authentically-Italian cup of joe (whether it’s an Americano, cappuccino, latte, etc.). In Coquitlam’s Austin Heights, a veritable foodie hub, you’ll find the GianCarlo Deli – the perfect place to get your Italian caffeine fix, and then some. A few short blocks away are more tempting Italian old-world traditions and flavours at the acclaimed Golden Boot Caffe and Jimoco Café and Pasta. I ventured to Austin Heights in search of traditional Italian fare – and that’s just what I got, in many different forms. My self-guided tour of Italy kicked off with a smooth latte at GianCarlo’s, where I perused the neatly stacked shelves of pasta, sauces, imported biscuits, crackers, juices and more. The morning I was there, the owner was busily making homemade lasagne noodles in the kitchen at the back…