Can someone say prego?

I can honestly say that securing an 11:45am reservation at the Italian Kitchen at 1037 Alberni Street in downtown Vancouver was akin to winning a Grammy. For those of you not familiar with the Grammys, let me put it to you this way: you don’t know what to say once you get up there, but you probably want to thank your parents, your record label, your significant other, and whatever else comes to mind.

I’m not in a band. I’ve also never won a Grammy. But I did want to give a shout out to my make-believe record label, etc. when I walked through the doors as I was in a state of shock. Why? Simple…securing a lunch or dinner table there over the past little while has been as easy as trying to separate an Oreo cookie from the cream that’s been sitting in the freezer for a few days. And from my experience…it’s worth it!

The Italian Kitchen is the most recent offering of the Glowbal Restaurant Group here in Vancouver (see the trendy little take out bags).

If you’re thinking Sanafir, Coast, or Glowbal, yeah, that’s them. As I’ve said before, I’m not a restaurant critic. For that, take a look at what urbandiner had to say about the Italian Kitchen in Vancouver (some interesting comments on service, I might add).

Me, I’m more of a service critic, so with that in mind, let’s recount my experience with a few colleagues of mine from Australia yesterday for lunch at the Italian Kitchen:

• arrived (at 11:45am) and were promptly seated in the upstairs restaurant section…to my surprise the place was completely empty

• were promptly attended to, napkins (or serviettes) put on our laps, chairs pushed in, and drink orders taken

• great conversation ensued and within 10 or 15 minutes or so, the place, from what I could tell, was completely full (and, I might add, quite noisy)

• I ordered the kobe beef lasagna (which was the chef’s special yesterday) and it was fantastic…not only were all three dishes brought out on time (which was perfectly timed, I might add), but the presentation and delivery were fantastic (timing and delivery…)

• the server knew when to interject and did not hassle us with the voracity of a Wal-Mart greeter or GAP salesperson…she timed it very well such that we knew she was there, but she really didn’t appear to be (perfect server etiquette, in my view)

• we declined on dessert and coffee (as my colleagues had to hop a flight back to Aussie land) and the bill was brought promptly

The Italian Kitchen is definitely a place ‘to be seen’ at as the crowd is considerably upscale and trendy. From my experience with the Glowbal Restaurant Group, this tends to be the norm, or so it seems.  Putting all that aside, I really don’t care what a restaurant ‘tries’ to be (or not be)…if service is offered that’s notable, it’s worth checking out.

With that said, I think the Italian Kitchen has a lot of road left to run on in downtown Vancouver as the business traffic in that little strip of Alberni Street has definitely been increasing in volume given the popularity of Saltlik (not the Saltlik in Calgary, mind you) and will most definitely skyrocket once the Shangri-La Vancouver and the Ritz Carlton Vancouver hotel megaplexes open their doors not two blocks away.

Buon appetito!

darren