Stainsby Not Wooed by Blacktail Florist, Levykh Charmed By Little Charlie's and Gill Swoons at Beyond

Mia Stainsby visits Blacktail Florist and finds a restaurant which "feels incomplete, a reno that busted its budget at the plywood wall stage." Alas for Chef Jimmy Stewart, Mia isn't "completely wooed"; a cucumber dish with crispy pig's ear was "nicely done" and the fried chicken with beignets and beet ketchup "full of harmonic flavours" but a smoked bacon broth with shrimp had a 'sloppy' and 'overly salty' broth. Desserts "didn't dazzle" but cocktails by Connor Gotowiec "are interesting" giving a score of 3.5/5 overall.

Over in the Westender Anya Levykh heads for Little Charlie's on South Main from the team at Union and El Camino's in the old Habit space and finds a neighbourhood Italian that's "friendly without being over-solicitous, and the service is knowledgeable without being officious". Giving them 3/5 overall, Levykh declares the antipasti "spot on" and the linguine carbonara is "rich with Two Rivers pancetta.. given the right amount of bang with lots of black pepper."  

It's another upbeat, positive review from Alexandra Gill over at Beyond in the Century Plaza Hotel as she rediscovers a favourite chef, Moreno Miotto , back in Vancouver after 4 years in Italy. "One of Canada's finest chefs is running a budget hotel dining room". She no fan of the room "...a dog's breakfast of river rock, crystal, white leather, grey tartan, glass-walled ramps and Lego-like blocks of multi-coloured nightclub lighting" but swoons over the menu, "the (pasta) dough is all hand-made and the sauces exquisitely balanced" an heirloom beet salad with pine nut hummus and verjus is 'lovely' and a braised lamb shank a 'refined version of the classic' all adding up to a storming 3/4 overall.
· Blacktail Florist a Blossoming Addition to Gastown [VanSun]
· Casual Italian Fare Comes to South Main [WE]
· The Vancouver Restaurant with Pasta Far Beyond its Ugly Decor [G&M]
· All Previous Week in Reviews [EVAN]