If you’ve been paying attention to all of the restaurants opening around Vancouver, you may have noticed many of them are Italian. From sandwich spots to some of the city’s most popular restaurant groups, Italian restaurants have taken Vancouver by storm. But with so many of them opening so closely together, it can be hard to stand out from the sea of pasta and pizza. However, Vancouver’s latest spot for Italian fare does just that.
Giusti is the latest purveyor of Italian fare to join the city’s ranks, and it’s well worth the visit.
The restaurant is brought to us by an all-star team in the Vancouver culinary world. Think major players like head chef Mark Perrier, hospitality veterans like Cam Watt (The Keefer Bar, Acre, June) and general manager Miguel Quezada (formerly Savio Volpe, Oddfish, and Elio Volpe), talented pastaiolo Tew Udomchaisakul (previously Locanda dell’Orso, Savio Volpe), sous chef Marquella Uhrigh (previously Locanda dell’Orso, Fred’s Restaurant, and Savio Volpe), alongside award-winning wine director Lisa Cook (previously Bufala, Savio Volpe). It’s easy to get star-struck by all the talent working under one roof.
Cam Watt, Carla Giusti, Mark Perrier, Miguel Quezada, Lisa Cook, and Marquella Uhrig (Miguel Quezada/Giusti)
But the vision is all brought together by Carla Giusti, who named the restaurant after her father.
“I wanted to create a restaurant that would honour my father, Romano Giusti. I grew up in a home where no excuse was necessary to fill the kitchen table with food, family, and friends,” said Carla previously.
Located at the previous home of Bar Susu, fans of the now-closed wine bar will find some familiarity in the layout. The bones of the restaurant are still there, including the much-loved loft dining area and lighting fixtures, but the space has been stripped back, putting a focus on natural wood tones and intentionally simplistic decor. There’s no fuss or frills here, and that goes right down to the food, which is something that chef Perrier takes pride in.
Marco Ovies/Dished
“The most important thing is getting the good ingredients to start with, and then not interfering in them too much, doing as little as you can in order to get them onto the plate. That’s kind of how I always approach cooking Italian food,” he told Dished when we stopped by ahead of service.
The menu here is split into three distinct sections: Spuntini and Bruschetta, Verdure di Stagione (seasonal vegetables), and Pasta Fatta a Mano (pasta made by hand).
Incorporating a section dedicated to seasonal vegetables was something important to Perrier and Quezada when planning the restaurant.
“When Miguel and I started talking about the restaurant, the two things that we were really interested in was this idea of a vegetable-forward menu that also specialized in pastas,” said Perrier. “I think an issue for me was that, especially during certain times of the year, there are just so many vegetables, you just can’t get them all on your menu because there’s just not enough space. So we decided to devote a whole section to it.”
Perrier also added that, while some will be, not all the dishes on this portion of the menu will necessarily be vegetarian, but rather vegetables flavoured with seafood and meats.
During our visit, we only had the chance to try one of the pastas on the menu: the Anolini. It consists of a sauce made from a rendered-down type of spicy salami called ‘nduja and four cheeses. It’s then topped off with a drizzle of wildflower honey.
Marco Ovies/Dished
“I wanted to make something that kind of tasted like that pizza that’s all over the place, with the pepperoni cups and the ricotta,” explained Perrier.
This deceptively simple dish immediately won us over after one bite. The sweetness of the honey helped balance the spicy sauce, and there are few things better than fresh pasta.
If this dish is any indication of the magic that the team at Giusti is working with, in addition to the perfectly curated feel of the restaurant, then we can expect great things from the future of Giusti.
Giusti is currently open daily from 5 to 10 p.m., with reservations available online.
Address: 209 East 6th Ave., Vancouver
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Dining and Cooking