Hats Off to Burnaby neighbourhood as road traffic makes way for pedestrians
Katya Holloway
Sun
Chef Leonardo Moschetti and general manager Valerie Moschetti at Vita Bella Ristorante. Photograph by : Bill Keay, Vancouver Sun
Each day, hundreds of vehicles stream past Vita Bella Ristorante on Hastings Street in Burnaby.
Students peer aimlessly out of bus windows, text books spread across their laps. Businessmen chat on Bluetooth behind the wheel of their BMWs en route to Vancouver from Port Moody.
This restaurant is simply a blip in their already chaotic commutes. Few people take the time to walk through this stretch of north Burnaby.
But this will all change on Saturday, when tens of thousands of pedestrians flood the streets from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. for Hats Off Day.
One day a year, this stretch of Hastings between Boundary and Gamma is closed to four-wheeled traffic, giving the community a chance to see what businesses in the area have to offer.
Festivities include a parade at 9 a.m., a vintage car show in the 4500 block of Hastings, live music and street performers, a reptile petting zoo and food stalls lining the street.
Staff from Vita Bella will be setting up an outdoor table, selling sausages, prawns, meatballs, lamb chops, gelato and sorbetto.
“This is an area where we don’t get a lot of foot traffic, so this is a big day of the year for us,” explains general manager/owner Valerie Moschetti.
Being a resident of north Burnaby, I too am one of these hectic commuters who has passed by Vita Bella hundreds of times, eyeing its stylish facade, but not really taking it in. Recently, my husband Nigel and I decided to park the car and have a meal.
For a Wednesday evening, the place was bustling. Many of the diners appeared to be locals or regulars. Olive-coloured walls, a full bar, big windows and low lighting create a sophisticated atmosphere .
Vita Bella is all about “casual fine dining,” says chef/owner Leo Moschetti, who was born and trained in Bari, Italy. He moved to Canada in 1982 and has cooked at the Lonsdale Quay Hotel, taught at the Pacific Institute of the Culinary Arts, and has been a part owner of Amici Restaurant. Here, Moschetti’s inventive menu combines traditional southern Italian food with West Coast ingredients.
We started out with the Vita Bella salad, a warm salad with grilled romaine lettuce, marinated peppers, artichokes, fennel, onions and mushrooms with a goat cheese, red wine vinaigrette.
Nigel’s fork conquered the plate as we battled for bites to the finish. The salad had lots of bold flavours, and I liked how even the lettuce was grilled. It was a little heavy on olive oil for my liking but Nigel declared it “one of the best salads I’ve had.”
The portobello mushroom stuffed with Dungeness crab meat and cream cheese was very tasty, although the best part of this starter was its tangy bed of lemon-marinated sea asparagus.
A highlight dish for us was the smoked duck affettato appetizer. The duck was lean and lightly smoked with a delicious side of orange cranberry compote, adding a pleasing tang.
Nigel was delighted with the roasted half-rack of lamb, which came with a reduced wine sauce of muscat raisins and pine nuts, giving the meat a touch of sweetness and texture. It was served with grilled asparagus, peppers, eggplant and baby potatoes. The pistachio-crusted halibut with a creamy pesto sauce was light and succulent, served with a side of risotto and grilled vegetables.
However, the gnocchi alla contadina was a disappointment. They were filled with artichokes, young spinach and Roma tomatoes, but I found the sauce too bland.
Of course, no Italian meal is complete without a homemade tiramisu, and this one should certainly not be missed. Moschetti’s recipe has a “secret mixture” of espresso and liqueurs layered between biscuits and mascarpone. The restaurant also offers cheesecake, sorbetto and gelato, specialty coffees and liqueurs, not to mention a fully stocked bar with a great selection of Italian, B.C. and other worldly wines.
This place is worth parking the car for an hour or two. And why not take a stroll down Hastings to discover everything else this area has to offer?
– For more info on Hats Off Day, visit www.hatsoffday.com.
– VITA BELLA RISTORANTE
Overall: 3 1/2
Food: 3 1/2
Ambience: 3
Service: 4 1/2
Price: $$
4544 Hastings St., Burnaby, 604-298-4464
www.vitabellaristorante.ca
Open Wednesday to Thursday: 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday: 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., Sunday and Monday: 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., closed Tuesdays.
Restaurant visits are conducted anonymously and interviews are done by phone. Restaurants are rated out of five stars.
© The Vancouver Sun 2008
