{"id":40900,"date":"2012-04-14T05:43:29","date_gmt":"2012-04-14T11:43:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wend.ca\/?p=40900"},"modified":"2020-06-20T20:32:47","modified_gmt":"2020-06-21T00:32:47","slug":"cioppinos-mediterranean-grill-vancouver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wend.ca\/?p=40900","title":{"rendered":"Cioppinos Mediterranean Grill, Yaletown"},"content":{"rendered":"

I couldn’t escape Cioppinos. At every turn their name was seemingly featured in newspaper, website, magazine and hotel advertisements. They’ve even published their own cookbook<\/a>. According to one magazine article, Cioppinos is known for it’s people watching opportunities. Tom Cruise is listed as a frequenter of the restaurant.<\/p>\n

Cioppinos is only a block from the Opus hotel where most of our team was staying; so, it was only inevitable that we ended up here for an evening meal.<\/p>\n

We sat by the open kitchen, which was a great opportunity to see Cioppinos’ role based cooking. Like in a play, each person has their own part in the production of a meal. There is a pasta person, a sauce person, a soup person, a desert person, etc. <\/p>\n

In many of top restaurants around the world there is a “mash potato” person who makes potatoes by the door and adds them to the plate as it leaves the kitchen. The theory is that mashed potatoes are only good within a few minutes after making them, so they need to arrive at the customer mere moments after being made. <\/p>\n

As expected, the food at Cioppinos was sublime. I wasn’t expecting anything less. Soup, fish, vegetables, gelato… all done very well and made gluten\/dairy free. The chef, Pino Posteraro, came to our table frequently to make sure we were enjoying the food and answer any questions we had. It was a wonderful experience.<\/p>\n

The only missing link was the gluten-free bread… quality wise it seemed out of place. This is based purely on personal conjecture; in the past year I’ve done a lot of experimenting with handmade gluten-free breads. <\/p>\n

This is a minor thing and certainly wouldn’t keep me from going back to Cioppinos. The fact that they serve gluten free bread puts them ahead of most other restaurants.<\/p>\n