Vikas Sharma

I should start this review with a couple of points.

My wife and I have visited My Cucina: La Casa della Bruschetta several times in the past couple of years since they’ve opened, and each time the experience has been lovely.

The servers are always on top of it and the food is great.

They have very affordable, quaffing house wine that is very decent, and served at a temperature that it should be served, cool.

This is how you set up a great, neighbourhood pizza joint.

I wanted to address something – and it’s not dissimilar to my review on The Kitchen by Abdul Adame in Penticton – and that is that this place isn’t for everyone. It’s for people who appreciate what My Cucina is, which is a great neighbourhood pizza joint run by someone who understands Italian food.

In my 20’s, I worked for a year or two in a kitchen with a chef straight off the boat from Italy. And it wasn’t fun, but the education that I received on Italian food culture was indescribable. Rule #1, my chef told me, “Canadians don’t know how to go to the bathroom or eat.”

He always said “put little or no salt, Canadians will reach for the salt shaker before they even taste the food.”

So, I get the sentiment from the Chef and his team when I read the Google reviews.

What did I read? I’ve seen reviews by people eating pizza with knives and forks.

What are they? Savages?

Come on – you eat pizza with your hands! You tear it apart, it scalds the roof of your mouth, and sauce is dripping down the side of your face. You don’t like it? Go to Pizza Hut or Fresh Slice. Links available for your dining pleasure.

Or someone who was taking 15 minutes to order. It’s fucking pizza and pasta. What’s the problem? This place gets busy, order your pizza and get rolling.

Madonna mia!

Worse yet, there are the fake Google reviews, which are obviously, well, fake!

Okay, let’s get on with the show:

This visit we had the Pomodorini & Fior Di Latte to start, which is one of my favourite salads, also known as the Caprese Salad. It’s simple and delicious.

Since we have trouble finishing a bottle of wine these days, we typically go with a glass of the House Wine. It’s inexpensive, but a very good value, as it goes down nicely with the meal. That said, if you’re ordering a bottle, the selection is very good and affordable.

We shared a pizza and a pasta dish as we usually do.

I wanted the Pizza Margherita Extra with Mozzarella di Bufala (as Margherita is the gold standard for me) – but check the menu, they have a lot of great options!

I’d say that this Margherita is in my top two in Vancouver. Interchangeable with Farina a Legna (literally one block away). I love both, and maybe in a year, I’d be able to blind taste-test them and know the difference, but I’ll take ’em both for now.

My wife picked the Linguine al Pesto di Pistachhi e Basilico, which is also a favourite of mine. Like the description on the menu says, “it’s a a light dish.”

When I was in Sicily a dozen, or-so, years ago, almost every day I had a dish which incorporated pistachio (properly pronounced “pis-TAK-ee-o”) as there is a small town called Bronte where a majority of pistachio in Sicily is grown, which I visited. They have every type of pistachio product you can imagine.

If you’ve never had a pistachio panettone, you haven’t lived.

There is a velvety-ness to this linguine dish, as the chef uses fresh pistachio, crema di pistachio, traditional pesto, olive oil, and fresh herbs.

To cap off the evening, I would be remiss if I didn’t have their Authentic Italian Gelato, which is a very generous serving (just one scoop), and I’d be even more remiss if it weren’t pistachio. So that’s what we shared.

It’s made in-house. No bullshit extra colours or anything else. Just the real deal.

I should note that on previous visits, we’ve had the Burrata and it’s quite the experience with the chef sectioning it at the table.

They also have Bruschetta and while we haven’t had it, it’s in the name of the joint, so I think you should try it if you go there.

I make bruschetta in the classic manner at home (no cheese and nothing fancy, just chopped tomatoes with onion, basil, EVOO, and balsamic vinegar on roasted garlic bread) – and I while I don’t make it much any more, I’d say that it’s one of my specialties.

Surprisingly, Vancouver has some good Italian food. But it’s expensive.

You can walk into My Cucina, have a civilized Italian meal and not break the bank.

But if I see you there, just have a bit of Italian Culinary etiquette, please.

I don’t want to see you get thrown out, and it might be me doing it. ; P

Check out the photos below – note that I didn’t take any of them. Some are from the owner and some are from guests of the restaurant.

Return: Always.

Rating: 8.5/10