New season brings new dishes and drinks to Yaletown’s OPUS Hotel
La Pentola, situated inside Yaletown’s OPUS Hotel, is lightening up for spring with a new range of dishes and drinks on the menu. New fresh flavours reflect the spring season and lighter libations will be appearing at the bar this month.
“We’re ready to showcase the best of Spring’s seasonal produce on our new dinner menu,” says La Pentola’s co-owner & Chef, Lucais Syme. “We have daily deliveries of freshly harvested vegetables, fish and meat and we’re introducing citrus elements and fresh herbs to the new dishes. I’m looking forward to working with nettles this Spring – this wild and interesting superfood has a subtle but deep flavour that I think our guests will really enjoy.”
Nettle risotto with parmigiano reggiano will be appearing on the menu, alongside paccheri with octopus in saffron tomato sauce; smoked veal tongue salad with salsa rosa and crouton; and smoked duck breast with sunchokes, Amarena cherries, porcini mushrooms and rapini. Dinner menus are priced at $55 or $75 per person for seven or ten courses, and include antipasti, pastas, main courses and dessert.
Pastry chef Matt Wilson has also given his desserts a springtime makeover and he will be offering fresh takes on favourite flavors such as dark chocolate ganache with blood orange sorbetto; olive oil ganache with poppy seed gelato and Meyer lemon; cheesecake gelato, porcini and pine nut crumble; and Granny Smith apples with honey gelato and black tea soda.
Make the most of the spring weekends and head to La Pentola to try their new brunch menu. Sip on 49th Parallel Coffee and enjoy classic breakfast dishes such as Kaiserschmarrn (Northern Italian pancakes), which will be complemented with new dishes such as braised short rib cassoulet with apple, bourbon and a fried egg; warm polenta, sausage, roasted peppers, charred onions and a soft poached egg and pancakes with maple syrup ice cream and walnuts. Brunch is served on Saturdays and Sundays from 10:30am – 3:00pm.
Echoing the kitchen’s focus on fresh ingredients and seasonal simplicity, La Pentola’s new cocktail program highlights refreshing and subtle flavours for spring. Head Bartender Martin Corriveau has come up with more creative ideas from adding a Singapore Sling to his carbonated cocktails range to creating a weekly punch using unusual ingredients such as white brandy, Batavia arrack, Swedish Punch and Old Tom gin.
Martin is currently barrel-aging a Pigeon Park Cocktail, a creation based on a Vancouver Cocktail, with mezcal, Bénédictine, housemade sweet vermouth and Pimm’s. He will soon be offering large bottles of cocktails that serve four people and will be continuing his weekly special features such as a Maple Leaf Cocktail, a Roger Sterling Cocktail for the beginning of the last season of Mad Men, Mint Juleps for the Kentucky Derby and tequila cocktails for the Cinco de Mayo.
Other creative spring drinks include the Tea Thyme Cocktail – a mix of green tea-infused Grey Goose vodka, Meyer lemons and fresh thyme, sweetened with Okanagan raw honey. The Cider Cup, which is a modern take on a very old drink from 1827 features Rumrunner cider by Sea Cider in Saanich, mixed with housemade bianco vermouth and lemon oil.
Fresh, inventive, seasonal spring flavours are on the table and behind the bar this month at La Pentola. Call 604-642-0557 or visit www.lapentola.ca for more information.
