Best Formal Italian: Cioppino's/Enoteca

Menus and wine lists run deep and broad at Pan-Med Cioppino’s (Gold), where owner-chef Pino Posteraro dispenses calibrated cooking and an iron hand from his impeccable kitchens. “Pino relentlessly patrols his myriad dining rooms, massaging customers and fine-tuning multi-course menus,” said one judge. Pastas remain among the city’s best, as do the catered dinners in private dining rooms, but it’s in the incredible lightness of fish and game where Pino’s skill shines through. Although the heftily priced wine list can mute the service, the lunch-time only rotisserie chicken is a relative bargain. CinCin, with Andreas Wechselberger now confidently helming the forno, offers garganelli al vitello that runs as deep as a dictionary, and a wild mushroom pizza with truffle cream that’s the best post-movie bar plate in the city. Bronze medalist La Terrazza just gets stronger, with a wine list that caters to its Yaletown neighbours and cooking that modulates between light and deeply savoury. Quattro and Il Giardino (Honourable Mentions) rate, respectively, for neighbourly but sophisticated Italian and Vancouver’s best patio, even if the food sometimes slips into the proforma.

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