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Best Italian Casual winners of Vancouver Magazine's 26th Annual Restaurant Awards

  • Gold: Ask for Luigi
  • Silver: Campagnolo Roma
  • Bronze: Bufala
  • Honourable Mentions: La Buca, Campagnolo
  Few Vancouver restaurants have debuted in recent years to such effusive, unanimous praise as Ask for Luigi (Gold), as evidenced by its quartet of sweeps. “It was a beauty to see this quirky little restaurant with the quirkier little name become so beloved so fast,” says one judge. The rotating selection of antipasti and pastas from chef J-C Poirier (ex-Lumière, Chow, Campagnolo) keeps the room equally bustling at lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch. Campagnolo Roma (Silver) continues to draw diners from near and far to Hastings-Sunrise, its pizzas and daily specials buttressing an already impressive menu of classic pastas. Save room for dessert: tiramisu and soft-serve ice cream rarely taste as transcendent as they do here. Another newcomer, Bufala (Bronze) thrilled Kerrisdale, a neighbourhood whose appetites have in recent years been underserved. The family-friendly pizzeria is packed every night for pies from an 800-degree stone oven, as well as popular starters including meatballs and kale Caesar salad, plus “brilliant, simple cocktails” created by co-owner Josh Pape. Honourable Mentions: La Buca, Campagnolo