52 - Friday, July 26, 1985 - North Shore News

A La Cucina feast

SYNONYMOUS WITH malls, car lots, and traf-
fic lights, North Vancouver’s Marine Drive has
yet to be similarly associated with haute cuisine.

The four-lane corridor
cuts a swathe through the
brash commercial heart of
North Vancouver. The smell]
of fast food blends with the
smell of fast money and
carbon monoxide.

ERETSERE
tabie

hopping

by Timothy
Renshaw

In the midst of ali this
commercial yadda yadda
and culinary deep fry, sits
La Cucina, 1509 Marine
Drive. After six years, the
restaurant has fully ¢xorsiz-
ed the ghosts of. bubbling
grease and. scorched ham-
burger meat loosed by the
building’s former occupants.

In their place,.chef and
co-owner Hans-Peter’ Roth
has adopted partner Tiberio

Faedo’s passion for northern™

© 6 oz. N.Y. Steak

* Sandwich

- with french fries or baked
potato & fresh vegetable

© Bar-B-Q Chicken Leg
_ with rice or trench tries &
fresh vegetable

FREE UNDERGROUND
PARKING

dinners

Buy one of the following entrees for $9.95 and
your guest will receive a ny one of the following
entrees Free with this a

7 days a week from 4:30-8:30 p.m.
This offer good until Fri., Aug. 2

Reservations 987-8812
1301 Lonsdale, North Van .

Sat. & sonny Horch ie 30-3:30

Italian ciisine and installed
its clean lines and simplicity
in La Cucina’s menu.

‘‘Tiberio really likes
food,’ says Roth, ‘the got
me interested in northern
Italian cooking and now I
share his enthusiam for it.
It’s much like French only
lighter, not so many
sauces.””

Appetizers, or more cor-
rectly, Antipastos, (pro-
nounced with the best sing-
song Italian accent accom-
panied with vigorous hand
gestures) are an intriguing
and stylish Italian departure
from North American
predictability: Crostini Alla
Florentina ($3.50), a serving
of chicken livers, herbed and
grilled, presented on toast;
Funghi Farciti Della Sora
Rosa ($3.95) from the recipe
book of the renowned
Signora Rosa, mushrooms
stuffed with proscuitto,
salami, Parmesan cheese,
then baked.

La Cucina salad selection
also manages to steer clear
of iceberg lettuce and limp
tomato monotony with such
noble Roman offerings as
Insalata Di Fontina E
Peperonata ($3.25), greens,
fontina cheese, and red pep-
pers.

For the bilingually self-
conscious «ar unconscious,
fear not, La Cucina waiters,
efficient . and pleasant, do
not demand first-rate pro-
nunciations: pointing com-
bined with an honest attempt
at first syllables seems

perfectly adequate.
‘There are seven La Cucina

e Schnitzel Oscar
pan-tried Schnitzel topped
with shrimp, scallops &
seafood, covered with
hollandaise sauce with rice
& fresh Vegetable

¢ Shrimp & Scallop Crepes
rice & fresh vegetable

1130. 4:36
tee 5 Bt

Pastas, each with an inviting
wink and imaginative
flourish. Fettuccine
All’Amatriciana ($7.50) and
Lasagna Al Forno were
hardest to ignore, the former
featuring fettuccine with
chunked bacon, tomato,
onion, and Pecorino cheese;
the latter a complex layering
of pasta, meat, cheeses, and
Sauces prepared exclusively
for the celebration that is
Friday night.

Full-scale entrees (Piatti
Forti) tap dance exuberantly
with pointed siices and
Italian tailored suits through
veal, Scaloppini Alla Mar-
sala ($11.50), sauteed in but-
ter and Marsala wine;
seafood, Gamberetti Alla
Griglia ($13.50), shrimps
grilled over coals, presented
in pools of lemon butter;
and chicken, Pollo Alla Dia
Vola ($9.50), chicken breast,
again, grilled over charcoal,
then brushed with olive oil
and freshly ground black
pepper.

With the automotive roar
and the prevailing carbon
monoxide and burger fumes

of Marine Drive dispatched
within the hustle and
aromatic retreat of La
Cucina, Antipasto Misto
($4.25) and Crema Doria
($2.25) were put to Table
Hopping scrutiny.

The antipasto plate
featured a_ lightly oiled
cross-blend of marinated red
peppers, eggplant, artichoke,
and olives offset with deli-
cate strips of proscuitto
ham. Crema Doria, chilled
cucumber and potato soup,
was a refreshing and cream-
rich Italian relative of the
higher profile French
vichyssoise.

A bottle of Chianti
Classico Kiserva Ducale
($15.60) from La Cucina’s
well appointed and
reasonably priced wine list
(nothing over $22, most
under $15) was selected to
accompany Filletti Di
Sogliola Alla Fantasia
($9.95), a black olive,
mushroom, and artichoke
heart-smothered sole fillet;
and, from the nightly offer-

See Terrific
Page 53

Restaurant

for

Any evening to August 10, you and your
guest will receive a complimentary dinner
entree (with this ad) when one of equal or
greater value is purchased. Live music nightly.

- the food, the friendliness,
the atmosphere..
very Svanish.

Lunch Mon-Sat. 11:30-2:00
Dinner Mon: ‘Sat. 5:30-10: 00

3108 Edgemont Bivd.

_ North Vancouver

Rook the loft for
lunch meetings
or private party

121 E. 12th St.
off Lonsdale

WEEK JULY 28-AUG. 3 |

Valid Daily 3-8 P.M.

COMBO APPETIZER
PLATTcR

clw honey garlic ribs,
chicken wings, chicken fingers, zuc-
chini and raw veagies

ATTN. THIRSTY BASEBALL :
PLAYERS: Anyone in their team uniform
gets 20% off the food bill anytime til ‘85 | §

Black Sheep Summer Hours

988-3376

SPECIAL OF THE
PRIME RIB
$°7 95
(8 02.) 7

calamari

95
Valid all day $3

season ends

11:30-10:30pm
11:30-11:00
11:30-11:30

Sun.-Tue.
Wed.-Thur.
Fri.-Sat,

an. .
RESERVATIONS: 984-9595 |

with baked potato & vegetable

Ray Froe parking in rear

| BUFFET BRUNCH sot sun 12-3

NORTH SHORE'S ONLY Chinese
PISCES Seafood |
| tHE BEST HAVE COME WEST Restaurant |

You can’t beat
Charley’ s for

® Lunch

© Dinner

e Dancing Thurs. 3
Fri. & Sat. nites

Sunday Brunch

al’ s Summer

Special

$695)

GOOD EATS

% |b. T-bone

SUNDAY BRUNCH: $950
EGGS BENNY

Willi & Phil’s
Catering to all occasions.
61 Lonsdale, N.V. 984-7333

Air-conditionad Licensed Pramises

THE BEST

We're the only authentic Chinese seafood restaurant on }
the North Shore. With our live seafood tank you can
choose your own succulent seafood feast. ~

@ Crab ¢ Prawns * Lobster ¢ Rock Cod
* plus unique and authentic Cantonese dishes