Il Nido, Creative Italian Restaurant in Vancouver, BC

Franco Felice, owner of Il Nido (780 Thurlow Street), offers a simple, refreshing salad that also pays attention to balance and contrast. He recommends getting to know the flavour profiles of your greens. With his Il Nido salad, he takes a popular combination in Italy—peppery arugula, bitter endive, and crisp, peppery radish—and picks other ingredients that complement these flavours and textures. Pears poached in cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, sugar, and water provide sweetness, while goat cheese coated in crushed cashews gives a layer of creamy crunch.

CONTINUE ...

Felice almost sighs with pleasure as he talks about his tarragon dressing over the phone: “I love tarragon, and the smell and taste of it,” he says. For an emulsion, he recommends the standard three parts oil to one part vinegar, but he adds that you need to adjust the ratio to taste. The one at his restaurant contains olive oil, vegetable oil, tarragon-infused vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, capers, parsley, salt, and pepper. He also adds chopped fresh tarragon to the dressing and leaves it to sit for a day before he strains the herb out. What’s left is a clean, citrus-y flavour that balances the rest of the salad.

A salad survey wouldn’t be complete without a classic French bistro version. Don Letendre, executive chef at Elixir (350 Davie Street), has taken his kitchen back to basics with a “warm frisée and bacon salad with a soft-poached egg” that works year-round but feels especially right on a serene summer’s night on the restaurant’s below-street-level patio. “It’s real food. It’s just a nice way of eating a salad,” he says during a phone chat.

Letendre cuts up double-smoked bacon and tosses the cooked lardons with frisée and watercress. Then, with typical French resourcefulness, he uses the reserved bacon fat to crank up the flavours in a dressing of sherry vinegar, tarragon, honey, mustard, shallots, and olive oil. Croutons made from brioche add another level of richness as the bread’s buttery flavour is heightened with toasting. (For the recipe, click here.)

The last ingredient is a warm poached egg that wilts the greens and softens their bitterness. Part of the enjoyment of eating the salad is puncturing the yolk and watching it spill out to become part of the dressing. You’ll find yourself scraping the plate with your fork to get every last bit of eggy goodness.

Business Vancouver , June 2009
“Celebrity chef finds downtown Vancouver gig”

Food Channel celebrity chef Anthony Sedlak will perform executive chef duties at the Corner Suite Bistro De Luxe, which friends Andre McGillivray and Steve Da Cruz plan to open in July at the corner of Thurlow and Smithe streets.

CONTINUE ...

The location was known for decades as Piccolo Mondo before Stephane Meyer and wife Nathalie bought the restaurant and rechristened it Saveur in the fall of 2004.

“It fell under the radar and was overlooked,” McGillivray told Business in Vancouver. He previously co-owned Cordova Street’s Boneta.

McGillivray is excited about his new location, where he plans to make modest renovations before launching a French-styled bistro.

The site s two doors down from one of Metro Vancouver’s four popular Guu Japanese tapas bars.

Nearby high-end restaurateurs have demonstrated staying power. Emile Jung’s Le Crocodile on Smithe Street has lasted more than 25 years, and Franco Felice’s Il Nido Restaurant, one block north in the Manhattan apartments courtyard on Robson Street, opened 21 years ago.

What’s the secret to longevity?

“Don’t be greedy,” Felice revealed while sitting at a corner table inside his packed restaurant. “There are some people who are in this business to make money and others because it’s more of a hobby.”

Felice considers himself as being in the latter category. He personally welcomes guests and often helps out with the cooking.

THE GOOD LIFE
What: Fireworks with Il Nido
Date: July 22nd, 25th, 29th and August 1st
Time: 5:30 PM until closing
Location: Il Nido Restaurant Bar, 780 Thurlow Street

[ EVENT DETAILS ]

Start the Fire Works off with a BANG by enjoying inventive, mouthwatering Italian cuisine at Il Nido. Located right in the heart of Robson Street, you can eat and enjoy before taking a leisurely stroll to English Bay for the Celebration of Light.

From 5:30pm to closing on July 22nd, 25th, 29th and August 1st, ask for Franco and mention the Il Nido fireworks promotion to receive a complimentary appetizer with purchase of an entree.

Il Nido is Vancouver’s hidden Italian restaurant gem. Nestled between Robson and Thurlow streets in the midst of the downtown shopping and style district, Il Nido has wined and dined locals and tourists alike for over 20 years. BC’s finest ingredients are used to create dishes that are bursting with flavour, yet light and lean on the palette. Featuring local and organic ingredients, this “Nest In The City” is a destination for those who enjoy wonderful food and good conversation. Groups of up to 70 are welcome and custom menus are easily designed. As Il Nido continues as one of Vancouver’s finest restaurants, evolving with imagination and inventiveness, its motto remains: Everyone Leaves Happy.

December 24, 2008
Globe and Mail – Cafe il Nido
This hidden gem (tucked below the Manhattan Apartments, behind Starbucks) is perfect for girly get-togethers and intimate tete-a-tetes. The cozy, low-ceiling room is unpretentious and owner Franco Felice is utterly charming. The simple trattoria cooking won't blow you away, but it's dependable, authentic and decently priced. In warmer weather, the courtyard patio is a tranquil oasis in the heart of the city: 780 Thurlow St.; 604-685-6436

September 30, 2008
Vancouver Magazine – West End
This comfortable West End room claims wildly loyal regulars but is also kind to walk-in tourists. Classic trattoria cooking, good fresh sheets, consistent and attractively priced. Neat caprese salad at lunch ($12), for dinner try peppercorn-crusted halibut or cioppino. Custom pastas on request. Wine list reasonable; quality sherry and port sheet.

September 5, 2006
Metro
“Social Eyes” reporter Warren Frey caught Il Nido patrons and owner Franco Felice toasting the new Fall menu. View Image

The smart date speeds you to an urban restaurant.
So lucky man, now you've got yourself a date. What's next? Why not slow it down a bit and take your lovely companion out for a little cuisine and lubricous drink? The choices abound in our city of restaurants, but you certainly can't go wrong with the well established Il Nido. In a business where places come and go as fast as a Middle East truce, 19 years is a lifetime. Il Nido's has been serving inventive Italian cuisine for nearly two decades in its hidden cozy corner of Robson and Thurlow. Celebrating the end of the season sitting amongst the lush greens of the courtyard, during Il Nido's "Sights and Tastes of Summer" party, it's hard to believe that just outside the doors there is a hustle and bustle of a city center. While admiring the works of local artists-in-residence, I couldn't get enough of Chef Amber Husband's baby portobellos stuffed with Italian sausage, cambonzola cheese and candied red peppers. Hey, has anyone seen my date? View Image

August, 2005
Ildiko Herr, Concierge – Pacific Palisades Hotel
Dear Franco, Congratulation on being voted #1 Best Courtyard Patio in Vancouver by the Province! My guests were amazed by the service, the food and the ambiance. The couple I sent on Saturday, they said, it was their ever best restaurant experience and that Cafe Il Nido is definitely their favourite restaurant and they will go back next week when they return from Alaska. Thank you, Il Nido team! Ildiko Herr - Concierge Pacific Palisades Hotel - Kimpton Hotels Phone: 604-688-0461 Direct Line: 604-891-5188 Fax: 604-688-4374

June, 2005
Jonathan McDonald – The Province
#1 of 5 Courtyard patios
A Tuscan setting tucked into the courtyard of the Manhattan Apartments for true global meshing and atmospheric and digestive tranquility, exemplified by the new summer menu and pleasant wines.

February, 2005
Jesse Nuytten, The Epoch Time
VANCOUVER - As winter chills; II Nido is on hand to warm Van-couverites . Cafe II Nido offers quality meals to all age groups for casual and formal occasions in a tranquil environment on Thurlow Street in downtown Vancouver, The main menu changes as the seasons change, and new specials are offered every week. Entrees range from $19.00 to $29.00. Executive Chef Amber Husband, who says she has almost complete control over the menu, and who runs the kitchen almost single-handedly, repeatedly emphasizes quality, quality and quality. Indeed, her selection of fresh ingredients brings a surge of excitement to the palate. II Nido's dining area bears an aura of elegance. There is seating for 45 people in the winter and 70 in the summer, after the private patio opens. "We have a very wide range of clientele from the ages of 20 to 25...or between 50 to 65...we have reached all types of people," Husband explains. Cafe II Nido has been established for 17 years and that experience is definitely reflected through the level of cuisine, the attitude, and the style present. Positive attitudes emanate from the cafe - the entire atmosphere just feels harmonious. Nonetheless, to truly appreciate it, one must experience II Nido firsthand.

June, 2003
Timothy Renshaw, Vancouver Lifestyles Magazine
At Il Nido that experience is pretty much what you’d expect from a restaurant whose name roughly translated means The Nest. Warm, personable and familiar. Add in linen on the tables, Chet Baker on the soundtrack, local art on the walls and a subdued dash of Northern Italian romance in the room and you have a closer approximation of Felice’s nest. It’s his tip of the hat to the European affection for restaurants sited off Main Street. The nest is a safe haven in the urban storm. Il Nido’s predecessor in the 1907 vintage Manhattan Apartments courtyard space was Binky’s Oyster Bar. Can’t say as der Binker left much of a mark on the local restaurant landscape. Il Nido’s enduring run, however is a testament to its simple appeal. The Manhattan itself has had its ups and downs. But the J.E. Parr and Thomas Fee-designed building remains an interesting example of the city’s early 20th century architectural heritage. That look has won it fleeting showbiz fame as the backdrop to such Hollywood productions as the Look Who’s Talking movies with Kirstie Alley and John Travolta.

Reviews