La Buca + Aphrodite's

Taking the advantage of someone with a car :P I decided to go to Bistrot Bistro for dinner. Since he is never on time, I cancelled and opted for La Buca instead. Although bistrot is still on my to go list, I am soooo glad I went to la buca.

With the same owners as L'altro buca (formely known as parkside) and pied-a-tierre (also on my list), I knew I was in for a great dinner judging by the reputation these restaurants have in Vancouver. La Buca is a very tiny restuarant situated on Macdonald. Easily missed from the outside (we drove right past it and took major slowing down 2nd try to find it), inside ambience is cozy and filled with frequent and close clientele (only assuming.. since I saw a lot of hugging/greetings going on during my dinner). We were lucky to get a table quickly as more and more ppl bustled in afterwards.

The menu had ample amount of pasta ranging from 17-30 dollars. We were served breadsticks to begin with which was nice to munch on. I ordered the Balzano Tagliatelle and he had the ravioli.

When the food arrived, I was like uh oh because I don't like pasta of this nature, but then one bite and omg. The pasta had the perfect texture and the sauce was sooo delicious and you can definitely tell these were fresh ingredients they were using with it (asparagus and speck). I never really placed too much importance on how fresh ingredients are in my meals, but wow, it really makes a difference!! I almost forgot I was only going to eat half (I try to take out half of everything I eat now..) and almost finished up the whole plate. The ravioli was also very good, but I was in love with my dish more :P :) Only thing I guess is that it was a little oily..

I was reading the website and how the owners believe that every neighborhood should have a perfect place to dine, and that's what la buca exemplies. Now I wish I lived in Kitsilano. I really need to try pied a tierre!!

Afterwards, we went to Aphrodite's Organic Cafe and Pie Shop for pie ( I LOVE PIE. I always crave it haha). They boasts that they have 14 (?) various organic pies each made with organic ingredients.. they cost around 6-7 dollars I believe. We had the apple and blackberry apple.

Apple was delicious! Blackberry apple was good too, but the original apple was the best. I love the crust, it was soft and what a crust on a pie should be like (unlike another place I will blog about later..)