Restaurant steps back in time
Pepino’s is a resurrection of Nick’s Spaghetti House
All that’s missing is Dean Martin crooning That’s Amore (bells will ring, ting-a-ling-aling, ting-a-ling-a-ling!) and maybe some Brylcreemed duck tails and backcombed beehives.
And for folks of a certain age, bells will ring. The whoosh of time hits like a big pizza pie and you’re yanked back in time upon stepping into Pepino’s, a resurrection of Nick’s Spaghetti House. Owner Nick Felicella closed the restaurant he ran for 63 years last December upon which it was scooped up by the boys behind Savio Volpe; they knew they had a storied Vancouver institution on their hands.
Patrons included billionaire Jim Pattison, who liked the unpretentious vibe and likable owner. “We plan on reaching out and inviting him,” said Paul Grunberg, who took over the space with his Salvio Volpe partners Mark Perrier (chef ) and Craig Stanghetta (designer of many Vancouver restaurants).
The murals of Italy, the footprint, the dark wood walls remain and so too, does the Italian-American food. It’s a big hit of nostalgia. “This is not like Savio Volpe,” said Grunberg.
Most definitely, it isn’t. Savio Volpe has dishes made rustic and flavourful by woodfired grilling and turns on the rotisserie and appies like fig leaf wrapped burrata with Venturi Schulze vinegar. The room is spacious and contemporary.
Pepino’s menu is a throwback to the ’60s and ’70s with red checked table cloths and Italian-American food — as in spaghetti and giant meatballs, fettuccine alfredo and mushrooms, ravioli with meat sauce, prime rib, veal cutlets and so on.
“It’s not up everyone’s alley. It’s similar to Nick’s but we’ve updated and put our twist on it,” said Grunberg. “We have a lot of the old customers coming and they really, really appreciate the ethos of Nick’s. There’s a percentage that don’t like it but we’re not going to apologize for that. We wanted a fun and jovial atmosphere.”
Here’s what I love about Pepino’s: The strong sensation of being rocketed to another era, a palpable feel of Vancouver history, and the service which is on point. (One annoyance — we weren’t told of the day’s special and overheard it at the next table.) But I can’t say I loved all that I ate and what I did like was marred by the deafening noise in the small room, even with thick new carpeting.
The noise, Grunberg agreed, is a problem but promises a fix by October. “It’s a huge issue for us. We took over an already-built restaurant and couldn’t control that.”
As for food, Grunberg said that ingredients are from the same sources as Savio Volpe and focus is on quality — local farms, Two Rivers Meats, house-made pastas, including the spaghetti noodles.
A Caesar salad ($15) had a crunchy crispness with a kiss of anchovy and lemon. I’d have liked a more smouldering kiss of garlic. A starter of Eggplant parmigiana ($14) is a simple rustic dish, perhaps a little chewy.
As for the mains I tried, I was disappointed with the pasta. Linguine with spot prawn scampi ($26), an ample dish, had beautiful spot prawns but the noodles were cooked beyond al dente and slicked with a light scampi sauce.
My husband’s chicken piccata ($26) came with a choice of spaghetti, crispy potatoes or broccoli. The chicken was moist and flavourful but the spaghetti noodles, again, were overcooked; he had a choice of garlic and chili, marinara or meat sauce and he went with the first but it was made soupy with chicken stock.
Upon seeing a prime rib en route to a table and I wished one of us had ordered it. It looked like a delicious feast.
Dessert seemed daunting — a huge banana split, a huge New York style cheesecake, or a huge tiramisu (layered in a soda fountain glass). We passed.
I say good on the owners for preserving a feel-good piece of Vancouver but the food needs improvement. All of these old-timey dishes can be delicious with more attention.
Owners have another project in the works next door. They’re developing it into Caffe La Tana (the lair) with coffee, pastry, pasta and groceries.
We have a lot of the old customers coming and they really, really appreciate the ethos of Nick’s. We wanted a fun and jovial atmosphere.
Paul Grunberg, co-owner of Pepino’s Spaghetti House