La Pentola Supper Series
The last Sunday of every month, La Pentola located at the OPUS Hotel hosts a family-style dinner featuring a different menu, star ingredient, and often a guest chef. I was invited to dine the last Sunday in August where the chef featured the tomato. My dinner companions that evening were Gabriel Coco (The Artful Desperado), Viranlly Liemena and Tlell Nazarko, Marketing Coordinator at Opus Hotel.
Chef Travis McCord began working in the food industry at a young age, working his way up through various restaurant positions over the years. Most notably, he has worked at The Pourhouse Restaurant and Brix Restaurant & Wine Bar in Vancouver, as well as an international stint at Hotel du Vin & Bistro in Cambridge, UK, before taking on the art of Northern Italian cooking at La Pentola.
My Top Three Dishes
1st Peach and Tomato Gaspacho, whipped Mozzarella
This was one of my favourite dishes of the night. The fresh, vibrant flavours of the tomato just popped and it was a lovely start to the meal.
2nd Pink Swimming Scallops, tomato brodo, wood sorel
The tomato brodo was fantastic. I was a bit skeptical at first, but the fresh scallop and brodo really complimented each other. The addition of the caviar and wood sorel were nice touches.
3rd Tomato and Burrata salad, lemon cucumber, crouton
When you see burrata in a dish, you don’t hesitate to order it, well I don’t anyways. This burrata was flown in from Italy and was soft and luxurious as ever. The heirloom tomatoes were vibrant and sweet. Those lemon cucumbers were incredible; I could have just had a salad consisting of them. It was such a simple dish, but was heightened with the quality of ingredients (and those lemon cucumbers!).
The other dishes were all really exquisite, each flavourful and really showcased the tomato. I wish I had a better picture of the octopus dish, that was really lovely. The tomato sorbet was really unique, I actually thought it taste like raspberries, it was sweet and that chocolate soil was a great pairing.
4th Heirloom Eggplant stuffed squash blossoms, charred tomato
5th Tomato Braised B.C Octopus, house made smoked pork sausage
6th House Made Taglierni, Heirloom Pomodoro, botarga
7th Roasted Tomato and Ricotta Agnolotti, Pancetta, English peas
8th Grilled Flank Steak, Roasted Corn, Sungold Tomatoes, watercress
9th Tomato Sorbet, Chocolate Soil, Basil semi gel, Olive Oil meringue
Tickets for this supper series are just $55 per person, making this one of the most affordable culinary experiences in the Vancouver. Call 604-642-0557 or email info@lapentola.ca to reserve as seating is limited. Your culinary experience starts at 6PM to dine family style at a communal table as they serve 8 + amazing courses featuring a different ingredient each month. I love the idea of a communal table, it’s a nice way for individuals to engage in conversation with new people and not dine alone or at the bar.
June’s Supper Series was a culinary journey through Naples. The 10+ course menu featured Buffalo mozzarella, whole local fried anchovies, BC octopus and branzino. Local pizza expert Graham Marceau of Corduroy Pie Co. joined Chef Travis McCord in the La Pentola kitchen to contribute a course.
May’s Supper Series dinner was a special collaboration between Chef Travis McCord and Chef Stuart Lane of Spinasse in Seattle. The evening included dishes like pan roasted asparagus with king salmon, croutons and salmon roe; lamb ravioli with marinated favas and whipped La Tur; and Barolo braised beef short rib with roasted morels and potato purée.
April’s dinner offered 10+ courses of ocean-themed fare, including freshly shucked Kushi oysters, octopus carpaccio, sea urchin, squid ink ravioli, and whole branzino, or Mediterranean sea bass.
Thank you again Opus Hotel & La Pentola for a wonderful evening and the opportunity to eat some incredible food!
