Welcome to the Vancouver Foodster Pasta Challenge. Restaurants from all over the city were invited to enter their pasta dishes into this challenge, some of the restaurants have created a special pasta creation just for this challenge and others have entered their top choice off their existing menu. Each restaurant will be featuring their pasta creation on their menu from October 4-28, 2018.

How Does this all Work? For the public challenge, you are invited to go out and order any or all of the pasta creations in this challenge, then you decide who you think has the best pasta creation for the People’s Choice award winners. 

Share your experiences: Tweet (and don’t forget to tweet or instagram your photos) throughout the challenge, our twitter and instagram address is @vanfoodster and the hashtag is #PastaChallengeYVR please include this hashtag in all your tweets during the challenge.

Voting criteria –  some things to help you judge your favourite pasta creations – keep these things in mind: originality, creativity, uniqueness, traditional, non-traditional, price, value and most importantly taste.

Get some friends together and make a night of it, visit 2 restaurants or more to share and taste the different pasta creations or go solo or with a friend – just remember to VOTE for your favourites between October 4-28, 2018. 

Here are the Pasta creations in this challenge, listed in no particular order other than when they were received by us.

Robba Da Matti

Pappardelle Rosche

Price: Lunch price $16; Dinner price $25

Created by: Chef Filly

Description: It’s one of Chef Filly’s family recipes. Her father, Nonno Nicola was a farmer in Puglia and this was his favourite meal. He would wake up before sunrise and make this hearty ragù sauce with cuts of beef short rib, fennel sausage and chicken and let it simmer slowly while he went to work in the fields.

‘Rosche’ is the Pugliese dialect for red.  The thick pappardelle noodles are tinged red by the concentrated tomato sauce and the tender braised meat. It’s a perfect comfort food for these autumn evenings.

Ingredients: Homemade fresh pappardelle pasta, Italian San Marzano tomato pelati, extra virgin olive oil, beef short ribs, fennel sausage, free range chicken, and parmigiano reggiano.

Offered: all the time

Robba Da Matti

1127 Mainland Street, Vancouver

Phone:

Web: http://www.robbadamatti.com/

Twitter: @Robba_daMatti

Instagram: @robba_damatti

 

Sopra Sotto Pizzeria

Chitarrine e Tartufo

Price: $22

Created by: Chef Enrico Fratoni

Description: A tower of fresh “spaghetti alla chitarra” made in house, served in a delicious truffle sauce with a variety of mushrooms and topped with parmigiano.

Ingredients:  Fresh Pasta, Truffle Sauce, Variety of mushrooms, and Parmigiano cheese

Offered: Every day during lunch and dinner

Sopra Sotto Pizzeria

1510 Commercial Drive, Vancouver

Phone: (604) 251-7586

Web: http://www.soprasottovancouver.com/

Instagram @soprasotto.vancouver

 

Orto Artisan Pasta

Orto Ricotta Gnocchi

Price: $25

Created by:

Description: Home made ricotta gnocchi, Haida gwaii chanterelles, proscuitto chips

Offered: Lunch and Dinner

Orto Artisan Pasta

1600 Mackay Rd, North Vancouver

Phone: (604) 929-0203

Web: http://ortoartisanpasta.com/

Instagram @ortoartisanpasta

 

The Italians Kitchen and Bar

Spaghetti Mare e Monti

Price:  $27.00

Created by: Chef Matteo Vincenzi

Description: Mare (Sea) e Monti(Mountains) a dish that combines flavours and elements from the sea and the mountains. Fresh mussels and clams, mushrooms, truffle pate served with handmade fresh pasta. Inspired by Italian culinary tradition.

Ingredients: Mussels, clams, mushrooms, truffle pate, cherry tomatoes, garlic, white wine, red chilli pepper, parsley.

Offered: Dinner daily Tuesday – Sunday

The Italians Kitchen and Bar

1220 Bute Street, Vancouver

Phone: (604) 559-5034

Web: n/a

Instagram @theitalians_vancouver

 

Novo Pizzeria & Wine Bar

Bucatini with Braised Guanciale and Orange  

Price: $22

Created by: Carmine Paradiso

Description: This pasta creation is an expansion on classic Roman dishes that have as their bases guanciale and Pecorino Romano (Carbonara, Amatriciana, All Gricia)

We start with those basic building blocks and build the orange flavour in three ways: zest, orange juice, and agrumato blood orange oil.  Agrumato is a technique of simultaneously crushing ingredients (in this case blood oranges). with olives to produce exceptionally flavoured oils.  We add crushed pink peppercorn and fennel pollen to finish off the dish.

Ingredients: Bucatini, Guanciale, orange zest, orange juice, agrumato blood orange oil, shallots, white wine, pink peppercorns, fennel Pollen, Pecorino Romano.

Offered: all the time

Novo Pizzeria & Wine Bar

2118 Burrard Street, Vancouver

Tel: (604) 736-2220

Web:  http://www.novopizzeria.com/

Twitter @NOVOPizzeria

Instagram: @novopizzeria

 

Ban Chok Dee

Ebony Spaghetti

Price: $17

Created by: Chef Parinya Loptson

Description: Jungle-style, stir-fried, homemade Charcoal Spaghetti with Leeks, Portobello Mushroom, Young Coconut Meat, Lesser Ginger, Peppercorn, Green Peas, Lime Leaves and Basil served with pan-seared Scallops and Curried Crab Sauce.

Ingredients: Charcoal spaghetti, Coconut meat, Scallops, Crab meat, Portobello, Chili oil paste, coconut milk, sugar, fish sauce, red chilli paste, Peppercorn, leeks, Lesser ginger, green peas,  Basil and lime leaves

Offered: all the time

Ban Chok Dee

20563 Douglas Crescent, Langley

Tel: 778-278-3088

Web: http://www.banchokdee.com

Twitter @BanChokDeeThai

Instagram @banchokdeethai

 

Maru Korean Bistro

Linguine with “Song – I (matsutake) mushroom and Bulgoggie”

Price: $19.50

Created by: Chef Bobby Shin

Description: Linguine with “Song – I (matsutake) mushroom and Bulgoggie”

Ingredients: Matsutake, Portabella, Shimiji, soy garlic beef, light soy, sake, shredded egg yolk sheet, chilli, Nori dusted filone bread.

Offered: All the time

Maru Korean Bistro

125 2nd St E, North Vancouver

Tel: 604-566-6292

Web: http://www.marukoreanbistro.com/

Instagram: @marukoreanbistro

 

Areta Wong

Blogger of Foodgressing

Twitter: @foodgressing

Instagram: @foodgressing