The BiBo Italian Restaurant (Kitsilano) opening night

This past week, I was invited to the grand opening of The BiBo, an Italian restaurant with a home-style, exclusive ingredients concept. I was really sick this past week, as you may remember, but I received this invitation months ago and I felt that it would be really bad of me to miss it after having accepted the invite so far in advance. So I showed my (rather overdosed on Tylenol Cold) face. I’m glad I did, as it was a really neat experience.

The BiBo owners, Carlo Lorenzo Bottazzi and Andrea Bini traveled to Vancouver from Italy to create an affordable dining experience that stays true to their heritage and Italian values. Join them at The BiBo for an experience of Italian food, wine, culture and traditions and appreciate the true taste of Italy.

The BiBo offers a true Italian experience to please all ages….enjoy watching the master pizza maker, Salvatore create the pizzas in the wood burning oven. He insists the pizzas be served as they are in Italy – he will NOT cut your pizza to keep the flavours intact right to your table.

The BiBo Restaurant is owned by two passionate Italians, Lorenzo Bottazzi and Andrea Bini. I talked to both of them in Italian, which was kind of neat (as my Italian is rather rusty, and I sometimes combine it with French and Portuguese). I had an opportunity to experience just about every single dish on the menu. I found the flatbread exquisite, and the gnocchi with pesto absolutely delicious.

My only problem with the thin-crust pizza was that it was so rich in juices and ingredients that it almost melted in my mouth. From my experience, this is perhaps one of the best pizzas I’ve had, rivaling Pizzeria Prima Strada and some of the Commercial Drive hangouts.

The pastas were really good, especially the gnocchi al pesto and the bucattini amatriciana. And the appetizers were to-die-for. In particular, one of the flavors I love the most: anchovies.

The oven and open space concept made me like BiBo even more.

And as I mentioned, the appetizers were simply delectable. And don’t even tell me about the desserts.

I wouldn’t count this post as a review since I went to a media opening, and my policy is not to write about a restaurant until I have actually eaten there on my own. But I’m glad I got a sneak peek into The BiBo Restaurant. I’ll definitely be coming by soon enough.

Disclosure: As stated on my post, I participated in a media opening. I will be reviewing the restaurant on my own dime soon enough.