Fiorino Italian Street Food, a renowned Italian restaurant located in the heart of Chinatown is also celebrating its second Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand award, which it has won for two consecutive years, as well as its second anniversary.

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The new Cena sharing menu is intended to be served family-style and highlights Italian cuisine from various regions. The restaurant’s signature dish, Coccoli e Prosciutto, is given pride of place, which features deep-fried dough “pillows” served with aged 18-month Prosciutto di Parma and whipped Stracchino cheese. This dish is popular street food from Florence and is one of the restaurant’s standout offerings.

As part of its second-anniversary celebrations, Fiorino Italian Street Food will be showcasing a selection of remarkable Italian wines by offering special vintages by the glass every Wednesday evening. Each week, the wines by the glass will include at least one of the following: Altesino Brunello, Eilo Altare Nebbiolo, or Castello del Terriccio Tassinaia. In addition, on Wednesdays, one select bottle will be available at half-price, such as Chianti Classico, St Michael Eppan Pinot Noir, and Tolloy Pinot Grigio.

Giovanni (Gio) Mascagni moved from his hometown of Florence, Italy to British Columbia in January 2013. However, he couldn’t find his favorite snack – Tuscan sandwiches made with authentic Schiacciata bread. In response, Gio decided to take matters into his own hands and return to Florence to apprentice under acclaimed baker Dario Della Lunga at his Chicco di Grano bakery inside the city’s iconic Mercato di Sant’Ambrogio. During his apprenticeship, he learned the centuries-old techniques of Tuscan bread making, as well as the art of creating Florence’s famous street foods.

Upon his return to Vancouver, Gio opened Fiorino Italian Street Food, which specializes in freshly baked Schiacciata sandwiches filled with quality local and imported ingredients. In addition to these sandwiches, they have fresh Italian fare, creative cocktails, and a discovery-style list of all-Italian wines available.

Fiorino Italian Street Food is open seven days a week.

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False storefronts and secret passwords

Inspired by the false storefronts and secret passwords from Shanghai and Hong Kong’s notorious nightclub scene, Laowai is concealed behind BLND TGER Dumplings, next door to a Chinese BBQ meat and fresh vegetable market, typical of the small merchants that line East Georgia Street. 

Upon entering, discreetly ask for the “Number 7” to be ushered past BLND TGER Dumpling shop’s faux freezer door into an art deco lounge that celebrates all the intrigue and glamour of 1920’s Asia, paired with a modern cocktail experience.

Laowai or ‘outsider’

During the 1920s and ‘30s, Shanghai was one of the most progressive and multicultural cities of the world. The city’s nightlife buzzed with a dynamic mix of the fashionable and the seedy, welcoming both locals and ‘laowai’ or ‘outsiders.’ 

This period between the two World Wars gave us a newly founded openness, freedom and decadence that fuelled the roaring 20’s. To curb the night clubs, Shanghai had curfews, but that did not stop the partying, as the music played all night long as you entered the clubs before curfew and stayed until morning.

Once inside, Laowai’s hidden lounge is furnished with padded emerald-green velvet walls; intimate semi-circle luxury leather banquettes; and polished, verdigris accents of malachite offering a sultry and sophisticated setting. 

BLND TGER Dumplings

Their cocktail programme blends contemporary tastes and classic recipes with accents and flavours locally sourced in Chinatown. Each of the many cocktails on the menu is introduced with the tale of a historical figure that was its inspiration – such as the popular city administer who was also a not-so-secret opium smuggler Jade Empire.

The kitchen offers large sharing mains plus several dumplings from store front BLND TGER Dumplings. Recommend the Hong Kong-style Pork Belly Bourdon Char Sui marries slow-roasted pork with an American whiskey marinade that has become popular in modern-day Shanghai.

Laowai hidden lounge is behind BLND TGER Dumplings, 251 East Georgia Street, Vancouver.

“Ask for the Number 7.”

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