|
For the past 14 years, Quattro has staked out a spot on a corner of West Fourth in Vancouver, serving up approachably elegant Italian food. Patrick Corsi now runs the show at that location, with his father Antonio continuing to pipe up every so often to give feedback. "He still treats me like I'm 20," Corsi laughs. "But you always know where you stand with him—there’s no ambiguity. When he says something, he means it."
From day one, they knew Italian cuisine was their one and only option for what to serve at the restaurant. “It’s our heritage, our culture,” Corsi says simply. “It’s what we do best.” While they pay homage to the different regions of Italian cuisine (and even took their chefs to Italy for a six-week tour at one point) they never felt they had to be slaves to tradition.
They bring in items like olive oil, fresh buffalo mozzarella, and Italian parsley, and Corsi says it is much easier now to get ingredients from Italy than it was in the beginning. Sometimes they consciously combine authentic ingredients in new ways, like their radicchio-wrapped bocconcini and prosciutto, which balances both sweet and sour.
That fine line between being traditional and modern is one they tread on a habitual basis. Corsi points out they serve halibut and salmon, which aren't generally seen as a regular part of an Italian diet. “We let the chefs be creative, but only to a certain point. With a daily special, we’ll stretch the boundaries, but you’ll never see something like soy sauce incorporated into the dish. It doesn’t fit.”
Corsi believes consistency is one of the reasons behind their longevity in the notoriously fickle Vancouver dining scene. The menu is updated four times a year to reflect seasonality, but they don’t make drastic changes. When people head to Quattro, they already know what they want. He says diners understand it’s more than a spaghetti and meatball joint, but they’re also not going to be given a jumbled plate of unnamable items and flavours.
He also believes their introduction of more casual elements from the beginning was the right one in order to be a neighbourhood restaurant. “We don’t have tablecloths, and we started off with a younger less formal staff who are still very knowledgeable. We have an uptempo style where people come dressed in anything from full business suits to shorts, and they’re all welcome.”
For the first ten years, entrees were in the $24-26 range, and in the beginning, bottles of wine were split up simply into price categories on the list of $16, $20, and $24, with more available on the reserve list. Over time, prices have gone up somewhat, but Corsi believes consumers don’t mind, since they’re more educated about true food costs and about food and wine generally.
That does mean a little more homework though. Corsi says he is constantly watching The Food Network, reading food magazines, and browsing websites to make sure he stays current with the latest evolutions in food and wine to see if they are something that needs to be worked in at Quattro.
In addition to already having expanded to two other Quattro satellite locations, Corsi says plans are underway for an enoteca-style wine bar. Ultimately, Quattro is about the family they’ve created between the Corsis, longtime staff, and regular customers, and they have no plans to go anywhere else or do anything radically different anytime soon. |
2008 Kwong Fung Group. All rights reserved