La Buca
La Buca
4025 MacDonald Street
Vancouver
Ph: (604) 730.6988
La Buca is a little gem of a Italian restaurant in the neighborhood of Arbutus Ridge. Although I have been a fan of Andrey Durbach's food since way back when he had Etoile on Hornby Street, I somehow had not yet got to La Buca for dinner. Tasting some of the delicious hors d'oeuvres that he prepared for a Blackbird Theatre fundraiser earlier in the summer reminded me of this and so prior to seeing a show out at the Frederick Wood theatre at UBC, I made a reservation for an early dinner.
Having checked out the menu on-line beforehand I had almost made up my mind what I wanted to eat but on hearing about the specials for the evening I changed my mind and in the end I decided to try both the appetizer special and a main course special.
Luckily I was dining with yet another friend who subscribes to the "share, and taste more dishes" school of thought, which was great, because that's just what we did.
To start we decided on the appetizer special of crumbed chicken livers in Marsala with sage done saltimbocca style on greens. As well the appetizer size portion of the potato, truffle and mascarpone ravioli with chanterelle mushrooms and sage butter. The ravioli are on the regular menu. Both selections lived up to our high expectations.
For our main courses we chose the milk fed veal scaloppine with wild mushrooms, and the special entree of rabbit thigh and shoulder in tomato and white wine sauce with carrot tortellini.
We both enjoyed every bite of all four dishes and agreed we would not wait too long to return for a follow up dinner. The restaurant was completely full by the time we left for our show so we would definitely call ahead for reservations the next time we visit.
Comments
The selections look mouth
The selections look mouth wateringly delicious in the photos! I have been to La Buca in the past and will definitely return to try more dishes.
I agree, this place sounds
I agree, this place sounds like a great find!
Yes, it's a great find for
Yes, it's a great find for me, specially when heading to a show at UBC - but that reflects my bias for finding pre-show dining spots really close to the theatre locations. So near the big theatre complexes on Homer and Cambie downtown, for Pal near Cardero in the West End, around Commercial for the Cultch, South Granville for the Stanley and Main or Cambie for Studio 58. Up till now "close" to UBC for me has been further west.
Judging by the way it filled up so quickly, local residents and others "found" it ages ago. I think it has been open several years.