Folietta – Buzzy New Italian in Vancouver

Folietta is, at the time of this post, a 2 week old Italian restaurant located on Nanaimo Street in East Vancouver. The place is huge, and on the night I went, it was packed. The atmosphere was very lively. I started off with a tap negroni:

For starters I ordered the calamari and tonnato. The calamari was delicious. If you are expecting little bite sized pieces, you will be in for a surprise like I was because the portions of squid are larger, but perfectly breaded, moist and seasoned. The puttanesca sauce paired perfectly. I would order again. The tonnato was pretty good though I probably wouldn’t order it again.

The pasta I tried was the trottole con angello which is braised lamb neck, saffron, spring onion, and reggiano. I could not really taste the saffron but the dish was still delicious. However, the pasta was way overcooked. If the pasta was cooked al dente, it would of been perfect.

For our main, we had the mushrooms as a side, and the vitello alla parmigiana bistecca, which was a huge breaded 14oz bone-in veal chop. Its definitely enough for 2 or even 4 people. The mushrooms had tons of umami. The veal chop was delicious, and I would order it again.

For dessert, we had the tiramisu which was disappointing. This was largely my fault. I should of read the menu more closely because it was a semifreddo tiramisu, not a traditional one. I did not like the texture. I was craving creamy cake, but instead got a frozen ice cream like dessert. It was partly the negronis and being distracted because we were chatting with nice couples on each side of us by the end of the evening.

Overall, this was a really good meal despite the overcooked pasta and unexpected dessert. The service was really good, the atmosphere was lively (if you are looking for a quiet dinner, this may not be the place for you), and the positives of the food outweighed some of the missteps. Not to mention, we made some interesting people. I would return and recommend.