Mondo Vino serves an impressive list of wines and a tasty array of tapas
Michelle Hopkins
Sun
At Mondo Vino at Papi’s in Steveston, wine-bar manager Colin Cruikshank (left) and co-owner Steve Ward sample wines along with crab and ricotta ravioli with hot smoked Indian candy salmon. The bar is nestled beside its signature Papi’s Ristorante Italiano. Photograph by : Ian Lindsay, Vancouver Sun
Longing for a flatteringly lit bar with cushy chairs without having to head downtown? Raise your wineglasses to Steveston’s newest little gem — Mondo Vino at Papi’s. What we have here is a wonderful addition to the neighbourhood. The wine bar — nestled in the heart of Steveston village, beside its signature Papi’s Ristorante Italiano — is inviting with its Neo-classical design combined with fabulous Italian accents and warm milk coffee tones adorning the walls. You might think you are in a Tuscan villa.
The real estate boom happening in Steveston brings with it young, urban professionals and boomers with disposable income — Mondo Vino has given us a much needed little suburban wine bar with New York chic.
Ken Iaci, along with partner Steve Ward, have done it again.
If the night we were there is any indication, they have a winner on their hands.
The place was jammed with good-looking, well-dressed locals and destination seekers from across the Lower Mainland.
The power of Mondo Vino — besides the wine list that boast more than 175 selections by the glass from the best wine regions in the world — lies partly in the restaurant’s signature El Fresco tapas. It also lies in the impressive list of California and French wines that Iaci and Ward have assembled.
“We are offering a rare and limited edition wine selection as well,” says Ward. “We have some going back to early California [’80s] and second and third growth wines and other rare wines.”
From Burgundies to Bordeaux, to Sonoma and Napa, there’s a wine for even the most discerning wine aficionado.
Pair these wonderful wines with mouth-watering tapas such as: the clay pot caramelized chicken with shallots and ginger (to die for), the porcupine prawns with a sweet chili dip (try to eat just one), fresh crab tarragon tart with rustic tomato sauce, and the duck comfit cake with sundried compote (it will make you salivate).
Iaci told me that he purposely created a menu that was different from Papi’s.
“I wanted to offer our clientele something different and unique,” says Iaci.
Because this is a wine bar, you have to try the three-ounce wine flights, which enable you to compare a variety of wines from different regions of the world — each a selection of three samples.
My partner went for a choice of whites and I, red.
She started with a B.C. Lang Reisling and Grand Pinot and a Rosemount Traminer/Reisling.
Chilled to perfection, she was hard-pressed to choose which was her favourite.
My flight included a Thornhaven Pinot Noir, a Veramonte Cabernet and a Barossa Valley Shiraz. The wines were well paired with the tapas.
Our server, Colin Cruikshank, reminded me that they also serve “mean” fresh-fruit margaritas, using only in-season fruit. As we spoke, he was busily making up a mango margarita. It looked delicious, especially on the hot evening we visited.
The tapas menu paired with the extensive wine selection promises to make this a fun, experimental and international experience.
The night we were there, patrons spilled outside where a few seats and a couple of tables were available. Mondo Vino at Papi’s seats 30 comfortably inside.
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MONDO VINO
At Papi’s wine and tapas bar (attached to Papi’s Ristorante Italiano)
12231 No. 1 Rd., Richmond, 604-275-8355.
Open daily (closed Sundays) from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. (Monday to Thursday), until midnight Fridays and Saturdays.
© The Vancouver Sun 2006