Cotto Enoteca Pizzaria

I have to share this with you, and I had to do so as soon as possible, why??!  Cause it was orgasmic and I have a ton of "food porn" here for you!!

Last night I got the chance to hit the cold opening for the Cotto Enoteca Pizzaria right across the street from my house.  I have been excited about this place opening once I started stalking their fb page, twitter and the head chefs, Alex Tung's, blog.  You go there you can see immediately why I was soo thrilled to try this place out.  Not to mention, use it as a way for me to break into the Vancouver restaurant blogging world. 

Hubby and I got all dressed up... well I got all dressed up, of course in one of my signature dresses and we picked a table out on the patio, of course right beside their potted herb garden.  Amazing and it even served as a "lap area" for the children there lol.  I really loved that little aspect.

Our waitress came around and I jumped right in on their Limone Cosmopolitan (made from their house made limoncello), by the way I really want them to sell that stuff by the bottle omg!!, which was to DIE FOR.  Oh my goodness I haven't had a cocktail so yummy and it wasn't too sweet which I LOVED.  I hate really sweet drinks, never work out for me, this was perfectly balanced and delicious.  It wasn't the only one I tried either but I did go back to it at the end of the dinner cause I just HAD to have another.  As I tweeted, if I am not home I will most likely be across the street drinking one... a few... of these lol!  Honestly I am wanting to go over there right now with both the kids just to have one again.  I may hit the "corner store" this evening and sneak in for one... naughty me.

Limone Cosmopolitan  

House made limoncello, Stolichnaya vodka, Prosecco, white cranberry juice

After we had settled with our drinks and finally made a couple choices on our appies we ordered two things, their calamari.  Honestly some of the best calamari I have ever had and I am willing to say they completely beat out Feenie's.  I definitely preferred this and the green salsa they paired it with I would lovingly let replace tzatziki for the rest of my life. 

Calamari Fritto

Crispy fried squid, marinated roma tomato, salsa verde 

as you can see I clearly deeply enjoyed my calamari

My hubby ordered the meat balls and they were just divine he said, served with fried pizza crusts to dip.  All night hubby and I kept saying how you don't need teeth to eat here everything just melts with goodness.  I would have licked my plate... granted that was socially acceptable, sadly it is not... frowny face...

Cotto Polpetti   

House made meatballs, crispy bread crumbs, San Marzano tomato sauce, fried pizza dough

In between our appies and main course we decided to try a couple more yummy drinks and I chose this one  made from a wild strawberry liqueur, I found it just lovely.  If you can see there are even miniature strawberries in the bottom of the glass there, they were very tasty too, not to mention adorable.

Fragoli Passione 

Fragoli wild strawberry liqueur, Prosecco, Tanqueray gin

Little Italy  

Crown Royal, Stock Rosso, Luxardo maraschino liqueur, bitters

I have to also mention that hubby found this lovely beer that night,the: R&B Brewing Sun God Wheat Ale, and he is completely in love.  He will be more in love when I tell him you can even bring your own wine to this place and for an uncorking fee for 20$ they'll happily serve it for you!  Not that you will need to bring in your own they have so many amazing choices I would suggest just trying a few different things and get adventurous! 

Anyways our main courses showed up and both of us nearly died.  I mean dear lord, I even cheated on my vegetarian diet to snag a piece of that steak.  Dear lord, I have no idea what kind of horrific leather I have been given at other places but nothing can be called steak after that.  I think this cow was either massaged to death or poked to death by babies, honestly no need for teeth you could suck this.  Oh my God, I am salivating just remembering it.  And mr. picky pants HATES balsamic vinegar... ate the WHOLE thing.  Again AMAZING, you HAVE to eat this, I can't stress this enough.  In fact all my friends will be forced to eat here... just you wait buddies, just you wait!

Bistecca alla Toscana  

Pemberton Meadows flatiron steak, arugula, grape tomato salad, Parmigiano-Reggiano, balsamico

As for myself I ordered this incredible prawn dish that I had to have, I have to admit the spicy whore sauce was really hard to pass up on, I just HAD to know!  Not to mention I am a lover of olives and capers so this was a no brainer even though it took me a good half hour to actually decided what I wanted.  I mean I can always come back across the street lol! 

Strozzapreti Gamberi Diavola   

Prawns, Sicilian olives, capers, tomato, spicy whore’s sauce

note that garnish is crispy basil... YUM!

I was completely full but wishing I could eat it all over again, we of course decided to end the night milking the baby sitter and taking a lovely after dinner walk, and when mommy's heels come off in the grass you know it has been a really lovely night. 

Overall:

• Great restaurant, lovely outdoor area with herb garden, staff was super nice!
• Orgasmic food, and incredible cocktails, wine and beer selection.
• I really loved the vibe of the place, all smiles and the kids were all having a ball being there and eating.
• Nice and close to my house, not necessarily a perk for you but for me I LOVE IT. 
• I really loved the work they went into making sure their staff had tasted all the food, really made the place stand out just that much more. 
• my hubby loved the fact that they had grappa, he ended the night with a shot lol!

I highly suggest this place HIGHLY.