The Fine Conti Costanti of Kitslano – Q4

Another Sunday afternoon, I decided to visit a newly moved restaurant on Broadway – Q4. Quattro on Fourth got its name as the original restaurant was opened on 4^th Avenue, but now moved to 2563 West Broadway.

As I made the reservation for six o’clock, there were only a few tables occupied. The interior design is classy and tasteful with many bottles of fine wine the cellar. Q4 also has a semi-private room for big parties where we sat next to.

We took a look at the menu and decided to try the antipasto platter, which has an assortment of antipasto in small portions. For pasta, we chose the house-made potato gnocchi with classic Bolognese and for secondi we chose the striploin steak and frites.

The antipasto platter is beautifully arranged and full of traditional Italian delicacies. I developed two favorites among all the antipasto: bruschetta and radicchio bocconcini. As both of them are traditional Italian appetizers, bruschetta has its origin dated to at least the 15th century. The bruschetta at Q4 has crispy baguette toast topped with basil, fresh tomato, onion and a hint of garlic, making it refreshing and tasteful. The fresh marinated mozzarella with prosciutto was wrapped with radicchio leaves then grilled to make the radicchio bocconcini.

Soon after the antipasto was done, the house-made potato gnocchi was brought to the table. Gnocchi is a common type of soft dumplings that is made out of flour, potato, egg and sometimes cheese. The potato gnocchi at Q4 was extremely soft with a hint of spice from the Bolognese sauce.

Last but not least, we had the main course – striploin steak with French fries and green salad. I asked the striploin to be medium as the meat was cooked but not tough at all. An assortment of different mushrooms was under the striploin, a great combination with the black peppercorn sauce. Striploin and frites is a typical French course, but with an Italian twist of the sauce and mushroom, the main course became one of the most popular dish at Q4. Of course, the French fries are worth mentioning too, crispy and flavorful with Q4′s homemade ketchup.

The chef of Q4 – Alexandre Jolin greeted us after the main course and presented us two lovely desserts. He introduced the Ciliege Filate, which is candied phyllo pastry layered with mascarpone cheese and cherry red wine sauce.

The hospitable chef also made a special dessert for us from his daily inspiration – lightly fried doughnut ball, topped with cranberry sauce. The doughnut balls were puffy and not so oily as the mint leaves also created a slight freshness to the dessert.

The service was courteous and pleasant. The dishes use the freshest ingredients and all the pasta are handmade daily works. The dining experience at Q4 can be considered truly as a fine bottle of Conti Costanti – smooth and elegant.