September 8th, 2018-Tantalus. Adorada. Il Falcone & Colin Linden Remembers Aretha
Summary: <a class="a2a_button_facebook a2a_counter" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/facebook?linkurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tastingroomradio.com%2Fseptember-8th-2018-tantalus-adorada-il-falcone-colin-linden-remembers-aretha%2F&linkname=September%208th%2C%202018-Tantalus.%20Adorada.%20Il%20Falcone%20%26%20Colin%20Linden%20Remembers%20Aretha" title="Facebook" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/twitter?linkurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tastingroomradio.com%2Fseptember-8th-2018-tantalus-adorada-il-falcone-colin-linden-remembers-aretha%2F&linkname=September%208th%2C%202018-Tantalus.%20Adorada.%20Il%20Falcone%20%26%20Colin%20Linden%20Remembers%20Aretha" title="Twitter" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share_save addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tastingroomradio.com%2Fseptember-8th-2018-tantalus-adorada-il-falcone-colin-linden-remembers-aretha%2F&title=September%208th%2C%202018-Tantalus.%20Adorada.%20Il%20Falcone%20%26%20Colin%20Linden%20Remembers%20Aretha"></a><br> Tantalus. Adorada. Il Falcone & Colin Linden Remembers Aretha<br> <br> Il Falcone –Chef Andrey Durbach (Courtney BC)<br> Andrey and Sian Durbach moved to the Comox Valley, Vancouver Island almost a year ago from Vancouver. They had been running three downtown Vancouver restaurants. High Tempo Rooms.<br> Before he became an outstanding graduate of the CIA, Culinary Institute of America in NYC, he had first made a name for himself in Vancouver working with Bishop’s, Il Giardino and Café de Paris. He launched Etoile in 96. There he learned the hard lessons of running a restaurant. Sold the place and hit the road re-learning the trade.<br> When Sian and Andrey returned to Vancouver 2 years later they partnered with Chris Stewart and opened Parkside, La Buca and Pied-a-Terre. Cafeteria followed with its $20 or less menu. My favourite was Sardine Can. A tiny room in Gastown.<br> No matter what the location I always noticed and liked his cooking.<br> Well, imagine my delight to discover that Sian and Andrey had opened Il Falcone in downtown Courtney.<br> Why Courtney?<br> Andrey explains in the interview that he and Sian finally wanted to work for themselves and the best place was a former Mexican restaurant in Courtney. Surrounded by burnt yellow stucco walls enclosing a courtyard filled with black cherry, fig and other fruit trees..you swear the restaurant was somewhere in Italy. Perfect. We’ve been three times and all three we sat outside under those trees. Glorious.<br> <br> <br> And the food? To die for.<br> Italian dishes with no excuses..Nothing but the best. It helps that they’re surrounded by hundreds of farms, fisheries specialists and foragers working the land. One of the best cheese makers in Canada is right around the corner.<br> Andre says he and Sian pretended to be Italians moving to the Comox Valley and they did what they’d do back in Italy..source and cook local. Cook like the Italians would.<br> The wine menu? Almost exclusively Italian.<br> For anyone who’s travelled to Italy..no matter what small town you were in, there would always be one Italian restaurant as its centerpiece. That’s what they’ve tried to do here. Just off the beaten path..a discovery waiting to happen.<br> Is it worth the flight or ferry. Yes and absolutely yes.<br> As Andrey told Montecristo magazine..<br> “My kind of diner is one who loves unctuous, delicious food, and is willing to chance the unfamiliar. It’s a diner who knows and trusts the kitchen and the servers, a person who wholeheartedly invests in the visceral experience of a meal.
