Cardinale

After 10 years as Victoria Park’s destination Italian restaurant, La Vita e Bella was in need of a facelift. So owner Jared Kichula, general manager Graham Teare and chef Steven Dowdell decided it was time to switch things up. “Our 10 years was up, so we were doing a new lease and we wanted something that was going to last another 10 or 15 years,” Jared says. “We thought it was time to start something fresh.”

After Stampede 2017, the trio closed the restaurant to do a few renovations but wound up doing a complete overhaul instead. “It’s like those people who go, 'I need a new sofa' and next thing you know they’re tearing walls down,” Graham says. “We decided that instead of giving it a facelift we’d just give it a full rebrand.” They immediately went to task creating a pasta-centric menu, an adventurous Italian bar program and a brand new name. And on August 30, 2017, they reopened the space as Cardinale.

Cardinale boasts a contemporary-casual atmosphere with simple Italian food, fresh handmade pastas, an inventive cocktail program and plenty of Italian spirits. The bar is now located at the restaurant entrance, where guests will find Graham shaking up his signature creations and showing off his favourite spirits. “We are pretty laid back folks, so the idea of moving the bar up made the room a little more inviting,” he explains.

The restaurant is laid out similarly to La Vita e Bella with three main dining areas that have been updated with wooden tables, chairs, refurbished flooring and a modern rustic design. “We wanted everything in this restaurant to be comfortable and for people to be able to come in and relax,” Steven explains. “The menu and the spirits and everything else is on that same path.”