Bao Bei’s Tannis Ling has teamed-up with executive chef Joel Watanabe and sous chef Alain Chow to open a new restaurant, Kissa Tanto — set to launch later this month. The 80-seat Japanese-Italian concept takes its name from the Japanese term jazu kissa — which is a reference to 1960 jazz cafés of Tokyo — and the Italian word tanto meaning, a lot. The restaurant, designed by Ste Marrie, boasts moody jewel tones and wood accents, as well as subtle Japanese elements to recreate the atmosphere of jazu kissa’s from the ’60s. “We want to create a space that gives people a sense of escape to a different time and place — a nightly celebration, even if there’s no real reason to celebrate,” explains Ling. The menu is inspired by the flavours of Japanese food with the warmth of Italian cuisine. Customers can expect seafood, meat and handmade pasta, including items such as chawanmushi, a savoury Japanese egg custard with saffron and Parmesan on Koshihikari rice; plum-cured Coho salmon with lemon-pickled walnuts, arima sansho, and Tokyo leeks; and kasu-braised pork ragu on fresh tagliatelle. The cocktail program, which is run by Wendy McGuiness, boasts a ’60s mystique and features classics such as swizzles, amaretto sours, Singapore slings and Irish coffees.
263 East Pender Street, Vancouver
