THE FRESH SHEET: Food & Drink Happenings (Apr. 29)

Restaurateurs Chris Stewart and Andrey Durbach (La Buca, Pied-à-Terre) have sold their West End restaurant, L’Altro Buca (formerly Parkside), to Carol Gadsby and Luciano Loi, who plan on turning it into another Adesso Bistro, the Italian-themed restaurant they once operated in Kitsilano. They aim to have it open by May 20, with former Cioppino’s sous chef Sean Sylvestre helming the kitchen. Stewart and Durbach made the sale in order to pick up the Ping’s Cafe space at 2702 Main, which they’ll take possession of on May 13. Their plan is to turn the 30-seater into a casual, affordable eatery along the lines of the original Parkside. Opening day is slated for the middle of June.

This summer, Vancouver may get its first pizzeria certified by the stringent Verace Pizza Napoletana Association — if restaurateur and pie-lover Bill McCaig has his way. There is only one other VPNA-certified establishment in Canada, Toronto’s Pizzeria Libretto, which was named one of Canada’s best new restaurants of 2009 by enRoute magazine. After taking the VPNA course in California last year, which teaches the art of authentic Neopolitan pizza-making, McCaig bought the one-storey building at 62 East Cordova, as well as an Acunto wood-burning pizza oven from Naples. He plans to turn the voluminous space into Nicli Antica Pizzeria, a licensed 40-seat pizzeria named after his mother, by mid-July.

Salt Tasting Room general manager Kurtis Kolt won the 2010 Sommelier of the Year award at the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival. Our congratulations to him and his establishment, which also picked up a Platinum Glass Award for its excellent wine list (Blood Alley, 604-633-1912, SaltTastingRoom.com)

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