CinCin Ristorante + Bar

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

A winding stone stairway rises from bustling Robson Street to one of Vancouver's most enduring dining rooms. CinCin Ristorante + Bar has spent more than a quarter century defining what modern Italian cuisine looks like on the West Coast — and it shows no signs of slowing down.

The Kitchen and the Fire

At the centre of everything is Executive Chef Andrew Richardson, a native of Newcastle, England, whose path to Vancouver wound through a Michelin-starred kitchen under Terence Laybourne, stints at Sooke Harbour House, Araxi in Whistler, and an extended stage at The French Laundry. He arrived at CinCin carrying a clear philosophy: "I believe in simplicity, and the interaction of absolutely prime ingredients on the plate — the passionata, as the Italians say. Less is often more, especially in Italian cookery."

That philosophy is given vivid form by the Grillworks Infierno, a two-metre stainless steel station featuring a grill and rotisserie where the freshest market fish and prime cuts of meat are cooked over fruitwood charcoal. Alongside it, pastas are made by hand in-house daily, and seasonal salads have become what the restaurant itself calls "Vancouver icons." Richardson's debut cookbook, CinCin: Wood-Fired Cucina — which earned the national award at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards for Best Italian Cuisine Book — captures these techniques and the marriage of traditional Italian dishes with West Coast ingredients.

The Room and the Wine

The dining room offers views directly into the lively kitchen, a heated terrace for outdoor dining, and a private wine room suited to group events. The atmosphere is contemporary yet settled — the kind of place that feels both special and familiar.

The wine program is a serious undertaking in its own right. Wine Director Shane Taylor, a WSET Diploma holder who earned BC Sommelier of the Year from the Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers in 2017, has built a list that earned Wine Spectator's Best of Award of Excellence — a recognition the restaurant has held across multiple years. The Vancouver International Wine Festival has awarded CinCin its Wine Program Excellence Award at Platinum level, and Assistant Wine Director Jamie Lauder, who joined the team in 2002, brings decades of personal relationships with regular guests to the floor.

Recognition Well Earned

The accolades that have accumulated around CinCin reflect consistent execution rather than a single standout moment: repeated recognition as Best Italian from Vancouver Magazine and WHERE Magazine, placement on OpenTable's Top 100 Best Restaurants in Canada, and a DiRoNA Achievement of Distinction in Dining. For anyone serious about Italian cuisine in Vancouver, CinCin remains a reliable, richly rewarding address.