Sunday, March 15, 2009

MEMORIES OF IASI'S


VI'S AND IASI'SDear David As the snow comes down even in Tsawwassen. You have brought back some memories. VI,S steak house was great but the place across the street from The Penthouse was IASI’S and served the best VEAL PARMISSAN one could ever eat. That was the GOLDEN TIME. Regards Bill

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I remember Vi's I was taken there very early one morning by Ken Stauffer of the Cave. He took Mitzy Gaynor and her dancers there after they closed their Cave show.And as I had been photographing the show he invited me along. It was quite the event for me. PS It's Iaci"s not Iasi's.

NRF said...

Perhaps the memory plays tricks if you spent too many of the old days staying out late in that part of town.

From Georgia Straight, 2006:

Papi's Ristorante Italiano, snugged into the nearby Steveston Heritage Market building on No. 1 Road, has witnessed it all. Chef Ken Iaci bought the 22-year-old restaurant in 2003...

If the family name sounds familiar, it's likely because the Iacis have been part of Vancouver's restaurant scene since Ken's aunt Eva and son Frank (recent inductees to the B.C. Restaurant Hall of Fame) opened Iaci's Casa Capri in 1946 in an old house at 1020 Seymour Street opposite the Penthouse nightclub owned by cousin Joe Filippone. Iaci's, staffed by a raft of aunts””Teeny, Coco, Toots””plus brother Jake (real names Helen, Rose, Lucia, and Ross), enjoyed a colourful 35-year run. In those days, restaurant life must have been tough on families: Toots and the gang had 15 exes between them and just two children.

Although the Casa Capri clan has passed on, the family tradition continues: Ken Iaci made his mark in 1977 when he landed a job at the Cannery, becoming Vancouver's youngest executive chef at 24. By then he'd paid his dues...