ELIO VOLPE || Creamy Soft Scrambled Eggs, Crispy Potato Latkes, and Decadent Pastries
This new brunch spot in Cambie Village will have you coming back for seconds.
We stopped by Elio Volpe this past weekend to see what the hype was all about, and if we had to skip to the good part, it would be the creamy soft scrambled eggs, the aromatic dill popping off the crispy potato latkes, and the sweet and savoury crispy fried chicken with soft poached eggs. Delicious and just the right portion since we mixed some small plates, a main and oddly enough, started our meal with a Maritozzi filled with custard and jam. Who said you have to satisfy you sweet tooth last?
The perfect pick me up for brunch.
Did we eat dessert before our main plates? It was just hard to keep our eyes off of the Maritozzi with custard & jam.
Let’s go back to the beginning. We both got some caffeine to kickstart our bodies as it was early on a Saturday morning, and it was the only time we could get a reservation. Note that they don’t have alternative milk options here, so if you’re lactose intolerant, an option could be to start your day with one of the cocktails on the menu(!)
My latte had just the right amount of creaminess and frothiness, tasty to the very last drop. As I mentioned, because our side eye caught a glimpse of a girl two tables down taking a scrumptious bite out of the Maritozzi packed to the brim with cream, custard, and jam, we shared that as the first thing we ate before we ordered our savoury plates.
After indulging in the sugary pastry, it was time for us to work backwards into the savoury offerings on the menu. The two small plates we got were the soft scrambled eggs with chives and cultured butter and the Caviale alla Elio potato latkes with chives and crema fresca. I usually hate eating scrambled eggs elsewhere because they always turn out dry and overcooked like eraser bits, so imagine my delight when I saw the creamy, slightly runny scrambled eggs land on the table. The potato latkes were chef’s kiss(!) because of their crispiness; did we layer the scrambled eggs on them? You bet we did, and we highly recommend you do it too.
A creamy, frothy latte.
Onto the main that we shared. Who doesn’t love a plate of chicken and waffles? I liked how we shared a few small plates and then one main because it allowed us to sample a few different flavours on the menu. Out of the items, I would say the fried chicken is good, eggs were poached nicely, but the standouts for me were actually the scrambled eggs and the latte. I skipped the waffles because we started our meal with the Maritozzi. Lesson learned: next time, maybe I’ll wait til the end of the meal to get the pastry.
Crispy fried chicken and waffles with two soft poached eggs. The ideal mix of sweet and savoury.
The thing about trying new spots is that you can’t eat everything on the menu, so we had to check out what others were eating to see what else looked good and mark it down as what we wanted to eat next time.
The tables next to us had Lobster alla benedettina and a pizza—both of which looked really tasty. I feel I would come back to try other dishes and also pop in during dinnertime to check out the pasta on the menu because I love carbs. Overall, Elio Volpe is a solid spot for brunch with lots of natural light and comfortable seats, a decent amount of space between tables, and lovely decor without being pretentious. Our server was also lovely, even though she dealt with two crazies who wanted to try the menu backwards. Thanks to her, we had a great time!
The textured white exterior is accented with gold lettering and shapes to mark the entrance.