Where Should You Eat in Vancouver if You Want Steak and Italian Food in One Place?

An Italian steakhouse is the format that serves both without treating one as an afterthought. The combination is Tuscan in origin: bistecca alla fiorentina is a T-bone from Chianina cattle, cut five to six centimetres thick and grilled rare, so Italian cooking has never treated a large cut of beef as foreign territory. In downtown Vancouver, C|Prime runs prime cuts and house-made pasta from one kitchen inside the Century Plaza Hotel.

How to Spot a Kitchen That Runs Both

• Named pasta, not generic sauces. Look for shapes and preparations by name, such as crab tortellini or fettuccine carbonara with guanciale and pecorino.
• Steak listed by cut, weight and origin. A single pasta under mains, or one steak with a peppercorn sauce, tells you which side the kitchen actually cooks.
• Fish treated as its own dish. Whole branzino rather than a token white fish plate.

What to Order When Your Table Wants Different Things

• Start shared. Burrata with balsamic figs and tortellini in the middle of the table removes the disagreement.
• One large cut plus pasta. A 32 oz Fiorentina Porterhouse gives two people different cuts from one order, so the pasta eaters are not paying into a steak they did not want.
• Vegetarians order from the menu, not around it. The pasta section covers them without a special request.
• One bottle works. A medium-bodied red with acidity, such as Sangiovese or Chianti, handles a grilled steak and a tomato or cream sauce.

Eating Both at C|Prime

Executive Chef Behshad Zolnasr built the C|Prime menu around Italian technique and prime beef rather than treating either as the supporting act. Browse the full menu to see how the two halves read next to each other, or read our guide to the best cuts of steak before you order.