Guilt Inducing, but not how you would think…

I feel bad even telling you about how good my meal was on Friday. I’m sure that the mass majority of folks were BBQing something up or having a bit of take out or god forbid having a really mediocre meal out. I was at Cin Cin on Robson being treated like a Queen and loving it.
What’s lovely is that if you didn’t know, you would think you were in for a fairly standard Italian meal. The place is not ostentatious, except for the address. It’s nicely lit and decorated but does not feel like a designer has been heavy handed. You know it’s special when you open the menu. There are some really different items like Sablefish, Rabbit, Lamb Shanks, Veal Cheeks. I don’t even want to use the description they give in this review, because I think there is a little bit of magic when you sit down and look at things and think “ooooh, that sounds nice…”
We had an astoundingly good antipasti course with marinated mushrooms, spot prawns, shaved ham, crostini, shaved fennel, all sorts of lovely thing. I’ll explain to you what happened for me anyway. I put a little marinated mushroom in my mouth and the world slowed down for a minute while I chewed. That’s how good this was. There was a detailed discussion as to what was used to season the prawns as well as they were insanely good. I think, and I may be wrong, that it was just salt and a little parsley to finish. the flavor was all from the prawn itself and haw awesome that was, and the open wood oven used to cook them which infused them with this beautiful beach holiday flavor.
I ordered the Gnocchi with Fraser Canyon White Rabbit, Pancetta and Pearl Onion. I love gnocchi, however those shelf stable packets of them will never be quite the same. This gnocchi went in my mouth and I though “aha, THAT’S what gnocchi is supposed to taste like.” It was like a perfect pillow of mashed potato, suspended by nothing, waiting to dissolve into ones mouth carrying along a bit of melting rabbit for the ride. It was just full on sexy.
Sexier still is the attention to making you feel like a celebrity. There are waiters who’s sole function it is to make sure you never run out of little crusty rolls and tapenade, and when you get up to go to the washroom your napkin is perfectly folded and waiting for you. The bathroom is, when you get there, spotless, and has crisp little while towels rolled up for your hands and (oh the details!) the hand soap is designer and you can tell.
The only fault that could be found, and i mean the only fault, found at great effort I’m sure by one of the ladies in our party, was that her Irish Coffee was served in a tall ceramic mug instead of a glass coffee mug thing. I thought that this was a bit like kicking Brad Pitt out of bed for being too handsome, but whatever. Some people need imperfection.
I think that a table on the balcony at Cin Cin on a summer night could be the most romantic night out in the city, hands down. I highly recommend it. Life is beautiful again.