Magari by Oca — Restaurant in Vancouver

If you’re chasing culinary memories that hit like pure magic, get your a$$ in line for Magari by Oca.

A little (?🤦‍♂️) about my experiences: My sister once texted me, “One-week anniversary of our amazing night together 💕.” We’d shared an unforgettable meal at Magari the week before, and though I was tempted to laugh at the idea of celebrating the anniversary of an “eating,” I totally got it. It’s a testament to the kind of gustatious sorcery they’re practicing on The Drive.

Brought another friend who’d been dying to go. First pasta course lands, she takes a bite, tears up (like, a literal tear rolls down her cheek), and she blurts, “It’s SO beautiful.” And it was.

Their pastas are perfection.

Take the stuffed rotolo—you can see all the details of the filling through the exquisitely thin pasta, but the texture is firm enough that it never bursts open leaving a mess. And yet, despite that firmness, you don’t even need to pick up your knife to cut through it.

Perfection! 😘👌👏

I can’t even deal with what they did with it on Saturday night. It’s like they placed a sunset in my mouth (thank GOD we invented butter and that someone thought of browning it!). Bravo Gus! 👌

Antoine’s team are ridiculously good - like painters aiming to craft the perfect meal. One time, our server Jake asked me, “And do I recall that you are not a mushroom fan?” FLOORED. I had mentioned in passing like A YEAR AGO that I wasn’t in love with mushrooms. What??? That’s excellence.

Hospitality is an art in which people can achieve a level of mastery, and these folks have absolutely achieved it; the wines Fede picked for us on Saturday made things positively dance in our mouths. Superb. 🥰🍷🇮🇹

Heads up folks! Tangent incoming: I wanna talk a bit about the word hospitality.

Picture this: twenty-odd years ago, a university philosophy class. Professor throws out a question: “What is the opposite of cruelty?” Kindness, love, caring, friendliness—students toss out the usual suspects. Then he assigns us an essay by Philip Hallie: "From Cruelty to Goodness." I fished it out and reread it after two decades. The author argues that hospitality—not kindness—is cruelty’s true opposite.

He uses the example of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, a tiny French town in World War II, where locals saved thousands—many of them children—by opening their homes to strangers and making them feel welcome. I’ve talked to people about that essay for decades, so it’s probably safe to say that I’ve never forgotten it, right?

Except…I did forget it.

I screwed it up. All this time, I’ve been telling people that the prof asked us, “What is the opposite of war?”

I thought it was SO BEAUTIFUL to say that the opposite of “these people are my enemies; we must attack and kill them” was to say, “these people are my guests and I must welcome them into my home and feed them.”

I misremembered, but I actually prefer my mistake to the version in the essay.

For years, I’ve told people that the opposite of war is hospitality and I’m sticking to it.

I know, I know, you’re thinking, “Holy sh#t dude, it’s just pasta. Relaaaaaaax.”

But it’s not just pasta.

I feel SO welcomed when I walk in, so taken care of, so attended to. I experience the team’s genuine desire that people enjoy a fantastic meal. It’s like being in someone’s home on the night where they’ve invited the whole town over for a celebratory meal.

We recently dined at another highly recommended spot. Food was solid, for sure, but we felt like intruders. Seven dishes flew out in 45 minutes. Three times they reminded us of the two-hour limit (we weren’t late for our seating or nearing our two hours). Dessert’s barely touched when the bill lands, followed by, “The next table’s here”. And so I declared WAR on them!! 💣💥 Just kidding.

I’ve served. I get it. They needed the table. Maybe the incoming crew was VIP. But real hospitality? It makes everyone feel like a VIP.

What happened at that other restaurant doesn’t meet the criteria for cruelty, but it is Magari by Oca that is truly the opposite of...

There is often a risk that emerges for restaurants that are over hyped. Sometimes a certain attitude takes hold that eventually permeates the culture of the business. The people behind Oka Pacifico experienced instant popularity when they opened their doors less than two years ago. Sadly, the early success may have gone to their heads as the restaurant staff seem to have embraced an arrogance which could ultimately lead to the bistro's demise.

Like many wanting to dine here, we heard stories of long, anxious, late afternoon line ups and the promise of delectable pasta. Therefore, on a rainy Saturday night, we got in line 45 minutes before the doors opened and secured a table for the second seating. Our first encounter with the front of the house occurred as we waited outside in the atmospheric river for our table to be set. The host eventually appeared to check our vaccine passports. As my partner struggled to locate her drivers’ licence, our host mumbled, “I am in a hurry.” We then made our away into the restaurant and two minutes after settling in at our table, our server pounced – no introduction, no welcome. He demanded to know what we wanted. When we inquired about the wine, he pointed to a chalk board. There was no insight offered about the listings, and, because of our poor vantage point, my friend had to put on his mask and get up from our table to view the list. There was a similar amount of disinterest shown by our server regarding the options for dinner. He impatiently pointed at a chalk board on the back wall. Some of the choices were already smudged out by the time of our 7pm sitting. He did not share any information about the featured dishes and made no mention of the tasting menu. The wine and food were abruptly delivered. The dishes were good but not exceptional. We did like the salad with anchovies and the fresh cut noodles do elevate a pasta dish to the next level. However, the Cacio e Pepe was underwhelming and the tortellini with ricotta and nettles was over sauced. However, our major complaint was the with the surly, neglectful service. There was no effort to refill our wine or water glasses. There was no enthusiasm about the food. There was a complete indifference, bordering on disdain, that spoiled our dining experience. Over the years, we have had better Italian food and more pleasurable dining experiences at many restaurants including Cioppino’s and La Quaercia. There are too many other wonderful restaurants in the city deserving our business.

As for the future, unless the people working at Oka Pacifico are to become more welcoming, gracious and appreciative of the diners that currently line the sidewalk outside their bistro each evening, they may be putting their longevity at risk. The staff don’t seem to understand that Commercial Drive is a small village. There are lots of robust, neighbourhood discussions about the dining experiences available at the new cafes that line the street. This is how reputations are formed and loyalty is nurtured. The people running Oka are blow-ins from the westside. They need to be careful, here on the east side, not to take their current success for granted or they risk becoming another forgettable...

I'd been wanting to visit Oca for a while so my partner and I were very excited to get our names on the waitlist when they opened at 5PM. I would give 4 stars based on the food alone because their pasta had a lovely texture (the only dish that fell short was the cacio e pepe, which was slightly underwhelming in flavour). However, after waiting 2 hrs & 15 min for our table, we were met with the most discourteous service I've ever experienced at a restaurant, mainly due to our server (male, hair tied back in a bun).

First of all, our server didn't bother elaborating on the tasting menu's offerings. Instead, he gave a vague description: "pasta, pasta, pasta" to convey that the tasting menu consisted of 3 pasta dishes. So, we assumed that it would simply be a selection of the 5 options on the a la carte menu and just decided to order 2 pasta dishes a la carte: a leek & mascarpone stuffed pasta and a pork ragu. After ordering, we realized that the tasting menu actually consists of pastas that aren't on the a la carte menu and I was confused as to why our server didn't mention this. Later on, at the end of our meal, a different server would also express his confusion as to why our original server failed to properly describe the tasting menu to us.

When we received our first pasta dish, my partner and I took a few photos of it for, at most, 2 minutes when our server came up to our table and said something along the lines of "Are you just going to be taking photos? Your pasta will get cold." After waiting over 2 hrs for a table, I'd hope that I get to take however many photos of my food without receiving a snide comment from the waitstaff... When we begin eating it, our server comes back to deliver another unsolicited remark, saying "Do you need me to microwave that for you?" but we just laugh it off and tell him that it's still perfectly warm. From that point on, I felt extremely uncomfortable and hyperaware of the fact that he was watching us in this tiny (20-seater) restaurant.

After finishing our second pasta dish, we ordered the cacio e pepe from a different server. When our original server came up to us asking if we'd like dessert, we told him that we just ordered a third pasta dish. But, since he mentioned dessert, my partner asked him what the desserts of the day were (they were not written on the menu board) and he replied "You just ordered a third pasta, you already want to know about dessert?" Again, my partner tried to laugh it off and said, "Oh we're just curious," and our server replied curtly, "We'll see if we get there," and walked away. We were so confused by this response that we were speechless. Never before have I been denied information that I've requested at a restaurant AND been met with such flippant attitude.

Overall, our first visit to Oca was the most uncomfortable dining experience I've ever been through and we definitely don't wish to return. I can easily get the same quality of fresh, delicious pasta AND warm, friendly service at other establishments...