House Piccolo

Short version: authentic fine dining on Salt Spring Island in a tiny heritage house, with superb service and awesome food. Longer version: a treat for all the senses, House Piccolo offers an intimate, relaxed, and (weather permitting) delightful al fresco culinary experience curated by knowledgeable wait staff. Our server helped me choose my appetizer (I was torn between the gravlax with dill sauce, which I chose, and the crab cakes) as well as my entrée (seared sea scallops). I paired both with a light, crisp Gewürztraminer from the Alsace, and my wife and I shared chocolate cake on Crème Anglaise for dessert. My scallops as well as the sablefish my wife ordered were oh so perfectly cooked — seared on the outside and melt-​in-​your mouth on the inside; both were served at the optimum temperature for each dish. Worth the splurge!

The restaurant is nice but let’s get to the food, this is what makes this restaurant. Appetizers have a Scandinavian influence and are very authentic and are very good. The gravlax is house made and a generous portion, some of the best I have had. The herring is from Sweden, not sour rollimops, a must for any Scandinavian — don’t forget to order the Akvavit: o) Main courses did not disappoint. The venison melted in your mouth, sable fish was beautifully done and tasty, the lobster risotto had whole lobster tail. Lots of menu items we didn’t try so will be going back again.
Huge wine list with lots of nice choices.
Excellent service. Felt like we had our own private waiter.

I feel like «charming» may be the most overused word by tourists on Salt Spring. But even if there was an edict that banned a person from using the word, I would break laws and battle authorities for House Piccolo.
Because folks — this place is ccchhaarrrmmmiinnnggg.
From it’s wee cape cod blue character house exterior to its crisp white linens and minuscule size, this place would make even the most cynical person think, «Well gosh, this is cute!» The fact that it also happens to be one of the only places on the island that serves up a fine dining (ish) meal? Gravy.
We tucked into this place for a birthday celebration — one of three tables in the joint. They only book as many reservations as the chef feels comfortable cooking for. This means both service and food are prompt but also, if one of the chefs is sick, that the place will be half empty. Warning to walk ins: because of this, if there is an empty table, it may not mean you’ve lucked out. Make reservations!
A beautiful wine list with a fair range of prices — including a good number to Ooo and Aaahhh over the sticker shock.
Both dishes I had — the crab cakes and a steak — were beautifully done. Simple but well cooked and with good portions. Is it worth the fine dining price tag? Perhaps a balk or two would be had on the mainland but folks — you’re on an island: shush and deal with it. At the end of the day, we all left happy, full and feeling like it was money well spent — which is the end goal to any dinner, is it not?
A charming meal and a new spot for the parentals «impress the guests» repertoire. Well worth a visit — but DO call ahead!

Had a very nice dinner here and great to have this kind of dining option on a small gulf island.
This is where you go when you have something to celebrate or feel like pushing the boat out a bit.

Great restaurant on a small island.
The food and service were both top notch. My wife and I had two courses and split the desert. The waitress offered us three wines to taste before making our decision, without any prompting. The wines were all good, and her suggestions hoped avoid a less than ideal pairing on my part.
The food was excellently cooked. My venison was a perfect medium rare and very flavourful without a hint of gaminess. The presentation was somewhat rustic, but it really let the food speak for itself.
A great experience.

Seriously one of the best fancy meals you will have outside Vancouver, on its various islands.
Following what Jack A said, the décor and everything else about it screams No! or OMG 80s! but don’t be fooled… that is just the city person inside you that is well acquainted with chic interior design. Islanders with businesses don’t have the money for these kind of revamps.
Come here for what will be an impeccably done meal every time, and notice the incredible detail in everything they do, from the service to the food. This is a timewarp, but a good one… one you can boogie to, and impress a date with. We are talking fresh made butter, perfect little breads made in house, silver salad service, house churned ice creams, just everything you used to expect from a fine dining meal.
If you ever wanted to know what got the gourmet food scene off the ground in the 80s, akin to what you saw in American Psycho, this was where it reached its heights, before it derailed in many places and became consumed with dizzying food architecture rather than taste and detailed preparation, and before waiters and owners became too snobby and over the top.
They have an amazing wine selection as well, and since they are less busy, at off peak times you can get crazy deals on some amazing rare bottles.
I heart you house Piccolo… never change!

It’s not very often that you can get impeccably brined tender herring and Aquavit, followed up with duck and scallops that are perfectly prepared. The dilled new potatoes and baby vegetables rounded out a perfect meal. The chef knows his stuff, and the thoughtfully compiled wine list includes some BC gems. Highly recommended.

House Piccolo has been the special restaurant of choice, by both Islanders and visitors, for several years. Fine dining awaits your pleasure, with patio choice in the summer season, and year round opportunity to savour Piccolo’s delicious menu choices and fine wine list for pairings. This charming character house, on Hereford Avenue, just mere steps up from the main Lower Ganges Road and the marinas, welcomes one immediately upon entering. Friendly and knowlegable staff, great food choices, excellent service, and that extra something that makes one choose Piccolo’s for birthdays, anniversaries, celebrations… enjoy!

From the outside I was frankly very scared by the horrid font employed by this restaurant in their logo and menu, the hilariously bad LED ‘open’ sign, and my fear was not assuaged when I entered into the 1980’s design time warp inside the door. The apparently ridiculous prices pretty much sealed the fate of this place, which my wife dragged me into as every cell in my body screamed out «nooooooooo!»
Ah well but how wrong I was. The service, ingredients, preparation, and presentation were all top-​notch, and for the serious foodie the taste pretty much rendered every thing else irrelevant. If you are fortunate enough to have the money to afford this meal, it is actually, i must confess, completely worth it.

Wow this place really delivers. It is a beautiful sunny house with ultra sparkling crystals on perfectly starched linens. The food was meticulously prepared with every course a masterpiece. Serving bowls for salad and potatoes was a nice touch. It felt very European in style and there was obviously a chef who knew his business. The salmon wasn’t a second overcooked on an artful arrangement of mixed fresh vegetables. Altogether a wonderful experience.