For over a decade, this block of Mainland Street was where Yaletown folks went for fresh pasta and a glass of wine after work.
Last week we walked past Robba da Matti’s Yaletown location and found the whole storefront wrapped up.
We peeked through a gap in the wrap, and the room was completely gutted.
On Google, the location was also tagged as permanently closed.
This one lands differently because it is the original.
Robba da Matti opened right here back in 2011, when it still went by the name Yaletown L’Antipasto.
It is the room that started the whole thing, years before the brand grew into Gastown and the West End.
Surprisingly, there has been no announcement, especially since they did one when their Kitsilano location shut down.
And oddly, their Instagram has just sat quiet since December.
For anyone who never made it in, Robba da Matti was the fresh-pasta-and-wine kind of Italian.
Owner Matti Rikkinen left Thunder Bay to knock around Europe in the 90s, met his wife in Italy, and built the place around the small neighborhood eateries he fell for over there.
The Yaletown room ran on that idea, with pasta made in house and regional Italian plates you settled into for a couple of hours.
If you are worried about the rest of the brand, do not be.
The Gastown location and the West End spot are both still open and reservations are open.
The Mainland Street closure joins a rough stretch of recent Vancouver closures, including Tatchan Noodle in Strathcona, Afuri Ramen, and Burgoo’s longtime downtown bistro on Burrard.
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Address: 1127 Mainland Street, Vancouver, BC