Stirred, Not Shaken: Tutto's Strait Away is a Pacific Northwest take on an Italian classic

The cocktail’s name is a nod to the Salish Sea

Stirred, Not Shaken is Stir’s cocktail series featuring locally made drinks that incorporate the best-of-B.C. ingredients. (Note: sometimes, the beverages are shaken.)

YALETOWN’S TUTTO RESTAURANT and Bar, situated in a 1910 heritage building with brick walls, dreamy cream and red leather seating, and the latest in plastic dividers, is swanky in style but surprisingly and pleasantly approachable menu-wise.

It has an open kitchen, so you can see the nail-polish-red tiles of the Marra Forni Deluxe brick oven, built in Italy by hand, and watch executive chef Adam Shaughnessy, chef de cuisine John Wells, and others, all masked, work the line.

Then there’s the beautiful rounded bar where you can find Nico Tognon. Born in Padua, Italy, he went to hospitality school there and worked in London and Sydney before coming to Vancouver. While the bar manager has a penchant for all things Italian, he has created a colourful Pacific Northwest take on a Negroni that boasts some of B.C.’s best craft spirits.

A Strait Away features Empress 1908 Gin by Sidney-based Victoria Distillers; you can spot this beauty from across the elongated bar by its jewel-like blue hue; micro-distilled in small-batch copper-pot stills, it’s dry and opulent with notes of black tea. (Wow your friends by making any kind of drink in front of them with this and watch it change colour.) There’s Woods Chiaro Amaro by North Vancouver’s Woods Spirit Co. A West Coast take on a classic, the citrusy and floral spirit is a blend of 13 botanicals including lemon, star anise, and gentian. Then there’s Esquimalt Wine Company’s funky off-dry Dry Vermouth, which is made with 11 different herbs and botanicals mixed with a base of mead and wine from Vancouver Island.

The cocktail’s name is inspired by Strait of Georgia (an arm of the Salish Sea between the Island and the Mainland), referring to the locations of the distilleries featured in the drink. The sipper is perfect for sunny if cool afternoons and for whiling away the pandemic blues.

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