De Luca's - Winnipeg

The variety and layout of the restaurant were disappointing. It felt cheap and not truly authentic Italian. The only positive aspect was their own brand of tomato sauce, which was excellent. You can find similar items anywhere.

What a great place to enjoy some food, learn about cooking and sip some vino! We went to the evening cooking school and had a wonderful time. The staff do a wonderful job looking after you. I really recommend getting there early so you can do some leisurely wine tasting before the meal begins. We were late getting started as there was still a line-up at the wine bar at 6:30. Once they were done the show began. Anna does a great job of talking through the dishes with good little tips here and there. Having said that the 'lesson ' on the dessert was a bit disappointing as all we got was a talk, i.e. no demonstration. So like the cake that was served, we found that section a bit dry. We had four courses counting dessert and the pasta (farfalle in lemon cream) was the star. Fresh, hot and exploding with taste. The pizza with bocconcini and fresh basil would have been great if it was hot and had fresh basil. It was tasty but unfortunately had been sitting there for sometime as it was less than warm. The stuffed pork was okay but I found my meat almost dry and the filling was a bit thin, especially compared to the excellent demo by Chef Mike. The vegetarian dish was a stuffed eggplant which was exploding with flavour. The potato zucchini bake was a hit and will be the first recipe we try at home! Dessert, so so. The cake as stated was a bit dry and lacked any real depth of flavour. Overall an excellent evening with some ups and downs with the food. The visit to the store was a fun way to end the evening.

The Alfredo pasta at the buffet was delicious. It was so good that you didn't even need to add meat or vegetables, and the vegetable pasta was also excellent. They also had tomato pasta, which was good even though that's not usually my go-to. The restaurant staff was friendly. I would definitely recommend this place.

I haven't been here in a while as la Grotta is my go-to place so I just discovered De Lucas has gone through some renovations. Nothing major but enough to spruce up the store. Place is packed on Saturdays so be patient in the meat and cheese section at the back of the store. They carry a good selection of cheeses but I'd say La Grotta has a wider selection. There's a lot of prepared pasta, pizzas and even canned items by DeLucas. Lots of olive oils, coffee, pasta, olives, spices and other good stuff. There's even a small section that sells kitchen items. If you're hungry, there's a casual eatery upstairs that sells pasta and pizza. Downside is that the grocery store is not linked directly inside to De Luca's Wine Store and that the De Lucas gift card is NOT applicable in the wine store. WTF. Something about how the wine store is associated with the grocery store but has some shareholders.

I was at De Luca's cooking studio for a private event tonight. The studio was quite nice. I was impressed with the set up and layout of it! De Luca's did a cooking demonstration for the group of 80 of us before serving each of the 3-course meal. I really enjoyed the idea that the De Luca's doesn't operate solely for the purpose of making money, it operates because the owner/team truly are passionate about their Italian cuisine and they want to take this opportunity to pass down their culinary skills. I had a fantastic time at De Luca's! The food was okay but I absolutely love the idea that it offers cooking demonstration as a group activity! It makes a great ice breaker for a networking event! If you're looking for a place to host a private event, I would highly recommend De Luca's!