[YWG] Italian in the 'Peg

[prasantrin]

One of my quests this summer is to find a good wood-burning oven pizza, so I'll be visiting Italian restaurants to find it.

First stop, Pizzeria Gusto. Nice space, but very similar to other spaces done by the same design team (I assume it's the same design team as Siam and Ivory, because there are many similar elements--meant to make each place distinct, but really creating something more like a housing development effect). We went for a late lunch, so the space was maybe 1/4 full, but I can imagine the place being quite loud when more people are around.

The lunch menu is quite limited--a few salads, appetizers, several pizzas, some panini, and desserts. There's certainly enough variety at lunch without overwhelming the diner.

I ordered my favourite--Pizza Napoletana--pizza with tomoatoes, mozzarella, basil, anchovies and capers. I think it had dollops of ricotta on it, too. I was hoping for some good olives, but no such luck. My mother had the lamb panino--lamb, arugula (?) and thinly sliced cheese (provolone?).

When the server took our order, she also poured water, but there was only enough in the jug for one glass. She said she'd be back shortly with more, but we waited, and waited, and waited. Since it was past the lunch rush, being busy with other customers could not be used as an excuse. Another staff member was pouring water for another table, so I assumed he would come over and poor water for us, as well. No such luck. I guess they work in stations at this restaurant. I tried to catch our server's eye more than once (as she cleared and set tables that were maybe 10 feet from us, or as she was doing stuff at the bar maybe 20 feet from us), but she wasn't very aware of what was happening at the tables in her station (like me caressing my empty water glass). I was finally able to ask for water when she brought us our orders, but it pissed me off that I should have had to have asked at all.

Now the food. My mother's panino looked filling. There was a substantial amount of lamb (possibly sliced from a roast) that looked moist, though rather plain (I didn’t notice any ground pepper or herbs on it), and there was a good amount of arugula, as well. The bread was lightly toasted, but I couldn't tell if the sandwich had been grilled. The cheese wasn't melted, so I would assume the bread was grilled separately rather than as part of the sandwich. I didn't try it, but my mother said the lamb was, in fact, moist, but not flavourful. It didn't have a bad flavour, it just didn't have any flavour. She really liked the bread, though, and said it was even better than the Italian bread we usually buy (I think they use ciabatta, but I don’t know if it’s house-made or not).

I was a little disappointed with the looks of my pizza. The toppings looked right—light tomato sauce with chunks of (canned) roma tomatoes, blobs of melted mozzarella (as opposed to the even spreading of North American-style pizza). But the crust, which is most important to me, looked like a regular North American-style thin pizza crust. The rim of the crust was perfectly formed, and it didn’t have those bubbles and crusty bits that I come to expect from Neapolitan wood-burning oven pizza (like the picture here). The texture also was not quite what I expected—a bit of crisp when you bite into it, but with some chewiness (not to be confused with toughness) is what I like. This almost had it, but was a little too much like NA-style pizza. I liked the flavour of the pizza, though. The tomatoes are most important, in my opinion, and if the sauce had been cooked, it had only been slightly cooked, which left a very fresh flavour. The anchovies could have been distributed a bit better, but I was happy to be able to taste them, and there was a good amount of fried capers. The ricotta was fine—I would have been OK without it, and it made the pizza a bit soggy by the time I started eating the second half.

I asked for chile-infused olive oil, which I love with Neapoletan-style pizza. They didn’t have that exactly, but I was given some olive oil that had been infused with cloves of garlic, some chile, and I think sun-dried tomatoes. It wasn’t really spicy, but my mother also added some to her lamb panino, and she said it made the sandwich much better. With my pizza, by the way, came a fork/pizza cutter. It was a waste of space. The cutter was sharp enough, but the fork sometimes got in the way of cutting, and the fork was pretty much useless on its own unless you always eat with your fork facing downwards.

Verdict? Service was friendly, but it definitely could improve in terms of the actual service. I’d go back for the food, but I think it’s a bit of a waste (or gimmick) to have a wood-burning oven, but to not produce a good Neapolitan-style pizza crust.

[prasantrin]

Bonfire Bistro is a place I've been meaning to try for years. We dropped by for lunch today to try the wood-burning oven pizza.

I had the Daily Special Vegetarian Pizza (artichoke hearts, red peppers, and spinach) and my mother had the Daily Special Meat Pizza (I remember some kind of sausage and maybe red peppers and one other thing on it). The crust was reminiscent of frozen pizza from the supermarket. When I was younger, whenever I made frozen pizza I'd bake it on higher heat so it would crisp, but it would result in a very brown crust (almost burnt but without that charcoal flavour). This pizza crust was exactly like that. The toppings were also overcooked--quite dark, without even chewy goodness to the cheese.

My mother thinks the pizza was pre-cooked, then reheated. Given its state, it wouldn't suprise me if that were true, so perhaps I should have ordered the custom made pizza (I tried, but they didn't have anchovies, and it's hard to have an olive, caper, and anchovy pizza without anchovies). Regardless, I don't think I'll be going back, at least not under my own volition.

We also had side caesar salads--tasteless, but at least the lettuce was fresh.

[prasantrin]

My mother went to Bombolini for the first time in years. She said it was a huge disappointment--very flavourless food. She said she wouldn't go back, but would like to re-try Amici's (Bombolini's higher-end sister upstairs) to see if it has gone downhill, as well.