My secret for making great pizza at home - #FoodPornFriday

I'm staying home for #FoodPornFriday this week.

Today I'm sharing pizzas, pizzas I made at home. I decided to share this as these particular pizzas have turned out better than any other any of us have ever made at home. I thought people would be interested to learn what I used to make such great pies.

The first thing you need is Stonefire Artisan Flatbread. Costco started carrying this and it comes in a five pack which is perfect for us as there are five of us in the family.

Up next is the pizza sauce. Over the years we have tried a lot of different pizza sauces. One of our favourites was one that came in a baggie in the Kraft Pizza Kit. I've now found something we all like even better. This is Mutti Pizza Sauce with Spices.

I think anyone who regularly follows this blog knows the next important ingredient. It's one of the main things that makes Windsor Style Pizza so damn good. That's Part Skim Mozzarella from Galati Cheese. If you don't live in Windsor, I'm sorry. I can't help you out here.

The last secret, one I figured out when making Pizza Bombs is to toss the meat into your skillet for a bit before putting them on your pizza. For the pepperoni specifically, I wait until they curl and the edges are a bit crispy.

As for the rest of the ingredients that's all up to you. That's what makes this such a perfect meal for our family as everyone can have exactly what they want. My wife has recently become of fan of adding yellow zucchini to her pizza. Personally, I stuck to meats with lots of cheese.

As far as cooking goes, I used the instructions on the back of the Stonefire bread. 425F for about 10 minutes. 

I found it takes an extra 5-10 minutes or so depending on how many toppings you put on. In general, I just put the pizza in the oven and watch for the cheese to get just a tiny bit browned.

Salmon Pizza from Vittorio's for #FoodPornFriday

Okay I know I just featured Vittorio's Slice of Italy for #FoodPornFriday a few weeks ago, but come on, look at this pizza my wife was served last night! I couldn't pass on the chance to share this beauty. 

I don't even like salmon (except in sushi) and I'm so so on arugula but I have to say that the Salmon Pizza (#21) that my wife got last night for dinner looked damn appealing. Besides smoked salmon and arugula this pie also has melted mozzarella, fresh tomato, and fresh mozzarella. 

17. Contadina

The rest of the pizzas the family ordered were equally good, though may not be as appetizing looking. I went with the Contadina (#17) which had Mozzarella, bacon, sausage, and potato. My dad went for a Jessica (#15) with tomato sauce, mozzarella, ham, pepperoni and sausage. My mom stuck to basics and got a Pepperoni (#2) but had them add green peppers. Little G tried something a bit more unique, a Patate (#10) with mozzarella, potatoes, egg, and sausage. 

Overall the entire family is still enjoying Vittorios and they still get a strong recommendation for me. 

#FoodPornFriday Vittorio's Slice of Italy - fantastic Italian if you can find it

Today's #FoodPornFriday post is inspired by a few Facebook and Instagram comments I've gotten over the last few days. 

A few weeks ago my wife and I had plans to go see the new Avengers movie. We wanted to make sure we saw it in the theater and didn't wait for the DVD release. I had the thought that if we went the opening night of Star Wars: Solo then, obviously, Avengers would be empty as everyone would be seeing Solo. It was a good plan. What it was missing though was somewhere to eat before the show. 

Now, I don't remember what else was going on that day but I remember time was tight. We had some stuff to do and then needed to eat pretty quickly and hit the theater or we would miss the start of the show. At this point, Avenger's was only playing at Lakeshore Cinema so I was looking for somewhere to eat either in Tecumseh or on the way. After checking out Google and a few review sites I settled on someplace I've never heard of: Vittorio's Slice of Italy. 

Vittorio's Slice of Italy is a small(ish) family-owned Italian restaurant hidden in Forest Glade. It's hidden so well that it's in plain sight and despite that, I drove past it twice. See, it's in Forest Glad Plaza, and I can already hear you saying: but the only restaurant in that plaza is Parks & Rec. Well, I thought the same thing, and we are both wrong. Vittorio's is almost in the south-west corner. It's right next to a Deli and I have to say their sign somehow makes it look like they are part of the deli. Driving by I actually thought that the deli must sell a lot of Italian meats and bread or something. No, Vittorio's has nothing to do with the Deli (well maybe they get some ingredients there, that wouldn't surprise me). 

So now that you know how to find the place, what can you expect from Vittorio's Slice of Italy? It's not a big place, though bigger than it looks from outside in the plaza. The kitchen is in plain view and as soon as you walk in I can almost guarantee you will be greeted and treated like family by one of the staff. In this way Vitto's reminds me of Louis', they are extremely friendly and welcoming and you will feel right at home in no time. The only complaint I have about the place is that it can get loud. It's basically one room with no walls and depending on how many people are there it can be noisy. 

The big thing food wise at Vittorio's is gourmet pizza. They offer 34 different pre-made pizzas that include #23: Carbonara with mozzarella, eggs, bacon and parmesan, #32: Lenola with mozzarella, porcini mushrooms, and prosciutto, or #15: Jessica's with Tomato sauce, mozzarella, ham, pepperoni, and sausage. These are the pizza's my family has tried so far and every one has been fantastic. 

It's an interesting style of pizza. It's not Windsor Style Pizza. Nor is it wood oven flatbread pizza. It's something in between. The ingredients seem to be the same ones used on most Windsor Style Pizza and the crust is closer to Windsor Style but not as thick. The pies are cooked in a standard pizza oven, so they definitely aren't wood fired. I've heard these are closer to the Italian roots of pizza, but I can't answer to the validity of that.

Vittorio's isn't all pizza either. They also have a decent selection of traditional Italian meals. Gnocchi, Ravioli, Chicken Parm, etc. After our first trip, someone on social media suggested we try the Bruschetta appetizer and we did so on our next trip and that comment was bang on. The best, but also messiest, bruschetta I've had. Overall my wife and I were really impressed. So much so that the next Thursday I took my mom and the kids there. A couple weeks later the entire family went. At this point, I'm sure we will be back again. 

I did forget one thing. We found the prices to be excellent for the portion size. The pizzas range from $8.99 to $13.99 with items like veal parmesan being only $12.99. You don't see those prices at other local Italian restaurants. 

So trust me when I say, there's a damn fine Italian restaurant hidden in Forest Glade and it's well worth going on the hunt to find it.

#SadNewsSaturday - Sad news about Capri Pizza

Yes it's Saturday morning. No this isn't a #FoodPornFriday post. I'm a bad blogger. I spent the last few Friday's at work on afternoons. Last night I had a Friday night off. I probably should have used that to blog. Instead, I got a take-out Panzerotti from Windsor Pizza, tried out some of my Motor Craft Ales Members Club beers and played a ton of Destiny 2. So sorry, I didn't write about food last night.

To make up with it, I'm here with #SadNewsSaturday. I don't expect this to actually be a thing. Actually, I really hope it doesn't become a thing. I don't want to have enough sad news to be able to post every Saturday. Hopefully, this will be the one and only #SadNewsSaturday. 

Last week I learned the very sad news that the original Capri Pizza location on Dougal has closed the restaurant side. You can no longer head there to eat in and drink a pitcher of MacLean's Amber Ale. You can't go there for Panzerotti Wednesday where you could get buy one and get one free. Now the only way to get Carpi in Windsor is to either pick it up or get it delivered. 

This bums me out as I really enjoyed eating in at Capri. Besides the obvious advantage of fresh hot Windsor Style Pizza (and draft beer), the atmosphere in there was great. One wall was covered with classic Windsor Pictures. There were articles on the wall going back to when Capri first opened. The place had history. 

I was really hoping to make it there one more time before they closed but it just wasn't meant to be. Goodbye, eat in at Capri. I will miss you.

#FoodPornFriday - Just what is Windsor Style Pizza?

A Large Meatlovers from Capri Pizza

Today I have a practical #FoodPornFriday post all about Windsor Style Pizza.

A Queen take out Pizza
from Windsor Pizza

Nine times out of ten when I post a picture of Windsor Style Pizza and mention that I'm having/enjoying Windsor Style Pizza I will get at least one comment asking what exactly Windsor Style Pizza means. I've answered that question now at least 20 times, maybe as many as 50 times. It doesn't matter how often I answer it, I'm certain that the next time I post a picture of Windsor Pizza on some social media site someone is going to ask me: What's Windsor Style Pizza.

So that's why today's #FoodPornFriday post exists. So that the next time someone asks me this question I can just provide them with a link to this blog post. Instead of typing out the same answer over and over I will just have to share this link. So let's get to it:

What is Windsor Style Pizza?

Small 2x Cheese Peperoni Sausage
from Armando's

Though it seems many people don't believe it, Pizza in Windsor Ontario is unique. Most people have heard of Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza or New York style pizza. Some people have even heard of Detroit Style Pizza (it's square). But it seems that Windsor Style pizza is something only people from Windsor or people who have been to Windsor know about. 

Now that's starting to change. If you Google Windsor Style pizza you will find quite a few articles. There's a great one titled How Did Pizza Become One of Windsor, Ontario's Hottest Exports? and another great one about Volcano Pizza titled: Volcano Pizzeria: A look into one of Windsor's most famous pizza palaces. Check them out if you have time. 

Volcano is where the whole thing started. It was the first pizza place in Windsor and it set the standard for everything that came afterward. Every single 2nd generation pizza place (many of which are still around to this day) owe their success to Volcano and most of them were opened by previous employees of Windsor's first Pizzeria. 

There are many places in Windsor where you can still get Windsor Style Pizza. Armandos, Franco's, Koolinis, Acrata, Capri, Antoninos, Riverside, Roma's, Rivera, Naples, Sam's, Winsor Pizza and probably 20 more I'm forgetting about. Personally, my favorites are Windsor Pizza, Capri, Antonino's, and Armando's. 

What makes Windsor Pizza Special?

Medium Bacon and Scallop pizza
from Sam's

Windsor Style Pizza has a thicker doughy crust that should be crusty on the bottom but soft in the middle. This is middle thickness, not deep dish at all but not the flat style you see at many wood oven places. The sauce is a spicy sweet arabiata style. Differing levels of sweet and spicy are one of the main things that set various Windsor pizzerias apart. Toppings go on top of the cheese never under (sometimes if you get extra cheese that goes on top, usually part way through cooking). 

There are a few idiosyncrasies in regards to ingredients. Pepperoni (often just called sausage, whereas what most people would call sausage can be found as Italian Sausage on many menus) is sliced, never full circles. Sausage (Italian Sauage) is a local brand that is usually small balls and rather fennely. Mushrooms are canned and are usually Success brand. Vegetables and other meats are usually roughly cubed. Additional fennel and sometimes oregano can be found either in the sauce or sprinkled on top (some places like Antonino's have shakers for you to add your own once you get your pie).

The pies themselves are oven baked. I personally have no idea if there's such a thing as a Windsor Style Pizza oven, or if all pizza places use the same style but I do know that pretty much every place I stop in for pick up has similar looking ovens. The important part though is that they use an oven, the whole wood-fired thing, while good, isn't Windsor Style. 

Random slices from Koolini's

The biggest Windsor Pizza secret for years was the cheese. The mozzarella comes from a local shop called Galati Cheese Company Ltd. This was an industry secret for a long time and was what caused many "Windsor Style Pizza" places that opened out of town in London or Toronto to fail. They had the recipes from the Windsor places but couldn't get exactly the same ingredients. Now the Galati secret is out and you can now see all Windsor Pizza places with signs stating "Proudly serving Galati cheese" prominently displayed.

So yes, Windsor Style Pizza is a thing. A big thing for the people who love it. If you don't belive me just check out this article: Sask. couple orders beloved Windsor pizza for long-distance Super Bowl delivery, where a Sask. couple paid $140 to have an Arcata pizza flown out there for their Super Bowl Party.

Note not every pizza place in Windsor does Windsor Style Pizza. May people consider the Caboto Club to have the best pizza in town and it's a thin crust wood fired style pizza. One of the best pizzas I've had comes from the newly opened Downtown Pizza Co and they also don't serve Windsor Style. I just wrote about their pies last week. 

#FoodPornFriday at the Downtown Pizza Co.

Walk in the Woods

A week ago my wife and I had the pleasure of attending the Friends, Family, and Foodies preview night at the Downtown Pizza Co. so I thought I would talk about it for today's #FoodPornFriday post.

This is the latest restaurant by Mark Boscariol who also owns Snackbar-B-Q and the Willistead. It's right downtown at 255 Ouelette Ave. where you used to be able to find Chanosos.

As expected they specialize in gourmet pizza. This isn't Windsor Style pizza though. Instead, you will find both white and red sauce wood-fired pizza on very tasty sesame seed crust.

During the event, my wife and I got to try two of their pizzas and both were fantastic. 

At the top of the page here you can see my wife's Walk In The Woods. A white sauce pizza with honeyed mushroom, mozza, fior di latte, parmesean, roasted garlic, thyme and sesame crust.

Over to the left there, you can see my Mario & Luigi. A red sauce pizza with genoa, calabrese, hot capocoolo, roaster garlic, green olive, chili flake, fior di latte, mozza, paremesaen and seaseme crust. 

Along with great pizza, the Downtown Pizza Co. also has a great craft beer selection. I was very happy to see that they had at least one beer from pretty much every local brewery. You could get Walkerville, Brew, Frank, Craftheads and even GL Heritage from Amherstburg.  In addition, they also brew their own beers. 

That night they were featuring the pizza and beer and a couple mixed drinks so that's all we got to try. It's worth noting that their menu also includes salads and a selection of excellent sounding sandwiches.  They also sever fresh made soft serve ice cream.

Overall I was very impressed. The beers were great. The pizza was even better. I happily welcome Downtown Pizza Co. to the city core and hope to be back there often. 

You've got to get to Motor Burger on a Tuesday and try a Mozza'rati

This intriguing beauty is a Mozza'rati. A new 'burger' only available at Motor Burger and only available on Tuesdays.  Even on a Tuesday they are in limited supply and it may be worth contacting them to make sure they have some left before you go (though if you do go and they don't have any Mozza'rotti left there's tons of other awesome burgers to choose from, so it wouldn't really be much of a loss). Yesterday I finally got a chance to try one of these beauties for myself. 

So what exactly is it? It's an all beef burger with pepperoni wrapped in mozzarella cheese wrapped in pizza dough and baked. Served in a sea of tangy tomato sauce. 

It's just as good as it sounds. This burger combines two of my favourite things; Motor's amazing burgers and pizza. It's like someone read my mind and told them to make this just for me. The meat patty was perfectly cooked and spiced. The pepperoni wasn't too spicy. The sauce was a good tangy sweet. I guess the only thing I would have changed was to add more cheese and that shouldn't surprise anyone :D

Along with the Mozza'rati I feel the need to mention Motor Craft Ales. This local brewery is part of Motor Burger and includes a significant number of beers. Way more than I remember them serving last time we were there. Many are available to go as well as with your meal. Overall it feels like they stepped it up a notch. We tried four different beers while we were there and they were all excellent and each very distinct. 

A special mention goes out to the BMW 2.0 which is by far the best beer I've had from Motor Craft Ales and one of the best beers I've had from a Windsor brewery. The BMW is a Dunkelweizen, 7.4% ABV, 23.5 IBU. I found it very easy to drink, with a great balance of sweet fruit tastes and hoppy bitterness. It has some notes of banana and apple, but you couldn't really taste any booziness despite the high ABV. It went great with the Mozza'rati.

Have you tried Gyro Pizza from Roma's? #FoodPornFriday

This Friday's #FoodPornFriday post isn't being shared for the awesome picture, I'm sharing it because I think more people need to know this exists:

This is Gyro Pizza from Roma's Pizza in LaSalle. It is one of the most amazing tasting things out there that I think everyone needs to try it at least once. Take a Windsor style pizza but swap up the sauce and toppings for gyro ingredients. Instead of tomato based sauce, they use Taziki. The cheese is your standard awesome Galati cheese. On top of that, they toss gyro meat, onion and tomato for a really unique pie. 

I used to work out on that end of town, out by the race track, and delivered gyro pizza from Roma's was a Saturday shift lunch favourite. Out of town guests, time to order some Roma's. Work has since re-located and I live in Riverside, but I'm still willing to take the long(ish) drive out to LaSalle just to get Roma's every couple of weeks.

You can try one of these unique pizza pies for $13 for a baby or go all out and throw a party with a King for $43. Roma's is located at 221 Front Road in LaSalle Ontario. They do dine in and delivery but, if you are in Windsor, they don't reach too far into the city. 

This weeks #FoodPornFriday comes from last Friday at Sam's Pizzeria

Last weekend was the North American Sport & Hobby Expo. Friday night after load out, my wife and I were exhausted. It felt like we had just moved house. To me moving house, or at least helping someone move house means pizza & beer. So when we finished for the day I had a huge craving for Windsor Style Pizza and a pitcher of beer.

After talking about it for quite sometime we decided that the best place to get the experience I wanted was Sam's Pizzeria way out on the west end. While it was a rather long drive from the WFCU center, it was so good. It was exactly what I wanted.

Every Friday is #FoodPornFriday at the Big Dude's abode. You are welcome to join in, just use the linky below. Heck I'll even let you use #FoodPicFriday if you really want.

Thanks to Twitter I found Vesta #FoodPornFriday

This weeks #FoodPornFriday picture comes from Vesta Pizzeria & Antipasto Bar (sorry no link, they don't seem to get social media or the modern need for a web presence).

Just about two weeks ago my wife and I were blessed with a kid free night. Our first impulse was to book a night at Jack's Gastropub. That place is awesome, one of my favourite (semi-)local places to eat. So I shouldn't have been surprised that they were booked up.

With Jack's not an option. I wasn't sure what to do. So I did what every modern social media user would do: I posted on twitter.  I asked "Have a kid free night. What should we do for dinner?"

I got a bunch of great suggestions including Twisted Apron and Motor Burger. Included with the replies was one from @PearlShandy, who suggested Vesta and noted it was a personal favourite. I've never heard of Vesta. There aren't many places in the city I haven't heard of so I did what every modern internet user would do: to the Googles! 

A short search showed me that Vesta was known as one of the best places in the city to get pizza. How the heck did I not know about some place that supposedly has the best pizza in the city? Well I couldn't let that stand. We had to check this place out.

This right here was the amazing Carne pizza I had. The perfectly cooked crust we covered in sauce, mozzarella, sopressata, panchetta and Itallian sausage. I don't know about the best pizza in the city claim. There's a ton of great pizza here, but it was very good. Will definitely be going back sometime.

Have some #FoodPorn to share? Link up with us! If you don't like the P word, we won't laugh, you can use #FoodPicFriday

After the Windsor Craft Beer Festival we hit up Vito's

Picture totally stolen off Vito's webpage as I didn't think to take a pic of the place that night.

One of the things I found odd at Windsor's first ever Craft Beer Festival that I wrote about last week was how early it ended. I dunno if it's just me, but I would expect a beer based event to go late into the night. This was not the case though, it ended at 10PM. So there we were in the middle of Olde Walkerville at 10PM with nothing to do and grumbling stomachs.

The official after party was being held at the new Willistead Restaurant. So we wandered down that way. The place was packed. More than packed actually. I guess that was to be expected. We wandered back East a bit and noticed that O'Magio's was also packed. Then my wife remembered Vito's.

More specifically she reminded me about Vito's Pizzeria, which was just down the road and across the street. Vito's used to be my favourite place to eat in town before we had the kids. Unfortunately it's not really a family kind of place. Sure they will serve kids but it's just not the right kind of place for it, both for your sake and the sake of the other guests. Well guess what? We didn't have the kids that night.

I'm always surprised by how small Vito's is. It's actually almost at the point of being cramped, but not quite. It's a beautiful looking place and it always smells fantastic. The wood oven they use for the pizza (and a bunch of other dishes) is right out there in the open and you can't avoid the amazing smells coming from it.

We were asked if we came from the Craft Beer Fest and after confirming we were warned that all they were making at this point at night was Pizza. That was fine with us. We got our seats and I ordered a beer (as that's obviously what I need after a beer fest) and my wife got a coffee. The menu still looked as appealing as ever. Lots of amazing high end Italian food and wood fired favorites. Most prices are in the $12-$18 range with some exceptions like Sword Fish at almost $30. We've been to Vito's many times and we've always felt we got what we paid for.

Personally I'm in love with having prosciutto on my Pizza. Vito's is the place where I first discovered this love and no where quite does it as well as here. Along with this gem I also got some pepperoni and Itallian sausage on my pie. My wife got some fish covered thing I would never touch but seems to make lots of people drool whenever she describes it.

The food was excellent. Just like I remembered. It's awesome to see that this place hasn't lost it's touch in the years since we've been there. The thought my wife and I both had when we were leaving is that we had to make sure we didn't take too long to make it back next time. 

My meatza from Terra Cotta for this weeks #FoodPornFriday

This weeks amazing looking #FoodPornFriday picture comes from Terra Cotta Gourmet Pizzeria in downtown Windsor. Since our first couple of trips to Terra Cotta they have become a staple dining experience for the family. You just can't beat gourmet wood fired pizza, especially on Tuesday when it's two for one.

This beauty here is an example of me trying to find the perfect make your own topping combo. I went with pepperoni, sausage, prosciutto and provolone. 

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For lunch today I checked out the 13th annual Windsor Star Pasta & Pizza Fest

I've been hearing about this event for weeks, mainly over on Eyes on Windsor where I've done a couple of guest blog posts. I didn't think I was going to be able to check it out this year but then I had a sudden schedule change at work so my time was freed up and I was even able to bring my wife along with me.

This year marks the 13th annual Windsor Star Pasta & Pizza Fest. This event is put on to benefit The Kidney Foundation of Canada, Windsor & District Chapter. There's a long list of local sponsors including The Windsor Star, AM800, RBC, McDonalds, Riverview Steel, The Windsor Police, Champion and the aforementioned Eyes on Windsor.

Big crowd even half an hour before the end.

The event was hosted at the Giovani Coboto Club, always an impressive place to visit and the hall was packed. It cost us each $12 to get in which seems like a great price for all you can eat food and supporting a good cause. Due to my work schedule we got there a little later than I would have liked: in the closing half hour. Due to this I was sad to find that most of the food was rather cold, especially the pizzas. Almost none of the vendors brought ovens or anything and there were just boxes of king size pizzas sitting out and pasta in chafing dishes.

Volunteers were on hand to serve you and there was an insane amount of selection. I counted 35 different local restaurants, clubs and hotels in attendance. Most places were offering at least one type of pizza and a pasta dish. Most of the pasta offerings were some form of penne with meat sauce but I was glad to see some other variety including gnocchi and even a rice dish and some stir fry. Most of the pizza places were offering cheese and pepperoni or some type of deluxe pizza. There were some notable exceptions like the Napolitana from Antonino's.

Capri, Arcata and Antonino's 

Personally I stuck with mostly Pizza but did have to try The Hilton's Chorizo and Shrimp Penne as I just love Chorizo. Everything I had was good, though I still wasn't a big fan of the temperature. I tried pizza from about six different places and two different pastas. My wife grabbed more pasta than pizza and also tried a mix.

I fully expected to attend this and leave with some new places to order from and maybe somewhere new to take my parents out for dinner (My Dad loves pizza and my Mom is a huge penne fan). I didn't get that. While we were enjoying our styrofoam plates of food we would go back and check to see where our favourites came from. My wife found two pastas she really enjoyed. Looking into it they both came from Koolini's. Well we already knew the pasta there was fantastic. There were two cheese and pepperoni pizzas I enjoyed the most. I checked, Capri and Anoninio's. I already knew those were two of the best Windsor Style pizzas in town. So while everything was good there were no surprises except for one.

Armando's Revs and Hilton pasta

The biggest treat of this event for me was trying something totally new from Armando's. This was their new Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza. This stuff was great. Real authentic deep dish pizza mixed with that stuff that makes Windsor Pizza some of the best in the world. A really amazing combination. I actually spent some time talking to the man behind this new pizza (totally should have written his name down, sorry dude) and he noted that this would be something new that would be available in the next couple weeks from their Cabana location only. The good news for those of us not local to that location is that to start out they will be willing to deliver it city wide. From there they have plans to expand it outward to two or three more stores.

Overall I was glad we managed to find some time to stop in. Next year though I will make sure to get there early while everything is hot and the desserts haven't run out.

We stopped at P-Za-Pie Neapolitan Pizza on the way home from #FBC2013

Okay I know what all you locals are thinking. Where the heck is that? Piccadilly and Richmond, I don't recognize that corner. Well good eye. This isn't a shot from Windsor. P-Za-Pie is located in London Ontario and it's my favourite pizza outside of Windsor. While this blog has a focus on Windsor, now and then I'm going to talk about the fuzzy stuff in the back of the picture.

My wife and I love London. I don't know exactly what it is. Perhaps because it's got a bit of that big town feel without it being too much, like say: Toronto. Perhaps it's the fact that it still feels like home and close to home but isn't actually home. I do know a lot of it has to do with great experiences we've had pretty much every time we go. As I mentioned when I was talking about our Birthday Weekend in Windsor, we usually spend my Wife's birthday up in London but we broke that tradition this year, and I think that was one of the main driving forces for wanting to stop in on the way home from the Food Bloggers of Canada Conference.

A shot of the kitchen
 right out there in the open

We first found P-Za-Pie last year and though we were only in London two days we ate there twice. We thought it was that good. This pizzeria just feels right. It somehow looks like a pizza place. No, not the pizza places of the 70s and 80s with the red checkered table cloth and picture of a vineyard on the wall. A modern pizza place. With the wood fired stone oven right out there in the open. With the cooks assembling the pizzas right in front of you. Lots of space, lots of tables, lots of seating and the ability to move all those around to fit either a couple or a group of 12 people at one table.


The menu, I would call gourmet casual. It's mixed with things like Wood Oven Buffalo Chicken Wings and a Roasted Pear & Goat Cheese Salad. Beside the Italian Sausage Pizza is a Fingerling Potato White Sauce Pizza. Actually the white sauce thing is one of the things we love at P-Za-Pie. I first tried pizza with white sauce at Festival Epicure (I so miss that fest), and loved it. Not many places offer it though. P-Za-Pie actually offers just as many white sauce pizza as red sauce pizzas. The set pizzas are a mix of traditional and gourmet toppings. They also have their own house beer which I personally think is rather cool. It's a light beer, but very easy to drink and goes well with the Pizza.

My Carne Pizza

No matter what else is on the menu we came for the pizza. They come in two sizes 8" and 12" and range in price from $8.50 to $9.50 for the small ones and $15 to $17 for the larges. An 8" is more than enough for even me so we each got one of those. I got a Carne which is a red sauce pizza with double smoked bacon, pepperoni, Italian sausage, mushroom, tomato sauce and mozzarella. I personally had them skip the mushrooms, as they aren't something I enjoy,  which they were perfectly willing to do. My wife tried the Tuscan which had pancetta, grilled wild mushrooms, roasted red peppers, spinach, feta and a basil infused olive oil.  They were both fantastic. Sure mine is a little dark around the edges, but so what, that's what you expect from a true wood fired pizza.

My Wife's Tuscan Pizza

So yes, I generally will be talking about Windsor here, but just in case you find yourself out of town and happen to be stopping in or passing by London Ontario and have a Pizza craving. I can't suggest a better place to try out than P-Za-Pie. Great pizza at a reasonable price in a very welcoming atmosphere that's great for a couple or a large group. Hey they even have their own beer. I can't think of anything else I would want from a Pizza place.

So now you know my favourite out of town Pizza place. Do you have a favourite out of town spot that you try to hit every trip?

Went back to Terra Cotta tonight and it changed

As a special treat for getting past a milestone at work, my wife arranged for another night out without the kids (I know we are getting spoiled). Being the smart girl she is, she remembered that it was two for one night at Terra Cotta. So we headed there after dropping off the kids.

I'm sure you are currently thinking: "What another review of Terra Cotta? You just did one." Yes, yes I did, it's right here in case you missed it: Why did it take me so long to try Terra Cotta? See the thing is, things changed in the few short weeks since we had been there.

My Wife's LaBlonda Pizza

First off you will note they got a new better looking logo, even if it is just a shot of the sign outside. That wasn't enough for me to be writing you now though. The menu changed. Not a lot but enough to make it worth mentioning. The biggest and most disappointing change was that they removed the Crostino. That's the cheese and topping covered fresh made crouton thing that the menu said had been a staple there for years and that I suggested you all try. I thought this was one of the big draws of Terra Cotta over other local Stone Oven Pizza places in the city.

Immediately upon seeing this I asked our waitress about it and she did in fact confirm that it is off the menu.  She went on to explain that the problem was that people were ordering it as an appetizer instead of a meal (it was in the appetizer section) and that it takes longer to cook than an actual pizza and that people who ordered it as an app were getting frustrated by how long their meals were taking. Now the one cool thing is that she offered to get us any Crostino we wanted right then and there, which is awesome but not good for anyone who doesn't know about the secret not on the menu items.

My Sausage, Pep, Cheddar and Prosciutto Pizza

Oh well, I guess things change and there isn't much we can do about it. Or maybe we can, maybe you can all go in and ask where the Crostino is and maybe they will put it back on the menu, and maybe they will put it in some place other than with the appetizers. I'm sure that would be a bit much though.

All that said, our meal was great, our food was awesome and we will be going back. I'm not sure if I mentioned it in the past post but Tuesdays are two for one pizza. Wednesdays are also two for one if you are a student with a valid student card. You can't beat that. Our entire meal that included a pitcher of beer and two 7" gourmet pizzas was only $33 before tip.

Why did it take me so long to try Terra Cotta?

This weekend my wife and I had a rare treat. Four hours without the kids to do anything we wanted. After a bit of discussion we decided we wanted a nice meal and then to head to a favorite downtown spot, The Coffee Exchange, for some desert and coffee and a few rounds of Race for the Galaxy. This post isn't about the coffee and card games though, it's about where we ended up for dinner: Terra Cotta Pizza.

Terra Cotta has been around for a long time. As long as I can remember at least. I'm sad to say up until last Saturday night we have never tried it. I know they are known for stone oven pizza but that was about it. I also knew they had a two for one Tuesday deal but we never managed to make it out for it. I've even been told by friends to try it. For whatever reason I always thought of Terra Cotta as high end. A classy, don't bring the kids, wear a collared shirt, cloth napkin, kind of place. I'm my head it was La Guardia with a guy cooking pizza up front. Man was I wrong. 

Check out the awesome glass pitcher.

The first thing you will notice walking up to Terra Cotta will most likely be someone cooking pizza, right there in the front window. Anyone can stand there and watch traditional, dough tossed in the air, pizza making, right there from the street. How cool is that? Going inside I was amazed to see not only how small but also how comfortable the place was. This place is really small. There's the pizza prep area up front, a long bar in the middle, some two seater tables across from that and maybe 8 more tables in the back for larger groups. Okay I guess it's probably a bit bigger than say Sam's Pizza but smaller than it looks from the outside. The place is also very casual. I have no idea where my idea that this was a fancy shmancy place came from, but I was wrong. Not to say the place is a dump or anything like that, it's very casual and homey with no pretensions. They also had high chairs and there was a family in there with kids, so I guess it's a good family place as well. It's nice to be proven wrong sometimes.

Our Crustino

I was pleased to see a good beer menu that included a ton of Sleeman Products including draft. Was was even happier when they noted they had Okanagan Spring on draft and ordered a pitcher for the two of us to split. Check the pictures on this page to see the awesome solid glass pitcher this came in.

Looking at the menu, we found a full page spread about some stuff they call Crostino. This is home made, double toasted croutons topped with Pizza ingredients, baked in the wood fire Pizza oven. At about $8 and with enough food to share we decided we had to try it. We grabbed the Crostino Alla Bolognese which had mozzarella, ham and Swiss. It was very good. A really unique taste with the crunchy croutons, zesty sauce and lots of herbs and spices. I think I would try a different set of toppings next time but I do suggest you try one of these unique offerings.

For main courses my wife and I both ordered Pizzas. The menu has a wide variety of pre-made options that range in price from $8 to $14. Toppings range from the traditional bacon, pepperoni and green peppers to eggplant, turkey and calamari. They also offer white or whole wheat crust, gluten free options and even non-dairy cheese. The menu didn't stop at pizza either; there was a selection of appetizers, salads, Italian wraps and sandwiches, salads and calzones. I went with a make your own pizza, with sausage, pepperoni and my favorite pizza topping: prosciutto. My wife grabbed one of the pre-set pizzas, the Prosciutto e Funghi and ordered it with non-dairy cheese. 

Looks awesome doesn't it?

Okay look at that picture right there. Just look at it. Doesn't that alone make you want to go to Terra Cotta? I know it makes me want to go back. Not only did the food look good, it tasted amazing. By far some of the best wood fire flat crust pizza I have ever had. Why the heck did I just try this place this weekend?  It's been here for years, I could have been eating this like once a month, maybe once a week, maybe twice a week!

The food was great. The atmosphere wasn't at all what I expected but that was a good thing and it meant that this should be a great place to bring the kids. It also seems like the kind of joint my parents would both dig. What this means over all, is that I will be going back to Terra Cotta, probably multiple times and bringing along the entire family. I'm still a bit frustrated that it took us so long to try somewhere so good, but I'm very happy that we finally did and have found a new regular stop for great pizza in Windsor.