pizza – Page 4 – Michael Eats

Unique Pizza at Venga Cucina

Published on December 27, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 3076 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.vengacucina.ca/

Venga Cucina is a really unique pizza place in the Junction that serves a style of pizza called pinsa, which their menu describes as a cross between focaccia and pizza.

The menu also features a variety of antipasti and pasta, but clearly the pinsa is where it’s at. I tried a couple: the margherita (“pomodoro, mozzarella, basil”) and the gino picante (“calabrian nduja, cured hot sausage, pepperonata, fior di latte, sundried tomatoes”).

Apparently the crust here is made with a combination of rice and soya flour along with regular flour, and is fermented for 96 hours. This gives it a texture that’s actually quite different from any pizza I’ve had before, with a very crispy exterior and a super light and fluffy interior.

I wouldn’t want this to replace normal pizza (I did miss the chewiness you get from a more traditional dough), but as something that’s almost in a category of its own, it’s quite tasty.

Both pinsas were very good, though as usual, the tasty simplicity of the margherita won out. Still, both featured a really satisfying contrast between the good quality toppings and the crispy/airy crust, and both were kicked up a notch by the tasty chili oil they had on the table.

Tasty Slices at Gram’s Pizza

Published on December 21, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1640 Dupont Street, Toronto
Website: https://www.instagram.com/grams.pizza/

Pizza! It’s good!

(Why yes, writing the opening paragraph of these blog posts is always the hardest part, why do you ask?)

Gram’s Pizza is a new pizza joint near the Junction that serves a variety of slices, along with whole pies. I went with the cheese (“tomato sauce + mozz + grana padano”), because a plain cheese pizza is the best way to suss out the quality of a pizza joint (also cheese pizza is delicious).

It’s a solid slice of pizza. The crust has a nice crispy exterior and is slightly thicker than the norm for this style of pizza, but it works. And they’re clearly not shy with the grana padano, with its nice salty sharpness really shining through.

It didn’t exactly rock my world, but it’s a very good slice of pizza. I’d come back.

Stellar Pizza at One Night Only

Published on October 27, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 581 Pape Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://ono.pizza/

I’ve been hearing basically nothing but great things about One Night Only since it opened — it started out as a home-based pandemic-era lark, but quickly became popular enough to justify their own storefront.

They’re way out on the east end and have somewhat unusual hours (they’re closed on Sundays, Mondays, and Tuesdays), so it took me a while to check the place out, but man I’m glad that I did. The pizza here is phenomenal.

I tried the pepperoni, bacon and jalapeno; I typically like a more sparsely-topped pie, particularly when I’m first trying a place, but that was all they had left when I showed up at around 1:30 on a Saturday.

It’s an amazing slice of pizza. The crust has a great balance between exterior crispiness and interior chewiness/fluffiness, with just the right amount of heft and flavour.

The slice is generously topped but still nicely balanced, with a good ratio between the sauce, cheese, and toppings. And while it’s not the pizza I would have picked if I had the choice, it features great quality pepperoni and bacon, and the pops of heat from the jalapeno slices works well.

The buzz about this place meant my expectations were quite high, but this still managed to exceed them. It’s easily on par with top-tier places like Badiali, North of Brooklyn, and Superpoint. It’s so good.

Solid Roman-style Pizza at A Pizza

Published on October 13, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 252 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: None

First off: yes, this place is called “A Pizza,” and yeah, I’m as baffled by the name as you are. I’m not an expert in business, but I think making the name of your restaurant so generic that it’s nearly impossible to find online may not be a great idea? As I noted above, there’s no website — or maybe there is, and I just can’t find it?

The restaurant is also inside a convenience store, which just adds to the oddness factor here.

They have a variety of slices of Roman-style pizza that you can grab and go, along with a few sandwiches and a Nutella-filled doughnut.

I got a slice of the margherita, and it was pretty decent. I don’t exactly foresee Badiali-esque lines around the block anytime soon, but it’s a respectable slice of pizza.

There’s a nice balance of sauce and cheese, and the thick crust is crispy on its exterior and fluffy within. It’s maybe a bit too fluffy, and is a bit lacking in both taste and substance, but it gets the job done.

Delicious Slices at Mac’s Pizza

Published on August 10, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 759 Dovercourt Road, Toronto
Website: https://www.macspizza.ca/

It’s getting easier and easier to find great slices of pizza in the city — in and around the core, at least. Once you get further into the outskirts and the suburbs, good slice shops get few and far between (at least in the west end — does great pizza exist in Etobicoke or Mississauga? If it does, I haven’t found it!).

I’ve tried a couple of slices at Mac’s. The first was the Lemonhead: “lemon pepper cream, black peper, zest, wedge.”

Who knew that lemon could be so delicious on a pizza? I certainly wouldn’t have guessed, but the zippy lemon does a great job of balancing out the rich slice.

I also sampled the angry pep, which is more traditional: “pep, jalapeno, hot honey, basil.” It’s quite tasty. The pepperoni / hot honey combo seems to be getting more and more ubiquitous, and justifiably so; it’s a tasty combo. And the mild kick you get from the jalapenos complements the slice quite well.

The pizza itself is definitely above average, with a nice balance between the lightly crispy exterior and the chewy interior. It’s quite good.