Order : The Giuseppe ($13.99). An 11-inch pizza topped with tomato sauce mozzarella hot pancetta red onions sun-dried tomatoes and chili flakes.
Crust : A thin crust well spotted with darker bits — a nice benefit of baking directly on the oven. It has some tasty and crusty end pieces while the bulk remains flexible without being soggy. When I started on this pizza adventure I wouldn’t have thought flour makes such a difference but it does. Which reminds me… I really need to pick up some high-end flour to try at home.
Sauce : A simple basic sauce consistent with what’s used on most thin-crust Italian pizzas. Giuseppe’s uses a fair amount without overdoing it.
Toppings : The pancetta — a cured not-smoked Italian bacon — is quickly becoming one of my favourite toppings. On this pizza it comes in bite-sized pieces which I really like. There’s nothing worse than taking that first bite of a slice and swallowing the entire portion of meat in one shot. Sure that bite is phenomenal but the rest of the slice suffers as a result. It’s all about balance and The Giuseppe manages to reach a high level of pizza zen. The onions are crisp and have a ton of bite to them — almost too much — and the chili pepper flakes add an occasional undertone of heat. As for the sun-dried tomatoes there aren’t enough. On the few occasions that I managed to find a minuscule chunk here or there they were delicious but there is absolutely room for more.
Dining option s: Eat in or takeout.
Decision : While waiting for my pie I came to the realization that there are some real advantages to making pizza inside of an Italian market the quality ingredients being the most important and obvious. Overall I really enjoyed this pizza and would eat it again without hesitation. There’s an ample supply of pizza options in Giuseppe’s neighbourhood and they’re doing a great job of holding their own. This one gets five out of six slices.
Next up : Una Pizza + Wine (618 17 Ave SW)
Please email pizza suggestions to darelleats@gmail.com. Follow Darell’s pursuits at twitter.com/darelleats.
