Restaurants
Best Pizza in Vancouver - continued
By Neal McLennan published Apr 30, 2010
We're celebrated for our diverse and accomplished culinary scene. But can we muster up a decent pizza?
Of all the pizza places I tried, two shrines to organic left me feeling the best, physically and ethically—which may not be a true pizza sentiment, but is a local one. Whole Foods always sucks me in with the thrill of the hunt; one of my favourite pastimes is to navigate its immaculate aisles in search of those rare affordable gems that have slipped through the pricing ethos. The simple cheese pizza, at $9.95, is a steal (I’ve bought an heirloom tomato here that cost almost as much): the crust is substantial, the cheese top drawer. Other offerings are priced at $14.95. I’ll go for the artichoke if I’m feeling flush, but it’s the cheese that brings me in.
Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company wears its organic, all-natural mantra on its batik sleeve. I’m normally wary of places that are all natural. I want my chefs to be all flavour, and if that means all natural, great. But I don’t want someone turning down Piedmontese white truffles because of the impact of overseas shipping. Plus, I’m wary of places that still use the ridiculous moniker of flatbread.The centrepiece here is an artisan clay oven that always has stray, unsupervised children orbiting it like planets around the sun. In accordance with the mini-chain’s family-friendly approach, it’s the only place that encourages creating your own pies from a list of ingredients (they offer 10 of their own if you’re feeling uncreative), and actually lets kids in the kitchen. If the result isn’t great, the fault probably lies with you.
Whole Foods See Wholefoodsmarket.com, Rocky Mountain See Rockymountainflatbread.ca
What did I learn from my pizza odyssey? Even if you eat it for lunch and dinner, day after day, it’s still hard to get tired of well-made pizza. We may not yet have a great pizza spot, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have good pizza. Maybe someday we’ll reach the culinary heights of Calgary. VM
