If you work anywhere in the downtown core, you will know that food scene is quickly evolving and the different options are becoming endless. Located at 101 Ave and 109 Street, LOVEPIZZA specializes in flatbread style pizzas. The restaurant, which opened in early 2015, offers a selection of signature pizza or the opportunity to create your pizza using a wide variety of locally sourced ingredients. Either option gives you a choice of their 100% organic whole wheat crust or traditional (I recommend the white).
Holy Shiitake
Just like the name suggests, the toppings include the roasted mushrooms, caramelized onions, Fior Di Latte cheese (essentially a soft mozzarella), truffle Parmesan sauce and last but not least fresh arugula. I found that the sauce lacked depth but the addition of chili oil compensated for the lack of flavor.
Ode to Ukraine
This pizza is essentially a deconstructed pierogi. They have recreated the classic Ukrainian dish by adding roasted garlic spread, cheddar cheese, bacon, caramelized onion, green onion and shaved potato. Add some creme fraiche, and you have an overall good and tasty pizza.
BBLT
A twist on a BLT, this pizza has two type of bacon (hence the double “B’s”), the lettuce is arugula and cherry tomatoes. Incorporated in are Fior Di Latte cheese and tangy tomato sauce. Also a solid menu item, and who doesn’t love bacon.
Create your own: Chrissy’s Quattro Formaggi
I’m a sucker for a good cheese pizza, so decided to create my version of “Quattro Formaggi” or four cheese pizza. Splurging the extra $2.00 for extra cheese, I opted for the Fior Di Latte and medium cheddar cheese and topping it with shaved Parmesan, goat cheese Pecorino and chili oil at the end. All in all, it was quite tasty, but a cheese pizza is hard to mess up.
Lunch for two people is about $30 with drinks (non-alcoholic, if you want a beer or wine you’re looking at about $40 for two). If you frequent here often, I recommend downloading their loyalty app. You will get $5 off of your first order and accumulate points to earn credit for future pizza.
The service is excellent, and the concept is unique. Go and try it out if you haven’t already. If you’re in a rush, avoid going between 11:30 and 1:30 Monday to Friday, this is the downtown lunch rush and line-up tends to get long.
Sincerely,
Chrissy
What do you think?