Pizza e Pazzi, 672 St. Clair Ave West

At last! I'm eating at a pizzeria that has been certified Verace Napoletana.

Pizza e Pazzi has two locations, one on St. Clair by Wychwood Ave, and at  1182 St. Claire Ave. West, by the venerable Marcello's.

Pizza e Pazzi was born of a love story--the owners met on a beach and some how decided that they would open a Verace Napoletana. Sounds good to me!

I can't seem to find too much information on who the pizzaoilo is, but our waiter actually is Italian (he said "stop-ed", always a sign that the person is Italian when they are pronouncing the "e" in the past tense.  I'm saddened by this. Who is back there, cooking my za?  Did they take the course? If it's someone's Nonna, then fine, but if not, I would really appreciate a bit of information on the chef.

The interior of the Wychwood location is a bit bland. There is nothing original or different about it--then again, it's clean and the staff are cheerful and friendly (which in Toronto, is a change!).  Unfortunately, we are seated at the tippy table (quickly corrected by the hostess), and the AC is cranked to Arctic.  Sadly, there is also bad Italian pop music being played, which means that as our evening goes on, we're forced to raise our voices over the music.

We start off with walnut bread, and some unidentifiable tapenade. I think one of them might have been pumpkin. It's ok, but I'm not going to write about it, because it doesn't deserve to be written about.

Our  suppli arrive.  At first, we thought they were expensive, but we receive two rice balls, so that was a pleasant surprise.  They aren't as lightly fried as Falasca, but they are still excellent.

Our beer choices are Czechvar (which was yummy) and Peroni.  We skip on the Peroni, as previously discussed--Italian beer--not so good.

Our pizzas arrive promptly.  They are the perfect size, slightly smaller than the plate, charred on the edges, and what pleases me most is the olive oil, poured on top.  I've had to ask at other pizzaerias, so not to be forced to ask here makes me happy.  It's the little things in life, isn't it?  Pizza e Pazzi also offers bufala mozzarella standard on their Margherita, instead of charging extra for it.

The sauce is sweet and tasty, and I love the fact that I can roll the pizza up into a funnel .

We were interested in dessert, but were too full to sample.

Out of 10? I give Pizza e Pazzi a 9.5.

What's the Diff?

I had an interesting comment the other day about this blog:
"What's the difference between a Verace Napolitana and a Canadian pizza?"

OK, I have obviously neglected my duties in explaining what you should be looking for when you're dining out.  One thing you should know is that Pizza Pizza is NOT a pizza. I think it might be cardboard.

A Vera Napolitana pizza is strictly controlled by the Verace Pizza Napolitana, which is an association devoted to pizza and how it should be made.  According to the association, it should be made from: 'wheat flour type "00" with the addition of flour type "0" yeast, natural water, peeled tomatoes and/or fresh cherry tomatoes, marine salt, and extra virgin olive oil.  Other added ingredients can include, garlic and oregano for "Pizza Napoletana Marinara", buffalo milk mozzarella, fresh basil and fresh tomatoes for "Pizza Napoletana Margherita Extra" and mozzarella STG or Fior di Latte Appennino and fresh basil for "Pizza Napoletana Margherita".'

The dough should be prepared thus: Blend flour, water, salt and yeast. Pour a liter of water into a mixer, dissolve between the 50 and the 55g of salt, add 10% of the total amount of flour, and then add 3g of hydrated yeast. Start the mixer, and then gradually add 1800 g of flour until you achievement of the desired dough consistency. Combining the ingredients should take 10 minutes.

Next, mix the dough at low speed for 20 minutes, until the dough forms a single ball. To obtain the optimal dough consistency, it is very important to control the quantity of water, such that the flour is able to absorb it all. The mixture should be sticky, soft and elastic to the touch.  The dough should be  the consistency "to the point of pasta".  This can vary from one pizza maker to another.

The dough should be then left to rise under a damp cloth for approx. two hours.  The dough is cut and shaped by hand, but for a pizza Napolitana, it must weigh between 180-250 grams.  After that, the balls are left to rise again for approximately 6 hours.

The balls are then shaped into round, flat pizzas, using only the hands (no rolling pins here!), from the centre to the outside.  The final pizza round should only be 0.3 cms thick. Once the crust is ready, the sauce is spooned on in a spiral, starting from the centre. Use only 60-80 grams of sauce, made from pressed, peeled San Marzano tomatoes (hopefully from the hills around Naples).  Add your oregano, salt and garlic.  Add slices of bufalo mozzarella. Lay on the fresh basil, and top with extra virgin olive oil, poured, again in a spiral motion.

Now comes the cooking.  The pizza must be baked in a wood fired, ceramic oven, which has been heated to  485C, and baked no longer than 60-90 seconds (oh how my heart would bleed when I lived in Italy and the nights were still over 40 degrees C and the poor pizza maker would be working hard in front of his oven....). The edges should be slightly burned, and the mozzarella melted, basil crispy.  When you cut the pizza (it should not be cut by the restaurant) into triangles, the centre should be soft enough to allow a person to roll the pizza into a funnel shape.  A qui, mangio cosi!

Now, can any one tell me if a Canadian pizza is made to such exacting standards, with government control and designation? If so, please direct me to the right place. I would love to read about it.

Falasca SPQR 2059 Yonge St. Toronto, ON

We have a joke that the SPQR stands for Sono porchi questi Romani, instead of “Senatus Populusque Romanus” but the joke falls flat at Falasca, because the service is excellent, and the SPQR has been re-worked to stand for “Specialty Pizza Quadrata and Round”, the two types of pizza served by the shop.  You can go at lunch and order your quadrata (or slice) by weight, instead of North American style, which is by slice only, or go at dinner to have a round pizza.

While not a Vera Nepolitana, the restaurant deserves a review, as well as a visit, so a person can decide which they prefer—the crispy, Roman style crust, or the softer Neapolitan style. 

Falasca has been open for about a year, the owners being Alessandro Buccianti and Alfiero Falasca.  Alfiero has a world pizza championship, so I have high hopes.

The interior is a stark white, with antique prints of Rome on the walls.  The only two things I would change are to install some sound proofing, as the sound bounces around the restaurant quite a bit, making conversation almost impossible, and to add some blinds to the windows. We went for dinner around 18.45, and the sun was blinding my Italian boyfriend (hey—if you’re going to review a pizza place, take an expert).

We start our meal by ordering a suppli a telephono, which is a form of a croquette, consisting of rice, mozzarella, coated in breadcrumbs and egg and then fried.  Ours is hot, beautifully fried, not too much so it’s greasy, but enough to be crunchy.  The mozzarella pulled out of the suppli in strings, thus giving the nickname “telephono”, it resembles the cord on a telephone.  Not that anyone uses a landline in Italy any more, but I digress.

Italian boyfriend ordered the special pizza of the night, an Imperiale, which consisted of sauce, cherry tomatoes, fresh basil and arugula, and bufala mozzarella.  His toppings were all of superb quality, fresh, and the cherry tomatoes’ sweetness complimenting that of the sauce.  I have the prosciutto, with fresh sauce and fior di latte mozzarella.  I don’t mind that style of mozzarella, but I prefer the bufala, which has a slightly more earthy flavour.  I have no complaints about the crust, which is perfect—crispy on the edges and charred slightly, soft in the middle.  I just can’t cut the damn thing, as the knives aren’t sharp enough.  Good thing no one is sitting next to me, because I would have brained them with my elbows see-sawing back and forth.

The beer choices leave something to be desired, as they only sell Italian beers.  Italians do many things well, but beer is not one of them. If you’re having a beer when you go, make sure you get the Costello, which is from the north of Italy and is at least drinkable. 

Service here is perfect—not too obtrusive, but always on hand when you need something and friendly. 

Cost of a pizza is between $9.25-$14.00.  We ate and drank for two for slightly over $50.

http://falascaspqr.com/

Rating—9/10.