Pizza Aplenty

This was just one of the edible highlights of a week that has ended on the couch with my laptop, some sangria (a good compromise between orange juice and wine-both!) and a box of Kleenex. And, ironically, Mike ordering pizza on account of the cold that has just snuck up and smacked me upside the head. From the inside.

John Gilchrist, Tony Spoletini and I were enlisted to spend the week with Kristen and the BT crew in search of Calgary’s best pizza. Which meant a view similar to the one above at around 7 each morning – we visited Il Centro on Monday, Una on Tuesday, Tom’s House of Pizza on Wednesday and Without Papers on Thursday (the contenders were selected by vote, not by us), to sample a variety pies. A tougher job than I gave my gut credit for, actually. I could have very much used a nap each morning by 9.

Without Papers in Inglewood won by a slice.

This is Angelo.

There was lots of dough flipping under the skylight in between hits. Tony got the hang of it too.

Tony and Angelo played football together at St Francis high school howevermany years ago. They brought old helmets and yearbooks and told stories.

This is Kristen. I made her pose like this because of the shot on the back wall – see it? – one of the best parts about Without Papers is the old movies they project on the walls. Because there’s no sound, Mike often fills in the lines himself. Which is far funnier than having the sound on.

We ate a lot of pretty fantastic pizza this week. All of the contenders are well worth a visit.

I’m sad it’s over. I was getting used to pizza and laughing for breakfast.

But. Did I mention they named a pizza after me?

It’s only fair. You can get a John Gilchrist at Il Centro, and Tony claims the Hog Wild at WOP is named after him. So Angelo whipped up a sweet (!) dessert pizza with fresh ricotta, pears poached in red wine, and a drizzle of Nutella. It will be on the menu all this weekend, or until they decide to yank it and/or name it after someone else. Or replace me with a boozy tart.

So we’ll be there tomorrow afternoon – on Saturdays (at 3? 4?) they project kids’ movies on the wall, and sometimes they let W go to the computer and choose – you can bet I’ll be taking advantage of ordering a me pizza while I can. And another Prosecutor, and maybe a Hog Wild. But we’ll start with a Julie. Having your own pizza is better than having your own action figure.

(Wanna go? I have a $25 poker chip to give away for Without Papers!)

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15 comments on “Pizza Aplenty

  1. Angela
    June 25, 2011 at 5:12 am

    Your pizza looks really good. Yuhm. I watched those segments on BT this week, tough job 😉

  2. Lori
    June 25, 2011 at 6:51 am

    Wow! A pizza named after you! And such a delicious looking one!
    I’d love the ‘poker chip’ 🙂

  3. H-woman
    June 25, 2011 at 7:13 am

    Mmmm…pizza! Like cheese, I’ve yet to meet one I didn’t like. I’ll take a poker chip! =)

  4. Vincci
    June 25, 2011 at 7:38 am

    Gorgeous shots, Julie! That’s so awesome that they named a pizza after you! Would totally order it if I got the chip! 😉

  5. suchalab
    June 25, 2011 at 8:22 am

    they all look really delicious and to have one named after you what an honour:) Feel better soon!

  6. Jess
    June 25, 2011 at 8:26 am

    That is quite a pizza to have named in your honor! Now, suddenly, I’m craving a sophisticated dessert pizza of my own!

  7. Avery
    June 25, 2011 at 9:30 am

    I was wondering when they were going to have a dessert pizza; seemed like the logical next step! Sounds nummy…

  8. Shauna
    June 25, 2011 at 12:38 pm

    You sometimes make me wish I lived in Calgary. The moments are brief, as I’ve no inclination to move North again, but man oh man does that pizza ever look good!

  9. Carol SB
    June 25, 2011 at 2:46 pm

    Of course a pizza named after Julie V-R would be sweet. Ha ha! Julie, you are what you eat… even more so now!
    Who wants a bobblehead doll (how come they don’t make chef bobbleheads? Why is this just a sports type of thing?) when you can have your own pizza?
    Next trend: chef trading cards. I’d be all over that!

  10. eprairiegrrl
    June 25, 2011 at 6:42 pm

    Dessert pizza! Awesome! Maybe you could convince them to come up with more varieties of dessert pizzas…the Julie 2 and Julie 3? 🙂

  11. Karen
    June 25, 2011 at 7:41 pm

    “Or replace me with a boozy tart.”
    You talkin’ to me? 🙂
    Great post, the pizzas look awesome!

  12. Sheila
    June 26, 2011 at 8:32 am

    My girlfriends and I ate there on Saturday night and we enjoyed The Julie…among others. Yum!

    It was an impromptu dinner while our girls were at a birthday party at 4Cats. As soon as I saw the restaurant I informed everyone we just had to eat there and that my favorite cookbook author had a pizza named after her. It was all so delicious!

  13. sippitysup
    June 26, 2011 at 9:19 am

    Looks like a fun place and a terrific pie! GREG

  14. Lana
    June 27, 2011 at 7:31 am

    Look at you! Next thing you know, there will be a Starbuck’s coffee named after you!
    xo

  15. Helene
    June 27, 2011 at 8:57 am

    I wish I could have pizza from that place.

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