Everything is better with pizza. It is, don't deny it, you know it's true.
Pizza can be both a treat and survival food. In our childhood, it is the ultimate food indulgence; the foie gras of kids parties. In your college years, you could live for a week on one pizza that you paid for with couch cushion money.
There is something about the convenience of pizza that we love. You can eat it with one hand. Nothing gets better than one-handed foods and Pizza is the king. I think it is also the abundance of it. You can put as much or as little on a Pizza as you want and it's totally fine. Actually, the more you put on it, the better which makes it even more awesome.
Pizza crust is a big thing to us Celiacs because pizza is one of those things that we miss the most. Now, a lot of places carry GF pizza crusts. I would say that for restaurants, it is the number one GF items that places offer. Why? Well, because it's easy and most likely cheap and its a simple item to maintain a minimum of cross contamination. I can't even tell you how many emails I have gotten from people telling me about this place or that place having gluten free pizza crusts.
But as with most things, the devil is in the details and not all crusts are created equal. Please don't be angry with me but I do not like Boston Pizzas GF Pizzas. I wish I did because it is a really easy place to eat with the family. I generally, don't like Boston Pizzas food though, I don't feel like they use quality fresh products and I think it shows in the taste. So, the odds are against them that they could make a delicious GF product.
Sadly, (and this is really going to piss you off) but I don't like the Coco Brooks GF Crust either. This is surprising because I have always loved Coco Brooks Pizza and I feel that they are very picky about their products. I think they use the same GF Crust as Boston Pizza and it's not great. So I don't eat that one either.
The Ochre Grill has a great GF crust as does Without Papers Pizza in Inglewood (provided of course by our good friends at People Food).
BUT I have just had one of the best pizzas I have ever had.....ever......even in my gluttony gluten days.
Yesterday, I ate at Avatara Pizza and holy shit was it ever fantastic.
http://avatarapizza.com/default.aspx
For my Calgary Friends, it is located beside Lics on Memorial Drive. If you don't know where Lic's is, you aren't Calgarian, move immediately.
I was in the area because I had to bring the littlest spawn to the Children's Hospital for a follow up from her surgery (for info on that fucking debacle, please see the Pieman Post). After her check up we said goodbye to the Children's for (knock on wood) a long time and headed over the Avatara Pizza.
Side Note: My sorority sister Vicki told me about this place literally a year ago and I so wish that I had gotten in the car right then and gone but it somehow slipped my mind until we drove past it - Sorry I didn't listen Vicki you were right
There were tonnes of choices for different flavors and the option for making your own. They have lots of options for drinks and fresh Limonada as well which I didn't try but certainly will next time.
The guys at Avatara Pizza were really nice and made us two gorgeous pizzas.
The kids got just a plain pepperoni and they were thoughtful enough to not put the parsley garnish on. This small act saved me either hours of pleading and convincing that it was "green sugar" OR picking it off piece by piece. Kids are lunatics, what can I tell you?
I got the Aristotle but I added salami to it because everything is better with meat. It was awesome! I do wish that I had gotten the kids a bigger one, because they literally FOUGHT over the last piece like a couple of feral monkeys. I wish I had it on tape because it was awesome, I threw money instead.
My first complaint with Avatara Pizza is the fact that it is just a To Go place. I would LOVE to sit and eat there. My second complaint is that there isn't one in the deep south of Calgary so I have to drive 40 minutes to get there.
Avatara Pizza - Make it your new fave, I know I have.
I do so love it when I'm right. I can't really take credit though, it was my friend the @DemocraticDiner who told me about it. Perhaps you can buy in bulk, freeze and just defrost when you need a pizza night.
ReplyDeleteOh and thanks for the previous post on the chickpea pie fiasco. The mini mister considered ordering it for his school's special hot lunch day. I told him I knew it would be gross and steered him to a shepherd's pie. He actually argued and asked how I knew such a thing. I'd appreciate it if you would please call and tell him I am smart and that I know things and that sometimes I AM RIGHT. Not that it will stop the little bastard from wanting his way all the time, but it might buy be a 5 minute reprieve.