When the moon hits your eye…

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This article was published 03/05/2020 (2344 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Have a hankering for some pizza pie in the midst of the pandemic?

Maybe your zeal for zesty zas has increased in these times and you’re seeking solace in the comforting combination of dough, sauce, and cheese. As Andrew W.K. once said, “anyone who says that money cannot buy happiness has clearly never spent their money on pizza.”

Maybe you want to show support to restaurants that are reeling because they’ve had to shut down their dining rooms due to COVID-19. There’s been a push from the Canada Takeout campaign to get people to make every Wednesday a “Takeout Day.”

Maybe your maiden attempt at homemade pizza was outright awful.

Pizza is perhaps the most popular food of all time to pick up or get delivered to your door. Whatever type you’re craving — from light, thin-crust offerings to hefty pies piled with toothsome toppings, and everything in between — ‘Peg City pizza joints have you covered.

At Wall Street Slice, you can call ahead for pickup, curbside service, or contactless delivery of big, wide, foldable slices just like the ones served up in the Big Apple pizza parlours.

Co-owner Steffen Zinn — also the president of Flatlander Hospitality, the folks behind the Red Ember wood-fired pizza concepts — describes the dough for the New York–style slices as “medium-thick crust that’s about four millimeters thick under the toppings.”

That dough serves as the foundation for a variety of thoughtful toppings. The West End joint, which opened last May, gets all of its pork products from Manitoba-based Zinn Farms and grinds their sausage and dry-cures their pepperoni in-house.

“In the summer, we buy as many local vegetables as we can for our toppings,” Zinn says. “Some items have to be imported — we haven’t found local pineapple yet — but we approach everything with a ‘from-scratch’ effort.”

WSS’s menu is fairly concise and features eight specialty pies from the Whiteout — featuring ricotta, mozzarella, pecorino Romano, parmesan, roasted garlic, garlic oil, Sicilian oregano, olive oil, and parsley — to the Hot N’ Honey, featuring that house-cured pepperoni, pickled jalapenos, mozzarella, parmesan, and garlic honey.

As a pizza-by-the-slice place, WSS allows customers to mix-and-match individual slices to make a whole 18-inch pizza “so everyone in the family can have their favourite.” Zinn recommends phoning ahead to ensure the slice you want is available. Delivery is available for six-plus slices.

For something a little different, Zinn recommends the Sicilian Square, which he describes as a “super thick-crust pizza that is light as a cloud with a super crunch at the edge.” It’s only available Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at lunchtime until it’s sold out.

If you do get delivery, don’t expect the courier to show up in a van or sedan. In mid-April, WSS began delivering on a bright-orange electric bicycle dubbed “Sparky.” It’s already “made a splash” in the community, Zinn says.

“The smiles we see when people see that their pizza was delivered via a more environmentally friendly method than what is typical is energizing for us,” Zinn explains. “I felt it first hand as I was the delivery driver… peddler. It’s also a blast to ride a bike for work.”

The antithesis to thin-crust New York pizza is Chicago-style deep-dish. You’ll find the latter at Bulldog Pizza, one of the few spots in Winnipeg to serve the thick, high-edged pie stuffed with meats and veg and topped with sauce.

Denizens of the two respective cities have warred over which is superior since deep-dish was invented, either in 1943 at Pizzeria Uno or in 1926 at Rosati’s Authentic Chicago Pizza, depending on whom you believe.

The Main Street spot features no fewer than 10 specialty deep-dish offerings —deluxe, chicken/bacon/ranch, cheeseburger — in addition to various other deals for multiple traditional pizzas. You can also customize your own.

The most popular, “hands down,” owner Marc Vercruysse says, is the Meat Lover’s, which is packed with pepperoni, salami, beef, Italian sausage and bacon.

“It’s always been a favourite of mine because I’ve always been a toppings guy and you get a lot with a deep-dish pizza,” Vercruysse says of why he prefers the style.

Bulldog has seen an increase in business at their restaurant since COVID-19 came to Manitoba but has had to shut down their two live music spaces that frequently play host to punk and metal shows.

“To date we’ve cancelled or postponed over 100 events to the end of May,” Vercruysse says. “However, a lot of our restaurant increases have come from supporters (of our) music scene. We have loyal customers and I can’t emphasize how amazing they are. “Bulldog offers takeout and delivery and is available through Door Dash, SkipTheDishes, and Uber Eats.

At Diana’s Cucina and Lounge, you’ll find a huge menu of hefty, off-the-wall pies.

The St. Anne’s Road restaurant, open for pickup and contactless delivery, features outrageous concoctions dreamt up by five-time award-winning pizza chef Diana Cline.

How does a pizza with — are you ready for this? — Cajun chicken, dry-cured pepperoni, Capicola ham, bacon strips, all-beef salami, Cajun barbecue pulled pork, spicy Italian sausage, mozzarella and Monterey Jack cheese on a Moosehead beer crust sound?

That one, dubbed the Diana-Saurus Rex, came about when customers asked Cline for a pie with “more meat” than the all-meat pizza already on the menu.

How about one inspired by Trailer Park Boys character Ricky LaFleur, topped with pepperoni, chicken fingers, and jalapenos?

That one, dubbed Ricky’s Revenge, came about when Cline and her then-husband, fans of the show, wondered what Ricky would like on a pizza.

Ricky’s portrayer, Robb Wells, along with John Paul Tremblay and Mike Smith — who play Julian and Bubbles, respectively — actually came to the restaurant to try it back in 2007.

“I love ingredients, and I love pizza, I love to play with them together,” Cline says of her creative process. “Sometimes I get an inspiration where I’ll begin to make one thing and I hear another ingredient whisper, and voila, something new comes together.”

Whether the customer selects from the menu of 40-plus combinations or creates their own — three of Cline’s other recommendations are the Sweet & Spicy Divine Swine, the Kung Pao Chicken, and the Country Fire — they can be sure they’re made with top-notch ingredients.

Diana’s makes five types of dough and marinara from scratch. They grate all their cheese by hand as well (there’s lactose-free and vegan options in that regard.)

“There’s a lot of fake food and ‘Franken-ingredients’ used these days, but you won’t find those on my menu,” Cline says.

Cline says business has been “pretty steady” lately — sales on Fridays and Saturdays have actually increased.

“We certainly miss seeing our dine-in guests in the lounge, and I had to lay off my main server, but we’re lucky that we still see those regulars as pickup and delivery clientele,” she says.

As a bonus, Diana’s is offering a 19 per cent discount off any pickup order. Cline calls it her “dark humour” special.

To many, A Little Pizza Heaven — especially its Osborne Village location — is an excellent spot to get a couple of inexpensive late-night slices after a night of revelry and imbibing beverages at surrounding bars.

While their soft, thin-crust slices and signature garlic butter crusts are indeed heaven in the wee hours, don’t sleep on ALPH as a viable option for whole pizzas much earlier in the evening.

ALPH’s four locations — Ness Avenue, St. Anne’s Road and Regent Avenue East in addition to Osborne — are still turning out plenty of pies for delivery and takeout. While only whole pizzas are available for delivery, you can still pop in and take a slice or two to go.

“Pickups and deliveries have been successful and the support for local businesses has been amazing,” Dave Fox, one of ALPH’s owners, says. “We’re so thankful to be a part of such an amazing community.”

However, like all restaurants right now, ALPH is facing challenges. Its food truck will sit mostly idle this summer as most festivals and events have already been kiboshed. Its Shaw Park stall likely won’t be open this year as the odds of the Goldeyes having a season looks slim (although the American Association is holding out hope for an 80-game schedule beginning in mid-July.) Its office and group catering have also taken big hits.

Despite that, ALPH still offers their buy one, get one half price special every day. As for recommendations, Fox’s are two-fold.

If you’re looking for specialty pizzas, try the chicken clubhouse with ranch dressing or the bacon double cheeseburger drizzled with barbecue sauce. Fox also recommends ALPH’s most popular pies: tomato and feta, and “if you’re of the opinion that pineapple belongs on pizza,” the sweet-and-salty pineapple/feta.

ALPH’s goal is to give their customers “a little bit of normal,” Fox says.

“Whether it’s their regular Friday-night pizza night with the family or a late-night craving, we’re here for them.”

At Pizzeria Gusto, the chefs literally play with fire. The fresh-daily, hand-stretched dough is topped with a combination of “innovative and traditional” combination of toppings, manager Amanda McGrath says, and baked in a wood-burning oven that reaches up to 900 degrees and gives the crust those crackly charred bits.

The Academy Road restaurant “thrives off of community and relationships,” McGrath says, and strives to emulate the family dinner experience; loud, fun, and accepting.

While there are no customers at their tables right now, Gusto’s pizzas are still hitting tables around the city as they’re open for curbside pickup and delivery.

“It was important for us to find a way to maintain… part of our business while being able to offer the same great food that our guests have always enjoyed,” McGrath says.

Her personal recommendations include The Don — porchetta, Italian sausage and Calabrese salami; The Waterloo — arugula pesto, prosciutto, roasted potatoes, mozzarella, house-made ricotta and pistachios; and, of course, the simple-but-classic Margherita — San Marzano tomatoes, Bufala mozzarella (buffalo-milk mozzarella, for the uninitiated) olive oil and basil.

If you desire to pair your pie with an adult beverage, Pizzeria Gusto’s staff will even offer beer or wine suggestions and deliver that too.