Da Capo

Da Capo Cafe:

On a lazy Sunday afternoon, still itching to find the best pizza in town. I’d heard 2 recommendations echoed- One, Fomoso’s, I’ve reviewed earlier. The other Neapolitan style pizza in town is found across from Sugarbowl and Highlevel Diner.

Here we go: Decor seems to be picked straight out of an Ikea catalogue, down to the tiles on the wall. Not really a bad thing. Clean, nice concept. However a common, but unvoiced complaint, is the layout of the restaurant lacks flow- if the restaurant is even half full, you’ll have to navigate a maze of people, chairs, and barstools.

Nice selection of beers, still on medication so have to forgo specific libations. No restriction on caffeine though. I went with the standard double americano, as is my usual test for coffee houses. Not bad, bold, certainly the perfect accompaniment to a icky day outside.

 

Nina ordered a latte… Which came in a tumbler? Can anyone explain this? The latte, apparently, was ok. But wasn’t hot for very long. Still defies logic why this was preferred over ceramic.

Order up: Nice selection of items on their menus, good variety in appetizers and pizza toppings. I opted for the goat cheese stuffed dates and roasted almond with balsamic vinaigrette reduction (~$7). Should have opted for the proscuitto wrapped variety:

Nina went for a little lighter fare: Prosciutto Crudo Di Parma e Mozzarella ($8), which was simple in preparation. Nice flavor, well aged proscuitto, but would have appreciated a little olive oil, fresh cracked pepper, or balsamic, none of which were offerred.

I was starved. So I ate the whole pizza. Almost. Pizza Di Rocco: ($14)tomato, mozzarella, house made spicy Italian sausage, roasted red peppers, fresh rosemary. The last slice:

Certainly like the crust better than Fomoso’s, at least it isn’t soggy in the middle. Decent pie, I’d say. Underwhelmed by the toppings, slightly too acidic sauce, but nice herbal flavors, especially with the fresh rosemary.

Too early to tell, as I’ve only eaten at both places once now, but I prefer Fomoso’s for their enthusiastic customer service, and overall experience. The service here was surprisingly slow for being fully staffed and not at customer capacity: My friend Pierre waited 30 minutes to get the same thing Nina ordered. They actually forgot his order, unapologetically.

Somewhat lacking attention to detail,potential problems parking, serving lattes in glass (???, unless that is some italian tradition that I’m not aware of). Nice location, as it’s quite walkable from the university (109th St). If you are craving a great cup of coffee, skip this place and go 2 blocks South to Transcend (review coming). Don’t come here (Da Capo) if you’re in a rush, but at least give this place a try. And as always, when you do, please drop me a line.

Overall grade:  B-

 

Bigvinnysd

http://dacapocaffe.com/

@DaCapoCaffe

Fomoso Neapolitan Pizza

Back after a long absence of Restaurant reviews… Sorry. (but not for lack of going out). My phone died while playing DrawSomething so I have no pictures for you. Sorry.

Upon the recommendation of Karbuthnot24, and craving decent pizza, and having found none since my feet touched Canadian soil, I took the bus from work down Whyte Ave to this little restaurant, Fomoso, on Whyte Ave, between 105 and 104th, right next to The Black Dog.

First impressions: Nice ambiance, choose where you want to sit style seating. Clean, simple, without crazy signs and stuff on the walls, and an open kitchen concept. I’m eating solo… sometimes people give you weird looks for asking for a table of one. I was greeted immediately by a cheery brunette who gave me the rundown of the operation.

1. Find a table you like – I picked one right by the window as I like to people watch, and I put my bag down across the table so it looked like I was waiting for someone… Crafty

2. Menus are on the table, so pick out what you like. I was feeling ravenous, but wanted something on the lighter side. Opted for a half Cranberry-Walnut-Gorgonzola Salad ($8), and a Prosciutto Arugula Bianca (white) Pizza ($14.5).

3. Go to the counter and order – I put in my order with a very enthusiastic staff member (kudos on your customer service training, management) who also informed me I could get half a pizza with my salad, and it would only set me back $14.5. I was hungry, so declined, but was still appreciative.Paired with a Hoegaarden witbier, and I was all set.

4. Sit back, and wait for the food to come. – Aka People watch, and listen to idiotic conversations between 4 middle aged men who came here for a golf trip but found it too cold.

5. Devour!

The salad was very nice, but for $8 I was expecting closer to an entree sized portion. I’d like more gorxongola, but plentiful in walnuts and cranberries, and well dressed, no grease at the bottom of the bowl to sop up with the single piece of focaccia bread on the side.

Main event: The pizza I had very very high expectations for, as Katie usually is spot on with her recommendations.

The good: Fresh, quality ingredients, carefully thought out, and decently executed. Arugula was not wilted, proscuitto seemed to be of high quality, good quality, not overly sweaty mozzarella. For an 11″ pizza, decently proportioned.

The meh: Problem with fresh ingredients is you usually have a lot of excess moisture. In my experience with Neapolitan Pizza, the crust needs to be firm enough to not get sogged up by the toppings. Oh well.

Crust had a nice texture, slightly chewy at times, certainly could have used a generous pinch of salt. I like the touch of lemon they pair with the pizza. They say they cook the pizzas in a 900F degree oven for 90 seconds- I contest It could have used 10-15 more seconds.

I’m switching to grading structure instead of numerical values. Overall, I’d say, B+. It certainly warrants another visit, hopefully with a fellow foodie to compare notes to. Good service, decent value, but the main event, the pizza crust, well… maybe next time.

http://www.famoso.ca/menu/pizza.php

-Bigvinnysd