| Galliano’s pizza has a taste of nostalgia
Regular readers of this column (my family members, mostly) will know that I have a soft spot for old-fashioned pizza places, neighbourhood joints that have one foot in 1976, where the most popular topping is Hawaiian and the menu has a stylized picture of Suzanne Pleshette holding a pizza. They’re invariably owned by naturalized Greek families, where the father runs the front of house and the mother runs the kitchen. You don’t go to these restaurants for salad – you go for pizza and lasagne and copious quantities of cheap red wine.
Not all of these places make the grade, though – the best ones are where the sauces are made on the premises, they use lots of herbs, the pizza has good cheese and not too much of it, and the ingredients are fresh. Galliano’s Pizza and Lounge, located in the Mayland Heights Shopping Centre (817 - 19 St. N.E., phone 276-1996) is right up there with the more well known Spiro’s on 17th Avenue S.W. and Karouzos on 4th St N.W.
I had an inside track on ferreting out Galliano’s, as my wife grew up in Mayland Heights and had been there for special occasions when she was a kid. It doesn’t look like it’s changed much since then – and I’m glad of that. There’s a red and gold colour scheme, embossed mirrors, the hockey game’s on in the adjoining bar, and although the restaurant is non-smoking, the bar isn’t. In short, it feels natural, like you might see Bobby Curtola at the next table.
The owner’s a jocular man in his 50s, who sat us down in a booth and immediately engaged our child – he’s obviously a pro who’s done this a thousand times, but it’s still fun for him. It’s worth going to Galliano's simply to be served by someone so pleasant and so obviously proud of his restaurant and his food. And some days you’re in the mood for just this sort of meal – rib-sticking heavy stuff with tons of flavour. After going to Galliano’s, you don’t need to eat again for a while.
The lasagne ($8.25), served in an oval dish, reminded me of a Greek pastitsio. It had a scent of cloves and cinnamon, those wavy lasagnetti noodles no one uses anymore, and was topped with a cheesy crust. It also had some complexity of flavour that I wasn’t expecting.
The Demos’ Special pizza, with pepperoni, ham, mushrooms, ground beef and fresh tomatoes ($19.75 for 14-inch) was exactly what I was in the mood for, a classic example of Calgary Greek-style pizza – thick crust, lots of cheese, ingredients piled high. Amazingly, though, it wasn’t greasy at all (the big risk with this sort of pizza is that it can turn to liquid fat on starch). The pepperoni tasted of fennel, and the slices of tomatoes were put on the pizza part way through the cooking, so they softened and became a bit charred – a great idea that I plan to appropriate immediately.
The souvlaki ($9.75) was a bit rudimentary, coming on a plate with a small pita and some iceberg lettuce, but it was redeemed by the grilled chicken that smelled of lemon and olive oil, and an olive oil, lemon and herb dipping sauce.
We rolled out of Galliano’s thinking how relaxed and low-stress it was to go there for dinner – that’s the thing that will bring us back.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN FOOD & BOOZE
The 5th annual Rocky Mountain Wine and Food Festival gets under way this week at the Calgary Roundup Centre. The theme is "adventures for your palate" – in other words, it's a chance to sample a generous assortment of food from local restaurants and shops as well as wine, spirits and beer. This event one of many opportunities to discover the fine food and booze available in Calgary, featuring restaurants such as The Ranche, Cross House and Taj Mahal, products from Sunterra and the Alberta bison, beef and pork commissions, demonstrations by local chefs, seminars on port and wines, and more.
The festival runs from October 17 to 19, and $1 from every ticket sold is donated to the Calgary Zoo Conservation Fund. For details visit www.rockymountainwine.com.
TWO GOOD MUFFINS:
The cranberry muffins at Caffe Beano (9 St. S.W.), and at the Planet (4 St. S.W.) are different breeds of the same thing, but both are excellent. The Caffe Beano ones are moister (they’re made with bananas), while the Planet’s are slightly more crunchy (they have walnuts). Both have great crumb, aren’t heavy, are a great foil for a coffee and, most importantly, are made on the premises. Why go somewhere where all you can get is stuff which was plastic-wrapped in an unknown location at an indeterminate time? |
