AZZURRI PIZZERIA JOINS THE FAMILY BUSINESS
Artisanal-style pizza marks latest Ricioppo Italian eatery venture
We were surrounded by Ricioppos (Ricioppi?), six of them to be exact. There was father Benny, mother Terry and their three kids — Diana, Alessandro and Faustino. Even uncle Fedele was there to add to the pizza brain trust as we sampled some of the first offerings from Azzurri Pizzeria (2404 Edmonton Trail N.E., 403299-8774).
The Ricioppo family has been prominent in the local Italian restaurant scene for decades, having founded Il Pescatore, Gambero Rosso and La Luna Rossa. Located in the Edmonton Trail building known as Villa Ricioppo (403-452-3080), La Luna Rossa is a bastion of classic Italian cuisine with gnocchi Gorgonzola, veal scallopini with porcini and seafood risotto.
But you won’t find any pizza on Luna Rossa’s menu. So sons Faustino and Alessandro cooked up the idea to catch the current trend of artisanal-style pizza and open their own pizzeria. Serendipitously, a space was available next door to the main restaurant in Villa Ricioppo. While working at the restaurant, the brothers, assisted by their family, went about developing the 22-seat space. They ordered and installed a marble bar top and a gas-fired Marra Forni pizza oven from Naples and studied the latest trends in pizza making. They visited and trained in other pizzerias, tried numerous flour blends and made batch after batch of dough.
And a few weeks ago, the Ricioppos opened Azzurri Pizzeria — named after the Italian soccer team — and started rolling out their pizzas.
They’ve opted for the Neapolitan style, using dough that’s aged at least 24 hours, creating a crust that’s thin but still chewy. (No cracker crusts here.) The opening menu is short with only a halfdozen pizzas on the list, all done in individual 12-inch rounds and priced between $12 for the classic Margherita and $18 for “The 10” topped with San Marzano sauce, local White Gold fior de latte cheese, prosciutto, arugula, cherry tomatoes and slices of Parmigiano Reggiano.
There’s also a handful of appetizers including a tossed Tre Colori salad — their version of a Caprese — and fresh fruit wrapped in prosciutto. As they fine-tune their super-hot oven — the pizzas cook in under two minutes at over 800 F (430 C)— they’ll add more items to the list.
As uncle Fedele — one of the most experienced and best pizzaiolos in the city, and owner of the always-busy Il Centro says, “It’s going to be some fine pizza.”
Azzurri Pizzeria is open Monday through Saturday for lunch and dinner.
Italian food fans in the Willow Park area are flocking to the new Italian Centre Shop at 9919 Fairmount Dr. S.E. (403-2384869) for all their Italian ingredient needs. They’re wowed by the broad selection and the looming wall of cheeses as well as the huge Italian deli and a whole row of pasta.
The Spinelli family has operated the Italian Centre Shop in Edmonton since 1959 and now have three stores there along with the one in Calgary. They make a mean pizza, too. The Calgary store has a double-decker, Canadian-built Picard oven that bakes thinnish-crust pizzas and also serves their bakery.
Pizza is served daily at the Italian Centre Shop from 11 a.m. to 7:45 p.m. At present, they do a short list of six pizzas plus a daily special.
Speaking of pizza, this weekend is the last two days to participate in YYC Pizza Week. This year more than 40 local pizzerias are vying for bragging rights as the city’s top pie makers. We all get a chance to vote for our favourites: go to as many of the competing pizzerias as possible, check out the entries and vote online at yycpizzaweek.com. There are three categories — thin, thick and unique.
Some of this year’s entries are the bacon-and-potato chip from Double Zero downtown, the chicken korma from Below Deck Tavern, the Samoan deep dish of ham and pineapple from Matador Pizza and The Mo pepperoni-portobello from The Thirsty Turtle.
There’s lots of great pizza out there and it’s all for a good cause with proceeds going to Meals on Wheels.
And if you just can’t get enough pizza — and who can — Eric Francis’ Pizza Pigout is on the calendar for the evening of Oct. 21 at Cowboys Dance Hall, 421 — 12 Ave. S.E. Over 200 pizzas from across the city will be sampled in an evening of what Francis calls “carbs, beer and general mayhem.”
Tickets are $50 and are available at ericfrancispizzapigout.ca with proceeds going to Kidsport Calgary, You Can Play and The Big Give Project. John Gilchrist can be reached at escurial@telus.net or at 403-2357532 or follow him on Twitter @ GilchristJohn