Hungry for some ’za? Try ‘half with garlic roll’
Za Pizzeria’s special hybrid was created to keep excess dough from going to waste
In some parts of the country, they’re served alongside donairs.
Eaters dip garlicky strips of dough into sauce as they tuck into the popular Greek shaved meat. And, according to folks at Wikipedia, “garlies” or “garlic fingers,” as they’re known, are all the rage in Atlantic Canada.
Za Pizzeria’s version of this dish — a half pizza connected to knotted dough drizzled with garlic butter — is a poorly kept secret with a clumsy name: “half with garlic roll,” says Jason Costantini, 31, Za Pizzeria coowner along with wife Lisa Costantini, 33.
“It is definitely different. It travels well. It’s the perfect lunch.”
An off-menu item at this cosy, barely year-old pizzeria at 402 Bloor St. W., which lures customers with the sweet smells of smouldering hickory, this side dish, of sorts (a pepperoni half with knots is $7.50), is fast becoming one of their most sought after.
Those in the know ask for it by stammering out a description. And for those who aren’t in on the secret, staff may casually mention the option, if you’re lucky.
Of the 650 or so pies lifted each week from Za’s large ovens — they look like barbecues but burn wood chips and have pizza-stone bottoms instead of griddles — about 40 per cent, these days, are of this special hybrid, Costantini says.
This dish evolved out of pure happenstance.
Za’s raison d’être — and the reason behind its special, fast-cooking ovens — is admirably to make a personal pizza, fresh to order. And if a ’za sits around too long, Costantini will chop it up and give it out free outside the shop.
To some, the owners know, ordering a whole pizza to oneself can seem daunting (for the record, Za’s personal-sized pizzas — either 14-inch thin crust or 10-inch thicker crust — are a respectable, not gluttonous, size).
But early on, they started serving halves, then dousing the excess dough in garlic butter so it didn’t go to waste — and eating it themselves.
Customers noticed, and started asking for the leftovers.
The next step was organic, Lisa says. “We started selling them: we’d say, ‘well, we can make it into a half pizza and half garlic knots.’ ”
The dough is a genius hybrid of Neapolitan, Roman and Brooklyn styles for what the Costantinis call “Jason” type dough. It’s the best of three worlds: puffy and doughy, crispy and well blistered with a moist, slightly sweet interior that perfectly cradles the salty cheese and pepperoni. Soft, yet durable, it also holds up delightfully when rolled into the heavenly, garlicky knots.
By the way, everything — sauces to dough — is made in house. And it’s best when eaten there, so you can drink in the hickory smoke coming from those large ovens. Eaten something that deserves to be Sourced? Email mhenry@thestar.ca