dough Archives - Curiously Carmen

It was a lovely, sunny afternoon in Vancouver back in July (yes, late post I know.. sorry) and I spent it studying with a friend from school. She lived in Yaletown, so suggested that we meet up there to study. But how do two hungry girls study without proper food and nourishment? We don’t.

So we decided to make a quick stop for lunch at Urban Fare before diving into our pop music history notes. I’ve only ate at Urban Fare one other time, and had a panini which I vaguely remember was pretty tasty. I was going to order another one based on that memory, but as I went up to order it, the calzone caught my eye.
After much speculation, I decided to get the calzone instead because a) It was cheaper b) Being the curious girl I am, I wanted to try it and c) the sandwiches didn’t sound super delicious that day. Ordering here is a bit different here. You tell the staff what you would like, then they print out a receipt for you.

Then, you go to the cashier and pay, where they initial your receipt and you go back to the deli counter and they hand you your food at the pickup window. Since that visit in July, I’ve been to Urban Fare a handful of times and I have yet to master their seemingly confusing system. Oops.
I ordered the four cheese pepperoni calzone ($5). It came with sausage, pepperoni, red onions, tomatoes, basil, parsley, monterey jack and Parmesan cheese, and warmed up. I immediately fell in love with the softness of bread, and how doughy it was. The warmness of the dish just emphasized the softness even more. As for the inside, there was a decent amount of sausage and pepperoni. For a dish that has the word “cheese” in the title, it wasn’t that cheesy, which I didn’t really mind. I ended up ordering another one for an afternoon snack later on.
My friend ordered their breakfast omelette platter, which came with an omelette (duh), sourdough bread, and potatoes. I only tried the sourdough bread, which tasted pretty standard and normal.

-Carmen

While browsing on Urbanspoon, I came across Trilussa Pizza & Pane. I knew I had to visit this place due to it’s 97% rating and 271 (and counting!) votes! And boy, am I glad I discovered this place!

Their pizza dough is made fresh everyday with quality ingredients. Luckily enough, I made a reservation just in case it would be busy. To our shock, when we arrived, they were completelyout of pizza dough and actually saved us the last two pieces of dough! I’m pretty sure they only stayed open to serve us, or they could have just used their dough and close early, but nope, they actually waited for us!

Talk about great service. Although it was our first time here, the workers made us feel right at home and made conversation with us while we enjoyed their fresh, and authentic Roman pizza. I felt as if we were regulars here and had a really great experience.

The exterior of the restaurant doesn’t really stand out from the rest of the numerous restaurants along Main Street. Half my childhood was spent around the Little Riley/Main Street area and I was really shocked I’ve never noticed this place until I came in. Right away, we noticed a cute little handwritten sign that apologized to customers that there was no more dough. When we walked in, they knew my name right away and said, “Carmennnn! Hey!” like I was a old pal.

The interior of Trilussa is very cozy and warm. On one end they have the pizza bar, espresso machine, and till, and the other side consists of the booths. There were little coat hangers on each booth which was a nice and convenient detail to this place. Trilussa is pretty small, but very comfortable.
You can see the oven in the back that is used to cook each order individually, which adds to the freshness. Normally, the area with the glass pane would be lined up with pizza waiting to be cooked (if they had dough left!).

We patiently sat, with our tummies rumbling while the oven brought the anticipated pizza to life. Overall, it took about 8 minutes for our pizzas to be done cooking. They only have two ovens, so I wonder how they manage when it gets busy! I would imagine that there are really long wait times during peak.
Behold! Our pizza! It came on a pretty long wooden paddle, I wonder how many unfortunate people have had their pizzas knocked off the table by other customers. We ordered the Milano (prosciutto cotto & mozzarella) and Garbatella (sausage & mozzarella).

I fell in love at first bite. The crust was thin and very crunchy on the outside, but soft and chewy inside. The mozzarella was very stringy and rich. The pizza had a bit of oil on it which didn’t really bother me, because I knew from their sign (scroll up) that it was extra virgin olive oil. This was enough for two people and we left extremely full and happy.
Here is the closeup of the Milano. You could have more toppings but we opted for mushrooms only. I wished that there was a bit more proscuitto, but the freshness and quality of their ingredients make up for it (quality over quantity!). I preferred this dish over the Garbetella because it had more meat on it.
Here is the Garbetella. Again, I wished that this had more sausage pieces on it. However, you can see the generous portion of stringy, melted cheese.

After doing some background research, I found out that the owner of Trilussa was born and raised in Rome, Italy which explains why the pizza tastes as lovely and authentic as it does. Normally, I would that really bloated and gross feeling after eating pizza, but due to the freshness of their ingredients, I felt great! I would love to come back to Trilussa, so glad I discovered this little gem.

-Carmen