Local List: My Favorite Pizza (Chapter Five)

San Gennaro snuck up on me this year, quietly becoming the pizza delivery of choice in our house. For years, I dismissed the spot as an old-school Italian cafe, mostly on my radar for espresso and pastries. Big mistake. (Big! Huge!)

First thing to know: San Gennaro makes square pizza. Perfectly soft, chewy dough is bordered by a crunchy, salty crust. (I strongly suggest shotgunning a corner-piece right away -- those are the best part.) Their tomato sauce tastes fresh and bright; toppings are doled out generously.

The caciocavallo is my stand-out favorite. It's a white pizza, topped with the softest slices of potato, then blanketed with a thick layer of gooey cheese. Yes, it's decadent, but also totally worth that hit of lactaid. The pepperoni pizza is a close second, though, and easily one of the best no-frills traditional pies in Montreal. While I don't normally consume a ton of meat, exceptions are made when a pizza has small pepperoni rounds on top of the cheese (instead of baked under it) like the one at SG.

My extensive research (i.e. eating take-out) has actually proven that these two pizzas perfectly compliment each other. It is very, very important to always order both ;)

San Gennaro pizza also holds up wonderfully as next-day leftovers, heated up in the oven until the cheese starts oozing again.

Finally, if you're jonesing for dessert, don't skip the bomboloni (custard-filled donuts rolled in white sugar). They come in a handful of flavors -- vanilla custard, nutella, pistachio -- you can't go wrong with any of them. 

Hungry for more pizza? Feel free to browse my other posts about cherished spots like Stella, Parvis, and Gema.

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I Made A Questionable Sandal Choice

Late last week, with birthday money burning a hole in my pocket, I bought myself a pair of black Teva Original Universal sandals. I'm at least two years late on the trend and have long been reluctant to take the plunge for some glaringly obvious reasons: Rubber flip-floppy soles. Big, chunky plastic hardware. Prominently visible logo. Fuckin' velcro. By rights, these shoes are not cute.

And yet...

Like the proverbial moth to the flame, I was drawn to them. There must be a certain number of cool-looking people you need to see donning a questionable look before the scales are tipped from seriously? to yes pls. Apparently, my personal quota was reached. I was already in the market for a comfy, utilitarian-ish sandal to replace my ultra beat-up black Birks. Plus, Tevas are half the price ;)

As I was strapping up my shoes for their maiden voyage out the house, Josh stared at them for a moment, then said, "These must be trendy. Because they are really ugly." Fair point lol.

What are your thoughts on popular-yet-unattractive footwear? (For what it's worth, you will NEVER see me in a pair of Crocs.)

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Book Clubbing & Culinary Disasters

Laurie Colwin's Home Cooking is part memoir, part cookbook, and fully charming from start to finish. Despite initial hesitation -- did I really want to read, in essence, two hundred pages of recipes? -- I actually love love loved everything about the book! Colwin's fun, familiar tone is really inviting and will probably inspire you to regularly prepare four-course dinner parties.

I was particularly struck by the chapters set in her first, very tiny solo apartment. Her words echoed memories of my own miniscule apartment in NDG, back when I was twenty-four, living alone for the first time, and feeling extremely grown-up hosting friends for supper. (You may freely replace the word "supper" with "1L bottles of Gallo Rose and cheap sushi from across the street".) Nostalgia can sometimes come barreling painfully at you like a freight train; in this case, reading those earlier parts of Home Cooking gently prompted a pleasant visit to my past.

Somewhere in the book, Laurie Colwin writes about cooking disasters. Not simply trying a disappointing recipe, but more like making a dish for the first time, then realizing it tastes awful after you've already served it to eight guests. Basically, the kind of kitchen fuck up whose memory triggers full-body cringing for years to come.

No one is shocked to hear I have a rich repertoire of culinary calamities, ranging from forgivable offences (overly salted tofu rendered inedible) to call-the-fire-department humiliation ("c'est une boîte à pizza"). Here's a doozy I'd like to share :)

Roughly one hundred years ago, back in NDG, Josh and I were planning to make pizzas at my place. These were relatively ~early days~ in our relationship, when I still felt compelled to impress him (hahaha). I pulled out all the stops for our meal prep: stinky cheese from a specialty shop on Sherbrooke West, fancy charcuterie, pesto, fresh tomato sauce, assorted veggies and pickled things, etc. 

Except, guess who bought pie dough instead of pizza dough, unaware there was even difference?

Worse yet: Guess who didn't realize she had to bake the dough prior to loading it with toppings?

So there I was, in my pocket-sized kitchen overlooking a big neon KFC sign (such ambiance!) with dinner in the oven, boasting about the gourmet zas we would soon gorge on -- all the while, growing very concerned by pizza centers that seemingly wanted to stay raw. 

After a very long and hunger-panged wait, watching toppings char and the crust blacken over, we conceded the rest of the dough would never cook through. The pizza was unsalvageable, we were grouchily famished, and I privately mourned the many dollars-worth of top-tier ingredients going heartbreakingly to waste.

I think we ultimately ate Subway sandwiches for dinner that night. How embarrassing.

Do you have a disastrous kitchen tale? I'd love to hear it (and possibly launch a support group with you) ;)

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Wednesday Playlist

Along with the rest of the internet, I started listening to Olivia Rodrigo's new album last week, and basically haven't stopped since. (Truthfully, I had never heard of her prior to my initial stream of the first track on SOUR.) If you're in the mood for some youthful summertime heartbreak vibes -- it might seem like you wouldn't be but, trust me, you are -- give the record a listen from start to finish. Then let me know which song is your favorite. (Pretty sure mine is deja vu.) :)

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Floral Shorts (For Summer? Groundbreaking.)

Filed under: Things I covet but absolutely, positively, one hundred percent do not need. 

  

Floral printed cut-off denim shorts! (Phew, that was a mouthful.)

So dang cute, right? These ones are from Zara -- I'm particularly fond of the bright Warhol-y vibe of the last pair.

However, there's no denying the sad fact that, wearing these, I would fully resemble a six-year old on the last day of kindergarten. It is what it is. I'll just settle for admiring them from afar (and being more-than-a-little jealous of everyone who pulls them off). 

What trends are you planning to test drive this summer?

Image credit (top): Stocksy

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