Red Brick Pizza
965 James Mowatt Trail (Ellerslie and 111 Street)
780-756-9000
www.redbrickpizza.com
Signature Dish: Medium Italian Sausage and Pepper ($13.50)
Dinner & drinks for 2: $35
Rating: ****
Last year, Canada’s first Red Brick Pizza opened in Edmonton. The casual restaurant with modern, masculine decor offers a few unique items on the menu, but the real difference is in the oven. The terra cotta stone oven fire-roasts Red Brick fare at 1000 degrees for a couple of minutes. The results are healthy, crisp meals packed full of flavour that are served in a flash.
My friendly server walked me through my options, then offered to bring out my medium Italian sausage and pepper pizza ($13.50) along with my glass of Lindemann’s Merlot ($5.25). He would even wait until I was done before he fired up my bhrazani brownie ($5).
My wine arrived quickly, followed by the pizza. The merlot was unexpectedly nuanced, with ripe raspberry notes fading into a drawn-out aftertaste. The loaded pizza could have used a little more sausage and a lot more cheese, but the oven had crisped the paper-thin crust perfectly. It supported my toppings without distracting from them. The pizza was delectable and easily sharable between a couple of hungry diners.
I finished with the fire-roasted triple-chocolate brownie under a generous scoop of Pinocchio’s chocolate gelato, and it was fully as exquisite and it sounds.
Red Brickalso offers a host of healthy, heart-smart options.
Dining out
Christmas Buffet
Creations Dining Room in the Sawridge Inn is celebrating the 12 Lunch Buffets of Christmas. For only $14.95 per person, check out tomorrow’s offering: herb-crusted turkey with apple fennel stuffing or chicken medallions with spinach cous cous! Entrées change every day until Wednesday. www.creationsedmonton.com
Greek Feast
Want a catered meal for your Christmas party at a fraction of the cost? Yianni’s Mezé from any Koutouki restaurant is a Greek feast of about a dozen dishes. Let them know how many people you’re planning to feed, order it to go and simply dish it out when you get home!
